Naruto 1. The Ghost of You

This is the sequel to Perception. I suggest you read that first to understand the history between the characters and the references to events that happened in that story. Also, this story is not a complex epic. It's a romance, with a bit of drama thrown in. XD

**Warnings**: language, mild violence, plenty of angst and abuse of romantic plot devices.

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**Silver Lining**

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_Behind every dark cloud is a silver lining._

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Chapter One: The Ghost of You

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The scorching midsummer sun blazed down merciless and brutal on her back as she walked the dusty road into town. Sakura had lived most of her life in Fire country—though much further north among the lush, verdant forests—but she couldn't remember the last time it was this hot. It was torturous, even to someone in her physical condition. Irritably wiping a gloved hand across the back of her sweating neck, she sighed with mild relief as the outlying buildings of the city came into view ahead.

The intense heat beat upon her like a physical hand, like the weight of her conscience telling her to just turn around and leave this miserable place and never come back. She hadn't set foot in Fire country in…nine months? At least. She avoided working within these borders as much as possible. However, the pay promised for this mission was just too good to ignore, and she'd been having a rather dry spell lately.

There was always work for someone with her varied skills, but there were no wars and no epidemics, and healers were not in high demand at the moment. The nature of work seemed to run in cycles, and lately it seemed like everyone who was looking to hire ninja were looking for assassins. Sakura didn't didn't deny what she was behind false morality, but she wasn't one of those shinobi who could kill for money without question. No matter how desolate, no matter how desperate and hungry she got, she would not cross that final line. There would always be another job, somewhere, if she looked hard enough. She would not sink so low. _They_ would be ashamed of her if she did.

Hopefully this contract was one she could accept, because she only had enough money left for a few weeks' lodging and food. Details about this job were unclear, only that the contractor was looking for two shinobi of high caliber, one male and one female, relatively young in appearance, who could pass as civilians. That told her a few things, mainly that is was an undercover job of some sort. It could very well turn out to be as bad as the last one: the contractor had wanted his allegedly unfaithful wife and their infant child murdered. Of course Sakura had walked away without a backward glance, but it angered her because she knew that somewhere out there, there would be a shinobi who _would_ do it, and that woman and her child were probably already dead.

This was the world Sakura lived in now. Harsh and unforgiving, you survive or you die. At least _her_ world was that way; the world of the ninja. As had always been and always would be, the majority of the population lived in ignorant peace, completely unaware of dealings within the shadowy underworld of society. What civilians knew of the tailed demons was very little. They were strange phenomena, rarely spoken of, scarcely affecting their quiet uneventful towns. They had no idea of the apocalyptic chaos those primordial creatures had caused in the shinobi world, of the destruction they had wrought upon so many lives.

The world had no idea that people like Sakura had seen and survived such things, no idea that people like her had lost everything and now walked the beaten paths of the world alone.

With a tired huff she shifted her pack on her shoulders and watched a group of dirty children kicking rocks back and forth in the street as she entered town. Their playful laughter sounded bitter and hollow in her ears as she passed them. These children were clearly impoverished, their worn clothes damp with sweat, their bare, cracked feet kicking up clouds of dust as they played their game. But they were laughing. Poor and unfortunate as they were, they didn't know true suffering. They remained naively innocent the way children should be.

Did the children of the hidden villages still laugh? Sakura supposed she wouldn't know. She hadn't entered a hidden village in over two years.

As predicted by Jiraiya, and hoped for by everyone with a stake in the matter, a little over one year after Sakura was rescued from her captivity, Akatsuki failed in their quest to capture all of the bijuu. They never got the Kyuubi, and the process they had had begun inevitably exceeded its time limit. They got desperate in the end, but with only five members living they couldn't attack Konoha directly. Konoha discovered the identity of the Akatsuki leader shortly before he had led Hidden Rain in a war against the Leaf. They were joined by Stone, and eventually by Mist, both of whom only wanted an excuse to attack their strongest enemy. Sand and Cloud came to Konoha's aid as allies, and the shinobi nations were once again thrown into another secret world war. If their enemies had realized they were only being manipulated by Akatsuki to get their hands on the Kyuubi, it hadn't mattered in the end.

What no one had expected was the catastrophic extent Akatsuki's failure to obtain the Kyuubi would reach. They lost control of the bijuu; the jutsu used to seal them became unstable and eventually failed. When it broke, all eight demons were released in their true forms back into the world. In their rage, they took vengeance upon their overambitious captors and then upon the villages that had imprisoned them. The Akatsuki were all reported dead. Months later they would learn that at least two had survived, when Pein and Konan surfaced again in Rain. The war continued, the remaining Akatsuki and founder of its vision manipulating and orchestrating the downfall of all shinobi nations out of pure spite.

The pointless war went on without cease, even when the bijuu began attacking the hidden villages that once held them. In the first year, the One-Tail Shukaku wreaked havoc upon his former prison of Hidden Sand. The Kazekage confronted his once inner demon in an epic battle that would be remembered among shinobi for all time. Gaara eventually resealed the Ichibi inside himself and for the sake of his people, ended his own life, taking the demon with him forever. But Suna was utterly destroyed. The refugees joined Konoha and continued to fight alongside their grateful allies.

It went on and on, ninja killing ninja while their homes and villages were left decimated in the wake of the enraged demons. Only Konoha was left untouched by the vengeful bijuu, the demon it imprisoned still sealed within their Hokage. Some of the monsters were resealed, and killed with the sacrifice of the chosen jinchuuriki. Some, once sealed, were harnessed and used as weapons once more by the villages that trapped them, to give them advantage in the war that was slowly but surely bringing and end to the shinobi world as they knew it. The rest retreated to wherever it was they dwelled to avoid the fate of their brethren.

Even once they were gone, the fighting didn't cease. Three years after the war began Konoha and its allies were winning, and it looked as though an end may be in sight. But then Konan was killed, and they could not have known the effect that would have on both sides. Sakura had been part of that battle, alongside Shizune and their master Tsunade, the retired Hokage. They lost Shizune that day. Sakura had barely made it out alive, only her medical skills saving her. Tsunade survived as well, but she was an old woman and the strain of the monumental battle had ultimately taken its toll, and the Sannin died not long after of weariness and old age, effects that no medic could heal.

They had not known, and therefore could not have expected it, but with Konan's death the full fury of Pein was unleashed upon the world. He had masterminded from the rear for the entire war, but after the loss of his partner he came out to the front lines. He killed hundreds, mercilessly slaughtering any who stood in his path, including his own men. His wrath was terrifying, and it was no wonder those loyal to him thought him a god. It had taken many to defeat him—Naruto at his full Kyuubi-enhanced power, Jiraiya, Sasuke…some of the most powerful ninja in the world. Sakura was not allowed to fight with them, as she would be needed after to save their lives. And she had been needed; it had been so close. Pein was finally dead, but so many more had been lost as well, including Jiraiya, last of the legendary Sannin.

With their leader gone, Rain retreated in defeat. But Stone and Mist would not give up until Leaf was destroyed, and so the war continued past all knowledge of its origin, until no one knew what they were fighting and dying for anymore.

And as the years passed, surely and cruelly one by one, Sakura began to lose the people closest to her. Her friends, her family, her heart, until she was left alone and empty. Sakura was a medic, and she had thought herself jaded to the pain and the blood and the loss of war. But she hadn't been jaded enough, hadn't been prepared when the toll of conflict began to hit successively closer to home, eventually ripping her entire world apart.

The first hard blow had been when Tenzou never returned from a scouting mission along the Iwa border. He and his team of chuunin were never recovered. They were never that close, but Sakura had thought of him like a favorite uncle and he had been a good friend of Kakashi's, and it was painful to lose him. And then it was Ino, brought home by her grieving teammates, carried in the arms of her husband who soon followed her.

A year passed, many more were lost, and Sakura began to feel jaded again. Until that day, on that large and bloody battlefield, when they lost Sai. Sakura had been there; she had clung to him and sobbed in helpless anger, unable to save him. He died in her arms with a smile, thanking her for teaching him so many things and helping him understand friendship. After that day the wound in her heart would not close. But Sakura didn't know the meaning of true pain until the day Naruto brought Sasuke home. Sasuke had sacrificed himself to save Naruto, a true brother to the very end. They told her he died instantly; there was nothing she could have done. But she still hated herself for not having been there.

Four years after that pointless war began, Kakashi was lost on a classified mission of vital importance. The pain of losing him nearly killed her. She had _wanted_ to die, only Naruto and the deep-seated knowledge that Kakashi would want her to live kept her from finding a way to make it happen. He succeeded in his mission, and they gained an advantage that ultimately led to their victory. The Copy Ninja was a hero, a legend of Hidden Leaf. But to Sakura those praises meant less than nothing because the man she loved was gone, and a huge part of her was gone with him.

Sakura stopped counting after that; stopped counting dead friends and comrades, stopped counting passing days with and end nowhere in sight. So she didn't know how long after that Hinata was lost, just that the only part of Naruto that hadn't broken with the loss of Sasuke now crumbled and evaporated with the loss of his wife. The clouded day of the funeral, as her only remaining friend desperately cradled his three year-old son in his arms, Sakura watched him die inside. As the light left his eyes forever, she wondered if Naruto had watched the same thing happen to her. She hated herself for feeling bitter in her grief, for thinking that at least Naruto had his son…that she had nothing left of Kakashi but beautiful and painful memories. They had never wanted a child, but in the aftermath of losing him the thought was only natural.

That was when Sakura realized that none of them would ever recover. All she could do was share Naruto's grief and pain with him and try to bring and end to this war. All they had left now was each other.

Less than a year later her world ended. Stone sealed the Eight Tails into an adult jinchuuriki and set the crazed and uncontrolled shinobi loose upon Konoha in a final attempt at victory. Naruto met him on the battlefield that had once been the forest surrounding their village, as the Hokage, and as a fellow jinchuuriki. The Rokudaime Uzumaki Naruto fought to save his village in a legendary battle that would be remembered in every shinobi history book written from that day forward. He was victorious, and like his father before him he saved the devastated village from utter destruction. But that wasn't what Sakura remembered about that day. Those things didn't matter to her, because also like his father before him, their salvation had ultimately required his sacrifice. By the time she reached him, it was too late. Sakura would have given him the last drop of her chakra, of her blood – had tried to do so – anything at all to save him. But he knew, and he was content with his fate. He had stopped her futile attempts with a smile and a gentle hand, told her to _let him go_ and apologized for leaving her behind. His last breath was a request for Sakura to someday find happiness again. It had been raining that day, a fitting tribute as the heavens wept with her and the entire village at the loss of the unloved orphan who had become their most treasured hero.

That was the day her heart died, and since that day she had not shed a single tear.

Even now as she walked through the dusty streets under the sweltering sun and remembered the events that left her in this harsh world alone, Sakura only felt hollow and empty. There were no more tears to shed. One could not be heartbroken when one no longer possessed a heart. Her soul was stripped bare and she existed without living, a ghost with only memories to keep her company. She was nothing but scar tissue.

How had she survived it all? Why was she the only one left? She had asked many times, to herself, to _their_ ghosts, to the uncaring universe. But an answer never came. It was bitter irony that she now understood Kakashi more than ever, and he was not here for her to tell him. It seemed to be her fate to be left behind by those she loved. They had always left her behind when they were children. For a blissfully sweet time that seemed like a faraway dream she had walked beside them. Now they had left her behind once more, waiting for the day she would finally catch up again.

The only reason Sakura hadn't followed them was because she had a responsibility to help see it through to the end, to assure the sacrifices of those she mourned were not in vain. Eventually they had won, though she couldn't remember how. She had healed and she had saved whom she could. She trained a new generation of medics using the knowledge and guidance her master had given her. She worked with Shikamaru, one of the few remaining Rookie Nine, now the new and reluctant Hokage on whose shoulders the future of Konoha would fall. She did her duty numbly, existing only for others, for she had already died.

Konoha was not the only village to be devastated and left to rebuild the pieces of their ruined society. Although Akatsuki never saw the fruition of their efforts, in the end they succeeded in their goal to topple the shinobi infrastructure. It would be years before the once-great nations regained their former glory. Some like Suna may never recover. With the end of the war came the end of shinobi life as they knew it. The hidden villages were broken, barely functioning. There was no hiring out, no more accepting missions from the general public. It was all they could do to survive and support their own. The hidden villages became hidden once again, as they were in their founding days; closed off from outsiders and focused on self-reliance. Enemies and allies alike now had little or no concern for anyone but themselves.

When the dust settled, when people stopped dying and the rebuilding began, Sakura made the decision to leave Konoha. She was no longer needed, and she felt no obligation to stay. Shikamaru had understood and let her go. There was nothing for her there, nothing that wasn't too painful to be around. For a while she had tried to help Hanabi, who was now raising her own son and her sister's. But the pain the two women shared was too great, and every time they looked into each other's eyes they saw their own sorrow reflected back at them. It was easier not to look. Hardest of all was looking at those two little boys, both resembling their fathers so closely, invoking memories too painful to recall. Sakura was not as strong as Kakashi had been; she couldn't look at those names on the monument every day and remember a time when they stood warm and real beside her. She couldn't look at Naruto's face on the mountain and know she would never see that bright smile again. So she left, with a vague promise that she wouldn't stay away forever and that she would see those boys again before they were grown, and she had not looked back.

For two years now Sakura had wandered, working as an independent contractor like so many others who found their former homes too difficult to remain in. She traveled, offering her skills for hire, both as a medic and as an elite ninja. It was almost like the life of a missing-nin she'd gotten a taste of nearly eight years ago among Akatsuki, without the constant running and hiding and fighting for her life, though she'd had her share of that too. In the beginning it was rough, because there were still civilian bounty hunters and even a few renegade ninja who tracked those in the Bingo books. Sakura had been in it since her time with Akatsuki and the events that happened in Grass and Earth, just as they had predicted she would be. There were no missing nin anymore—the villages who had wanted their soldiers returned no longer cared nor had the funds to pay for the collection. But there were always some in the private sector who wanted them for some past grievance, and some who only did it for sport. It had been a while since she'd had a run in with a bounty hunter, and it hadn't ended well. For him. She'd left a clear message to others who may think to try where he failed, and she hoped they would leave her in peace.

Even though her life out here was unforgiving, she couldn't bring herself to go back. Konoha wasn't her home anymore. Her team had been her home. There was no reason to go back. The harsh reality of this wandering life she could handle, she was hardened to it and more than strong enough to survive out here. But being in Konoha, living among its people and walking through its streets without seeing _their_ faces, without hearing _their_ voices…that she could not handle, and so she stayed away.

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Sakura squinted and shook her hair away from her dampened brow as she peered up at the wrought iron lettering over her head. This was the place. She approached the gates of the industrial complex and informed the armed guards who she was and why she was there, and they indifferently escorted her to a large concrete building guarded by more armed men. Some were shinobi, some weren't, but she paid them little attention. One rich contractor who made himself feel big and important by hiring masses of cut-rate thugs was the same as the next.

The goons opened the heavy door and let her inside, and she nearly sighed in relief as the cold blast of air-conditioning hit her face. She was in some sort of reception office, and the dirty brutes lounging around enjoying the cool air blatantly leered at her. One of the men disappeared through a back door. The biggest and ugliest of the bunch hauled his feet off the desk and set them on the floor with a thud before standing. He walked up slowly and stopped right in her face, clearly trying to intimidate. Whether he did that to everyone or if it was just because she was female Sakura didn't know, but she was neither impressed nor intimidated in any case.

"Well looky here. You a kunoichi?"

Apparently he was the smelliest of his comrades too, and she fought the urge to turn her face away, knowing he would only think it fear. Instead she sneered at him. "No, I'm the new nanny."

Perhaps he was too stupid to understand sarcasm, because he looked down at her weapon holster as if to make sure, before chuckling and speaking to his comrades. "This one's got a smart mouth. So unattractive in a woman." They grunted and murmured in agreement and he turned back to Sakura. "You sure don't look like much of a kunoichi, so pretty and pink." He grinned. "What's your name, sweetheart?"

Her blank expression didn't change. "None of your fucking business."

He grunted what could have been an attempt at menacing laughter. "We got a hot one this time, boys! Hmm. Maybe we'll be seeing you around later, sweetheart, and you can get to know us a little better."

She knew what he meant, but the thought barely registered because it didn't matter. They were laughable. Sakura smiled coldly at him, and the look in her eyes made him pause in his swaggering. Then the door in the back opened and the man who had gone through it emerged.

"He'll see you now."

Sakura sidestepped the large man and walked toward the door. As she passed him his hand shot out, intent on groping her ass as she walked by. She nonchalantly caught his hand, and with a little press of chakra in her fingertips, cleanly snapped his wrist. He howled in shock and pain as he cradled his mangled hand, and she continued through the door without breaking stride or ever glancing in his direction.

She was led to a back office and let inside. The dim room was choked with the sickeningly sweet stench of cigar smoke. It curled thickly in the air, illuminated by the slats in the blinded windows. At the other end of the room was a large wooden desk, and behind it sat the contractor. She could barely make out his features as his back was to the brightly outlined window, but he was large and burly and balding, and in his mouth was the source of the room's haziness.

"I am Yotsuba," he stated, leaning back in his chair while appraising her. "You're here about the contract, I presume?"

"Yes."

"What's your name?"

"Sakura." She had stopped giving her surname to potential employers some time ago

He was clearly amused. "Sakura, huh? I suppose it'd be pointless to tell you the name suits you." She gave no reaction, and he shifted in his seat before continuing. "Something about your name and appearance rings familiar. I think I've heard of you before."

"It's possible."

He chuckled. "Well if the kunoichi I'm thinking of _is_ you, I must say I'm pleased to make your acquaintance. The partner I hired for you to work with on this job has something of a reputation too, it seems. He scared the piss out of my men when he came in here last week. Apparently they said something he didn't like too well and he put two of them out of service for a few days." He looked at her perceptively. "You didn't leave me with a mess to clean up too, did you?"

She didn't answer, but the slight raise of her brow and twist of her lips told him enough. He sighed and waved a hand indifferently. "Serves them right for not knowing better, I suppose. They're nothing more than peons, but what are you gonna do? If I only hired ninja of your caliber to fill their ranks it'd break me."

_Her caliber_. The fact that he gauged her power just by looking at her confirmed her suspicion: he was a shinobi, or at least a former one. She could feel his latent chakra ever since she entered the room, and she also knew it was nowhere near her level. He was nothing more than a businessman as far as she was concerned.

"Not one for pleasantries huh? You know, you and your partner aren't that different, you should get along quite well. That is, if you accept the job. And I'm hoping that you do."

"Why don't you tell me about it first," she said bluntly.

"Straight to the point, I can respect that. First, let me ask you this: how old are you?"

Sakura frowned. "What does that matter? I'm young enough to fit the description you gave."

"Indeed you are the perfect candidate, young and lovely. But humor me."

She stared at him a moment, then sighed irritably. "Twenty-six."

Yotsuba nodded, pleased. "Twenty six. It's a good age, and considering you're a ninja it indicates your skill. Your partner is of a similar age, if he told the truth. That will work nicely, and it was why I asked. Too young to be old, too old to be innocent." He chuckled.

"The contract?" she reminded curtly, glaring at him now.

He gestured to the air around him, indicating nothing and everything in particular. "As you can see, I own this complex and the factories here. I'm a businessman. But everyone has their hobbies, and mine is collecting rare and valuable artifacts. Antiques mostly. Nothing in this office of course, I keep my collection well guarded and cared for. Anyway, there is a particular item I've had my eye on for some time—a very old and very valuable sword. I've set my mind on acquiring it, but there is just one problem."

"It belongs to someone else," she ventured.

He smiled cunningly. "Precisely. It is currently in the possession of another collector of fine items, a fellow successful businessman by the name of Shingo."

"Have you tried to buy it from him?"

He smiled wickedly. "You clearly don't know much a bout the nature of private collectors. He would never sell. Besides, why would I want to do something like that when I can pay you to steal it for me?" The question was rhetorical, and he continued his explanation. "Shingo owns a chain of high-end hotels all along the islands east of here and below Water country. At the end of next week he's holding an exhibition gala at his largest resort, where he will be showcasing some of his more impressive pieces, the sword among them. I want you and your partner to go there and find a way to steal the sword."

"Seems easy enough. So why do you need two shinobi?"

He laced his hands in front of him on the desk. "This particular resort is primarily patronized by couples—sort of a honeymoon destination, if you will. You and he will play the part of newlyweds to avoid suspicion."

Sakura pursed her lips wryly. That just figured, didn't it?

He noticed her expression change. "Is that a problem?"

"No. It's nothing I haven't done before."

"Good to know. So then you accept the job?"

"Yes."

He smiled again. "Excellent. Now then, you'll meet your partner at this location tomorrow evening. This is the room number. He should already be waiting for you." Yotsuba scribbled the information on a piece of paper. "The two of you will head out from there and check in at the resort, stay for the next week or so, and leave the night of the gala with my sword. He has all of the reservation info with him already, and you two can go over it when you meet."

"Why didn't he stick around to meet me beforehand?"

"He said he didn't care who his partner was, he would do the job anyway. I respect a professional." Sakura walked forward to take the paper with the information. Yotsuba held onto it for a second, and she got her first clear look at his stern features as he smirked up at her. "Maybe you should use the opportunity to loosen up some, eh? Five star resort, tropical beaches, all expenses paid…by me of course. And a fat paycheck once you get the job done. Your partner's a handsome enough guy. Who knows, you may have a little fun." He smirked.

Sakura glared and tugged the paper, forcing him to let go lest he rip it in half. "I'm not doing this for fun. And I'll give you fair warning right now. This newlywed thing—it's an _act_. I'll tell the same thing to this partner of mine and if he even _tries_ to make it otherwise, you'll be paying his half of the contract to me because he'll be too dead to collect it."

Yotsuba stared at her a moment, then let out a hearty laugh and shook his head. "Such beauty wasted on such a cold woman. Have it your way; all I care about is my sword."

She turned and left the office without another word.

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Late afternoon the next day, Sakura arrived in the small outskirt village where she would meet her partner. The ferry ride over to the large island had taken all morning and was boring and uneventful, though still unpleasant as the waiting lounge had smelled like urine and it was too hot to stand outside. After debarking, she spent most of the afternoon trudging along the road through a thick tropical forest to her destination, the sweltering heat and humidity putting her in a foul mood before noon. She hadn't eaten all day, since she wasn't exactly keen to stop on the side of the road in a jungle where giant insects and monkeys were likely to steal her lunch or bite her head off.

The town itself wasn't much better. The main street was brightly colored and lined with shops and stalls to attract visitors, but signs of extreme poverty lurked just behind the vibrantly painted corners, where starving dogs and equally feral children peered at her from the backstreets. Strange to think that less than ten miles away was a cheery little town that was carefully controlled by the resort and thrived off of its patronage, a place where children could run and play at night with no fear. This place was the sort of town that lured tourists and took advantage of them by ripping them off or by outright mugging. It was a dangerous place for unsuspecting travelers.

Sakura was not one of those, and she acknowledged these details with a weary eye and continued down the road. She was tired and hungry and cranky, and she was glad this mission was paying so well because she disliked it more with every passing hour. Of course this kind of money for such a simple job made her suspicious. She hadn't survived this long by being a fool, but she would still do the job, keeping her guard up and her eyes open. From the description of the shinobi wanted and what Yotsuba had said about the man he hired, she was optimistic that at least she wouldn't have to play loving bride to a burly sweaty beast-man. Small favors, she supposed. He could still be a total creep.

That thought in mind, she glanced at the paper with the name of the hotel where she was to meet Mr. Right-for-the-week. She had plenty of time, and decided she needed a strong drink before dealing with that business. Sakura made her way to the first tavern in sight. Inside, she tried not to cough as a wave of cigarette smoke and the stench of a crowded unventilated room in summer hit her nostrils, and she ignored the sudden lowering of voices and heavy stares as she entered.

She took a seat at the bar and slumped forward, elbows on the sticky unpolished surface. The bartender came up and fixed her with a leer to rival his slimiest patrons. "What'll it be, doll?"

"Whiskey," she said without looking up.

"Ice?"

"No." He walked away, returning a moment later to set the glass down in front of her. She didn't acknowledge him, and he faded out of her line of sight again. Sighing, she grabbed the glass and downed its contents. She made a face, not because it burned, but because it was obviously watered and tasted like week-old piss. "Another," she ordered, not bothering to be nice since he didn't bother to serve decent liquor and not stare at her chest when he talked to her.

He came back and set it down, and she drained it. The greasy bartender ogled her as she continued to stare at the wooden surface in front of her. "Want the bottle?" he chuckled.

This place was not helping her mood, and she was tired of the drunken men whispering and staring suggestive holes in her back. "No. That shit is disgusting." She slapped a few bills down on the bar, then stood and walked out.

Within the first minute she realized she was being followed. Well, let them follow her, whoever they were they would get a nasty surprise if they had ideas about mugging her. She kept walking.

Half a mile later her stomach did a sharp flip-flop, and she was suddenly severely lightheaded. _Fuck_. Her vision blurred slightly and it became difficult to walk in a straight line. The goddamn bartender had drugged her, and she men following her were undoubtedly from the bar.

Why did this shit always happen to her? _Because you're a petite female with pink hair and a pretty face_, her inner voice reminded, as she began to work chakra through her system to flush out the toxin. "Fucking damn it!" With those two shots she had apparently ingested enough drugs to knock out a horse. She couldn't work it out fast enough to remain unaffected. She was going to pass out soon. Sakura was furious. At herself for being stupid, but mostly at the men who thought they would have a little fun at her expense. They picked the wrong day to mess with her, and she was in no mood to go easy on anyone.

Sakura slowed and purposely faltered her steps to appear more affected than she currently was (though she knew it wouldn't be long until she was fumbling for real) and turned the corner onto a backstreet where she knew they would come out and attack her. A minute later they appeared and quickly surrounded her. There were five of them, but they didn't attack, intending to wait for her to go down on her own so they didn't have to do any work. _What scum_. She veered toward one of them, appearing to sway on her feet. She elbowed him in the face and he went down; out cold with a broken nose.

Sakura laughed inwardly. These guys were nothing more than common thugs and she wouldn't even need any chakra. In thirty seconds all five were unconscious and bleeding in the dirt. She cast them a scathing glance, and swayed as her legs wobbled, this time for real. She had to get away from here before she passed out or any of them woke up.

Sakura left the alley and made her way toward the hotel where she was supposed to meet her partner. No matter how fast her chakra worked in her system, she knew she was going down soon. She wasn't going to make it to the hotel, but she needed to get out of the open before the drug overtook her. As she groggily looked for some form of shelter she thought she saw a large shadow pass over her head, but when she looked up the sun blinded her and stabbed at her blurry eyes. She turned and stumbled into another back alley behind a souvenir shop and slumped against the wall as her legs finally failed her.

_Well, shit. The perfect ending to the perfect day_, she thought irritably as forced sleep began to creep up on her. She would be late to the rendezvous, but she would probably be out until well after dark so he was just going to have to deal with it.

Her ears were ringing dully in her head so she thought she may be imagining it, but as her vision swam and she gave in to unconsciousness she thought she heard a rhythmic rushing sound, like the flapping wings of some great bird. The last thing she saw was a bright flash of yellow before darkness took her.


	2. Reunion

**Silver Lining**

Chapter Two: Reunion

* * *

He watched her as she slept, the quiet rhythm of her breathing the only sound in the room. He leaned over in the chair he'd pulled up beside the bed, rested his elbows on his knees and tilted his head a little, still not quite believing what he was looking at. Or rather; _who_. He could only think of one reason why she would be in a place like this, and he could barely believe that either. Apparently the universe had a wicked sense of humor.

He reached out and carefully brushed the hair from her face so he could see her features better. Or maybe he just wanted to touch her again and confirm she was indeed real and _here_.

Her soft coral hair was different—still short but longer than before, brushing her collarbones. Her hitai-ate was gone, and that small detail told him a lot about the current version of the woman asleep on the bed. He guessed that like him, she still had it somewhere. Ninja didn't give up their hitai-ate. Ever. It was a symbol of what they were, even if they scratched it out and held no loyalty to the village whose icon was engraved on it. Her face was different as well, but that was to be expected after so many years. The roundness of a young girl barely out of childhood was gone, her soft angular features thinned out and elegant. She was a grown woman now, and far more beautiful than he remembered…but memories became clouded with time and pictures in the Bingo books never did anyone justice.

He took in the rest of her appearance, letting his eyes wander slowly over her figure, noticing with small amusement that she didn't seem to have gotten any taller. She still had the same preference in clothing; sleeveless shirt with a high collar that zipped in front, long fingerless gloves, formfitting shorts under a buckled apron he knew held medical supplies and other more sinister items. Knee-high leather boots that he'd secretly always thought were just about the sexiest accessory he'd ever seen a woman wear. Everything she wore was black, and he recalled her preference for dark colors that didn't clash with her bright hair.

There were small changes to her figure as well. In some places she was leaner, more toned, and at the same time in other places she was softer and rounder, more developed and feminine. But the change that interested him most he couldn't see yet, for her striking green eyes were still closed as she slept off the remnants of the drug she'd ingested. Did those eyes still burn with that inner fire? He knew something of what she'd been through, and that brought up another set of questions. What would she say when she woke up and saw him? What would she do?

It seemed he was about to find out, because she murmured softly and began to stir. He sat up and leaned back a little so she wouldn't try to break his face before she got her bearings. It had been almost two hours since he'd found her and brought her here. Whatever was in her system, there was a lot of it. He'd seen her from the air, stumbling along the road until she passed out behind that shop. At first he'd wondered if she was drunk, but when he'd landed and reached her she was out cold it was clear she'd been drugged. As always her healing abilities were amazing, and even while unconscious the filtering she set in motion before passing out had burned off the effects of the toxin in half the time it would take a normal person.

Sakura murmured again and shifted onto her back, her head falling to the side as she regained consciousness and her eyes cracked open slightly. The room was dim, the fading light of dusk through the window faintly illuminating her surroundings. This was definitely not where she'd passed out, but she felt no alarm at the moment; something in her subconscious told her there was no reason to be alarmed. However, she did sense another presence near her, and she opened her eyes a bit to try and make out the half-shadowed figure. An eerily familiar silhouette and long, pale blond hair were all her bleary eyes could make out. "Deidara…" she half-whispered at the unclear image.

The man gave a quiet huff of amusement and smirked at her subconscious recognition.

Then Sakura's eyes adjusted and her mind focused and she shot up in the bed in shock as she realized this was neither a dream nor a hallucination. "_DEIDARA? !_"

Deidara just grinned at her. He couldn't find anything cool or clever to say in such a surprising situation, so he settled for the only thing he could think of, "Sakura," and let his tone convey the rest.

She reached out as if to touch him and make sure he was really there, but then dropped her hand in her lap. She shook her head in bewilderment. "I…I heard you were dead…" she breathed in awe.

His grin softened a bit and he shrugged. "I heard that too. Looks like that rumor was a false one, yeah."

So many things were racing through her mind it was making her head spin. Or maybe it was just the drugs. But the main thing was that _Deidara was here_, in the same room with her after eight years of never thinking to see him again and despite reports that he was long dead. Her heart did a little flip when she heard that casually mumbled 'yeah' from his lips. Sakura was overwhelmed by relief and a jumble of other things she couldn't name. She had mourned for him. Despite the war, despite everything, when she heard he was dead she had cried in private. But he wasn't dead; he was _here_!

She threw herself at him, flinging her arms around his shoulders. "I'm so glad you're alive!"

She was squeezing so hard he could barely breathe, but Deidara didn't care. He returned the embrace nearly as tightly and gave a short, breathless laugh. "So am I, yeah. And I'm happy to see you too."

Sakura hugged him tighter, but when he emitted a small cough she sheepishly let go. She looked around to see she was in what appeared to be a cheap hotel room. A few things clicked in her still-fuzzy brain and she sat back and looked at him in confusion. "You brought me here?"

He nodded. "I saw you from the air, but by the time I got to you, you were already passed out, yeah. What the hell did you take?"

She recalled the large shadow passing over her and realized it must have been him on his bird. And then the sound…and she thought she saw… Her thoughts were still a bit clouded, but her expression darkened at his question. "Fucking bartender in the local tavern drugged me and sent some guys after me. It's not hard to guess why."

Something flickered across his expression briefly, but it soon vanished. "I don't remember you being that careless."

She gave him a look, but she couldn't be mad because he was right. "I've had a bad day," she muttered sourly.

Deidara smirked at her petulance. "Hm. It could've been worse, yeah. You're probably lucky I'm the one that found you."

She nodded sullenly. "But…what are you doing here anyway?"

His smirk turned mischievous. "I'm on a mission."

Sakura stared at him a moment, and then it dawned on her. "You…_no way_…_You're_ my partner? !"

"Looks that way, yeah."

She shook her head, wide-eyed. "I can't believe it. What are the odds?"

He gave a small shrug. "Maybe it's fate."

Sakura studied him a long moment, taking in his appearance. He didn't look much different; slightly older though still youthful, his fine-boned features more defined. His hair was still long, half of it tied back in a topknot, but his hitai-ate was gone. A long, thin scar ran from his earlobe along and under his jaw, stopping just below his chin. He wore a dark v-neck shirt with a mesh tank underneath, and black pants that were tucked into dark grey leg guards over black boots.

On the whole he looked better, and seemed happier than she remembered. But Sakura knew he was a rebel and a free spirit, and she supposed being tied to a group like Akatsuki had weighed upon him quite a bit.

The cloak and ring were gone, of course—he wasn't Akatsuki anymore. There _was_ no Akatsuki anymore. But as they regarded each other she couldn't help but think it; that's exactly what he had been. _Akatsuki_. The organization responsible for the destruction of her home, the ruin of shinobi society, and the loss of everything and everyone she ever loved. But this was _Deidara_ in front of her. This was her _friend_. What happened wasn't his decision or his doing, and it wasn't fair to make him a scapegoat just because he was the only one left. Though he still wasn't blameless. It was Akatsuki's overambitious goal to control the bijuu that eventually led to all that destruction and chaos, and he had been an active part of that early process. But he wasn't even there during the war; he had already been declared dead.

Her thoughts about him were confused and racing in circles, her feelings swinging back and forth between the Akatsuki member and her friend from long ago. They were really one in the same, weren't they? But how could she hate Deidara?

That's when Deidara saw it; the hardness in her eyes that spoke of everything she'd been through. It was exactly what he hadn't wanted to see in those once-bright depths. That fire he so admired was still there behind the wall, but it was dim and dying, suffocating under the weight of her sorrow. He hated that. She was looking at him like she didn't quite know what to make of him, and he knew why.

This tense awkwardness wasn't how Sakura wanted her unexpected reunion with Deidara to go, so she gave him a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes and decided to let it go. For now. Someday they would have to talk about it, because she needed to hear it from him. What 'it' was, she didn't know. Just something, anything to explain and shine a clear light on her mixed up feelings.

Mixed feelings or not, she was happy he was alive, and she wouldn't deny she was very glad to see him again. He was the only person she cared about who was still alive, though she hadn't known that until ten minutes ago. Now he was back in her life and somehow she didn't feel so alone anymore.

They continued to stare at each other, neither one really knowing what to say next. It was starting to get uncomfortable.

Deidara could see that she had a lot of questions but was reluctant to go there. He couldn't help but feel a little relieved by that, so he went along with keeping things lighthearted for now. "I guess now that you're awake we should go over the mission details, yeah," he offered casually.

Sakura nodded. "I still can't believe you're my partner for this." Then it dawned on her exactly _what_ that entailed. Their cover was as newlyweds. She was going to be playing the part of the adoring bride…to Deidara. Could this get any weirder? They hadn't seen each other in eight years, and now they were thrown together again in the most unlikely situation. They had to get used to each other all over again, and they had to do it while pretending to be a couple in love.

This mission just got a lot more complicated. Sakura couldn't help but think it may have been easier if her partner had been a creepy stranger after all.

Deidara was thinking something similar, and the silence stretched again.

They were saved when her empty stomach growled loudly. Deidara laughed, and Sakura frowned as she held her arms over her stomach. "I haven't eaten today," she explained sheepishly.

He smirked and stood up. "Let's talk about the job over dinner then."

She got off the bed and stretched her legs a little, and then followed him out the door.

* * *

Sakura scraped the last morsel of food over her plate and onto her fork, and then shoved it into her mouth. Deidara sat across from her, watching with amusement as she gorged herself. They hadn't talked about anything specific since leaving the hotel and finding this small café. Evidently she was too hungry to manage a conversation while eating. It reminded him of the first time they'd ever really talked—in the kitchen of his family home while she'd stuffed her face with shrimp tempura.

"So, Yotsuba…" she began, swallowing and washing it down with her icewater. "He said he gave you the reservation info and other details?"

Deidara nodded. "He also gave me quite a bit of pocket money, even though this resort's supposedly all inclusive. I guess he figured we might need it for something, yeah." He reached into his pocket, withdrew some folded paperwork and passed it to her. "That's the reservation and the cover. We check in tomorrow night at seven, and the exhibition is next weekend. He left it to us to figure out the execution."

She looked over the documents, scanning the reservation and their cover names and stories. "Yamada…Tarou and Ayame. That's a bit too generic to really avoid all suspicion," she remarked, glancing up at him.

He shrugged. "A little, but some people do have boring generic names. I doubt it will make a difference."

"I guess. Figures that even undercover I can't escape being a flower," she said wryly.

"Being a flower suits you."

Sakura looked up at him, not sure exactly where he was coming from with that comment. He had always been like that; speaking his mind in such a frank way that it was sometimes hard to figure out what context he intended, or if his words meant more than simple observation.

"Though I think you're more like nightshade than a cherry blossom, yeah," he added with a smirk.

She huffed indignantly, recalling the long list of severely unpleasant effects that plant had on people, including rashes, intestinal problems, and death. "Oh, _thanks_. What exactly are you implying?"

"Well, the flowers are unique and pretty and the berries are sweet, it has hallucinogenic properties and you're good with genjutsu, and it even has medicinal purposes. But if you don't understand the nature of it, if you underestimate its potential or handle it carelessly, it can seriously fuck you up."

Sakura had to smile a little. As strange as the context was, it was probably the most thorough and well-rounded compliment anyone had ever paid her. She shook her head amusedly. "You and your metaphors."

"I can't help it if I'm clever and think in artistic ways, yeah."

She smiled at his playful arrogance, and continued perusing the papers he'd given her. Inside the resort brochure was a flyer for the black-tie exhibition being held next weekend—the night they would steal one of the showcased items. "So we're supposed to just sit around the whole week before the exhibition and what, work on our tans?"

"I guess so. It'll probably only take a couple days to figure out how to steal it, so the rest of the time I guess we kick back and maintain our cover. It seems more like a vacation than a mission, yeah."

Sakura nodded and read through the pamphlet, frowning a little at the pictures. It was typical advertising for a tropical resort: white sand and clear turquoise waters, snorkeling with colorful fish, attractive couples embracing on a beach at sunset. Deidara's comment about vacations reminded her of what Yotsuba teased her about when she accepted the mission. The glossy images in the brochure reinforced that idea, and she forced herself to switch gears before she thought too much about the implications.

"Yotsuba's sure going to a lot of trouble and expense for one antique sword, don't you think? This cover of ours has got to be expensive, and he's paying us a lot of money for a job that seems so simple. And then there's the fact that he's a former shinobi…"

Deidara nodded. "I thought the same thing, yeah. But he's not really going to that much trouble if you think about the fact that it would probably cost him a hell of a lot more buy the thing from our target than to pay us to steal it, even with the extravagant side expenses. And as far as him being a former shinobi, well, I'm sure you noticed he's not a very powerful one. He's not like you and me, who can make a good living as a ninja. He probably retired a long time ago to try and make more money as a businessman."

"You're probably right, and I'm just overthinking like usual. But still, we should keep our eyes open," she warned casually, handing the paperwork back to him.

Deidara took the papers and put them away, giving her a pointed look. "Who do you think you're talking to, hm?"

It was true. Deidara was probably better at watching his back than Sakura was at watching hers. She tilted her head and regarded him curiously. "You were declared dead over six years ago, Deidara. How is it you're still alive? What happened between then and now?" she asked quietly.

Deidara took a moment to answer, deciding what to tell her and how to say it. Not that he had any secrets, he just didn't want it to get awkward again. "When the sealing jutsu failed and the statue broke, I wasn't there. I was on a scouting mission. I heard about the demons getting loose and went back to find out what happened…but there was nothing left of that place. They totally destroyed it, and everyone was gone."

Sakura could only imagine the chaos and destruction of eight gigantic, enraged primordial demons suddenly set loose together in a single enclosed space. "What about…Kisame? Do you know what happened to him?"

He gave a small laugh. "Kisame was with me, yeah. You knew the Akatsuki members always traveled and did missions in pairs."

She blinked in surprise. "So he became your partner…after?"

"After we both lost our previous ones? Of course he did. I thought you would have known that."

She really should have guessed. "So he's alive now?" she asked hopefully.

Deidara snorted amusedly. "Oh yeah. That old trout's got more lives than a cat. When we saw what happened, we weren't sure what to do from there so we laid low. We heard a few weeks later that Akatsuki was broken and everyone was reported dead. I thought about it for a few days and decided I wasn't going to try and find anyone else. I was done. Things in the end got totally out of control and went to shit. The statue wasn't the only thing that was unstable in the last few months—there were problems internally as well, yeah. We always knew Pein was a madman, but it was always in a controlled and calculating way, you know? And that was okay with us because, hell, it's not like the rest of us are entirely sane."

She had to laugh a little at that. "I couldn't have put it better myself."

He smirked and continued. "Anyway, Pein didn't like failure and things started to get _really_ intense and unpleasant, if you know what I mean. Even Konan had a hard time dealing with him sometimes. When the war started, Kisame and I both felt a little wary about the way things were going, yeah."

"Wasn't Akatsuki's goal to gain world domination through a monopoly on warfare?" she cut in pointedly.

He frowned at her interruption, but let it go. She had a right to be angry about this particular subject. "Yes, but the original intention was to do it through political manipulation—taking down the village governments one by one, pulling the strings from outside, using the power gained through the bijuu to influence things. That's not what we were doing in the end. Pein started a world war not to take over the shinobi nations, but to wipe them out completely. He thought that if the world couldn't be the way he wanted it, then the world should end. I may be a killer, and I may be a bad person and a villain, but that level of evil wasn't something I was comfortable with, yeah."

Sakura regarded him thoughtfully. "I get it. And you're not a bad person, Deirara. I never really thought you were a true villain. You're more of an antihero." She smirked.

He laughed quietly. "Maybe. The thing is…you know I was forced into joining Akatsuki. I didn't want to belong to _any_ sort of establishment, but I didn't have a choice. And the only way out is to die, yeah. So when it became widely believed that I _was_ dead, I decided to let everyone keep thinking that and go my own way. I knew Pein wasn't dead; he wasn't even there when the demons broke loose. Kisame and I left just before it happened, but Pein broke contact before that. He didn't know we were already gone when the jutsu failed, that we survived. I told Kisame I wasn't going back to participate in that insane vengeance again, and he made the same decision. So we disappeared for a while…but we still heard about things happening in the shinobi world." He studied her a moment. "I heard you killed Konan, for example."

Sakura gave a faint nod. "I did, but not alone. She was very powerful."

"Just like you thought she would be, yeah."

"I'm surprised you remember that conversation."

"Of course I do. It eventually turned into a pretty big argument. I wouldn't forget calling you a hypocritical bitch." He grinned.

"And I called you a sadistic lunatic," she added, remembering that night with a strange sort of fondness.

He nodded. "And we were both wrong."

"_I_ was wrong. You were exactly right."

"Not really. You weren't a hypocrite. You just didn't know differently back then."

Sakura didn't have an answer for him, at least not one she wanted to voice aloud. She wasn't so sure he was right. Wasn't she being a hypocrite right this minute? He had been Akatsuki, yet she couldn't hold anger toward him simply because he was _Deidara_ and he had always been good to her. If it had been another member, one she had no history with, she would have driven her fist through his skull, not be sitting here reminiscing about old times and feeling more relaxed and pleasant than she had in a very long time. But she didn't want to bring any of that up, so she turned the conversation to the only other Akatsuki she wouldn't try to kill on sight. "So where is Kisame now?"

Deidara knew she'd deliberately changed the subject, but he let it go. He seemed to do that a lot with her. Some irritating person might try to tell him it was guilt. Thankfully there were no irritating shark-men around at the moment. "The old bastard retired from shinobi life, yeah. He said he was tired of sticking his neck out for shit he didn't care about and he planned to find somewhere near water to get drunk and fish for the rest of his life."

Sakura gave a small dry laugh. "Now there's something I never would have thought about him. Except maybe the drunk part. When's the last time you saw him?"

"Ehh…a little over a year ago I think." She seemed surprised it was so recent, and he elaborated. "Well we both stayed there while we were lying low, yeah. I still go back every once in a while."

She raised an eyebrow. "Where's '_there_?' And why did you leave?"

"'_There'_ is a small rural island south of Mist, and I left after a couple years because I got bored sitting in one place and doing nothing. It's fine for an old man, but I needed some excitement. So I went back to working independently, yeah."

Sakura smiled. "That doesn't surprise me. I _am_ a bit surprised Kisame would settle so close to Mist, considering he's a missing-nin. If they ever find out he's alive they'll be all over him."

"Nobody looks for missing-nin anymore unless they have a personal grudge or are on some glory trip. It's the same for everyone in the Bingo books. You should know, yeah."

"Oh I do. But he's not just _some_ missing-nin, he's Hoshigake Kisame. He's probably the most wanted missing-nin in Mist's entire history. They may make an exception for him."

He gave a conceding nod. "Maybe. If it happens, it happens, yeah. He doesn't worry about it, so neither should we." He noticed her appraising him with a faint smile. "What?"

"You two became friends after all."

"That surprises you?"

"Kind of."

He shrugged. "We went through a lot of shit together as partners. I told you things got ugly in Akatsuki at the end. Besides, I didn't really know him back when we took you. Let's just say that even within a group as small as Akatsuki there were…cliques."

Sakura nodded, understanding his meaning. She knew a large part of it had to do with Deidara and Itachi disliking each other, naturally leaving Kisame – Itachi's partner – off the list of potential buddies. Once upon a time they'd all been a forced and surreal, but ultimately cherished part of her life. She hadn't thought about Itachi in a while, but her memories of their brief but profound relationship were always fond ones, and to this day she was grateful for the things he'd taught her, for knowing a part of him no one else ever had.

Deidara noticed her nostalgic expression and smiled a little, knowing she was remembering her time with them and that those memories were pleasant for her. "Hey…maybe after this job is done I'll take you to see the old man. If you want."

She looked up at him in surprise, then her features softened and she nodded. "I'd like that."

The activity on the street outside the café had grown quiet as the locals went home for the night. They had been here talking for so long they were the only patrons left in the place. "Looks like they're gonna close up soon. We should head back, yeah."

They paid the bill with Yotsuba's pocket money and left.

* * *

Back in the motel room, Sakura stripped down to her shorts and shirt, but it wasn't until Deidara took his shirt off leaving only the mesh tank underneath that the reality of the situation hit her.

Strangely, she found herself staring at his arms and shoulders and thinking his muscles were a lot more defined than she remembered. Well, duh. He was a ninja, what did she expect? They _all_ had nice physiques. Especially the men, and some were built better than others.

Deidara had noticed her watching him. Mentally slapping herself, she self-consciously focused her gaze elsewhere.

He seemed to share some of the awkwardness she was feeling. "You can have the bed, yeah. I'll just uh…" he muttered, gesturing to the floor.

Sakura huffed ironically, remembering a time she'd been in a similar situation, when she had been forced to share a bed with Itachi. _And look how we ended up after that_. She also remembered thinking at the time that she would rather have shared the room with Deidara since she was more comfortable with him. How perfectly ironic this was. The universe was one sadistic bastard.

"No, it's okay," she said. "I mean were going to have to get used to it right? We can't do something like that once we get to the resort, so… I mean it's not a big deal… It's not like we haven't slept close together before."

Eight years ago. Fully clothed and wearing heavy cloaks. In a cold, damp cave with a bunch of other people.

"Right," he replied casually, but a bit too quickly to pull it off.

Sakura stole covert glances at him as he moved about the room, focusing on the heavy scarring on the lower half of his left arm and the very noticeable one that encircled his right bicep where his arm had been reattached. She knew how he had gotten them, and it was entirely too obvious that they weren't normal scars that could be explained away as some random accident. At first glance he looked like a regular man, but those scars gave him away as a ninja or other military type, and that would not do for their cover. "Um…I should do something about those scars on your arms. Maybe try to erase them or at least fade them out a little."

Deidara glanced over at her with a small frown. "Why? I've had them for so long I don't even notice them anymore. Do they bother you or something?"

Now it was Sakura's turn to frown. "That's a stupid thing to think about me, Deidara," she reproved pointedly. "I'm a medic, _and_ I'm a ninja. I've seen a lot worse. It's just that were going to a beach resort, and I don't think you'll be able to get away with wearing long-sleeved shirts all the time. Those scars give you away as a fighter of some sort, and we can't have anything make us look suspicious."

He looked slightly contrite at her explanation. "Alright. You want to do it now?"

She nodded and motioned for him to sit with her on the bed. He did, the springs creaking slightly with the added weight, and crossed his legs under him. She sat the same way at an angle to him and took hold of his left arm first, examining it a moment before flooding her hands with chakra and setting to work.

It was quiet for a few minutes, and when Deidara looked at her he could tell by the set of her features that she was unhappy with something. "What's wrong?"

She glanced up at him in a brief glare, but didn't answer right away, focusing on her task until he began to wonder if she planned to ignore him. "It's just…what you said about your scars bothering me…" She sighed irritably. "I may have been that shallow when I was a little girl, but that was a long time ago, and–"

"I didn't mean it like that. I just meant…well, I don't know what I meant. But I don't think of you like that at all, okay? Sorry," he muttered. He felt like an ass now, something he wasn't used to. But it really had been a stupid thing to say; she was one of the most nonjudgmental people he'd ever known.

Sakura looked up and met his gaze. "Don't worry about it." Her chakra stopped and she tapped his arm. "Next."

Deidara looked down at his forearm and blinked in surprise. The worst of the scars from his battle with the Kazekage were now faded and smooth, unnoticeable unless you were looking up close. The lighter ones were completely gone. "Damn," he said, impressed. He absently lifted his right arm toward her as he stared at his left, and she scooted around his front to get a better position for that arm. That hadn't taken long at all. She really was something else.

The other arm took longer even though there was only one major scar. Sakura couldn't erase it, but when she was finished it was much paler and thinner and not as blatantly conspicuous as before. "Sorry, I can't get this one to fade completely; it's too thick and the scar tissue runs completely through."

He shrugged. They hadn't really bothered him all that much, but he couldn't help but be pleased with her results. "That's okay. It looks a lot better than it did. Maybe I'll get a tattoo to cover it or something."

"That's a good idea, actually. But speaking of tattoos…" She looked at his left shoulder, at the long-faded ANBU tattoo. "Anyone who's a ninja or has worked with ninja will know what this is, but…"

"Just do it, yeah."

She glanced at him skeptically. "You sure? I mean it's sort of significant…"

"Not to me. I cut those ties a long time ago. It's nothing but faded ink. Go ahead."

Sakura stared at him uncertainly for another moment, then nodded. She got up and walked into the bathroom, wetted a hand towel in the sink and came back. Focusing her chakra, she slowly pushed the old ink to the surface of his skin and out through his pores, using the towel to wipe the ink away, repeating the process until the skin was unmarked and smooth.

Deidara studied her handiwork and made an amused sound, then glanced up at her, noticing her drawn features and bloodshot eyes. "You look pretty tired, yeah."

She nodded wearily. "I'm exhausted. Nothing like walking all day through a jungle in hundred degree heat, ingesting the equivalent of a horse tranquilizer, passing out in a filthy back alley, and then waking up to see an old friend you thought was dead to wear a girl out."

He gave her a crooked, boyish grin, one that reminded her of happier times long ago. "I still can't believe we met again like this," she said softly.

"Me neither." He stood up with the ink-stained towel and turned toward the bathroom. He paused and looked at her as she crawled under the covers on the far side of the bed. "But I'm glad."

She gazed at him sleepily. "Me too."

Deidara tossed the wet cloth into the bathroom sink and finished his business. He came out and hesitantly got into 'his' side of the bed, making sure to leave a good deal of space between them, though the bed wasn't very large. Hearing her soft breathing, he glanced over at her and then smiled; she was already asleep. He turned on his side with his back to her and lay there, remembering the past and thinking about fate until he too drifted to sleep.


	3. Partners in Crime

**Silver Lining**

Chapter Three: Partners in Crime

* * *

Sakura was woken suddenly by a low distant rumbling and a small vibration. She lay there for several minutes, feeling for disturbances or anything that would give cause for alarm, but there was nothing, so she figured it must have been a small earthquake. Nothing to get excited about; she'd heard they were common in this part of the world.

Deidara wasn't in the room. He must have gone out for some morning errands, and she hoped he would bring food back with him because she didn't feel like going out. She lay in bed lazily, feeling no inclination to get up or be productive in general. She had never been a morning person, and after being chief medic to a village engaged in a violent and bloody war for the better part of five years she had learned to thoroughly enjoy a little downtime. Looking over at the empty space where Deidara had slept, she couldn't help but feel a little silly at her earlier reluctance. It really was no big deal after all.

Some kids were shouting down in the alley below the window. She couldn't hear what they were saying, but she did notice the street outside was a bit noisy for morning. Then she looked at the alarm clock on the bedside table and started. It was after 2pm. She had slept all night and most of the day away. The knowledge still didn't make her want to get out of bed, and with a yawn she stretched out and continued to lay there. She wasn't lying when she'd said she was exhausted the night before, and the aftereffects of being heavily drugged probably had a lot to do with it.

Deidara returned a while later, carrying a paper bag under one arm and several folded parcels in plastic under the other. He chuckled at seeing her still in bed, and she gave him a sheepish smirk and sat up as he kicked the door closed behind him and dropped the parcels on a chair.

"How long have you been gone?" she asked.

"Couple hours. Why?"

"Why didn't you wake me up earlier? I could have gone with you."

"You were pretty tired, so I let you sleep. I didn't do anything special, yeah."

"What are those?" She indicated the square objects he'd just dropped.

"Luggage. We can't check in for a weeklong vacation with just our backpacks."

Smart thinking. "But they're going to be empty…"

Deidara shrugged. "Doesn't matter; no one's going to handle them but us. They're just for show, yeah."

She nodded, but then tilted her head in thought. "But we'll probably need to get a few things to put in them eventually, like clothes to wear around the resort. We don't exactly dress like civilians."

He nodded. "We can deal with that when we get there, yeah. What we've got now will be fine for tonight, with a few adjustments."

Sakura noticed he'd already made his; his clay pouches were gone, as were his weapon holsters, and he'd removed the leg guards so that his dark pants fell untucked over his boots. He really did look normal. Almost. And she knew for a fact he only _appeared_ to be unarmed. No ninja was ever willingly weaponless.

"Hey, did you feel an earthquake a few minutes ago?"

"Nope," he said, and began rummaging in the smaller paper bag he'd brought.

She frowned a little. "Hm, I thought I did. What's that?"

"Breakfast, yeah. Or lunch I suppose." He removed two sealed cups of coffee and a small box of pastries out of the bag. He handed a cup and then the box to Sakura and sat on the bed next to her.

"Thanks." She gave him a small smile.

Deidara watched her as she took a sip of her coffee and made a face, then dug around in the bag until she found the sugar packets. He'd noticed that none of her smiles ever really reached her eyes. Even if they were real, they didn't light her up the way they used to, and the big bright ones were gone completely. She never seemed to be more than faintly amused or mildly pleased. Deidara knew why; her teammates were all famous in the shinobi world and he'd heard news of their deaths one after another. He knew they had been like family to her. He felt bad for Sakura, he didn't like seeing her like this, and even though he wasn't directly at fault for any of it, he still felt guilty by association. Guilt wasn't something he was used to feeling. Ever. And that bothered him.

After the small brunch Sakura finally got out of bed and got ready for their trip to the resort. The mission really began tonight, and she needed to prepare mentally and physically. For the physical part she altered her attire to look more casual; removing her gloves, medic apron and weapons– making sure to stash a few kunai into her boots. Over her shorts she donned the simple black miniskirt she kept for occasions like this. She could pass as a civilian woman this way, albeit a rather tough looking one. She would have to get some lighter clothes to soften her look a little. When she emerged from the bathroom she stood with her arms out for Deidara's inspection. "Good enough for a normal girl?"

Deidara appraised her new look, and the first response that came to mind was that there was nothing normal about her and that was a very good thing in his opinion. But he kept it to himself and simply grunted his approval. She nodded and went about her business, making sure her pack was in order and completely missing the way his eyes followed the sway of her skirt hem and traveled over her revealed legs as she moved around.

They went over the mission plan again and thoroughly worked out their cover story, of how they met and fell in love and all the other details they might be asked by people they met on their 'honeymoon.' It was a strange conversation to be having, but they managed to get it all worked out without any awkward moments, and when the time came they headed downstairs.

Sakura waited outside the motel entrance as Deidara took care of the checkout, leaning against the wall and ignoring the pre-dusk heat as she used her heightened shinobi hearing to eavesdrop on a group of local teenagers conversing on a bench a few yards away. A few minutes later the bell of the door clinked and she turned to see Deidara come out.

"Ready?"

"Yep," she said, pushing off the wall and following him out into the street.

They walked until they reached a more isolated area and stopped. Deidara reached into a small pouch on the side of his pack, and then he tossed something small and white into the air. A moment later a giant clay bird stood next to them. He noticed her staring at him with a suspicious and appraising expression. "What?"

Her eyes narrowed a little. "I overheard something interesting while I was waiting for you outside the motel."

"Oh yeah?"

"Mhm. Apparently there was a commotion in town this morning. The kids said the owner of a local bar was sent to the hospital with his nose, jaw, both of his arms and all of his fingers broken," she drawled.

Deidara looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "Huh. Must've really pissed someone off, yeah. Sounds like he had it coming."

"Hm. And _then_ a short time after that, some mysterious circumstance caused the building that same bartender owned to suddenly explode."

"Really? That's strange. I wonder if that's what woke you up earlier." He was fighting a wicked smirk.

Sakura was fighting her own smile at this point. She couldn't help but be a bit touched by his chivalrous but violent actions. "I just hope no one died in that explosion…"

He shrugged. "I doubt it. Places like that aren't usually open until late afternoon. I'm sure it was empty, yeah."

Sakura accepted his indirect answer to her indirect question. "Good."

"You know, I also heard something interesting while I was out this morning."

"What's that?"

"I heard that last night five of the local workers were found severely beaten in a back alley, and two of them were in comas."

"Really? They probably messed with the wrong person. This town seems like a pretty dangerous place; it's a good thing we're leaving."

They eyed each other for a long moment, fighting amusement at their little game of insinuation. Then they both lost it and laughed.

Deidara leapt up onto his bird with well-practiced ease and offered a hand down to Sakura. She stared at the giant clay construct uncertainly. She should have known this would be their method of travel, and she felt a bit nervous about having to ride in the air on this thing. She took a deep breath and grabbed his hand, letting him steady her as she jumped up next to him. The back was fairly wide, so she knelt beside him rather than behind, placing her hands flat on the clay surface. It was soft and pliable under her fingers, and even a bit warm. She didn't know why that surprised her, but it did.

Deidara smiled at her experimental investigation of his creation. "Pretty artistic, huh?" She looked up at him with a soft smirk. "You ready?" He waited for her slightly nervous nod. "It's gonna jerk at first, so hang on."

Sakura braced herself with chakra, and with a sharp lurch the bird leapt off from the ground. The tilting motion continued as the enormous wings stretched and flapped, and they began to lift up into the air. They rose higher and higher, and in a moment Sakura could see the rooftops of the town below. She realized she was digging little finger holes into the semi-soft clay from gripping so tightly. "I've never been up this high before," she said anxiously. Cliffs and rooftops were different—at least her feet were on the ground.

He grinned at her. "Relax, yeah. I won't let you fall."

Sakura eased her grip a little. They continued to ascend until the buildings were smaller than her hand and she could see the entire town below. Then the bird pushed forward and they began to move away.

As the swaying and rocking smoothed out into a steady rhythm of flapping wings, Sakura's nerves calmed and she took in the sights around her. It was incredible; she could see the entire landscape stretching out before her, the treetops of the jungle she'd walked through, small rivers lacing across the open fields. The sun was setting and they were gliding not far from the coast—she could see the ocean stretching away into the horizon. Up here the ugliness and hardship of the world seemed distant and insignificant. From up here everything was beautiful, and she felt incredibly liberated. There was a serenity to it; the gentle flap of wings, the warm evening air rushing over her face and body, exhilarating her. She felt free.

She glanced at Deidara and her breath hitched a little. His long hair blew in the wind, catching the last light from the sun. The same golden light played on his fair skin and there was something in his expression and aura she'd only seen once, that long ago day on the moor as they watched the sun set. Only now that look was much more prominent. There was a lightness to his expression that pronounced his youthful features, his blue eyes bright with some inner joy, and there was a small peaceful smile on his lips. His preference for creating birds in his art…his untamed personality…it all seemed to make sense. Sakura knew exactly what he was feeling in this moment because she was feeling it too.

Deidara sensed the uplifted change in her aura and looked over at her. Raising his voice to be heard over the wind, he grinned and said, "Like it?"

"This is amazing!" She was smiling, real and heartfelt for the first time in years, and she was so caught up in the thrill of flying that she didn't even notice.

But Deidara did.

Her large eyes were more expressive than he'd seen the entire time they'd been reunited, sparkling like emeralds as she took in the view. She seemed to have momentarily forgotten her sorrow and depression. Deidara knew what it was like to have the world fall away with every rising meter, and it made him happy to know he had taken her away from her troubles even for just a moment.

There was something in the way he was looking at her… It gave her a pleasant feeling, but at the same time something in her subconscious was nagging her and made her unsure what to think. She felt the urge to look away before those piercing eyes saw any deeper.

The clay bird suddenly hit an air pocket and rocked them sideways. Sakura squeaked in alarm and instinctively grabbed Deidara's arm. He wasn't fazed by the sudden jolt, but he held her upper arm to steady her. The space between them was close enough cut out some of the wind, and his voice was a little quieter than before. "Don't be so nervous, yeah. I told you I'm not going to let you fall."

His words somehow rang on more than one level, but Sakura didn't want to think about it, and simply gave him a small nod. She was secretly thankful for the excuse to break out of that strange spell of a moment, and when she let go of his arm she returned to watching the horizon in silence.

Deidara didn't get what had come over her and caused her to shut down. Then again maybe he did. But he didn't want to think about it, and so he concentrated on guiding the bird toward their destination. Sakura had always made him feel and think about things he wasn't used to, and she was doing it again after only a day. He didn't hold it against her, but deep down he didn't like it.

The remainder of the short flight was quiet. The resort was less than ten miles from where they had been and they were there in about twenty minutes. They landed a short distance from the hotel property since their method of arrival wasn't exactly normal. The giant clay bird vanished with a loud airy _pop _and a scattering of clay dust,and they pulled out their superficial luggage and removed the plastic wrappings. They stuffed their real packs into their suitcases, pocketing anything they might actually need on their person, and set off toward the resort.

Walking down the wide path lined by palm trees and tall standing torches, Sakura couldn't help but be amazed. The place was enormous. The hotel itself was multi-winged and at least six stories. Along the beach there were smaller buildings separate from the main hotel; private bungalows with oceanfront views. Palm trees and tropical flowering plants were everywhere, and even from this distance in the fading light of dusk Sakura could see that the beaches were white and the water was a clear turquoise color. She would have dreamed of coming someplace like this for her honeymoon once, long ago when she still envisioned such things for herself. Irony seemed to be the flavor of the day.

When they were still several yards from the lobby entrance, Deidara slowed his pace and turned to her. "You ready, Ayame-chan?" he asked with a teasing smile. He angled his elbow outward in a gesture for her to take his arm and act like the loving wife she was supposed to be.

Sakura fought the urge to roll her eyes. This was so weird. She put on her game face; an adoring smile that was entirely fake and didn't hide the slight glower in her eyes. "Of course, Tarou-kun," she said sweetly, and linked her arm in his.

They walked the rest of the way arm-in-arm, and Sakura nearly laughed when he very uncharacteristically opened the door and held it for her. Deidara's brand of chivalry ran along the lines of breaking the noses of her offenders, not holding doors and pulling out chairs. This could be amusing.

The interior of the hotel was even more impressive and extravagant than the outside. An enormous fountain depicting mermaids frolicking amongst dolphins dominated the center of the grand lobby. The ceiling was open to a glass roof six stories up. The support columns along the side of the lobby appeared to be marble, more miniature palm trees and tropical plants could be seen just about everywhere, and everything was lit in an ambient golden light. Yotsuba must be paying a fortune for this little heist, and if it was _still_ cheaper than trying to buy it from their target, it must be a very valuable sword indeed. A large decorative banner promoting the art exhibition hung on a far wall above a small recessed café.

They stopped in front of the reception desk and waited for someone to notice them. A moment later the clerk appeared; a plump, mousy woman with graying hair and a nametag labeled 'Janice.' who greeted them with the over-bright smile of one who worked in hospitality. "Good evening. How may I help you?"

"Reservations for Yamada," Deidara said.

The woman nodded and pulled out some paperwork attached to a clipboard from under the desk, traced a finger down the list. "Yamada…Here we are. Ahh, honeymooners!" She beamed at them.

Two fake smiles were the only reply.

The receptionist continued pulling all the registration information and paperwork out from different places under the counter. "Your reservation is for one of our ocean view honeymoon suites, yes?"

Sakura and Deidara glanced at each other in a split second of shared surprise, and she tried to keep her eyes from widening at that new bit of information. Yotsuba really was going all out for this!

Deidara gave a small chuckle and casually draped an arm over her shoulders, giving her an affectionate squeeze. "That's right. Nothing but the best for my Ayame-chan." He grinned at her, and she could see the sadistic amusement in his eyes. Sakura gave him a simpering smile. She noticed he was consciously altering his speech to cover his northern accent. She didn't mind his arm around her; it wasn't their first or their closest contact by any means, even if it _was_ a long time ago.

'Janice' was positively eating up every honeyed word and gesture they made. "How sweet!" she gushed. "I just love watching all the loving couples who stay here. This is the best job in the world for an old romantic like me." She passed a pen and the paperwork to Deidara. "Now just fill these out and sign them. If you'll excuse me for a moment, Yamada-san, I'll be back with your concierge info and room keys." She bustled off through a staff door behind the desk.

Sakura tried not to roll her eyes, and could imagine what Deidara was thinking as well.

She busied herself looking around the grandiose lobby while Deidara filled out the forms, his left arm still draped around her shoulders. Her eyes widened slightly when he began absently rubbing her shoulder blade, his knuckles tracing indistinct patterns over the cloth of her shirt. This was not necessary contact, but Sakura couldn't deny that it felt nice. There were many people around, even if no one was interacting with them directly, so it was important to make it as convincing as possible. Then his fingertips absently trailed down to her lower back and a shiver ran the length of her spine. _Okay that felt a little _too_ nice_, she thought. No one had touched her in a way that wasn't combative in well over two years. Sakura had subconsciously missed it the simple comfort of human contact. But the entire concept was weird and confusing and she wanted to pull away but she couldn't because this was their cover and he probably didn't even notice what he was doing anyway.

Deidara may not have been thinking about what he was doing, but he noticed her reaction, and when she tensed slightly his hand stopped moving. But this was a job right? Sakura had agreed to do it, and she would do it to the best of her ability. They needed to look comfortable like this, not forced. Body language gave a lot away, and if they looked tense and insincere it could cause problems if the wrong people were looking—namely Shingo's guards. She had already spotted two of them lurking near a staff door nearby. Deidara had surely noticed as well, and that was probably why he'd started it in the first place.

Without looking at her partner she leaned into his side, resting her head on his chest as she slipped her arm around his waist. To his credit as a shinobi, he didn't even glance at her or react in any noticeable way, simply continued his writing as if used to such affection from her. _For the mission_, she thought, ignoring the way his solid warmth seeped into her skin. She continued gazing around the room as his hand began to move over her back again.

A couple minutes later the receptionist retuned, smiling sweetly at their affectionate stance, and Deidara slid the completed paperwork toward her. "These are your room keys, and this is information about our concierge services. And these are tickets for the exhibition next weekend, included in your reservation package." She laid the different items out carefully, separately pointing to each of them as if they wouldn't be able to figure out which was which. "I've called for a bellhop to escort you to your beachfront suite. Ah! There he is now." She gestured to a man in a staff uniform standing to the side. "Please enjoy your stay with us!" She beamed brightly.

Deidara grabbed the items she'd laid out in one hand and turned away, taking Sakura with him. Sakura managed a smile at the receptionist and a quiet "thank you," as she was steered toward the bellhop by her 'husband.'

"Good evening," the uniformed man greeted with another over-bright smile. "I'll be escorting you to your room. Would you like me to carry your bags for you?"

"No, thank you, we can manage," Sakura said politely before Deidara could answer, since he wasn't so good with the pleasant formalities.

The bellhop gestured for them to follow, and led them through a side exit and along a long path lined with small lanterns in the ground. They passed a large swimming pool, a gym facility with a beauty salon and massage parlor, and several more amenities to pamper and please the guests, including a fancy looking restaurant. They left the main resort complex and entered a more isolated area lined by palm trees and more softly glowing lanterns. Sakura could hear the ocean close by. They passed through a secluded rock garden with more exotic flowering plants and a pond.

It was all quite lovely, and Sakura decided she really wouldn't mind spending a week here. An old friend was back in her life and she'd be spending time getting to know him again during their stay. She began to think this mission may turn out to be enjoyable after all.

But she was brought back to the reality of the situation when their escort stopped in front of their room and used his staff keycard to open the door. He turned on the light and stepped back, standing aside to let them enter, and as they crossed the threshold he flashed them another smile. "Please enjoy your stay. And may I say what an attractive young couple you make. I'm sure you two will be very happy together."

Deidara's hand stiffened slightly against her lower back. Sakura plastered on another falsely sweet smile and slipped past the bellhop into the room. When the door closed, Sakura and Deidara both let out tired and irritated sighs, and he removed his arm from around her. They glanced at each other and he smirked, and she couldn't help but give a small dry laugh at the absurdity of it all.

Their eyes went wide as they looked around the room. "Damn," he said under his breath, and began walking around to inspect and discover everything.

The bungalow was huge—more than one room kind of huge. The room they were in was a tastefully decorated sitting area with double doors leading to a large private patio overlooking the ocean. Sakura opened the glass doors and walked out, and now it was her turn to mutter in awe. There was a small breakfast table and two lounge chairs, and a little gate leading down to the beach. She could see the white caps of waves not far off and couldn't help but smile as the warm night breeze carried the scent of the ocean to her nose. This would be perfect if she were actually here for a romantic getaway. But she wasn't. It was a job, albeit a very nicely accommodated one.

She heard Deidara laugh from somewhere inside and she turned back into the room, leaving the doors open behind her. She picked the first of two adjacent doors and found herself looking into the spacious bathroom. There was a large corner tub and a separate shower with glass walls, both clearly meant for two people. She turned off the light and headed through the remaining door into the bedroom. She gawked a little at the size of the bed, which was easily big enough to sleep four adults. A good thing, considering they weren't really a couple. All the furniture was made of rich polished mahogany, and the bedding, curtains and chair cushions were all white. The large window had a recessed sill lined with more cushions and pillows, meant for sitting and viewing what she knew would be a spectacular view of the ocean in the daytime. Deidara wasn't in here, and she saw another door leading outside. Her eyes widened when she saw what he'd laughed about: they were in a private botanical garden that was walled in bamboo and open to the air. On the far end was their very own private hot tub.

Deidara turned to her with an amused grin. "I think we got the cushiest mission in the history of missions, yeah."

"I guess so. Did you see the patio?"

He shook his head and turned to go look. Sakura returned to the bedroom and flopped down on one side of the massive bed with a sigh. The luxurious comfort of it was sinful, and she lazily kicked her boots off and stretched out, snuggling into the cool softness. A couple minutes later she heard the soft click of the patio doors being closed and Deidara came back into the room with their bags.

"I could seriously get used to a place like this," he said, setting the suitcases down in the corner. He opened his and pulled out his real pack, then turned to look at her. "You want yours?"

She shook her head groggily. This bed was a sleep-trap, and she felt her lids growing heavier with every passing minute.

But her eyes snapped open when Deidara, talking out loud more than actually informing her, absently said "I'm gonna take a shower," and pulled his shirt off.

He was angled away from her, and Sakura was oh so glad he didn't see her face just then. His long hair fell over his back so there wasn't a lot to see, but it was really the general concept of a well-built shirtless man in the room that had her attention. Deidara was simply going about his own business and didn't even look at her, and a moment later he disappeared into the other room.

When he was gone she relaxed again with a heavy sigh. What a strange and confusing couple of days. She had expected a certain amount of weirdness on this mission, but she had also expected a stranger to be her partner. This was not at all what she had planned for. She was glad to see Deidara again, and they still seemed to have that old bond, but she had to wonder if this wasn't the best situation in which to try and rekindle their friendship.

When Deidara came back into the bedroom he had to smile a little; once again Sakura was already fast asleep, fully dressed on top of the covers. She must not have been able to relax like this in a long time if a little bit of comfort and security made her so tired. He walked over and gazed down at her sleeping form. He pulled the covers out from under her legs, gently so as not to wake her, and laid them over her. Then he switched off the bedside lamp and moved to his own side, crawling under the covers. Once again turning his back to her and the nearly three feet of space between them, he fell asleep to the sound of the ocean and her quiet breathing.


	4. A Want Unwanted

**Silver Lining**

Chapter Four: A Want Unwanted

* * *

Sakura suppressed a startled squeak and the instinct to jump out of the bed, because the first thing she saw when she cracked open her eyes…was Deidara, a _lot_ closer than he'd been the night before. And he hadn't moved—_she_ had. Apparently her subconscious thought it was a good idea to worm closer to her bedfellow in her sleep, for extra warmth or just some long-denied human contact. But her bedfellow happened to be _male_. Her bedfellow happened to be _Deidara_.

Thankfully she woke up before her body worked its way close enough to touch him, because having Deidara wake up to find her smooshed against him would be just a bit awkward for them both. Slowly and carefully, Sakura shifted back to her side of the bed and crawled out with as little shuffling as possible. Just then Deidara made a muted murmuring sound and rolled over, tucking his arm up under his chin. She smiled a little, because he actually looked rather adorable like that. But then she realized that had he moved just moments ago, they would now be face to face and his arm would possibly be thrown over her rather than where it was now.

The mission cover was one thing, but something like that happening when they were alone was more than she wanted to think about. Strange vibes were already passing between them as it was. Slightly embarrassment by what could have happened, she grabbed her pack and padded silently into the bathroom.

An hour later when Deidara woke up and wandered groggily out of the bedroom, he found the patio doors open and Sakura sitting at the small breakfast table with her chin resting in her palm, gazing out at the ocean. A room service cart stood near the patio door and there was an impressive breakfast laid out on the table.

"Morning," she said, looking up at him as he took a seat.

His eyes wandered over the small feast and her half-empty but still largely portioned plate. "Hungry?"

"Aren't you? We never ate dinner last night you know." She took another bite of toast.

"That's because you fell asleep," he said, piling food onto a plate for himself.

"I didn't mean to. You could have woken me up."

Deidara shrugged and started eating. Then he noticed she was watching him with an amused expression and he stared back at her until he swallowed his food. "What?"

"I've never seen you with your hair down." During her time as Akatsuki's 'hostage' she had never seen any of them except for Itachi in the mornings, until breakfast when they were already dressed and ready for the day. The few nights they'd had to make camp, they all just slept as they were. So it was a novelty to see him in such a natural and relaxed state, in the undershirt and pants he'd slept in, his long hair loose around his shoulders and slightly mussed. A few strands still hung over his eye, but most were carelessly tucked behind his ear. She liked the look; it was more personal, and somehow made her feel closer to him.

He just smirked and turned his gaze to the gently capping waves and the flock of birds diving for their morning meal. The silence between them was comfortable as they enjoyed the calm and simple beauty of their surroundings. Deidara had never seen the sea until he left his village and began to travel the world. He enjoyed watching the birds flock the shores, feeling the wind on his face that left the slight taste of salt on his skin.

"It's so tranquil and relaxing here, like a sedative for the soul," Sakura murmured softly. "I never really thought about it before, but I think I could spend my life living by the ocean; falling sleep to the sound of waves crashing, waking up to a view like this." He was looking at her with a soft, thoughtful smile. "What?"

"I was just thinking the same thing," he said quietly.

"Then why did you leave Kisame's? Didn't you say it was too boring for your wild untamable personality?" she teased.

He smirked. "I liked it there, but there just wasn't anything to occupy me and keep me entertained."

He'd been happy at Kisame's house overlooking the ocean, living a quiet life neither had ever expected to have. But he'd also felt restless, like he wasn't ready to stop and stay in one place yet, like there were other things he needed to do and see. He blamed it on boredom and his own free-spirited nature. Now he was glad he hadn't stayed on that island, because he would never have found Sakura again.

Was it coincidence? Or was it fate to meet her again like this. Sakura seemed to be lost in some way, cast adrift in a world that was too ugly for someone with her heart and spirit. She had no one, and she was drowning in her loneliness and sorrow. Was Deidara meant to be her lifeline in some way? Philosophy bored him unless it concerned art, and he never pondered the meaning of life, but now he couldn't help but wonder.

Sitting here with her was calming, peaceful, and made him remember how much he liked waking up to this every day. Maybe someday soon he would go back to that house by the sea where an enormous shark-man who liked to drink and fish lived, and maybe this time he would stay. Maybe…if she wanted…he would take her with him.

"Oh, I don't know, Kisame can be pretty entertaining at times," she mused.

Deidara laughed. "Especially when he's drunk, yeah."

"That's for sure," she said. "So how do you think we should go about stealing the sword?"

He thought for a moment. "Well, we should find out as much as we can about the exhibition and where the sword will be kept before, during and after the event, maybe how it's being transported and by who, and if any of Shingo's guards are shinobi, yeah."

Sakura nodded slowly, thinking over their options. "Blueprints," she said finally. "We should get ahold of the hotel's building plans. If we have the blueprints, we can see every detail about where the exhibition is being held, and any storage facilities that may be holding the items before and after their showing. The sword may even be here right now, or if it's not, with the prints we can see any loading docks or drop points where it might be delivered. We can even get an idea of possible escape routes. Once we know those things, we can go from there."

Deidara looked fairly impressed. "That's a pretty good plan. But how do we get ahold of the hotel's blueprints?"

"Well, they'll probably be kept in a restricted access area, most likely locked up in the security manager's office. So maybe today we should snoop around a little, pretend we're just taking in the sights and seeing what there is to do around the resort, until we find out where the security office is. Then we can sneak in tonight and steal them."

He nodded, liking the idea. "While we're looking around we can scope out the security to see if any of them are shinobi and what sort of quality they are, yeah."

"Alright then. We can go whenever you're ready," she said. They finished their breakfast, talking idly and enjoying the antics of the diving birds.

* * *

They spent the day walking around the hotel, observing all of the facilities and amenities they had supposedly paid so much to enjoy while on their honeymoon. The resort was huge and it took them all morning and part of the afternoon to cover all the ground and discover the location of the security office. With a simple shadow clone/henge combo to impersonate one of the security staff, they learned that the blueprints for the hotel were indeed kept in that office, in a locked file cabinet. The fact that they were locked up meant there was probably something displayed on them that a regular employee or guest shouldn't know about.

They ate lunch at the restaurant they passed the night before, and the food was just as delicious as Sakura had assumed it would be. To say she didn't eat the most high quality meals anymore was an understatement, so it was a welcome change.

The rest of the afternoon was spent casually strolling around once again, arm in arm or with Deidara's arm slung over her shoulder, locating and assessing Shingo's security force. The majority were regular civilian security guards hired to deal with minor issues among resort guests. But as they snuck further into the employee access areas they saw some rougher looking men, particularly around the storage facilities. These guys looked like hired mercenaries and didn't wear hotel staff uniforms. A few were low-level shinobi. Either they weren't any good at masking their chakra, it or they simply didn't care. But that meant Sakura and Deidara would have to conceal theirs at all times in order to keep their cover intact.

When night fell and things quieted down around the resort, they prepared for the job. They sent two clones to dinner to sit in plain view of the security camera, and then split up. Deidara returned to the room to grab his scope for its night vision and heat sensor capabilities, and then snuck into the storage buildings to see what was in them and get a better idea of just how well-guarded these artifacts were going to be.

Sakura headed for the security office, cast a genjutsu on the night watch sitting around a camera monitoring station, then opened the door and slipped inside. She passed the four spaced-out guards and deftly picked the lock on the manager's office door. She located the file cabinet, picked that lock as well, and searched through it for the hotel's building plans. She found the rolled up prints in the larger bottom drawer and quickly concealed them, then shut the drawer to lock itself, and relocked the manager's door.

On her way out she glanced at the security monitors out of curiosity and located the screen filming inside the restaurant. She watched for a moment, strangely fascinated by the image of her clone and Deidara's eating dinner and laughing about something. They really did look quite natural together. Then her eyes widened as she saw Deidara's clone reach across the table and grab the hand of Sakura's, drawing it toward him and pressing his lips to the backs of her fingers, while her clone blushed and smiled adorningly at him.

The real Sakura was blushing too as she watched the copies on the monitor. Damn it. She'd instructed her clone to order her something good to eat and act friendly to the other clone, not like she had the hots for him! She was going to feel that kiss when she dismissed her copy; whatever the fake Sakura was thinking and experiencing right now would be transferred when the jutsu was released. With a small flutter inside she wondered exactly what would passed to her. But then she realized Deidara would get the same information when he released _his_ clone, and she found herself preemptively embarrassed.

That settled it—she would not leave her clone alone with Deidara's ever again. In fact, it was probably a good idea to get back to the restaurant before their flirting-by-proxy got any more embarrassing, however convincing it may be. Still, tonight had been a success on Sakura's part at least, and with a final glance at the dazed guards, she quickly and silently left the office, releasing the genjutsu when she was far enough away. It was almost too easy when dealing with civilians.

She met up with Deidara behind the restaurant a few minutes later. He looked irritated. "Did you find anything?" she asked as he walked up.

"No. There was nothing there. Nothing at all, unless you think extra surfboards and volleyball nets are relevant somehow," he grumbled, crossing his arms over his chest and frown-pouting at the waste of his time.

"Then why do you think there were so many guards standing around there earlier?"

"Who knows? Maybe it's their break area or something. There were none there tonight, except for one civilian security guard on patrol." He glanced at her and gave her a quick once-over. "Where are the plans?"

"I'm not just going to walk around with a big roll of blueprints under my arm," she replied wryly. She pulled a folded object from the back of her skirt's waistband and handed it to him.

He unfolded it and looked at the advertising flyer of the antiques exhibition they had received at check-in. He smiled once he recognized what he was holding. "Pretty clever, yeah. You're really good at object henge. I can barely feel the chakra tracings, and the detail is right on. How did you get such a close match?"

She pulled out another paper, unfolded it and began to fan herself lazily with the real flyer, smirking slyly.

Deidara grinned. "I take it back. Cheater."

Sakura took the disguised blueprints and folded it back up with the flyer. "There's no such thing as cheating when you're a ninja," she said airily.

"True," he admitted. "I'm hungry. Do you think our clones left us anything to eat?"

Sakura's expression darkened at the thought of her misbehaving clone. "They better have," she mumbled, ignoring Deidara's puzzled look as they rounded the corner and headed for the front of the restaurant.

They switched with their clones one at a time by way of restroom intervals. Sakura was glad she was alone when the memory/sensory receptors hit her as the clone vanished. It was bad enough that the other patrons of the restaurant could see her blushing furiously at the phantom memory of Deidara's lips on her hand—it would be ten times worse if he was actually there to see it. What the hell was wrong with her anyway? It was just a little kiss to the hand! She was a grown woman, not some schoolgirl who got giddy from even the slightest interaction with a boy. Man. With really nice, soft lips. _Stop it! _

Deidara was coming back to the table, slightly put-off, looking at anything but Sakura and was he _blushing_? Well, at least she wasn't the only one. His clone had started it, after all, so he was probably more thrown than she was. She hastily stuffed a large forkful of food into her mouth so she wouldn't have to say anything right away.

He sat down, and after a couple minutes they began to talk about random things as they finished their half-eaten meals, both of them following a mutually unspoken agreement to pretend the clone incident never happened.

* * *

They didn't spend long at the restaurant, as they needed to go over the blueprints tonight and decide their next plan of action. Back in the room, Sakura promptly ordered dessert from room service since she was still hungry after only half a meal, and once it arrived they sat on the floor with the plans spread out over the coffee table and pored over them while enjoying the coffee and double chocolate cake she'd ordered.

"These things are a pain in the ass to read, yeah," Deidara remarked for the fourth time, after two hours of inspection and finding nothing unusual.

Sakura nodded absently, eyes scanning over the large sheet in front of her. This was a very large hotel and there were dozens of prints to look over. "Mmph!" she mumbled, and leaned forward over the table. Deidara looked at her curiously and she tapped her finger over a spot on the plans as she quickly swallowed the mouthful from her third slice of cake. "Here. In the basement level. You see it?"

Deidara leaned closer and peered at the spot she was pointing at. "There's a second stairwell in the basement, when the emergency exit maps around the hotel only indicate one. And…this one leads down, not up."

She nodded and looked up at him with a glint in her eye. "There's a sub-basement that's not listed anywhere and not detailed on the hotel's plans. Now why do you think someone would want to build a secret sublevel to a place like this?"

"That's where the exhibition items are being kept," he said, catching on to her excitement.

"And that's where we'll find the sword," she said smugly.

"We need to get down there, yeah. That's what we'll do tomorrow night."

Neck stiff from hours of peering at the blueprints, Sakura stretched tiredly and looked at the clock on the wall. It was already after midnight. Deidara got up to stretch out as well, and her eyes followed him as he stood. "So what are we gonna do tomorrow until nighttime?" she wondered.

He looked down at her with a playful grin. "Enjoy our honeymoon? This place was made to entertain people after all." She gave him a small smile and stretched her legs out into a wide V now that he'd moved. "Do you want to use the shower first?" he asked.

"No, go ahead. I'm going to look over these a little more and see if there's anything else we might find useful." He nodded and went into the bathroom, and Sakura took another bite of cake as she turned back to the blueprints.

A little while later the bathroom door opened and she heard Deidara shuffling around. Sakura looked up, and promptly clenched her teeth to keep her mouth closed. He had come out of the bathroom only half dressed. His dark pants hung low around his slender hips and his shirt was tossed over his shoulder, leaving Sakura a full view of his naked torso. She tried her best not to ogle him, and failed miserably. She had never seen him like…_this_, before. Deidara wasn't bulky and ripped, but neither was he tight and wiry. He was somewhere in the middle, on the slender side, with lean definition that fit his frame. All of this was easy enough to tell with his shirt on and she already knew these things, it was just that with the shirt _off_ it was…enhanced.

She was just beginning to recover from the initial shock of seeing him like that when he brought the towel up to absently rub at his hair and his abs flexed with the movement, and Sakura suddenly became very interested in the stitching on the hem of her skirt. _Why_ did he have to come out of the bathroom like that and _why _did his pants have to ride so low and when the _hell_ did Deidara get so hot?

But then she'd always found him attractive, hadn't she? Even when there had still been a lot of tension and potential hostility between them she'd noticed how good looking he was. It was just that her main focus had been on Itachi at the time. The dark and mysterious Uchiha had such magnetism that he would draw all the attention in the room even if all he did was sit there and stare off into space, as he often had. It was hard to notice anything else. But these were not thoughts she wanted to be having about her recently reunited friend and mission partner. Sakura didn't want to have these thoughts about _anyone_. Their mission cover, their forced proximity, and now the incident with the clones were just getting to her, that's all. She most definitely did _not_ want to think about those strong shoulders or those smoothly muscled abs or those lips that were—

"All yours, yeah."

Her head snapped up and she made a tiny squeaking sound in the back of her throat. "What?"

"The shower?" he clarified, giving her an odd look.

"Right," she said quickly, standing and making a beeline for the bedroom to grab her things while avoiding eye contact. Then Deidara removed his shirt from over his shoulder and something caught her eye, causing her to halt in front of him. A strange tribal-looking tattoo covered his entire left pectoral. She tilted her head a little as she examined it. The markings were sort of familiar, it almost looked like… "Is that a _seal_?"

Deidara smirked. "Mhm."

She met his gaze. "What is it sealing?"

Now he was positively beaming. "It's my masterpiece. My ultimate jutsu, superior to all my other art," he explained, the pride and enthusiasm clear in his tone.

Sakura peered at the seal again, stepping a little closer to get a better look. Like many jutsu seals it formed a design, and this one looked like a grinning mouth, directly over his heart. Oh damn. "This unseals another–?"

He nodded. "It sure does, yeah."

Her eyes widened slightly as she imagined what that would look like. Very strange and a little frightening, actually. But Sakura was a medic, and her natural sense of morbid curiosity ran stronger than most. She reached out hesitantly, glancing up at him. "Can I?"

His expression shifted to surprise, and then a softly lopsided grin formed on his features. "Sure," he said with quiet amusement.

Sakura stepped closer and tentatively touched the one of the dark zigzag markings. She always found it fascinating how seals looked just like regular if somewhat abstract tattoos, yet concealed such powerful, bizarre and sometimes terrifying things. "Wow, this is really cool," she murmured, and his soft huff of laughter rustled her hair. She recalled what he'd said about it, and about what she knew of him and the way he thought. Her brow creased slightly. "Your masterpiece…you would become the ultimate expression of your own art…"

Deidara smiled down at her, his blue eyes shining. "A beautiful, perfect moment of magnificent art. I'd go out with a bang, yeah," he said with quiet excitement.

Sakura was quiet as she thought about it, her expression wistful. "I get it. And I'm sure it would be incredible to say the least, but…I still hope you never use it."

His expression softened at her sentiment, and something in his eyes made her want to blush. She looked back down at the seal again, gently traced her fingertip along one of the longer lines, causing the muscle to ripple slightly under her touch. She could feel his breath fan lightly against her hair and realized how close they were standing, that her little bout of curiosity may have crossed over into something more serious. Her eyes trailed slowly from where her hand touched his chest, down his torso and flat abdomen, and then she blinked quickly. She did _not_ just do that! Deidara stilled, and she realized he had seen it. _Shit_. What the hell was she thinking?

As casually as she could manage, Sakura dropped her hand and stepped away. Feigning nonchalance, she muttered something about going to take a shower now and quickly made her way into the bathroom, ignoring Deidara's unreadable look and the way his eyes followed after her. When she came out a long while later she was relieved to find him asleep.

* * *

The next morning Sakura brushed off any residual awkwardness from the night before and refused to think that things were anything other than normal. She was on a mission, and she needed to focus like the professional she was. She had to stop confusing the happiness of their reunion with the act they had to put on for the job. She needed to stop worrying that what happened with Deidara translated into anything other than their cover, because it didn't, and it wasn't going to. Period. She was not going there again, ever.

Deidara noticed her cool, almost curt behavior and decided not to mention anything about the night before. He didn't know what to say anyway, so if Sakura wanted to pretend none of it ever happened that was fine with him. The clone incident had been embarrassing. He'd instructed it to be convincing, but he hadn't expected it to do something like that. He knew the thoughts the clone had been having and he was damn glad they'd gone back when they did or he may have had some apologizing to do. He wouldn't deny he was attracted to Sakura. He always had been. Just how deep that attraction ran was still unclear, and was starting to trouble him. She was a friend—the first real friend he'd ever had. He wasn't sure if Kisame even counted, since it was more of a grudging bond over time than a natural connection. But Sakura had never shown any hint of attraction to him until last night, and he didn't know what to think about it. He was getting highly annoyed with the entire situation, because he wasn't used to being embarrassed, or confused…and confusing was exactly what Sakura was being at the moment.

One moment she seemed happy, and Deidara could see through to the girl he'd known years ago. She would start to smile or laugh…and then something would trigger a change in her eyes, the wall would come up, and she would either turn cold or simply withdraw into herself. Truthfully it drove Deidara crazy. That inner fire should never be cut off like that. It was a travesty, an injustice to her bright spirit. Every time Sakura caught herself starting to let go of some of her despair, she would freak out and dive right back in. She didn't want to be happy, that much was clear. And Deidara couldn't fucking _stand_ it.

But what could he say to her? What could he do? He knew how she had become like this. She was still grieving, and she didn't want to move on. And _he_ was partly responsible for the eventual loss of everyone she cared about, so did he even have a right to try and help her? Not that he would know how anyway. And there was that damn guilt again. Deidara didn't like how she made him question and contradict himself. But she didn't do it on purpose so he couldn't even blame her for it. The only thing that was clear to him at this point was that he wanted to help her. But how? He wasn't good with this kind of thing, no matter how much he cared.

Neither of them wanted to talk about what was on their minds, or even admit that anything was troubling them at all. So in another unspoken agreement to keep everything simple, they went to breakfast and afterward walked to the small town that supplemented the resort, to check out the sights and possibly get more information.

#

"It's hot as hell out here, and we've been walking around all day," Deidara complained as they walked through the afternoon streets of the quaint little town. "Let's go find some shade, yeah."

"Good idea. I think I saw a park down that way earlier," Sakura said, and their sluggish pace picked up a bit at the prospect of sitting down out of the heat.

The park was really just a large grassy area with some trees and a small playground. In the center was a large flat area with fountain jets shooting upward from the ground. Several kids and even some adults were playing and running through the water streams, their shouts and laughter carrying across the recreation area. They passed some more kids jumping rope and found a spot somewhat distant from everyone else under the shade of a cluster of trees.

They dropped the assorted bags they'd been carrying and took a seat with mutual sighs of relief from both the heat and walking. Deidara rested his weight on his hands and stretched his legs out, and Sakura slouched next to him with her legs crossed before her. They sat in comfortable silence for a while, watching the people running and laughing through the fountain.

After breakfast they'd come into town and found a small carnival offering year-round entertainment for resort guests. They had the whole day to kill, so they watched a couple of the live performances, but they couldn't really play any of the games, since the fact that both of them could hit any target with bull's-eye precision no matter how small or how fast and erratically it moved would make them look just a little suspicious. But Sakura enjoyed herself in the petting zoo, and Deidara had a bit of sadistic fun at the dunk tank where his dead aim was not as conspicuous. Without really trying he even won a small stuffed monkey, which he promptly shoved at Sakura.

After that they had lunch in a local café where a highly amused – and secretly flattered – Sakura set her new stuffed animal in the center of the table where it mocked him all throughout their meal.

The afternoon was spent shopping in local boutiques for some more appropriate things to wear on their 'beach vacation.' Deidara had grumbled and fussed. Sakura told him she didn't like shopping either, but it was necessary since they didn't look much different than the mercenaries they'd seen the day before, so he could just shut up and deal with it. He still grumbled, although more quietly and less frequently than before.

Sakura stuck with her plan to get a wider variety of colors to soften her tough kunoichi look, and was now wearing a strappy pastel green sundress and simple thong sandals. It had been a long time since she'd dressed this femininely—not counting the kunai strapped to her upper thigh, of course. Deidara was less diverse in his choices for new wardrobe, because he'd been a missing-nin since he was thirteen and hadn't worn civilian-styled clothing since he was a small child. He'd looked with open revulsion upon the assortment of tropical-print shirts and anything with bright colors, but eventually they found a few things that didn't make him want to detonate the entire store in disgust. Now he was wearing a simple white T-shirt and muted green cargo shorts.

Sakura rummaged through their shopping bags, brought out her stuffed monkey and set it in her lap. Deidara glared at it. "Do you have to keep bringing that thing out?"

She looked at him and his frown-pout and smiled. "Aw, come on, it's cute." She twisted the arms back and forth, making it do a little dance in her lap. "It's not going to ruin your tough-guy image—which you shouldn't even be trying to maintain while we're here. Besides, you're supposed to be my husband, right? It's only natural that you would try and win me a prize at the fair, Tarou-kun," she teased.

Deidara pouted some more. "Whatever." But he didn't _really_ mind, because at least she was enjoying herself, even if it was at his expense. That was, until she set the damn monkey on top of his head with an evil giggle. He grabbed the offending plushie and swatted at her with it. She caught him by the wrist with one hand and snatched her toy out of his grip with the other. Grinning playfully, she leaned so that her upper arm rested against his, still holding on to him.

Sakura turned his wrist over to casually study the back of his hand. His hands were not like most shinobi's; they were still somewhat rough, but not heavily nicked and scarred, with slender yet strong fingers. They were the hands of an artist, of a sculptor. That's what he truly was at heart, wasn't it? She looked at his nails, no longer black as they had been during his time in Akatsuki. "I was so sure it wasn't nail polish," she said in playful disappointment, scraping her thumbnail over one of his.

Deidara looked at what she was doing and laughed. "Of course it wasn't nail polish. That's ridiculous, yeah."

She twisted his fingers absently for further inspection. "So it was a jutsu, then?"

"More like the side-effect of a jutsu, one that linked us all together through our rings, so we could receive summons and hold meetings without actually being there."

"The mental-projection thing?"

"Yeah. It was one of Pein's freaky jutsu. When he died it stopped working, not that we were using it by that time anyway. Eventually the black began to fade and they went back to normal."

They fell quiet after that. Sakura didn't let go of his hand, and Deidara made no move to pull it away. She knew she should let go, that she probably shouldn't have grabbed his hand in the first place, but she didn't want to let go. It was a bad idea to think this way, and she didn't want to get attached to anyone again. But it was Deidara, and she was already attached. There was still a connection between them after all this time, and Sakura found herself comforted by it now more than ever. He'd always been able to cheer her up when she was down, had always been able to make her smile. Even now, when she thought she would never have reason to smile again, Deidara put her at ease. She had never really appreciated how bright and energetic and alive he was. For a long time everything was deadened and dull, until he was unexpectedly thrown back in her life, and he was like a fresh wind that cleared away the fog. Sakura didn't know what she would do if things got pushed to a level she couldn't accept, but for now she just wanted to feel that sense of comfort again.

Deidara's fingers brushed lightly against her palm, and a moment later she felt a sharp flutter inside as their fingers twined. She looked down at their loosely locked hands, unsure which one of them had done it; it may have been Sakura who unconsciously slipped her fingers between his, but it may have been him. She couldn't tell anything from his body language because he hadn't tensed at all when it happened, and she definitely couldn't bring herself to look at him right now. He seemed perfectly fine with holding her hand like this, and Sakura couldn't say she didn't like it. Still not meeting his gaze for fear of what she might see there, once again feeling like a silly schoolgirl for getting worked up over small gestures of affection, Sakura took a slow deep breath and relaxed against his side with her head on his shoulder.

If she had found the courage to look up at him in that moment, she would have seen Deidara grinning like an equally silly schoolboy.

They sat quietly like that for nearly an hour, and eventually the park began to clear out as the pre-dusk haze set in and people retreated indoors. Late afternoon was always the hottest part of the day, and even in the shade they were starting to sweat. Then Sakura had a brilliant idea.

"Hey! Let's go get some ice cream!" she chirped, pulling Deidara out of his lazy stupor.

"Okay…" It was too hot to get excited about anything other than a great big explosion…as long as he didn't have to get near the heat.

Sakura stood up and used their still-joined hands to tug him up after her. "What? You don't like ice cream?"

He gave her a look. "That's a dumb question, yeah. Who _doesn't_ like ice-cream?"

She smiled playfully. "Well let's go then. I saw an ice cream shop when we first came into town. Then we can go back and chill out in our air-conditioned room until it's time to go snooping." She let go of his hand and picked up her bags after stuffing the plush monkey back inside.

She sure was in a good mood. Deidara wondered if it had anything to do with how they'd just been sitting, and the thought made him smile. "Alright." He looked at her quizzically as they started to walk. "You sure eat a lot more than I remember, yeah."

Sakura shrugged. "If you knew what my diet has been like for the last few years you wouldn't blame me."

They walked unhurriedly to the edge of town and found the ice cream shop Sakura had seen that morning. They made their purchases and stood outside under the sidewalk awning with their rapidly melting treats. It was the kind of simple activity shinobi rarely got to do, especially since the war, so even with the nearly unbearable heat and rivulets of sticky melted ice cream running down their wrists, they were really enjoying themselves. Civilians took it for granted, but it was fun to walk around and do nothing like normal people for once. They chatted idly and Deidara made a conscious effort not to watch her licking the dripping cone, and when they were finished she moved away to toss their napkins in a nearby trash bin. When she came back they just stood for a minute, not ready to leave the cover of shade.

"Deidara…"

The warning in her tone made him tense, but he remained casual. "Hm?"

"See those guys across the street, in front of the bar?"

Deidara did. He'd seen them a while ago, but they were just lounging around with a few beers so he'd ignored them. "Yeah, they're the same guys we saw around the storage building yesterday. They aren't doing anything worth noting. I could go for a beer right now myself."

"True," she said, keeping her voice low and her posture relaxed. "But they're ogling me."

He looked at the men again. They were definitely ogling, and they weren't being subtle about it. They looked like a pack of drooling dogs, and even from here he could hear them murmuring to each other. He gave a small chuckle, though inwardly he was not amused. "You get ogled all the time, Sakura. It's not _that_ strange."

Sakura tried not to roll her eyes and instead turned to Deidara and placed a hand on his arm. "But it _is_ a bit strange that my _husband_ would just stand there and do nothing while a bunch of sweaty thugs undress me with their eyes," she said pointedly.

Oh. Right. "You want me to kick their asses or something?" he asked with just a hint of eagerness.

"No," she huffed impatiently. "Don't start a fight. Just…do _something_. You know…show some male possessiveness, or whatever it is you men do."

_Oh_.

Deidara had never felt inclined to act possessive over a woman before, but as he watched the pathetic excuses for shinobi across the street look at Sakura like she was nothing but than a sex toy, he didn't think he would have much trouble putting on that display. He shifted to stand behind her, wrapping his arm all the way around her. She smiled sweetly in return, and they acted as if they hadn't noticed the men across the street at all.

Despite the little display of 'ownership' the men across the street didn't stop staring; their conversation only became louder, like they were trying to goad the rival male holding on to their prey. Sakura suppressed her surprise as Deidara wrapped his other arm around her waist. She could feel his chest pressing flat against her back now, and she brought her hands up and held onto his forearm to complete the look of affectionate couple. But she could also feel him getting angry.

"Deidara…"

He merely grunted that he'd heard her.

She turned her head so she could look up at him. He was openly glaring at the drunken men. "That's a little _too_ much male possessiveness," she warned.

"Hm?"

"Stop acting so threatening." She smiled, as if she'd just said something adoring to her husband.

Deidara made an amused yet rather menacing sound. "Oh it's not an act."

Sakura sighed and rubbed his forearm. "I know that. But we don't want _them_ to know that. You can't pick a fight, especially not with these guys. Our cover has to be convincing, and you're _supposed_ to be a regular civilian. The last thing we want is for them to come over here to start something with you. You're about ten seconds away from an angry chakra flare, and they may be shit ninja but if they feel it we're screwed. So calm down, okay?"

One of the drunker men made a lewd sexual gesture at Sakura and Deidara actually emitted a low growl, so she rubbed his arm again and leaned back into him, tilting her head upward to see his face again. "I mean, it's not like you really have anything to be jealous about. They have to realize just by looking that I would never be interested in any of them when I have you." She'd meant it figuratively, but it had come out sounding like a lot more, and she blushed.

But it worked, because Deidara's aggressive aura disappeared almost instantly and he tilted his head toward her with an unreadable look. Their faces were only inches apart, but she couldn't turn away because they were being watched very closely. Sakura felt her blush deepening with every second.

Then a new wave of offensive and deliberately loud comments drifted across the street.

"He looks like a woman. Maybe she's secretly into girls."

"Someone should show her how a _real_ man looks and feels."

Deidara stiffened, and Sakura groaned inwardly. If they were going to insult him directly she didn't know how much longer she could hold him off. Didn't these idiots see she was trying to save their lives? No, because if they had any idea just who they were messing with their cover would be blown. Not to mention they wouldn't have had the balls to even _look_ at Deidara if they knew who he was. Thankfully he didn't have any clay with him. "We should just leave…" she suggested.

Deidara didn't answer, but after a moment his hold on her tightened and he bent his head down to her. "Turn around," he murmured next to her ear.

His breath tickled against her neck and ear, and despite the heat a shiver ran down her spine. Sakura wasn't sure what he intended, but when he said it like that she couldn't really bring herself to say no. She turned slowly. His arms loosened to let her, then wrapped around her waist and pulled her into him, and he turned them so that he leaned against the railing with his back to the street. Her palms rested flat against his chest and Sakura could feel his heartbeat, just slightly elevated, same as hers.

This wasn't exactly necessary for their act, but Sakura couldn't deny that she liked it very much. Nor could she continue to deny that she was attracted to him. It was no good and it would only cause problems, but being around Deidara made her want to let go of everything she was holding on to and just feel positive about her life and her future again. She couldn't do that; she felt guilty and torn up just thinking about it. So why did she feel so compelled to act this way with him? Why did she keep allowing it to go one step further than it should?

His hands began slowly moving up and down her sides and lower back, and with a small inaudible sigh she let go for just a moment and let her forehead rest against his collarbone. He held her closer and bent his head slightly, his hair brushing against the side of her neck. Sakura closed her eyes. It felt so good to touch someone again, and be touched in a way that wasn't harsh or hostile. She had missed it, the simple act of touch. And she had missed feeling cared for and cared about. She hadn't realized how much she'd denied herself those simple human needs, but now that she had them again after so long, it struck her just how isolated and lonely she had been.

"So Sakura…are you secretly into girls, hm?"

She could hear the teasing smirk in his voice. She huffed a soft laugh. "Not that I'm aware of. Please don't kill them..."

Deidara chuckled and linked his hands together at her waist. "Naw, it would be way too easy. Not even worth the sweat I'd break in this heat, yeah. Besides, I have better things to do."

Sakura raised her head to look over his shoulder at the disgruntled men. They were finally giving up, since they couldn't see her around Deidara and their taunting and leering efforts were unsuccessful. She glared at their backs as they stood and stumbled back inside the bar. "Like what?" she asked, hoping she wasn't biting into some sort of innuendo.

He stood up from the railing and she straightened with him as he let one arm fall away. "Like hanging out in my nice cool hotel suite and maybe ordering some room service, yeah." She smiled at that, and with one hand still on her lower back Deidara looked smugly in the direction of the empty bench.

Then they turned and began the walk back to the resort.


	5. The Denial Twist

**Silver Lining**

Chapter Five: The Denial Twist

* * *

"I didn't think you made anything that didn't blow up or transport," Sakura said. For the past few hours they'd lounged around with the windows open to let in the ocean breeze, and for a while now she'd been watching Deidara mold little figurines out of his clay, not with his bloodline limit but with his hands and fingers. He was quite a good sculptor by natural talent alone, and she enjoyed watching him create little works of art. Although _he_ didn't consider them works of art because they didn't move or explode and had no other purpose. He was simply bored.

Deidara shrugged indifferently. "I don't usually. But the clay gets dries out if I don't do something with it, and it's not like I can set off even the smallest explosions around here."

"You're a very good artist," she told him. He smirked arrogantly, of course, because no one thought that more than he did. "Even in the traditional sense. Do you do other things besides sculpt, like draw?"

He frowned a little. "Not really. I mean I _can_…but I don't, because it's not real art. Sometimes I sketch out designs for my creations, but most of it is trial and error with prototypes, yeah," he said, focusing on the surrealist dragon he was making and not looking at her.

"Would you ever draw me, or sculpt me?"

Deidara stopped what he was doing and looked up at her. "The true beauty of a living thing can never be captured or expressed through static form. The _life_ of a thing is what makes it beautiful. No artist could ever do you justice, Sakura," he said seriously.

Sakura looked away self-consciously, feeling like she should have known he wouldn't like the idea. She felt silly for bringing it up. "I understand."

Deidara studied her profile. Her beauty was both classic and unique. Many artists would love to _try_ and capture her likeness, but they would all fail, because it was the energy she radiated, her spirit and the fire in her eyes that made her such an exquisite creature. The musical sound of her laughter, the way her hair blew in the wind, the way her eyes sparkled like jewels when she got excited; all were fleeting moments that became their own little works of art, different every time. She used to be so full of those little moments, but now they were rare. That brevity should make them more beautiful, more artistic…but it felt wrong, like she was hindered and restrained from being truly glorious. Deidara didn't like the idea of sculpting her, but he also knew that it would likely make her happy, make her smile or even laugh, and _that_ would be the true art. "Still, I guess I could do it sometime if you really want, yeah," he said finally.

Her expression brightened. "Would it blow up?"

He laughed. "If you want it to."

Sakura thought for a moment. "It would be cool to see it go off like that clone of yours did, back in Wind country when we first met."

"I'm surprised you'd actually want to watch yourself blow up."

She shrugged. "Ever since I became a medic I get fascinated by really strange things. I guess I'm a bit odd like that."

His smile softened, and he quietly said, "I like that about you."

The moment stretched, and Sakura felt the need to say something before it got awkward again. "So…we should probably head out soon. How do you want to do this?"

Deidara knew she'd changed the subject on purpose. Again. But she was right; they did need to get started. "Actually, I had an idea earlier." He reached for more clay from his pouch and this time he worked it with his bloodline limit, infusing it with chakra. A moment later he held his closed hand out to Sakura.

Curious, she opened her palm, and made a sound of pleasant surprise as a tiny white mouse dropped onto her hand. The clay creature twitched its tail and began to crawl slowly up her forearm. "It's adorable," she said, turning her arm as it climbed until it balanced near her elbow. "What's it for?"

"It's for getting into small or heavily guarded places unnoticed, yeah."

Sakura smiled knowingly and picked the mouse up by the tail, setting it back on her palm. "I thought all your clay jutsu were for explosions."

"Not all of it. The original function of my clan was as surveillance and espionage specialists. The demolition expertise came later. That thing has memory receptors like a clone, and I can control it and see what it sees through a meditative jutsu," he explained.

"That's really cool," she said, stroking her index finger along the back of the little mouse.

He smiled at her petting his construct like it was a real creature. "It's not art, but it has its uses. Basically what it means is that we don't have to actually get into the sublevel ourselves just yet. With this we can see what's down there first."

"So I guess we're staying in tonight," Sakura said. The mouse jumped off her palm and scurried out the patio doors into the night.

Deidara set himself up on the couch and folded his legs to get comfortable. He made a short series of hand seals and stilled as the jutsu went into effect. Sakura sat adjacent to him on the armchair with her legs pulled up and her chin on her knees. After around twenty minutes she was resisting the urge to fidget. She had endless reserve when it came to medical procedures, but with everything else she was rather impatient.

Deidara shifted slightly, but kept his eyes closed. "Okay I'm in."

Sakura raised an eyebrow at the information that he was just now getting in, but she supposed a little mouse probably couldn't move that fast and there was quite a bit of distance to cover.

They waited some more, or at least Sakura did, since Deidara could actually see what was happening. She stared at him for lack of anything else to do, not sure how much concentration he needed or if she would disturb him by getting up and moving around. She could have sworn they sat there half the night, though in reality it was only around two hours.

When Deidara finally shifted in his seat and opened his eyes she was admittedly relieved, but she quickly grew concerned. He was frowning. "What did you find?" He looked up, and she knew she wasn't going to like what he had to say.

"Guards, yeah. Lots of them."

"How many?"

"Maybe thirty. Some are shinobi."

She was frowning as well. "That's an awful lot of security for a hotel owner and antiques collector."

"I bet these hotels are a front, yeah."

She chewed her lip in thought. "I wonder what his real business is."

Deidara shrugged. "Not our problem. This makes it a bit tougher, but all that matters is getting the sword."

Sakura nodded absently. It really wasn't any of their concern. Her days of playing superninja and trying to save the world were over. "Did you see the sword?"

He shook his head. "No. There was one room with a door sealed to the floor that the mouse couldn't get under. It requires a security code to get in. I'm sure that's where it will be, yeah."

"Then tomorrow night we need to get in that room. Did you see the identity of the head of security? Enough to recognize him on sight again?"

"Yes. I also found out he leaves for the night around eleven. He was leaving when the mouse got there or I would have waited to see if he opened that door."

"Good. He will have the access code, so we wait for him on his way out and grab him. I can take care of getting the code from him."

He nodded, but he was curious. "How?"

"High level medics can do a lot more than heal when it comes to the human body."

Deidara gave her a mischievous smirk. "That can be taken a lot of different ways, yeah."

Sakura shrugged. "Take it however you like; it's all true."

He gave her an amused _'oh, really?'_ look, but he didn't comment further.

Sakura grew troubled again. "I have a feeling there's more to this sword than we knew about."

"I agree."

"Yotsuba knows," she said with a frown.

"Probably."

"He has to," she grumbled, shaking her head. "That's the reason he wanted high level ninja for such a seemingly simple job—because low level ninja would fail. And he offered a ridiculously high payout so that people like us would be willing to do it."

"And he didn't mention it because even though the payout is good, he knew we would still demand more for the additional hazard, yeah."

"I'm gonna break his lying nose when we deliver his stupid sword," she said darkly.

Her temper was as bad as Deidara's, if not worse. "Go for it, yeah. Just make sure I'm there when you do."

Sakura stood up with a yawn and stretched her arms above her head. "I think I'm gonna get ready for bed. That heat today made me really drowsy." She headed into the bedroom and closed the door to change. She put on the new pajamas she'd bought that day—a pale aqua tank top and matching shorts made of light cotton, simple and comfortable

When she came out again, Deidara was certain he'd pissed off some god somewhere and that god had decided to get back at him by letting Sakura find that outfit and then wear it around him. Kunoichi invariably fell into two categories: those who had no clue their usual clothing choices were often…distracting, and were only concerned with comfort and flexibility, and those who knew full well and did it on purpose. He was pretty sure Sakura was one of the former, but he really didn't want to think about it either way.

With effort he tore his eyes away from that little glimpse of exposed tummy above her waistband and walked past her into the bedroom, closing the door behind him. He changed into loose jogging shorts and then went back out. Sakura was perched on the back of the couch with one leg up, stretched out with her knee bent slightly to inspect a bruise on her shin, leaving him an eyeful of toned inner thigh.

Sakura finished healing the bruise and looked up, saw her partner look resentfully at the ceiling as if cursing the heavens and then promptly whirl back into the bedroom. A small smile curled her lips, because she'd seen the way he checked her out before going to change. She didn't think there was anything remarkable about her sleepwear—they weren't that revealing and certainly not in the sexy lingerie category. Now she wondered if buying these pajamas was a bad idea.

When she entered the bedroom Deidara was already in bed, lying on his back with his arms behind his head. They looked at each other for a long moment, just a bit hesitant because this was the first time they had both gone to sleep at the same time and things today had been…interesting.

She turned out the light and got under the covers on her side of the bed with her back to him. "Goodnight," she said quietly.

"Night," he murmured.

For the first time since they started sharing a bed for this mission, Sakura was acutely aware of Deidara lying near but not really close to her. She could feel his bodyheat on the perimeter of her senses, and she kept feeling a strange compulsion to turn over and face him, or to move a little closer to seek out that sense of comfort she'd felt earlier. But this was not a hug on a public street, this was cuddling in bed alone with him she was thinking about. It wasn't good to even entertain the idea, so she stayed where she was and focused her breathing, willing herself into slumber.

Deidara stared at her back for several minutes, until her breathing evened out and she appeared to be sleeping. Then with a last baleful glare at the unseen forces against him, he closed his eyes and waited to fall asleep.

* * *

Sakura groaned softly as pale morning light tried to pry through her eyelids. She'd been having a really good dream, and now she couldn't remember it. It was comfortable and warm in the bed and she was tempted to stay there all day, curled up in the soft sheets and—

—cuddled against her very attractive male friend.

Like the first time, Sakura managed to temper her startled outburst down to a wide eyed cringe. Apparently they'd _both_ shifted in their sleep this time until they had come to be in their current position. How the hell did this keep happening in such a huge bed? Her forehead pressed against the hollow of his shoulder, his arm somewhere above her head. Her arms were tucked against her chest but his other arm rested on her hip, and her knee was over his a little. It wasn't too bad, not as alarming as say, _spooning_…but it was enough to bring heat to her cheeks and a flutter to her insides.

_How annoyingly cliché_, she thought as she tried to figure out how to untangle herself without waking him. She removed her knee from where it lay over his and shifted slightly. She had shared a bed on missions with male teammates before and this had never been an issue.

Maybe wasn't about clichés and coincidences. Maybe it had more to do with subconsciously seeking out what she really wanted.

Well, it didn't matter what her subconscious may want. Sakura was not going to let it happen.

Irritated and unprepared for it as it was, she knew it hadn't come out of nowhere. Eight years ago, on that last night in the old fortress where she'd spent her final days with Akatsuki, she had sought Deidara out to say goodbye. She'd broken down and cried, and he held her and comforted her. Something had shifted between them that night; she had seen it in his eyes, and she'd felt drawn to him and wondered why it hadn't happened earlier. If Sakura hadn't already been involved with Itachi, if he hadn't been waiting for her that night, what might have happened? If Deidara had kissed her there by the fire, would she have responded? Could they possibly have become lovers that night, even knowing it would only be once?

_Yes_.

There was no point denying it, just as there was no point denying the attraction between them was still there and getting stronger with every passing day they spent like this, pretending to be married and in love. But it didn't matter. Sakura could keep up appearances with the flirting and handholding for the sake of the mission, but she could not let it go to another level with him, or any man, ever again. Especially not Deidara, because he was already too close to her, she cared about him too much already as her only remaining friend. She couldn't handle it if—

Her shifting had the opposite effect than she intended, because Deidara suddenly mumbled something unintelligible, his hand flexed over her hip, and he opened his eyes to stare directly into hers less than a foot away.

Sakura could see he was startled, but he was better at controlling his reactions than she was because he didn't flinch or jerk at all. His eyes slowly traveled down to focus on where his hand covered her hip, and he blinked and moved it away with more casual control than she would have managed. Then he looked up at her with a sheepish smile that could probably melt girls where they stood—or lay, as it were—if the situation wasn't so awkward.

"Uh…sorry," he murmured.

Sakura had forgotten she'd been trying to move away, but she quickly remembered herself and scooted back with as much nonchalance as she could muster. "It's okay. I think I'm the one who moved in my sleep in the first place," she fibbed, and got out of the bed before any second thoughts to lie back down came to mind.

Deidara sat up and stared out the window with a mildly irritated expression. He was better at controlling outward reactions than she was, but it was clear he was having the same freakout on the inside. With an agonizing inner cringe Sakura pushed away the thought of _why_ he possibly wasn't getting out of bed yet. Without another word to him she grabbed a change of clothes and escaped to the bathroom.

Deidara watched her go and then fell back against the bed with a frustrated groan.

* * *

Having tense little moments and then brushing them off and acting like nothing happened was becoming a pattern for them, and they were doing it again this morning. The awkward sense of forced casualness always wore off soon though, because they really did get on well, and it was no time at all before things were just fine and they were acting and talking normally again.

"So what should we do today? Since we don't have plans until later tonight," Sakura said casually, disguising her words so the other restaurant patrons didn't overhear anything they shouldn't. They'd slept in late due to their midnight espionage and were having an early lunch.

"Something not boring, yeah." Deidara shrugged, leaning back in his chair. "You pick."

Sakura rolled her eyes a little and smiled. When it came to art or when he was angry Deidara was highly energetic, often volatile, and sometimes downright maniacal. But when not dealing with one or both of those things, he was ridiculously laid back. "Hmm…why don't we just hang out on the beach? I mean we've got our own little strip outside the room, and you can't vacation at the beach without _going_ to the beach, right?"

He laughed lightly. "I guess that's true. I don't know anyone who's been paid this much just to sit around and relax all day, yeah. This really is a vacation."

Her brow creased slightly. "That remains to be seen. We may have our work cut out for us after all. But I don't want to think about that now. I just want to relax today." She smiled at him.

Deidara grinned back. "Me too, yeah."

They returned to the room a while later and Sakura made her way to the bedroom. "I'm going to change real quick."

"Okay," he said, and merely pulled his shirt over his head.

Sakura took in an eyeful of toned torso, disguised as a playful glare. "Men have it so easy," she said, and shut the door.

Deidara wanted to seriously argue about that, because when she came out it was practically torture to see her in that bathing suit. She was wearing a black bikini with a short semi-sheer sarong over the low-cut bottoms that – much to his torment – tied at the hips. He'd never before been attracted to a woman and made a conscious effort to keep his hands off, so to speak. Sakkura was his friend and he respected her, but she sure as hell wasn't making it easy.

She grabbed the throw blanket from the back of the sofa. "Ready?"

Deidara swallowed carefully and nodded. She walked out the patio doors and he followed, trying hard not to stare at the curve of her hips and ass under that little see-through skirt.

The beach was fairly secluded, only a few other couples from the bungalows were present. They located a good spot a little ways down the strand under the shade of a thick palm tree. Sakura spread the blanket over the smooth white sand, and Deidara sat down and leaned back on his hands. Sakura stood next to him but didn't sit, instead looking out at the clear turquoise water. She reached down and untied her sarong, which just happened to be at Deidara's eye level, and dropped it onto the blanket.

She looked down and quirked a brow at the strange expression on his face. "Something wrong?"

"No, nothing," he mumbled, and she turned and strode down to the water's edge. Deidara watched her wade into the water with her fingers down to touch the surface of the gently rolling waves. When she was waist deep she turned and beckoned to him enthusiastically, and he heard her shout at him in invitation. Smirking, he rose and made his way down to the water. He waded in knee-deep and she moved toward him, stopping several feet away with a mischievous grin.

Suddenly Sakura swiped at the surface and a torrent of warm salty water splashed over him, and a peal of musical laughter rang out as she tried to move out of his range. Deidara laughed and splashed back, and the war was on.

Sakura jumped onto Deidara from the side and he spun around to throw her off, but she held on and tried to push him under. Her feet had no footing because he lifted her and turned suddenly, grabbed her by the waist and tackled her. They both crashed under the surface and got into a minor grappling match beneath the waves. When they broke apart and came up for air he laughed at her because she got water up her nose, she laughed at the way his sopping hair looked, and their little war was on again.

When they tired of their water battle they walked back up to the blanket. Deidara lay on his back and Sakura sat back on her hands with her legs stretched out beside him, and the hot summer air dried them out in no time. When his fingers stroked lightly up the back of her arm she was mildly surprised, because it was the first time he'd touched her without the pretense of their cover, but she couldn't say she didn't like it. She smiled softly and he continued the caress.

After a while Sakura turned to look down at him, and he gazed back with his usual expression—more than a smirk but not a full smile. She reached down and gently moved a stray strand of hair away from his face, but the tender moment was ruined when her fingers caught in a tangle.

"Sorry," she said softly.

Deidara rose onto his elbows and reached behind his head to remove the tie keeping half of his hair up, but winced as the semi-dry strands caught and pulled. Sakura tucked her legs in and with a slight shift of position she reached out to carefully work the tie free for him, then ran her fingers through gently to work out the tangled mess.

"Thanks," he murmured. When he sank down again he lay with his head in her lap, and she let him.

His long hair splayed over her bare thighs as his head rested near her tucked knees. "I remember what it was like. My hair nearly reached my waist when I was younger," she said as she gently finger-combed the thick strands.

"Why did you cut it?"

She sighed at the memory. "Well, during the survival stage of the chuunin exams I was attacked by a Sound kunoichi and at one point she ended up grabbing me by the hair. She scorned me for having such well kept hair; it was obvious I was more concerned with being pretty than being a ninja. It really pissed me off because she was right. I was tired of being weak and useless and shallow, so I grabbed a kunai and cut my hair off just above her grip, which happened to be at my neck. It's been short ever since."

He grinned up at her with a gleam in his eyes. "You cut your hair off in battle with a kunai? That's _so_ hot."

She gave him a look. "I was twelve."

"It's the concept, yeah."

Sakura laughed quietly and continued working the tangles out of his fair hair, pushing it back from his brow and massaging his scalp lightly. After a while he closed his eyes in contentment.

She used the opportunity to study him closely. He really was incredibly handsome, so much that combined with his long hair, he got flack for looking too pretty at times. Sakura didn't think he looked effeminate at all; his features were fine-boned but had definitively masculine angles. His lips were not thin but not full either and they naturally turned a bit at the corners, making him look like he was always smirking slightly. Unless he was frowning, but that was when his trademark frown-pout would emerge, and she'd always found that to be adorable as well. Deidara was so relaxed, his breathing so even that she wondered if he'd dozed off, but he opened his eyes a moment later and looked up at her drowsily. His eyes were so striking; they were the clear blue of a cloudless sky, almost lupine in their pale intensity. Up close they were actually quite pretty.

"Falling asleep?" she asked with soft smile.

"This is really relaxing, yeah. No one's ever done this before," he said quietly.

He probably wouldn't have _let_ anyone do this before. He was comfortable with her, a big deal for someone who'd been a missing-nin over half his life. It made Sakura happy to know he trusted her in that way. "You have such beautiful hair," she said as she ran her fingers across his temple. "A lot of girls would kill for hair like this."

"Including you?"

She huffed a softly. "Nah…I don't think I'd look very good as a blonde."

Deidara shifted a little, squinting up at her in assessment. "I don't think so either, yeah," he agreed. He reached up and held a lock of her hair between his fingers, stroking it gently. "Besides, this color is perfect for you: unique, unforgettable…beautiful." He paused, realizing where he was going with this, and a playful smirk curved his lips. "But I've always kinda had a thing for redheads."

Sakura's heart melted a little at his words, and she stared at him for a long moment before looking away toward the water. This was getting to be too much. It was going too far and it needed to stop before something happened that couldn't be brushed off. What they were doing right now was already more intimate than necessary, and there wasn't even anyone around to see it. This wasn't playacting for their cover—they were doing it because they wanted to. She shouldn't have allowed things to get this far. It wasn't fair to make him want what she couldn't give.

His fingers brushed her cheek, and she tensed and closed her eyes. "Deidara…" Her tone was soft, but the message was clear. She let her hands fall away from his hair.

Frowning slightly, Deidara lowered his hand back to his chest. It clicked then, what her issue was. It wasn't that she was holding some latent anger toward him for his part in her tragic past. She wasn't reluctant to be his friend—she was reluctant to be _more_ than that. She pulled away whenever they started getting too close. "What are you afraid of, Sakura?"

"I'm not afraid of anything," she said stiffly, and they both knew it was a lie.

"Then what's the problem?"

His eyes had gone from drowsy to piercing, and she looked down at the blanket rather than at him. "Nothing, Deidara. It's been a very long time since we last saw each other. I'm not the same as I was then." His eyes narrowed, and she could tell he didn't believe her. She sighed. "We shouldn't complicate things."

He shook his head faintly. "Then don't complicate it."

Sakura couldn't argue with him without explaining herself, and she wasn't willing to do that. She huffed in frustration and refused to look at him again. "I think you should get up now," she said quietly.

Deidara irritably sat up, not bothering to keep it from looking like they were arguing. Sakura could feel his resentful stare, but she refused to look at him.

After a minute he stood and walked down the beach toward their room, his patience with her run out.

Sakura fought the urge to go after him. She was filled with a bitter sense of disappointment. This was exactly why she hadn't wanted things to get this way between them. It was unfair to lead him on when she couldn't give him more. She had ruined their peaceful afternoon, she may have ruined the credibility of their cover, and she fought down the creeping worry that she may have damaged their friendship as well.

* * *

Sakura didn't return to the room for several hours, and Deidara was beginning to wonder what happened to her when she finally came back.

The second she walked in the door he could tell she'd been drinking.

He gave her a hard look. Drinking alone at the bar in a resort for couples was _not_ a good way to reinforce their cover. "I was just thinking about going to look for you," he said.

Sakura shrugged indifferently and dropped the sandy blanket by the door. "I'm a big girl."

Deidara rolled his eyes and turned away. If that's how she wanted to be, fine. He didn't know why she was so upset, it wasn't like he pinned her down and tried to kiss her. She was never adverse to affection before. In fact, when they first met it was _he_ who had been thrown off by how casual she was with physical contact. This drastic change in her must have a pretty serious foundation…and he didn't want to be an asshole about something that was obviously very difficult for her. "Sorry if I made you uncomfortable earlier, yeah," he said gruffly.

She paused, and then made a vague gesture as if to brush her thoughts off. "It's fine. This mission's been getting to both our heads, that's all," she said dismissively.

He grunted and gave her an appraising look as she leaned against the back of the couch. He smashed the clay he'd been working in his fist. He really wanted to blow something up right now, but that was not an option because their cover had already taken enough of a beating for one day. The repression of his art only irritated him more, and so he tossed the lump of clay on the coffee table.

"I'm hungry," Sakura said offhandedly.

Deidara knew she wasn't drunk, but she'd had enough that he could smell whatever fruity liquor she'd been drinking and her cheeks had a slight flush. "Want to order—?"

"No, I want to go out," she cut him off.

He glared at her for a second and then sighed. If they were going to go to dinner they had to go now, because they didn't have much time before tonight's job. "Let's go then, yeah," he said as he got up and turned to the door.

She walked toward the bedroom instead. "I need to change."

Deidara glared at the closed bedroom door. The woman was impossible.

She came out a minute later wearing a short black skirt, a purple sleeveless blouse, and her knee high boots.

"Let's go," she said, as if _she_ was the one waiting for _him_. Deidara frowned at her back as he followed her out the door.

Dinner was frustrating, to say the least. Sakura talked incessantly about random things neither of them cared about, for the sake of their cover as much as to mask her own turmoil by pretending nothing was wrong.

It was obvious to Deidara that something _was_ wrong. If the fact that she kept going on about irrelevant things wasn't enough, then the fact that she was now on her third fruity and over-decorated cocktail since they came to dinner was a clear sign. He'd seen her like this once before, when she'd gotten drunk in that bar with him, Kisame and Tobi. This wasn't angry Sakura, this was confused and upset Sakura trying to block what was troubling her with alcohol. She'd been torn up over getting involved with Itachi back then, and Deidara had been the one to carry her up to her room when she passed out while Uchiha was off sulking. Well, she couldn't pass out this time—they had a job to do in less than an hour.

"How many of those have you had, hm?"

Sakura shrugged and stirred the drink that smelled of mangos. "Of these? Three…but they had these really good strawberry ones at the cabana by the beach," she said flippantly. She was starting to slur her words slightly. She snickered at his reproving look and sucked a large gulp through her straw in deliberate insolence.

"Did you forget we have plans tonight?" he said pointedly.

She waved her hand dismissively and then used the same hand to flag down the waiter and motion for another drink.

"Sakura…" he said in a low warning.

She stuck her tongue out at him. "I didn't forget…s'fine. Don't be so uptight."

He sighed heavily, thinking he could use a really strong drink himself right about now. But at least one of them had to stay sharp. When the waiter brought Sakura her drink, Deidara asked him what time it was. Sakura gulped the fruity concoction without bothering to use the straw and snorted as some of it dripped down her chin, making her giggle tipsily. The waiter answered ten-fifteen, and then quickly left with the warning glare from whcih Deidara conveyed quite clearly that his 'wife' was cut off.

"We gotta go, yeah," he said irritably and stood up.

Sakura nodded and stood up as well, or tried to as she swayed on her feet. Deidara grunted impatiently and moved to her side to hold her steady, she snickered some more and finished off her drink with a loud slurp, and then he led her out of the restaurant.

They made it around the corner to a more secluded walkway and he let her go as they stopped. "Hurry up and burn it off, yeah. We don't have much time."

Sakura just stood with a look of consternation on her flushed features. Then she broke into another fit of snorts and giggles. "I can't."

He looked at her sharply. "What?"

"I can only burn off alcohol before it sets in. Once I'm intoxshi…intoxicated…I can't control chakra as well and I can hurt myself if I try," she explained sheepishly.

_Un-fucking-believable_. He groaned and rubbed the back of his neck. "Damn it, Sakura…this is just fucking great, yeah. You just _had_ to get wasted on tonight of all nights."

She glared at him. "Oy! It's _your_—"

"Listen," he cut her off. This was not the time to go into _that_, especially not with her being drunk. "Just head back to the room okay? I'll go by myself."

She shoved him in the shoulder. "No way! I'm going with you! I'm not that drunk…and besides, you need me to do it."

Deidara grabbed her by the shoulders and pulled her further off the pathway into the shadows. "Keep your voice down, damn it." There wasn't any time to argue, but she was as stubborn as a mule when she wanted to be. "Can you even _do_ what you were planning to do? You remember this is a stealth operation, right? Will you even be able to mask your chakra completely? Because if not then we can't even get down there."

"I said s'fine. I'm not some novice chuunin, y'know."

He refrained from telling her that was exactly what she was acting like, as it was likely to make her yell and hit him. A punch from a drunken Sakura who couldn't control her chakra was not something he wanted to experience. It didn't look like they had much choice. "Did you remember to bring what you needed, hmm?"

She nodded. "Mmhm. See?" She grinned and pulled one side of her skirt up to reveal several kunai and a few things from her medical supply strapped to a holster high on her thigh.

Deidara gave an inaudible groan and looked away. Just because he'd seen her in a bikini didn't mean he was jaded to her lifting her skirt and flashing him, especially not when that firm, silky-looking thigh was strapped with sharp weapons… He stepped back onto the walkway, pulling her after him by the elbow. "Fine. Let's go."

He began to seriously consider aborting the operation and trying again tomorrow when Sakura slipped a bit on the stairs leading down to the basement, especially when she giggled at her fumble. However once they reached the basement she seemed to have collected herself somewhat, and they quickly made their way through the underground corridors to the sub-basement access door.

It was locked, but a simple bolt lock was no obstacle for any ninja past their first academy year. Once inside, they silently moved down the sublevel stairwell about halfway, Deidara unscrewed the light bulb for that landing, and they melded into the shadows on opposite sides to wait. They didn't have to wait long; they'd cut it closer than expected with their arguing and Sakura's fumbling, and it was only a minute or two later that they heard the door at the bottom of the stairwell open and the sound of someone ascending the stairs. A large male by the sound of it, and he was whistling. Deidara signaled to Sakura that this was their target, and she readied herself.

A minute later the whistling man reached their landing, and as he turned to go up the next flight Deidara sprang out and threw his elbow around the man's neck from behind. Deidara brought him to the floor and pulled him into the corner with ease, though the man was twice his size. The burly man couldn't cry out because his windpipe was being pressured, and he couldn't struggle because that pressure could easily become lethal with a simple flex of Deidara's bicep.

Sakura stepped out and kneeled before the prostrate man. She removed a small phial of liquid from her leg holster and held it up to inspect in the low light from the landing below. The man's eyes widened in fear and he did begin to struggle then, his face turning an ugly shade of red from the pressure at his throat.

"Hurry up before he passes out!" Deidara hissed.

Sakura held the phial up to eye level and made a face. "Does thss look clear 'r yellow t'you?"

Deidara rolled his eyes angrily. "It's fucking _yellow_, now just do it already!"

She quickly popped the end off the little capsule to reveal a hollow point needle. "Move yur arm, I need to get at 'is neck," she said impatiently.

Deidara released the chokehold, instead pulling the man's head back by the hair and holding a kunai to his jugular. "Don't even think about struggling," he growled.

Sakura reached out and patted the distressed man on the head. "S'okay. It'll be over soon then you can go home," she said soothingly as if talking to a child about to get his first shot. Then without warning she jammed the needle into the side of his neck. The man gasped and grunted, and several seconds later he went completely lax.

Deidara looked around at the brawny man's face to see if Sakura may have actually just killed him. But their captive was awake, though looking rather out of it. "What is that stuff, hm?"

Sakura smirked. "A drug that inh'bits the brain's abil'ty to form lies, combined with a fast actin opiate to keep 'em from strugglin. You never used stuff like this in…um…y'know?" She trailed off, not wanting to say ANBU or Akatsuki in front of their captive.

Deidara grinned deviously. "Nah. We just beat 'em till they talked, yeah."

Sakura snorted and shook her head. "He should be ready now." She looked at the groggy man. "What's yur name?"

"Komura Hiroki," the man slurred lazily.

"How old r'you?"

"Thirty-three."

"What'd you eat for lunch today, Hiroki?" Deidara gave her a strange look at all the random questions, but she ignored him.

"Onigiri and egg rolls."

"What's the access code for the door at the bottom of these stairs?" she asked in the same even tone as the rest of her questions.

The man hesitated for a second, but then answered, "Six-four-nine-one-seven-five."

Sakura glanced up at Deidara with a satisfied smile, and he smirked approvingly at her. She patted the big man's head again. "Good boy, Hiroki. Now what's the code for the sealed door inside the sublevel?"

His frown deepened and he squirmed a little, but the drug was too effective for someone not trained to fight such things. "Three-seven-two-nine-four-six," he mumbled.

Sakura grinned. "There now, see? That wasn't so bad, was it?"

"No," answered Hiroki. Deidara laughed under his breath at the man's forced honesty.

The tip of Sakura's index finger began to glow green and Hiroki's eyes widened in fear. "Shh, this won't hurt," she said, and pressed her finger to the base of his skull. Nothing appeared to change and after a moment she removed her finger. "I bet yur ready t'go home, huh?" The man nodded. "Looks like you had a long day, Hiroki. I bet you jus wanna get home and have a few drinks to relax, don'tcha?"

Hiroki nodded again, and Sakura motioned for Deidara to let him go. He did reluctantly, and the big man stood up and began to walk up the stairs.

"Night night, Hiroki," Sakura said with a sly grin.

He gave her a small wave over his shoulder as he lumbered groggily up the steps. "Night."

When he was gone Sakura turned to see Deidara giving her a strange look. "You sure it's ok to let him go like that?" he asked warily.

"Mmhm. He's harmless now."

Deidara screwed the light bulb back in, and it flickered on. "What the hell did you do to him?"

Sakura squinted under the brighter light. "I blocked his short-term mem'ry. It'll only last a few days, but right now he's gonna go home and prolly get drunk, so he won't think it strange that he cant 'member an'thing that happ'nd between leaving work and waking up t'morrow."

Deidara smirked and gave her an appraising look. "You medics are kinda scary, yeah."

She gave him a devious smile. "I already tol' you, I can do just bout anything I want to your body with my chakra."

His eyebrows shot up at her obvious innuendo. She was obviously still drunk, which was further demonstrated a moment later when she stepped forward and leaned against him. He grabbed her by the shoulders and gently stood her up straight again, sighing. "Come on, we need to get this over with, yeah."

They descended to the bottom of the stairs and stopped before the door. "Hey…are there any secur'ty cameras in there?" Sakura asked cautiously.

"No, I checked last night, yeah. They don't use anything that will leave documented evidence of what goes on down here." He stared at the door, grumbled something under his breath that Sakura couldn't make out, and then turned to her. "Are you able to cast a wide range genjutsu right now? I'm not very good at casting them, only countering them, yeah."

She paused for a moment, assessing her faculties. "Yah. S'not as compl'cated as medical stuff so yah I can do it. Why aren' you good at it?"

He frowned. "I hate genjutsu. Mind games and tricks…that's not art. If we knew the sword was in there tonight and didn't have to stick around for a few more days I'd just blow this damn door off. This sneaky shit isn't my style, yeah."

"And tha's why yur a notorious wanted nin," she said pointedly. He simply grinned. "Enter the code," she said, and formed the seals of the genjutsu.

The air shifted around them and Deidara's left eye twitched reactively. He entered the first six digit code. The little light on the keypad turned green and he opened the door. Inside, the guards at the desk and a few in the hallway were simply standing or sitting in place and staring at nothing. Sakura's skills were impressive even while drunk, and he felt a bit more at ease after that. He led the way down the halls to the sealed door, passing a few more spaced out guards on the way. He entered the second code and they quickly slipped inside.

Several display cases full of ancient-looking artifacts covered the floor, and the walls were lined with shelves displaying more precious antiques. There was probably the value of a small country in this room. But there was no sword; it seemed as though it wouldn't arrive until just before the exhibition, possibly meaning it was more valuable than everything else in this room.

Sakura became highly interested in a row of gleaming ancient weaponry, a giant double-headed battleaxe in particular. Deidara grinned at the image of the petite kunoichi wielding a weapon like that—taller than she was and more than half her weight. With her it was entirely possible, and as scary as that thought could be, he also thought it rather sexy. Then he remembered she was drunk and in a room full of priceless antiques, so he pulled her back to his side.

Sakura stated the obvious. "Well it's not here."

"I can see that," Deidara replied dryly. "Look." he pointed to a large vent on one wall. "Later in the week this place will be swarming with extra security and a genjutsu may not cover them all. But if we can get in through there we can grab the sword before the show, yeah."

Sakura frowned in thought. "But…we don't know what time or even what day it's coming in."

Deidara reached into his pocket and pulled out a small amount of clay. He closed his hand and a moment later there were three small spiders on his palm. "These can stay here and let me know when the sword is delivered. It'll probably be the day of the show, or the night before. We can take it then." Sakura smiled and touched one of the spiders before they jumped from Deidara's palm and skittered away to hide among the many objects lining the shelves. "We're done here. Let's head back, yeah."

They made their way out of the sublevel and basement level without incident and Sakura released the genjutsu when they got to the ground floor. But as they were heading through the administrative offices they had passed to get to the basement access, they had to duck into one of the many cubicles to avoid the patrolling night security. Two guards passed down the far hallway and after a moment they were clear again. Deidara grabbed Sakura by the elbow and pulled her from where she was slouching in the office chair, and she accidentally bumped a plastic pencil case on the desk and knocked it to the floor with a loud clatter.

"Shit," Deidara hissed. He hauled her after him to make a fast exit, as that noise would surely attract the guards, but the patrolling guards were currently in the hallway that marked their way out. He quickly found a door to one of the admin offices that was unlocked and pulled her inside, closing the door with a soft click.

"Sorry," she blurted rather loudly.

"Shh!" he hissed, and clamped his hand over her mouth while pressing her against the wall.

Several moments passed, but it still wasn't safe to open the door yet. Sakura's hands had grasped Deidara's shirt at his waist when he pinned her to the wall, and now her fingers were moving against his sides as she fidgeted.

He jerked slightly and the hand not holding her mouth shut grabbed one of her wrists and pushed it away from his side. "Quit it," he whispered harshly next to her ear.

Sakura looked at him curiously and giggled against his hand. "r'you tcklsh?" she mumbled through his fingers.

He rolled his eyes and tried to ignore the feel of her lips moving against his palm. She tried to tickle him again with her free hand, and he pushed her further into the wall with his body, pinning the wrist in his grip next to her head with a warning glare. Her eyes widened slightly and she stopped.

Several more moments passed, but Deidara thought he heard the guards in the direction of the cubicle they had been in so he still didn't move. But then Sakura did something that made his eyes widen, and his whole body tensed.

Her lips moved over the mouth on his palm, only this time she didn't say anything. He clenched his jaw and tried to ignore it, but then she did it again, and this time her mouth _opened_. "Sakura stop that," he whispered in her ear. He actually felt her shiver a little, and curiously wondered if he had just done that to her. He smirked at the thought.

She did it again, and now it wasn't random lip movement but a very distinct motion and…oh gods was that her_ tongue?_

His eyes snapped to hers and there was a very mischievous glint in that jade gaze. She was either trying to make him let go or had something entirely different in mind. "S-sakura…" he stuttered plaintively as he unconsciously pressed further against her. He pressed his forehead into the wall above her shoulder and made a tiny whimper when she gently pulled his skin between her teeth. He was fighting hard to keep that mouth closed and after a second more of her dirty trick he jerked his hand away and glared at her.

Sakura smirked indolently and her free hand trailed up his side, making him jerk again.

He grabbed her other wrist and pinned it up as well. "Would you knock it off?" he growled.

Sakura grinned at his indignant and slightly frazzled expression, and then stuck her tongue out at him.

Deidara sighed and rolled his eyes for the tenth time that night. "You're such a troublesome woman," he groaned.

Sakura bit her lip. He sounded just like Shikamaru, and he was wearing the frown-pout, and it was just too adorable—she snorted and burst into giggles.

There was a muted 'did you hear that?' from outside and down the hall, and Deidara glared at a guilty-looking Sakura like he wanted to strangle her. "Fuck…" he hissed, and looked around for something…a way out…anything. They could hear footsteps now as the security guards neared their location. There was no other way out of this room. They were going to get caught, and they couldn't knock the guards out for the same reason they had to sneak into the basement and get out undetected.

Deidara huffed in frustration and fixed Sakura with a look that was hesitant yet urgent at the same time. His grip on her wrists tightened and he appeared to be bracing himself for something. The footsteps got louder and they could hear the door down the hall open. Theirs would be next.

He looked her in the eyes and Sakura knew what was about to happen. It was one of the oldest and most effective spy tactics, and they really had no choice. "Sorry," he mumbled in advance, and the next thing she knew his lips were on hers. She emitted a small squeak and it took a second for her intoxicated brain to register, but after a moment her wide eyes slipped closed. This was just an act, and he wasn't really even kissing her, more like pressing his mouth against hers, but still it was…really nice.

After a moment she made a soft sound in her throat and her lips slackened. Deidara's eyes opened briefly at her reaction, and then widened in surprise, for although their lips were already touching, Sakura suddenly relaxed against the wall and her mouth opened…and she kissed him.

Deidara gave in instantly, slanting his mouth to kiss her for real. He couldn't even remember how long he'd wanted to do this. Years. Since the night he'd opened up the about himself as she healed his arm in his parents' bedroom, maybe. The circumstances were a bit different from what he'd envisioned, but her lips were as soft and full as he'd imagined. Deidara didn't know why she changed their little act into a real kiss, and he knew she may revert to her earlier distance at any time, but he wasn't going to question it. His tongue teased against her bottom lip and she opened her mouth with a soft sigh that made him groan and press into her. She tasted like mangos. If this was going to be the only time he ever kissed her he was damn well going to make it worthwhile.

Sakura's head was spinning, and it had nothing to do with alcohol and everything to do with the fact that _damn _this guy could kiss!She fleetingly thought she should have known; he was undoubtedly great with all _three_ mouths. That thought made her entire body heat up, and she mewled softly and pressed forward into him as he tilted his head the other way and deepened the kiss. His lips moved so expertly over hers, his tongue gliding so sensually into her mouth that she couldn't even think straight. She'd all but forgotten what they were doing there in that dark office, when the handle of the door suddenly clicked.

_Oh, right._

The door opened and they were suddenly blinded by a flashlight shone directly at their faces. So caught up were they in their kiss that they didn't immediately stop or turn toward the two silhouettes in the doorway. Deidara finally released Sakura's wrists, reluctantly breaking the kiss and turning his head to glare at the outlines of the two security guards. "Do you mind?" he said, sounding extremely inconvenienced and not at all faking it.

The guard in the rear chuckled under his breath, but the one in front with the flashlight stiffened. "What are you doing in here?"

"What does it look like, hm?"

"You two can't be doing that in here." The guards seemed rather laid back about it, obviously thinking one of the honeymooning couples was sneaking around for some late night thrills. Which is exactly what they wanted them to think. It probably wasn't the first time they'd caught someone doing this.

Sakura slid her arms up Deidara's chest and linked them around his neck. She giggled loudly, playing on her tipsiness. "You can't tell me what I can or can't do with _my_ husband on _our_ honeymoon," she slurred petulantly, and defiantly leaned forward to press a kiss against Deidara's jaw.

Deidara smirked and slipped his arms around her waist, looking smugly at the guards. "My wife is a very exciting woman," he drawled.

The guard behind the flashlight wielder chuckled again, but the one in front merely grunted. "Well, you can't do it in _here_. This is an employee's only area. Get out of here and go find a non-restricted area to sneak into, or better yet—go back to your room," he said gruffly before backing out of the doorframe. The security guards retreated into the hallway, leaving the door open behind them.

Deidara turned back to Sakura, who was leaning her head against the wall and giving him a drowsy, sensual half-smile. Neither of them made a move to leave. "Do that again," she murmured breathily.

"Do what?"

"That thing with your tongue."

He smirked. "What thing?"

She huffed impatiently. "Just shut up and kiss me."

"Yes, ma'am." He grinned and leaned in to capture her lips once more.

Sakura lost herself again in another toe-curling kiss that left her flushed and lightheaded. Why hadn't they done this before? She vaguely knew there was a reason, but right now she couldn't remember because this was damn near _perfect_. Her arms tightened around his neck and his around her waist until he was practically lifting her against the wall, their kiss becoming more passionate with every moment.

A minute later they heard another door open down the hall and remembered the guards were still around. With a small groan and a last lingering pass at her lips, Deidara pulled away. "We gotta go, yeah." Sakura let him grab her hand and pull her into the hall.

#

They quickly returned to their bungalow and the moment they entered and shut the door, Sakura pressed herself against him and linked her arms around his neck, threading her fingers through his long hair. His arms slipped around her waist automatically, but he was confused by her complete one-eighty from earlier. "Sakura…I thought you—"

"Shut up," she whispered onto his lips. She didn't want to think about it. Right now she didn't care…she only cared that this felt so damn good, and she just wanted to get lost in him and his amazing kisses.

She nibbled his bottom lip, sighed into his mouth and pushed against him, making her intent clear. Deidara groaned softly and tightened his hold around her back, and they moved toward the bedroom with him practically carrying her. He turned her around so that he was the one guiding, but then her knees hit the edge of the frame and she tripped, giggling as they fell on the bed as. His hand moved under her skirt until his fingers met her leg holster, and he unbuckled it and let it fall off the foot of the bed before he returned to caressing up the thigh that was every bit as silky as it looked. Her hands ran through his hair and he kissed along her jaw and down her throat, nibbling her tendon and making her moan softly.

The sounds she made drove straight through him and made him want to rip her clothes off and have her right then and there. His hand slipped under her blouse and moved over her softly toned abdomen. She tugged on his shirt, trying to get him to move and take it off. He obliged and let her lift it over his head, at the same time thinking they should slow down, and probably stop altogether. There was nothing lacking in the way she kissed him—far from it. But the rest of her actions were slightly delayed and he reminded himself that while she wasn't totally drunk, she was still rather tipsy and not thinking clearly. He didn't want to take advantage of her lowered inhibitions. "Sakura…" he murmured against her lips, trying to block out the feel of her hands running up his bare back. "We should stop, yeah."

Sakura blinked and pouted in a way that made him want to take back what he just said and kiss her senseless. "Wha? Why?" she asked breathily.

He pressed his forehead into the pillow near her head in agitation. "Just…we shouldn't…not like this, okay?" he whispered against her ear, making her shiver beneath him.

"Whad'ya mean 'not like this?'" she whispered slowly.

Deidara sighed. Since when did he become a nice guy? "I would love to, yeah. Believe me, I _really_ would…but not when you're drunk, Sakura." This was a first; most women he'd slept with had come on to him in a bar while he was on a mission somewhere. But this was Sakura, not some random woman he didn't even bother to remember the name of. If they were going to do this, he wanted to do it right.

Sakura squirmed and tried to look at him. "I'm not drunk…not really. I want…" she argued softly, but trailed off after a moment, some part of her knowing he was right.

Deidara placed a kiss below her ear and inhaled the sweet flowery scent of her hair that was mixed with the tang of saltwater. She made a small, pouting whimper and turned her face toward his, pressing her lips against his neck but not moving them. Her arms relaxed into a gentle hold against his sides, and he raised his head up to look at her face. Her eyes were closed, and he brought a hand up to her hair, gently combing it from her brow. "Sakura…what are you doing to me?" he sighed against her skin.

The only response was the soft even sound of her breathing; she was asleep.

He sat up and removed her boots but left the rest of her clothes on, then picked her up gently while pulling back the bedcovers. He got in beside her and wrapped an arm around her waist, and she murmured softly and turned into him. Deidara pulled her in, buried his nose in her hair, willing the fire in his blood to still. It felt good to simply hold her, an act he'd never really given much consideration to before. He fell asleep thinking this was how they should have spent every night since this mission started, and that he would find a way to make it happen every night from here out.


	6. Breaking Point

**Silver Lining**

Chapter Six: Breaking Point

* * *

Sakura woke to the feeling of Deidara shifting and pulling her closer against his warm chest, the arm tucked around her ribs tightening slightly. His sigh fanned warmly over her skin, and the feel of his nose nuzzling the back of her neck brought a sleepy smile to her face…followed immediately by the gut-wrenching recollection of last night and the onslaught of a killer headache from her binge.

The first thing her panicked mind searched for was the confirmation that her clothes were still on, though she could feel Deidara's shirt was off. She scrambled for pieces of memory and tried to string them together into a coherent sequence of events. Last night was hazy at best, but the two things that stood out quite clearly were that she had acted like a fool during their operation… and that Deidara was the most amazing kisser in existence.

Both realizations made her want to groan loudly and curl into ball for very different reasons.

Using every stealthy skill her hung-over body could manage, she actually succeeded in inching her way out of bed without waking him and silently stole into the bathroom to shower, dress, and wallow in her misery in private.

#

Deidara found her some time later on the patio looking out at the morning ocean. She was wearing a short, sleeveless white dress that hugged her figure nicely before flaring at the hips, and his eyes ran appreciatively down her bare shapely legs as he approached. He stopped behind her and placed his hands on her hips, pressing his nose to the top of her shoulder above her neckline. "Hey," he murmured against her skin.

Sakura closed her eyes and relaxed, and for a second it seemed like she was going to lean back into him, but then she stiffened and shifted her shoulder ever so slightly away from his lips.

Deidara got the hint and backed away in frustration. So they were back here again. He didn't know what was with her, but it was getting harder and harder to put up with, especially since she wouldn't talk about it. She was moody and depressive and it was more than a little annoying.

Sakura took a deep breath and turned halfway to face him, but didn't look him in the eye. "I apologize for my behavior last night. It was completely unprofessional, and my actions complicated our job and could have ruined our mission completely. I'm sorry." Her voice was quiet but unmistakably stiff, and there was a tense set to her posture.

Deidara gave her a long look, far more upset with her behavior this morning than he was about last night, though he was still ticked about that too. "It doesn't matter anymore, yeah. We did what we needed to do. You're an obnoxious drunk, but—"

She cut him off. "It does matter. There was no excuse for me to get drunk when I knew we had a job to do. A shinobi should always remain in control—"

"Don't quote the rulebook at me," he interrupted derisively. "Yeah, you made things difficult, not to mention annoying. But you're allowed to be human, sometimes."

She looked up at him and her features softened for a moment, but then she gave a short cynical laugh and crossed her arms and looked out at the shore again. Deidara reached out to hold her arm and her eyes closed as his thumb softly stroked up and down her shoulder. Sakura took a deep breath, and without opening her eyes, softly said, "Last night was a mistake."

She expected to feel his hand drop away but instead it tightened, and she opened her eyes to meet his piercing stare. "No it wasn't. You weren't _that_ drunk, Sakura, and I'm not stupid, so don't try to play it off like that. You wanted—"

Her expression hardened and she gently pulled her arm out of his grasp. "Let's just forget it, okay?"

His eyes narrowed angrily. "Why do you have to be so fucking _difficult_, huh? I wish you would just tell me what the hell's bothering you."

Sakura glared. "I told you to drop it. There's nothing wrong—"

"Stop fucking lying to me! Or maybe it's _yourself_ you're lying to, hm?" he snapped.

"I'm done talking about this." She turned angrily and walked away into the room. "I'm going out. I need some time alone," she said curtly as she grabbed one of the keycards from the table and headed for the door.

"Sakura!" he called after her, but the only reply was the sound of the front door slamming. Deidara growled and gripped the railing until his knuckles turned white. The sky was overcast and dark on the horizon. A storm was rolling in off the ocean and he could already feel the air growing thick with humidity.

He went back inside and flopped onto the sofa with a heavy sigh. He was so frustrated and so goddamn angry with her. How did she have such an effect on him that no one else ever had? Not the anger part, he could get pissed at anyone pretty easily, but the rest of it. He'd never felt compelled to do and say the things he did around Sakura, things like tender touches and wanting to wake up with her in his arms. Things he had never given much credit to before, he found himself doing with her and wishing she would let him do more, even when she kept denying him.

It had always been different with her, since the day they met.

Deidara still remembered how she'd managed to take a group of dangerous criminals who didn't particularly like each other, wrap them around her finger, and bring them into some sort of grudging dysfunctional family. He and his fellow Akatsuki had taken her captive, but in the end she had captured _them_, even the cold and uncaring Uchiha. As much as he'd hated the guy, Deidara knew the bastard had truly cared for Sakura in whatever way his shriveled heart could, and she'd even managed to bring something out in Uchiha that made him almost tolerable before the end. Tobi had been completely smitten with her, and Kisame had fallen victim to her charm as well.

As for himself...he'd often thought about her over the years, and now that she was back in his life his feelings for her were starting to freak him out, because they were deeper and more encompassing than he'd ever realized. Sakura made him second guess his very nature. Things he never thought he would want…he was starting to think about. Sakura seemed to be the one exception to all the rules and ideals he had about himself. She was the only one who'd ever been able to back him out of a fight. She was the only person he trusted enough to open up about his past to. She was the only person he would put himself at risk for, physically or emotionally. She was the only woman he'd ever wanted for more than one night. He wanted her so damn bad, but he respected her too much to press her. Deidara was not a sensitive or patient man, but he found himself trying for her because he didn't want to scare her away or hurt her more than she already was.

And he knew that was her problem: she was scared. Sakura held a great deal of love in her heart—that was her magic, the key to her strength and also the source of her weakness. Deidara knew from the way she'd talked about them that she had loved her teammates dearly, and it was losing them one after another in such a sort span of time that undoubtedly caused this deep sorrow she was stuck in. But even though Sakura wasn't as open as she used to be, she was able to let go and be happy and have fun with increasing frequency since they'd met again. It was only when something went beyond the line of friendship that she shut down. She didn't seem as reluctant to be friends with him as she was to be _more_ than that.

He'd had enough of guessing and second guessing about her. If she wasn't going to talk to him and tell him what she'd been through, then he would just have to find out for himself, because he couldn't deal with her anymore if he didn't know what was troubling her so much.

Confident that she wouldn't be coming back for quite a while, Deidara got up and walked into the bedroom, located her backpack and sat down on the bed with it. He was aware he was disrespecting her privacy, but he was a shinobi and no one had ever accused him of being morally righteous, and he needed to know what was wrong with her if he was going to help her. It was for her own damn good.

Deidara unsnapped the small pouch in the front first, and found only exploding tags and wires. Next he opened the main flap, pulled the drawstring and looked inside. He removed her gloves and apron and set them on the bed, followed by extra sets of kunai and shuriken. She didn't have much that wasn't ninja equipment, just like him. He removed several scrolls, most of them medical. Then he noticed a scroll in an inner side pocket that was unique. He pulled it out and saw that it was very old, so he opened it carefully. It was a summoning scroll. The most recent name on it was Sakura's, obviously. The one behind hers was scrawled almost illegibly, but he managed to make it out: Hatake Kakashi. The rest of the names dating back until they were so old he couldn't read them were also Hatake. This was the scroll of the ninken the Copy Ninja and the White Fang before him had been known to use.

He carefully rolled it back up and set it aside, and then peered into another inner pocket. Inside was a small lacquered jewelry box painted with cherry blossoms. He smirked at the design. Sakura had probably been given dozens of things with her namesake as a theme over the years. The first piece he took out was a pendant necklace; a cylindrical crystal with smaller jewels on each side. His eyes widened slightly at the next item, because he recognized it and it surprised the hell out of him. It was Itachi's necklace. Uchiha must have cared for her a good deal more than they'd all thought if he'd given her this, and she for him if she still had it. Apparently there had been depths to that man none of them had ever known about. The last item was a delicate silver chain bracelet with a small dangling cherry blossom. The first two had fairly obviously belonged to someone else and she kept them for sentimental reasons. But the bracelet was definitely hers, and it was important enough to bring with her when she left her old life behind. He put the little box back in the pouch he'd found it, and moved on to the last of the inner pockets.

Inside was a pocket-sized photo album that only held a dozen or so pictures. Now he was getting somewhere. He flipped it open. The first picture was an old photo of Sakura and her infamous teammates, when they were genin, by the look of it. Sakura was a little girl here, looking happy and carefree with hair to her waist, just as she'd said. He smirked and flipped the page. The next several photos were years later than the first, mostly of Sakura and a combination of her teammates, including the ink artist and the tall man he remembered from her rescue party. He smiled at a picture of her and her team looking dirty and beat up yet triumphant as they proudly sported their brand new jounin vests. Next was a silly picture of her and Naruto eating ramen and making faces at the camera. Then it was a photo of Sakura and a blonde woman striking feminine poses. He stared at the attractive blonde making a kiss-face at the camera and felt slightly disturbed because he remembered Sakura talking about her and they _did_ wear their hair almost the same.

The next photo was of Naruto's wedding to a very striking Hyuuga woman. Sakura was standing by herself in the picture, looking gorgeous in a long violet dress. She was around the same age as when he'd last seen her, and in the next photo too. It was another wedding photo, only this time it was the younger Uchiha's wedding, and he had also married a pretty Hyuuga girl. He stared at Sakura for a moment, again looking stunning in another long dress of deep sapphire blue, and then flipped to the next. It was of Sakura, Naruto and Sasuke, each man holding what were obviously their respective sons in their arms. The boy Naruto held had dark blond hair and opaque eyes, but the other boy was a dead ringer for Sasuke even though he was half Hyuuga.

There were only a few photos left and Deidara was starting to think he wasn't going to learn anything more from it, when he flipped to the next picture and his jaw dropped. Sakura was standing in a loving embrace with none other than the Copy Ninja, Kakashi. The picture had been taken candidly without their knowledge because they were too busy gazing adoringly at each other. The last of the photos in the album were all of the two of them: Sakura on Hatake's lap at the diner prominent in many of the pictures, then a picture taken by Sakura as she posed next to him with her head on his shoulder, and even one of her kissing him through the mask he'd always worn. At the very back of the album was a folded piece of sketch paper. He opened it and saw it was a sketch of Sakura and a maskless Kakashi sleeping against a tree, and it was signed by the ink artist, Sai.

There was the answer. Sakura had been in love with one of her teammates, and when he died the grief had been staggering and left her utterly broken. She was afraid of it happening again, and as a result wouldn't get close to anyone.

Deidara put the album back in its place and looked at the contents in the bottom of the bag. There was her hitai-ate, and he removed it before reaching for the last item in the pack. His pulse quickened the moment he touched it and began to pull it out. He would know that weight and feel anywhere, because it had been like a second skin to him for years. Unfolded in his lap was an Akatsuki cloak, devoid of the signature red clouds and lining. The one _he_ had given her. She'd kept it all these years, despite what it symbolized, despite everything that had happened, because it had been from _him_. Out of curiosity he felt inside the inner pocket and was surprised to find there was actually something in there. His eyes widened when he saw it was the note he'd written when he'd given it to her. He couldn't believe she'd kept that. His heart wrenched with the knowledge that she really had cared about him and had wanted to remember him, had maybe even missed him. He also felt like an asshole for what he'd said earlier, for trying to force her to come clean with him. Sakura had given her love to so many people, and the poor girl's life and heart had been ripped to shreds by a pointless war and the ambitions of a few idealistic madmen. He was surprised she didn't despise him for his part in it.

Deidara carefully placed all of her belongings back into her bag in the exact way he'd found them and returned the bag to where he'd found it on the floor. Then he went back to the bed and lay down with a tired sigh, tucking his arms behind his head.

He understood now. He really did, but she had to let it go. Sakura had to move on with her life or she would continue to spiral downward until her grief wound up killing her. She clearly thought she had nothing left to live for, but he would find a way to make her see otherwise.

* * *

Sakura stared out the steamy floor to ceiling glass into the botanical garden in the middle of the spa. She'd come here because she had no idea where else to go and it seemed like it might be a good place to relax and clear her head. She'd gotten a massage, and the irritating masseuse had told her she was the most tense 'vacationer' she'd ever dealt with. Sakura had stared her down with a cold jade glare and the woman left and sent her another masseuse who put steaming hot rocks on her back and left her in here by herself. So for the last hour and a half she'd been lying on her stomach in this hot, incense heavy room, staring out the window with nothing to do but brood.

She wanted to be angry with Deidara. She wanted to be furious with him for pushing her for answers she couldn't give, for wanting more than she could allow and for making _her_ want more than she deserved. She wanted to hate him for being Akatsuki and everything that went along with that title. She wanted to be angry with him for dropping into her world again after so many years like a fresh breeze of life and ripping apart all of her carefully constructed layers until she could feel old scars beginning to crack and bleed again. She wanted to hate him for bringing her locked-up feelings close to the surface where they clawed at her to give them life once more. She wanted to hate his vibrant energy, the way he made her laugh without trying, his lazy sexy smiles and that drawling voice with its odd accent, and his stupid hair that she loved running her fingers through, and his unusual eyes that were annoyingly piercing, and the deep natural connection they still had after all this time, and the way he touched her that made her crave more, and the maddeningly, ridiculously amazing way he kissed her.

But Sakura couldn't hate these things. She had tried, but her heart was never in it. Deidara was the only person she had left in this world and she cared about him too damn much to hold any resentment toward him. So because she couldn't be angry with him, she was angry with herself.

She had to get away from him this morning because waking up in his arms had evoked things within her she couldn't handle. And then the way he'd looked at her… She could see she hurt him a little every time she pulled away because he wasn't the type to reach out to people. He cared about her, and he was trying to help her, and it tore her up and doubled her guilt that she had to do this to him.

He was breaking her down piece by piece. Part of her wanted to reach for him and everything he represented so badly it hurt. But the other part of her felt guilty and ashamed for even _thinking_ there could be a life for her without _them_ in it, that she could find happiness in a world that had taken everything from her.

_Not everything_. She had Deidara again. And he wasn't merely a way to fill the empty spaces, because he'd held his own special place in her heart that had borne another scar when she thought he died. Now he was back in her life, offering a chance to possibly heal some of those other scars. Would she be betraying _their_ memory if she tried to move on?

And what about Deidara? He had been so uncharacteristically patient and supportive, putting himself out there by expressing his feelings for her despite her continued denial of them. She could tell he was nearing the end of his rope with her. She feared she was ruining their friendship by rejecting his – and her own – feelings, driving a wedge between them until they couldn't even stay friends. Sakura cut herself off in order to protect herself, but she didn't want to lose him. He was all she had left, and she needed him and what he did for her. But if she gave in, if she went there with him and then lost him like she'd lost Kakashi and everyone else…she didn't think she could survive another precious person being ripped from her.

Her heart ached so much it was a physical pain in her chest, a feeling she hadn't had since the time when every day had been a new hell. It was a sign of danger, and the creeping fear of loss was more than enough to keep her from running to him and apologizing. Sakura had always been an analytical as well as emotional person, so she was used to her mind and her heart fighting each other. But this time her heart was battling against _itself_. She was terrified, because no matter what she did she couldn't help but feel like she was going to lose.

#

Sakura returned to the room sometime in mid-afternoon, not knowing what she'd encounter. The sky was cloudy and gray and it looked like a heavy storm was going to break soon. There was no wind, and the air was stifling and uncomfortable.

The atmosphere in their suite was equally heavy. She'd anticipated another argument, but all she got from Deidara was a long, unreadable stare. She didn't know if that was better or worse than a fight. The silence between them was tense and as thick as the humidity clinging to their skin.

Sakura sat in the open windowsill, staring out at the crashing waves and the approaching storm. The ocean was calming and she found it easier to numb her twisting thoughts when she watched and listened to it, even when it was dark and dreary like now. At one point she felt Deidara's presence as he leaned in the doorway with his arms crossed and watched her. She could feel the weight of his stare like a hand on her back, but she didn't have anything to say so she didn't look at him, and eventually he disappeared back into the other part of the suite.

He came in again after a while and asked her with quiet, forced casualness if she was hungry. Neither of them had eaten today, and they should at least make an appearance in public at the restaurant. She agreed with equally forced casualness and they went.

Considering the circumstances it may not have been the best idea, even for the sake of keeping up their public appearance. They weren't keeping it up at all, actually. They barely exchanged a word throughout the entire meal and you could cut the tension between them with a knife. Deidara reminded her that they were on a mission and she had to at least talk to him in public. She had given him a cold glare and then set her features in the most insincere smile he'd ever seen her wear.

Just when it looked like things couldn't get any more uncomfortable, the sky opened up as the storm broke and the diners on the open patio began to fuss and clamor as they were set upon by giant raindrops that soaked to the skin in minutes.

Taking advantage of the commotion, Deidara stood up and forcefully grabbed Sakura's hand, hauling her up after him and pulling her out of the restaurant. He'd had it. This problem was getting fixed one way or another, _now_.

He continued to pull her after him as they jogged back to their bungalow. By the time they got to the rock garden where the rain pounded into the koi pond with a loud hissing sound, they were drenched. Sakura jerked her hand out of his with an angry scowl, which he returned with an equally indignant glare as he opened the door. She stomped past him into the suite, brushing against him rudely, and he slammed the door behind him.

Sakkura immediately whirled on him, and they stared at each other angrily. They were both soaked from the downpour, and her white dress clung to her skin in very dangerous ways. Deidara could see right through to her bra that was definitely _not_ white. She looked incredibly hot, especially with that angry flush and those big eyes flaring an extra bright shade of green. But he was also incredibly pissed, and he glared back at her in a way that left no question about it.

"What the hell was that about?" she demanded.

"What? Did you want to _walk_ through that flood?"

"I could have run on my own," she said scathingly.

Oh, so now he couldn't touch her _at all_? He rolled his eyes and brushed past her. "Get over it, yeah. At least _one_ of us remembers we have a cover to maintain."

"Of course I haven't forgotten," she snapped.

He didn't look at her as he headed toward the bathroom to grab a towel. For himself. "Could've fooled me. Unless you're trying to say that bitch act in the restaurant was for our cover."

His senses prickled and he turned just in time to avoid the large vase of flowers launched at his head. It crashed into the wall near his shoulder and shattered to pieces, littering the floor with glass, water and demolished orchids.

"What the fuck!" he shouted as he turned to look at her.

Sakura was livid. "Don't '_what the fuck'_ me! That was totally uncalled for!"

"Was it? That's exactly what you were acting like back there!"

She grabbed some decorative carving from the same table she'd gotten the vase and threw it at him as well. Her aim was fierce, and he moved aside as it crashed into a picture on the wall and knocked it down to shatter more glass on the floor.

"_Goddamn_ _it!_ Knock it off before you alert security and fuck up this mission more than you already have!" He was so tempted to throw something back, but he'd probably only make it worse and they may end up trashing the room. And there was nothing in reach.

She looked ready to kill now. "I'm not trying to fuck up anything! You know exactly why I'm–"

"No I don't! I _don't_, Sakura, because you won't fucking _tell_ me!" He took a few steps toward her, and her eyes narrowed, but she didn't budge. "One minute you're fine, the next minute you totally shut down. You're so closed off and you act so cold when I know goddamn well it's a front. It's like I don't know you anymore."

She stiffened. "You _don't_ know me anymore. You don't know _anything_ about what I've been through these past eight years, Deidara. I'm not the same, and I can't _be_ the same, so stop trying to make me!"

"I understand more than you think, yeah. I know you lost people you loved during the war. I know it's gotta be hard to find a reason to go on after everything that's happened, but you _have_ to find a way to move on with life, Sakura," he said in a milder tone, but one that still conveyed his frustration.

Her frown deepened and she crossed her harms as if to shield herself. "I didn't just lose people I loved, Deidara. I lost them _all_. _Every single one_. The war that took them from me also destroyed my home, our society, and the only way of life I knew. You couldn't possibly understand that because you willingly gave up all those things and you never had people you cared about to feel that kind of loss."

His expression darkened. "You're right; I walked away from my village and there aren't many people I care about. But did you forget that my parents and brother were murdered in our home by other members of my clan? I was a very young child, and they were all I knew. Don't talk to me like I don't understand loss."

Sakura flinched guiltily and looked down at her crossed arms. "I didn't forget. That was very insensitive of me and I'm sorry. But I need you to understand that I'm not able to just _move on_."

"You can. You just don't want to."

Her anger flared and she scowled at him again. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Deidara gave her a hard look. "You don't _want_ to move on with life. You don't want to get past it and you don't want to be happy. You want to wallow in your pain and misery for the rest of your life because you feel _guilty_, and every time you find yourself letting go for just _one minute_, you feel even guiltier and you shut down. You hate yourself because you couldn't save them, and you hate yourself because you're _alive_ and they're _dead_."

Sakura slapped him, hard.

He'd seen it coming and he let her do it, but his fists clenched automatically in anger as he turned his stinging face back to glare into her hard bright eyes. He wasn't used to getting hit and not retaliating, and his fingers twitched as the teeth in his hand ground together.

"How _dare_ you." Her tone was dangerously quiet.

Deidara knew he'd hit deep. He didn't like hurting her, but he didn't flinch under her fury and he wasn't going to back down because she needed to hear it. "How dare I _what_? Speak the _truth_? They _are_ dead. They're dead and no one can bring them back. No, you couldn't save them, but it's not your fault, Sakura."

Her eyes narrowed. "I'm well aware of whose fault it is," she hissed.

They had to come to this at some point, didn't they? Deidara sighed and crossed his arms over his chest. "What do you want me to say, hm? You want me to say I'm sorry? _Yes_, okay? I don't regret being in Akatsuki, but I _am_ sorry for any part I may have had in causing you pain. You want to take it out on me? Fine! Take it out on me, yeah. Hit me, scream at me, do whatever the fuck you need to do to get it out of your system, but just fucking _do_ something! Just come out of your shell and be alive again, because it's _wrong_ for you to act like you're already dead, Sakura! It's fucking _wrong_!"

"You think I _like_ living like this?" she cried. "You think I just _decided_ to be this way? Every fucking day I wake up in some different shithole and I'm reminded of _why_ I can't go home, of _why_ it's not my home anymore! Every time I take a mission I'm reminded that I'm doing it solo because all of my friends, family, and teammates are _dead_! It's not that I don't want to get over it. I _can't_ get over it, because it was my whole fucking _world_, Deidara! I can't just forget about it!"

"Moving on isn't the same thing as forgetting. You're not betraying them by letting go. You think they would want to see you like this? They wouldn't want you to live this way. They would want you to move on and live a real life, and you damn well know it or you would have just killed yourself off and joined them a long time ago! I didn't know them. We weren't friends…far from it, yeah. But that is one thing about all of them I am fucking _certain_ of, because they cared about you and wanted you to be happy, and so do I!"

Her angry posture all but crumbled and Sakura stared at him with a pained expression. "You don't understand…the reason I don't smile and laugh and be normal is because since they've been gone there _is nothing_ that makes me happy. There's nothing to look forward to but day after shitty day of this fucked-up world of the shinobi we live in."

"What if that changed?"

Her eyes closed briefly. "It never changes. It never will, because this world is ugly and cruel and humans are despicable creatures that will always do terrible things to each other. I chose to be a ninja and look what it cost me. Look what it cost _you_. There's no room for love and happiness in our world. Every time I feel something good it _hurts_ as well. It's better to feel nothing at all. But you—" She shook her head and looked out at the storm.

The sound of the pouring rain echoed loudly in the silent room as he stared at her. Very quietly he said, "What about me?"

Sakura met his gaze again with a hollow soundless laugh, running her fingers through her still-dripping hair. "_You_," she said in quiet accusation. "You're part of it, you know. When I heard you died…we were in the middle of a war that Akatsuki started, but I _still_ grieved for you. I went off by myself and I cried for you…because in spite of everything I cared about you and I missed you and a part of me had still hoped I might see you again." The look on his face was heart-wrenching, and she had to look away before continuing. "And then you were gone…and then they were _all_ gone…and I was all alone." She sighed heavily. "But now you're back in my life, and I don't know what to think or feel about you, and this stupid mission's getting in the way and complicating things—"

"It has nothing to do with the mission, Sakura," Deidara interrupted quietly, his gaze piercing right through her. "It's about you and me, and something that started a long time ago. I know you're scared to get close to anyone again, but I'm not going to hurt you."

Sakura ran her hands over her face in frustration. _No, no, no!_ She was giving in. She could feel her walls breaking down. "I can't do this with you, and you can't help me! You're a shinobi; can you look me in the eye and tell me you're not going to die a violent, sudden death someday? Better yet—can you tell me you're not going to blow _yourself_ up in some crazy expression of art? Everything I feel anymore _hurts_, even when I try to be happy! Can you make me feel _anything_ that doesn't echo with pain?"

She didn't say anything else, because Deidara suddenly grabbed her arms, jerked her forward roughly and crashed his lips to hers. Sakura stiffened, her fingers digging into his biceps and then his chest as she tried to push away. Deidara wouldn't let her. He kissed her hard and demanding. He kissed her with all of his frustration and anger and desire and every other feeling he had that had the word '_Sakura_' attached to it. He knew she wasn't going to fight him because she didn't really want to, and he wasn't letting go until he _made_ her feel alive again.

Sakura was furious with him for pulling this stunt and she was determined not to give in again. She stood rigid and defiant in his grasp. She could break free. Hell, she could knock him through the wall if she wanted to and he knew it. This wasn't about physical domination. Deidara gripped her arms hard enough to leave bruises, and she dug her nails into his chest hard enough to leave marks of her own. The rain continued to beat down upon the roof and splash against the patio doors as they fought a silent battle of wills.

It lasted all of ten seconds.

Something inside her broke free, a vital part of her nature that she'd been repressing for years. Sakura was still furious. She was still terrified. But now she was overcome by a desperate and all-encompassing need to _feel_. So she gave in. But rather than sigh and melt into his arms, she attacked.

Her hands clawed into his wet, clinging shirt and clamped tightly around his shoulders as she kissed him back wildly. She pulled him against her, pressed herself into him as closely as she could as she roughly pulled his lower lip between her teeth and bit down. He groaned and his arms wrapped so tightly around her ribcage she could barely breathe. She didn't care, she felt breathless anyway, like she was drowning and his breath was her only source of oxygen. She was vicious in the way she clung to him, and he held on to her just as fiercely.

Sakura needed this, so fucking badly it was a physical pain. She felt like ice on fire, and only his hands on her brought any relief. She needed to feel _more_, needed him against her, inside her. His shirt needed to come _off_. She pulled on it from the shoulders and it clung to his wet skin. He shifted to help her, but she had no patience or intention to break from this mind-blowingly intense kiss for a piece of irritating damp cloth.

She simply ripped it in half with a dull tearing sound.

Deidara made a half-growl, half-chuckle against her mouth that left no doubt of _exactly_ what he thought about her actions, and he quickly shrugged off the split halves without coming up for air and then his hands were all over her. Her hands clung and her nails clawed against his damp back, while his groped over her rear and down her thighs and back up her sides again. She groaned into his mouth when he cupped her ass and pulled her against him roughly. She took a step backward and pulled him, and he got the hint and fell against her, pushing her backwards with his weight in the general direction of the bedroom. They bumped the sofa and their feet crunched over broken glass as they moved. He had the forethought to bring a hand up and cradle her head just before they crashed into the wall hard enough to knock another picture down with a sharp crack of breaking glass. They ignored it and continued to devour each other.

Deidara's hand gripped into her hair and he tore his lips away from hers to attack her throat and neck like a man starved. He pushed his hips into hers as his splayed hand stroked firmly up her stomach and palmed over her breast. She panted and arched into him, her fingers clawing and grasping to pull him as close to her as possible. There was another ripping sound and the tiny clatter of buttons flying and scattering across the floor as he tore open the top of her dress to reveal the lacy maroon bra he'd seen through the wet white material. He murmured incoherent approval against her collarbone and his hands slid up the backs of her bare thighs to hoist her effortlessly onto his hips as his lips found hers once more. He pushed her hard into the wall and she gave a throaty groan at the feel of his hard arousal against her center.

Sakura locked her legs around his waist, her nails clawing hard down his back to grip under his shoulder blades. He didn't bother to remove her bra, merely yanked down the lacy fabric to expose her rounded breasts. Her hands threaded tightly into his long damp hair as his mouth worked down the plane of her chest and she squirmed with anticipated desire. He drew a taut nipple into his mouth, working it expertly with his tongue. She moaned and her head fell back against the wall as he rolled and pinched her other nipple between his fingers. She rolled her hips forward and was met by another hard grind from him as he groaned against her tender skin.

Suddenly she felt the wet silkiness of another tongue on her other nipple as his palm cupped the soft flesh. She let out a ragged moan as it moved in synch with the tongue in his mouth and a bolt of white hot pleasure ripped through her at the double sensation. She twisted her fingers in his hair and bucked her hips sharply against his. "Deidara…" she panted urgently, whimpering as he pulled her nipple between his teeth. "_Now_."

Deidara raised his head and they locked eyes for the first time since he'd forcefully kissed her. The primal desire in his gaze sent a wave of heat to her core. He gave her a feral smirk and his lips descended on hers in a frenzy, their tongues colliding as they moaned into each other's mouths. His hands slid under her skirt and grasped her thighs roughly, lifting her higher as they kissed so he could work his pants open. She emitted a small sob of desire when his fingers slipped under the edge of her panties. She squirmed against his hand and bit his lip hard enough to make him growl, to make a point that she didn't want his fingers, she wanted _him_. Now. He didn't waste any more time and pulled her panties side, and she felt him hard and throbbing against her. She jerked her hips and he thrust hard and buried himself inside her, biting his lip with a groan.

They were wild and desperate, crashing like waves against rocky cliffs. All of their pent up anger and frustration and lust they now took out upon each other in the most primal way. He thrust hard and deep and rough, and she bucked her hips frantically to meet him, nails digging bloody crescents into his shoulders. He gripped her with bruising force and hooked his elbow under her thigh, lifting it higher as he rammed into her, making her cry out loudly.

The torrent railed against the glass doors and the darkening room was filled with the sounds of their untamed passion; pants and moans and sighs as their rain and sweat-dampened bodies fought desperately for release. Sakura felt it coming, that coiling, tightening heat, and her head fell back against the wall as it tore through her so intensely her vision spiked and she cried out loudly in ecstasy. The sounds she made and the feel of her pulsing tightly around him sent Deidra over the edge as well. His grip on her hips tightened and he drove her hard against the wall with a broken groan against her neck as he shuddered his own release.

Their brutal grips on each other softened to a gentle, exhausted embrace, their breaths heavy as they came down slowly and waited for their racing hearts to still. Deidara's eyes were closed tightly as his forehead rested against her neck, leaning into her as much to hold himself up as to support her. She was limp and pliant in his arms now, all the fight and tension in her gone, her head resting against the wall in tired fulfillment.

They didn't move for several moments, listening to the rain and each other's breathing. Sakura could feel his heart beating against her ribcage, their bodies still joined and her thighs still locked loosely around his hips. A moment later he pulled out with a soft groan and gently set her down on shaky legs, then leaned against her once more as his hands slipped around her waist. They didn't look at one another and didn't speak, neither one quite sure what to do next.

Sakura wasn't sure what was going to happen now, and she was afraid but strangely excited at the same time. They had just crossed a line that changed everything and couldn't be undone. She was surprised by the ferocity of her need—that feeling had washed over her like a tidal wave and she had been powerless in its wake. It had less to do with actual sex than it did with a primal need to feel alive and connect to another human being. What surprised her most was that she didn't regret it. She was glad it happened. There was no one else in the world who could have given her that connection. She needed Deidara and everything he could give to her, and she never realized how much until now.

She lifted her chin and touched her lips softly to the underside of his jaw, fingers trailing lightly through the hair at his neck. Deidara relaxed a little and tilted his head to look at her face. He had been waiting for a sign from her, an indicator of how she would react to what just happened. He'd been anticipating the worst. He looked into clear jade eyes that were tired and calm and just slightly questioning. She gave him a tiny smirk and he returned it, feeling relieved. She was okay. Maybe more than okay. Maybe he'd done something right after all. He stroked her hair and slowly bent his head to capture her lips in a tender, savoring kiss.

He pressed his brow against hers with a small sigh. "That's not exactly how I imagined things would go the first time, yeah," he murmured. The corners of her lips turned and she made a small mumble of assent, her eyes remaining closed. "Still, I can't say I regret it did, because that was…"

"Amazing," she breathed, opening her eyes to fix him with a tired smile.

He laughed softly. "Yeah." His hands stroked over her hips and waist and he stepped back a little, gently pulling her with him away from the wall.

There was a crunch under his foot as he stepped back, and Sakura looked around the dusky unlit room. Broken glass, shredded flowers and buttons littered the floor, along with his ripped shirt in a puddle of water from the broken vase, and she huffed in amusement at the mess they'd made.

"Later, yeah." His lips trailed teasingly along her jaw as he continued to move her with his hands at her waist. "We're not done yet," he murmured against the shell of her ear before pulling her lobe between his teeth, sending a delicious shiver down her spine.

Sakura made a soft sound of assent and tilted her head for him as they finally moved into the bedroom. Deidara paused and looked into her eyes for a moment before bringing his mouth to hers in a slow, heated kiss, his tongue easing into her mouth and gliding unhurried against hers. His hands moved up her thighs, lifting her dress as he went. He slowly peeled the clinging fabric from her damp skin, and she raised her arms to help him remove it and toss it aside. His eyes roamed appreciatively over her figure as she stood in her lacy undergarments, her pale skin luminous in the dim natural light, damp with rain and the afterglow of mind-blowing sex. Her hair was still damp, mussed and slightly wild. Her cheeks were flushed, her lips moist and swollen from bruising kisses, her eyes lidded and dark like sparkling emeralds as she gazed up at him.

"Do you have any idea how fucking sexy you are, hm?" he rasped. His hands slipped over her waist and up her back. "No, you don't, do you? You have no idea how bad I've wanted you, how hard it's been to be around you and not touch you like this," he murmured before nibbling up the side of her neck.

She smiled and bent her head to plant sensual kisses along the top of his shoulder as he guided her to the bed. "I wasn't trying to turn you on," she half-whispered.

He bent his head down, pulled her hair up in his hand as his teeth grazed over the back of her neck. "Oh I know. That's _why _you do." He lifted her slightly as they bumped the edge of the bed and she climbed backward onto the soft mattress, stepping out of her sandals as she did. He did the same and moved with her, until they were both on their knees on the bed. These soft and deliberate caresses were a big contrast from the frantic and needy groping earlier. "You don't _have_ to try, Sakura. You're gorgeous. And then you walk around in those little skirts and those _boots_…" He kissed up the column of her throat, pausing to mumble his words against her skin. "Those boots drive me crazy, yeah. It was all I could do to keep my hands off you." She laughed softly, her fingers tracing lightly up his sides. "Though…that little bikini with the ties on the sides nearly did me in," he whispered over her cheek before kissing her again.

His words and voice were like a honeyed caress, and Sakura felt the heat begin to pool within her again and she hummed pleasurably against his lips. "You know…you don't exactly make it easy either," she murmured, pausing between words to return his kisses. "Walking around with no shirt on…" she ran her hands up his toned arms and shoulders, "looking at me like you do…" she kissed along his jaw, over the thin scar toward his ear, and his hands smoothed up her back, fingers finding the clasp of her bra, "the things you say…the way you touch me…"

Deidara made an amused sound and murmured, "You haven't seen anything yet, yeah." The hooks of her bra snapped open and fall away, and she lowered her arms so he could remove the lacy material. His eyes roamed over her breasts in their fully exposed glory, small but full and amazingly responsive. Perfect. He recalled the way she'd practically screamed when he used both tongues on them, and he smirked wickedly at the thought of making her scream again and again in every way he knew how. He wanted to create a million moments of perfect art with her, and as his fingers brushed over the taut rosy peaks and she tilted her head back with a throaty sigh, he knew she would be up for the task.

Her fingers curled into the cloth of his shorts at his hips and a heady moan escaped her lips as his hands cupped her breasts and those tongues lapped and swirled simultaneously. She grasped the back of his neck and pulled him down so she could kiss him hungrily and his tongue glided with hers. _Gods, he really _is_ a master with all three_, she thought, and then her ability to think coherently was stripped away by the feel of teeth closing gently over both nipples as his tongue swept deeper into her mouth. Sakura ran her hands up his smooth back, and Deidara hissed a little against her mouth when she brushed over his shoulder blades. She suddenly became more concerned with him than what he was doing to her, and she pressed her chest against his to look over his shoulder at the damage she'd done. His arms slid around her waist as she embraced him, hands stroking her lower back. "I should heal this," she said softly.

"It's not a big deal," he murmured against the top of her shoulder. "Heal the bruises I left on you if anything." He ended with a soft kiss against her skin, as if in apology for hurting her in his passion.

Sakura could feel the slight pain on her upper arms, hips and thighs where bruising was already starting to appear, but it was minor. "I will later, but you'll get blood on the sheets if I don't. The cleaning lady might think that a bit odd." She traced lightly over the nail-shaped punctures and other small welts as her chakra flared minutely in her fingertips.

He laughed softly against the crook of her neck. "You really are a hellcat, yeah." His eyes slipped closed as her cool, soothing chakra entered his skin.

That name registered in her mind as one she'd heard a long time ago. "Hellcat…you've called me that before."

He smirked. "Many times, though mostly when you weren't around. It fits you."

"Why?" she asked as her hands rubbed soothingly over his abused back.

"It's what you reminded me of the day we kidnapped you, yeah. When you busted my hand into tiny little pieces," he said with a slight grumble.

"That's what you get for catching my fist with your bare hand. Though you're lucky you did, because I was aiming for your head."

Deidara lifted his head to look at her. "Hm. Aren't you glad you missed?"

Her eyes softened as she gazed at him. "Very," she whispered, and brushed her lips over his in a tender kiss.

That kiss quickly grew more heated and soon Deidara was lowering her down to the bed. He slid her panties over her hips and removed them, and then she was beautiful and gloriously naked against the soft white sheets, completely at ease under his appreciative gaze. He slipped out of the rest of his clothing and moved over her, skin on heated skin. He watched her face intently as his fingers trailed across her rosy breasts and down her soft abdomen, soaking up every breathy sound she made, every pleasured flutter of her eyelashes, the sultry parting of her lips. He stroked between her thighs and she moaned softly at his knowing touch. His fingers slipped inside her slowly and she writhed against his hand, her eyes closing as she bit her lip in pleasure. When the tongue of that hand flicked over that sensitive bundle of nerves she cried out and threw her head back against the pillow, her fists clenching in the sheets beside her. The tongue swirled and lapped as his fingers continued their rhythm, and in no time her heavy breaths became soft panting moans as she quivered beneath him.

The beauty of a woman's arousal was every bit as fascinating and enjoyable to Deidara as the explosions created by his jutsu. Sex was an art form, the peak of release the perfect moment of magnificent expression. He found just as much pleasure in making a woman come as he did from his own fulfillment. With a woman as beautiful as the one beneath him, moaning and screaming as he sent her higher and higher, the explosive moment of art created by her release was breathtaking. With Sakura, he would create masterpieces.

Suddenly she arched up off the bed with a gasping cry as her orgasm tore through her, and he continued through it, maximizing her pleasure and drawing out her release as he watched her face raptly. Only when she relaxed again did he remove his hand, and she opened her vibrant eyes to look at him.

His expression was smug and highly lustful, and she gave him a tiny smile and a mild glare. "Bastard," she sighed. He raised his eyebrows and his smirk widened to an amused grin. "You're too good at that. It's not fair."

A low chuckle rumbled in his chest as he settled over her again, leaning down to kiss her hungrily. "That was just a warm up, yeah," he murmured as she lifted her legs to welcome him between her thighs. "Together we'll create a _special_ kind of art."

Sakura gave a breathy laugh and threaded her fingers into his long hair, sighing as he eased himself inside her. His mouth met hers in another searing kiss, and she closed her eyes and gladly succumbed to pleasure.

* * *

When Sakura woke the room was dark. The rain pattered against the window, though not as violently as before. She was disappointed to find Deidara absent, and wondered where he'd gone. She stretched lazily and a giddy smile lit her face at the memory of the last few hours.

He wasn't kidding when he'd said they were going to create art together. Sakura wasn't even sure how many times he'd sent her over the edge, so lost had she been in the 'explosive' pleasure. It was almost _too_ much, too intense, and the smug little bastard enjoyed every second of the sweet torture he inflicted upon her body. She should have known what kind of lover Deidara would be. He was an artist that found beauty in chaos, the tumultuous explosion of a thing being the ultimate expression of his artistic vision. That translated over into sex very well, and it made sense that he'd work to master _that_ extension of his art form as well.

This day had been one of extreme highs and lows, and she was drained to exhaustion both physically and emotionally. She was still unsure about this turn of events, but at the same time she was filled with a sense of contentment. Sakura crawled out of bed, her legs still sore and a bit weak. She slipped on her thigh-length silk kimono that was the same wine color as the undergarments now strewn about the floor, and quietly padded out to the main room.

This room was dark as well, and Deidara was standing with his back to her, arms crossed over his bare chest as he gazed out the patio doors, watching the rain pour. He'd cleaned up the broken glass and wreckage from their fight, and Sakura couldn't help but be amused at how volatile it had been.

She quietly moved behind him and slipped her arms around his waist, resting her cheek between his now-healed shoulder blades. His arms settled atop hers and he made a small sound of greeting that echoed under her ear. "Hey," she said softly, remembering this morning and noting the ironic reversal of their positions.

Only Deidara didn't hesitate to turn inside her embrace and wrap his arms around her back. "I didn't think you'd wake up again tonight, yeah," he spoke into her hair.

"You wore me out." She heard the low laugh rumble in his chest as his arms tightened around her. "But I'd rather sleep with you there with me," she said quietly, looking up at him with a small smile.

Deidara gave her a lazy grin and ran his fingers through the soft hair at her temples before cradling her head in his hands. She was the perfect height to simply stretch his neck and press a kiss to her forehead, and he did so before sliding his hands down her arms to grasp her fingers. "Come on," he murmured, and led her back into the bedroom.

He lowered her onto the bed and kissed her, easy and languorous with a slow burning passion. He slipped his arms around her waist and she held his face in her hands, and when their kiss ended she sighed and snuggled her face into the crook of his neck. "You didn't really bring me back in here to sleep did you?" he asked with quiet amusement.

"Actually, I did," she said tiredly, and he laughed quietly as he settled on his back, half sitting against the headboard, and she curled into his side and laid her head on his chest. "It's been a long day," she finished quietly, her tone sobering. She traced over the toned ridges of his stomach with her fingertips. "I'm sorry…for how I've been toward you, these past few days."

Deidara rubbed small circles between her shoulder blades. "It's alright. I'm sorry I pushed you. I just couldn't stand to see you so unhappy."

His words soothed and pained at the same time, and something welled up deep inside and pushed at the surface. Sakura felt very heavy. "It's been so hard these last few years," she whispered. "Ever since…I've been all alone for so long…" She trailed off with a ragged sigh. He continued to softly stroke her hair and back, and she felt something unlock and break apart inside. "I don't want to be alone anymore…I don't want to live like this anymore."

Deidara's heart wrenched at her tiny, shaking voice expressing so much pain and despair. He mentally fumbled for the proper, consoling words she needed to hear. He settled for, "You're not alone now, yeah."

His words didn't exactly have the calming effect he'd intended. Her whole body tensed and coiled like a spring, and she trembled in his arms before letting out a breathy sob as all of the hurt and depression and loneliness she'd held in for so long finally broke free and washed over her. Sakura curled tighter against him and her fingers gripped his sides almost painfully as her whole body shook with desperate, wracking sobs.

Her hot tears spilled onto his chest and rolled down his stomach. Deidara felt awkward and almost guilty for setting her off, even though he knew she needed it. With no idea what to do to make her pain stop, he held her tightly as she rode out this long overdue breakdown. Strange things were happening inside him as he listened to her let it all go. Her anguish distressed him so greatly it actually left a physical pain in his chest. It worried him a bit because he'd never felt anything like it before. He hated seeing her like this, hated hearing those sobs that only one who has seen the very bottom of despair could cry. He hated it so much it was making him angry, but there was nothing and no one to be angry _at_, and so he just felt helpless.

Sakura cried so hard she could barely breathe and had to suck in gulping breaths between sobs. She cried until her head ached from the strain, and the emotional exhaustion caused an automatic shutdown and her body fell into a deep, dreamless slumber.

He wiped the remnants of moisture from her cheeks, kissed her tear-swollen lids and gently settled down into the bed with her. He pulled her against him again and wrapped his arms tightly around her, and she burrowed into him with a small whimper. Her breathing still hitched occasionally, and tears would leak from under her lashes as she cried even in sleep.

Deidara remained awake for quite a while, continuing to stroke her hair absently, troubled by the reaction she caused in him and thinking to himself that he would do everything in his power to make sure she never, _ever_ cried like this again.


	7. Hopes and Fears

**Silver Lining**

Chapter Seven: Hopes and Fears

* * *

It was still raining. That was the first thought in Sakura's mind as she slowly emerged from her deep sleep. She could hear it falling softly against the roof and window; the last vestiges of the passing storm. The sound was soothing, and she sighed and snuggled deeper into the warmth surrounding her.

She felt very groggy but also incredibly tranquil. Her eyes were still heavy and stiff from her colossal breakdown, and when she sleepily opened them the first thing she saw was the dark zigzag pattern of the seal on Deidara's chest. They were facing each other, their arms around one another in what had been a tight embrace now loosened by sleep. His fingers were still woven into her hair, and she pressed her face to his chest, pursing her lips against his skin.

Sakura couldn't believe she'd just fallen apart like that…all from his simple declaration that she wasn't alone anymore, that he was with her. But a breakdown had probably been a long time coming, and Deidara, his words and actions and mere _presence_, had been the trigger that brought all her walls crashing down. He made her feel cared for, and he represented possibilities that her battered and broken heart had needed and reached for desperately. He was right about her, about everything. She had been running from her grief, hiding herself away to avoid any possibility of pain. Like she'd been wandering through a cold and impenetrable fog, aimless and trapped. Deidara was the wind that had blown it all away, the bright warm light of the sun breaking through to show her the way out. He had no idea how much he'd helped her.

He also had no idea how cute he was when sleeping. His boyish features were usually countered by cocky and roguish expressions when he was awake, but now he just looked sweet and adorable. If he knew that he would probably never sleep around other people again. Sakura shifted a little and carefully raised her hand to brush some of those long pale strands away from his face. He looked tired, a slight shadow under his closed eyes as if he'd stayed awake long into the night. Maybe he'd stayed awake to comfort her if she needed it. The thought of Deidara doing something like that was a little odd, but then he'd always sort of treated her differently than he treated other people.

She would make sure to show him how much she appreciated everything he'd done for her…but later. She had exhausted herself to the point of collapse yesterday, and she was still very tired. Right now she just wanted to lie here, and he was warm and comfortable and smelled good too, so she cuddled closer and closed her eyes with a contented sigh.

When she woke again it was to Deidara pulling her closer against his chest, his hand caressing up her back. He was just waking up, and as their eyes met she gave him a soft smile. "Hi."

His features broke out into a drowsy grin. "Hi," he murmured, letting his settle on her waist.

"It's still raining," she said with small amusement.

His gaze lost focus for a second as he listened, then he gave a lazy shrug. "I guess we're staying inside today, yeah." He rolled into her and gently pushed her onto her back so he could lay half on top of her with his face buried in the crook of her neck.

Sakura stretched like a cat beneath him. "Sounds good to me," she sighed, and brought her arms around him to comb gently through his long, mussed hair.

Deidara propped himself up on one elbow so he could look at her. "Did you sleep okay?" he asked quietly.

Sakura nodded. "Better than I have in years, actually."

He studied her a moment. Her jade eyes were bloodshot, but lucid and unguarded…and happy. His lips curled in a small smile. "Good," he said. Her eyes were still slightly puffy, the tops of her cheeks tinted pink from overstrained blood vessels, and her hair was a mess. She would probably say she looked terrible. But he thought she looked adorable, beautiful, because this was the real Sakura. The unguarded Sakura, the girl he'd known and admired all those years ago. She wasn't hiding anymore.

She reached up to touch his face with soft fingertips. "Thank you…for pulling me out of that place. I don't think I could have done it without you."

Deidara stared at her, his expression again unreadable. Then he shook his head dismissively. "I'm just glad you're okay now," he said quietly.

Her fingers trailed down his cheek and along his jaw. "Are _you_ okay? You look tired…did you stay awake late?"

Something flickered across his expression, but was quickly gone. "I'm fine, yeah," he said lightly. He lay back down and his arm closed around her waist. She cradled his head against her chest and continued to play with his hair, and he closed his eyes. "The exhibition is tomorrow night," he said after a moment.

"The sword will probably arrive sometime today," she said absently. She was enjoying this idle interlude, and wished they didn't have to get up at all.

"When it does I'll know, but it probably won't happen until dark." He began to play with and loosen the belt of the robe she'd fallen asleep in. With his other hand he pulled on the neckline, revealing her collarbone and part of her shoulder, and he began to place lazy kisses along her exposed skin.

Sakura smiled and shifted a bit to allow him to pull her robe further from her shoulder. "What do we do all day, then?" she asked with a hint of mischief.

Deidara gave her a look that said _exactly_ what he wanted to do all day, and then he was kissing her, slow and lazy and quickly becoming more heated. He rose up on his elbows to lean over her, and she shifted under him and caressed up his sides as their tongues danced. He was _so good_ at it that everything but him was rapidly losing focus and she sighed blissfully and prepared herself for more of last night's ecstasy.

Then her stomach suddenly gave a loud, plaintive growl.

Deidara pulled back to look at her with a raised eyebrow, and she blushed with mild embarrassment. "I guess I'm a little hungry," she said with a small laugh.

"Apparently." He gave her another brief but thorough kiss and finally sat up. "I'll order something from room service. What do you want?"

She was tempted to say 'you,' but then she probably wouldn't get food for several hours at least. So she playfully replied, "One of everything."

Deidara shook his head, amused. "You eat like a pig, yeah. You'd better be careful or you'll be a fat old lady someday."

She raised her chin defiantly. "No I won't, I'm a medic; I can just speed up my metabolism to burn it off." She sat up and linked her arms around his neck, rising up on her knees to partially straddle him. "Besides, you can't expect me not to have an appetite after all that activity yesterday, and you _did_ drag me away from my dinner…" she said in a playful, sultry tone.

"Hm." He smirked wickedly, his hands roaming up her bare thighs and over her hips under the robe.

His lips were dangerous territory, so she kissed his nose instead. "I'm going to take a shower before breakfast gets here." She went to get up, but his hands applied pressure to keep her in place.

"Want some company?" he murmured while bending to kiss and nibble the side of her neck.

Sakura shivered and resisted temptation. "Maybe next time. You were going to order breakfast, remember? Besides, if you joined me I doubt I'd actually get to do much _bathing_."

Deidara chuckled and moved his hands over her bare hips again. "Then hurry up and go before I remember you're naked under that robe, yeah." She smiled playfully at him before getting up and heading to the bathroom.

When she was gone Deidara sighed and ran a hand through his hair. He _had_ stayed awake late, because Sakura crying in her sleep had agitated him to the point where he couldn't sleep until she stopped, which hadn't been for quite some time. What bothered him most was that it bothered him _so much_, that it had invoked some dormant instinctive reaction in him.

Deidara was not a compassionate person. He was selfish and insensitive, and even a bit mean. He knew it, and had always been perfectly fine with it. He was alarmed by his reaction to her, because it was completely foreign to him. He'd always known she was different, that his feelings for her ran on a different level, but now they were veering off into unknown territory. He felt compromised somehow, like she was changing his very nature, making him contradict things about himself that he'd always been so sure of.

The fiercely independent, nonconformist part of him wanted to rebel loudly and defiantly. But rebelling meant pushing her away, and he knew for a fact that was something he did not want to do. Truthfully he was happy when he was with her, even when she was difficult and irritating. He loved lying with her like they just were, relaxing as she played with his hair and touched him in such a soothing way. Sakura's affections were genuinely tender, not absentminded and superficial like he was used to from other women. The last person to touch him in a truly caring way had been his mother, over twenty years ago. He'd never thought about and never missed it, but he supposed it was something all humans secretly needed, no matter how heartless they thought they were.

And now that Deidara had it, he was addicted. Being lovers with Sakura was a like a whole new experience. He'd always made sure to please a woman in bed, to demonstrate the mastery of his art and to feed his own ego more than anything else. But with Sakura it went to a whole new level; when they were intimate he felt connected to her in more than the obvious way. It was far better than it had ever been with anyone else. He guessed maybe it was what was referred to as lovemaking, as opposed to fucking. Well…maybe not the first time…that had been pretty wild and primitive. But after, when they'd come to bed… Just thinking about it was heating his blood, sending it straight to a certain part of his anatomy. No cheap floozy picked up in a bar to satisfy a physical urge could ever compare to what he felt and did with Sakura.

He wanted her. He'd wanted her for a very long time and he had no intention of pushing her away, especially now that he'd finally brought the true Sakura back. Deidara was not the type to deny himself what he wanted, even in the interest of self-preservation. He was just reckless like that. He was a risk-taker. But the things he felt for her scared him, and they were getting stronger every day. He wasn't sure how to define it or what to think about anything anymore.

* * *

Sakura sighed and relaxed under the hot stream of water, mechanically going through her bathing routine as her mind processed the last few days. Today was the first day in years she'd woken up with a positive outlook. She was looking forward to the day. She was happy.

The events of yesterday—the fight and the resulting crash of their wild joining, the hours of incredible passion afterward, and finally her overwhelming breakdown…the whole thing had been a cathartic experience. Now she felt like she could finally begin to heal.

It was all because of Deidara, because he cared about her and wouldn't put up with her self-destruction, because she cared about him so much in return. Sakura never thought she would get close to another person, and certainly never intended to be intimate with a man again. If she hadn't met Deidara again, she never would have. They had a pre-existing connection, and trust, and attraction. It had surfaced toward the end of her time with Akatsuki, but she'd already been with Itachi and it was too late to see where it might lead. She didn't regret the way things happened, and wouldn't have changed anything because Itachi had taught her a lot about herself. And the years she spent with Kakashi had been the happiest of her life. She had loved him with all her heart and soul, and he her. When he died she didn't think she'd be able to go on, and in a way she hadn't.

But life always goes on, and now it had led her here to this point, and if one wanted to think in terms of fate, perhaps the connection she'd made with Deidara all those years ago had been for this specific purpose—to save her from despair when she'd become incapable of saving herself. If he hadn't been here and hadn't been _him_, she would still be that ghost woman, that empty shell just waiting to die.

Deidara was right when he said that wasn't the kind of existence her loved ones would want for her. Sakura had always known it, but without them she didn't see any other way to be. There was nothing to look forward to, nothing to smile about, no one to love, and so she had simply existed. She knew it was wrong. In a way it was a dishonor to them and the sacrifices they'd made.

The possibility of losing Kakashi had always been there, in the back of her mind. He had been the village's best shinobi, assigned the most dangerous missions imaginable, and he was getting older. She'd always known in theory, but it still hadn't made it any easier to lose him. But Kakashi had known and accepted it, and he told her once that he wanted her to live and love again if something ever happened to him. Sakura refused to have that conversation at the time, stubbornly blinding herself to the very real probability that he wouldn't survive the war. Kakashi would want this for her, she knew. She'd had no secrets from him; he knew everything about her time with Akatsuki and her lasting affections for those who survived. If he saw her now with Deidara, she believed he would be happy she'd reunited with him. He had been a very selfless and kind-hearted man underneath his aloof exterior. It was one of the things she loved most about him.

And Naruto…who had been with her through everything, the last of her family to leave her…his last words were a wish for Sakura to find a way to survive without them and be happy again someday. She hadn't kept that promise very well…but now, she felt like she wanted to try. She wanted to live again.

Sakura hadn't realized she'd begun crying again, thinking about them, until just now when the tiled spot on the wall she'd been staring at for the last ten minutes blurred out of focus. She sighed and turned her face to the water to wash away her tears. Moving on was hard, but it was what they would all want for her, and she now realized she wanted it for herself.

But that brought up a whole other set of issues. Mostly about Deidara and herself, and the direction their relationship was going. They had crossed the line from friends to lovers. She was okay with that, more than okay actually, but what about him? He wanted her physically, that much was obvious and she'd known it for some time. He cared about her, and they were close friends. But the combination of those things didn't always indicate the desire for a serious relationship, especially with men. Especially with men like _him_, who were vehemently set about their independence and unwillingness to blend in with society's rules. When it came to women Deidara was a self-admitted hit-and-run type. He'd made jokes about it in the past, which she had scolded him for. She even remembered hearing Tobi and Kisame talk about it: how he got all the best women when they were on missions because of how handsome he was—they used the word 'pretty'—and how women were always attracted to his volatile and potentially dangerous character.

Sakura knew that wasn't what Deidara was doing with her, knew she was more to him than a one-nighter or meaningless fling. What she was unsure of was _how much_ more she was to him. What did he think about this new development between them? What did he want from her, and how far did he want it to go?

What would happen when this mission was over?

Now that Sakura had a source of comfort and happiness in her life again, she didn't want to let it go. But what was she going to do? Attach herself to Deidara and tag along wherever he went after this so she didn't have to be alone again? That wasn't right, and she didn't want to weigh him down if he was happier by himself. She didn't even really know what she wanted from this yet, only that she didn't want to go back to being that isolated and lonely shell of a person. She should just talk to him about it, but it had only been a day since everything changed and she wasn't just going to throw something like that at him. Especially since she didn't know what her own answers would be. In reality, their time on this mission and in this beautiful place was coming to an end. Soon they would have to decide where to go and what to do next. He'd offered to take her to see Kisame, and she was really looking forward to it, but what would happen after that?

Sakura was startled out of her thoughts by the sound of the shower door opening. She whirled around as Deidara step into the steamy glass enclosure and shut the door behind him with a very mischievous grin.

"Deidara! What are you doing?" She'd been so caught up in her thoughts she hadn't heard the bathroom door open and had no idea how long he'd been standing there. Long enough to strip naked without her noticing, the sneaky little devil.

"I need a shower too, yeah. You've had long enough," he said, stepping up to her and setting his hands on her naked hips.

Sakura thought he was going to close in on her, maybe kiss her or something, but he merely moved her out of his way to stand under the water stream. She smacked him lightly on the shoulder. He laughed and proceeded to wet his hair through. She didn't really mind, she was pretty much done and had been just standing there zoning out for the past several minutes anyway. Besides, the sight in front of her wasn't exactly one to complain about, ever.

When Deidara reached for the shampoo, she reached out to take it from him. He looked at her strangely, but gave her the bottle. "What are you doing?" he asked with a small, uncertain laugh.

He really didn't know, she realized. He wasn't used to having someone take care of him. "You can't just invade _my_ shower and expect me to stand here and do nothing, right?" she said teasingly, and placed a kiss on his cheek as she began running her soapy hands through his hair.

Deidara looked a little thrown by her affectionate gesture, but he held her waist as she gently massaged his scalp and worked the lather through to the ends of his long hair. When she was finished he rinsed his hair and then she began to gently run the sponge over his skin. He was still a bit tense, so she leaned in a little more and slipped her free arm around him as she rubbed over his back. "Relax."

"I've never, uh…this is kinda strange to me, yeah," he said awkwardly.

Sakura smiled, feeling a little sad for him and the total absence of affection and caring in his life. She would change that. It was the least she could do after everything he'd done for her. "I know," she said softly, kissing where his neck and shoulder met, tasting the water on his skin.

The tension drained from him and he rested his chin on her shoulder with a small sigh, and a moment later his arms slid around her back and pulled her in. Her arms were pinned beneath his and she couldn't continue, but she soon realized the way he was holding her was more than a simple embrace. She let the sponge fall to the tiled floor so she could wrap her arms around him in return. Deidara's lips brushed her shoulder and began slowly kissing up the side of her neck in a way that was more tender than lustful. He lifted his head, and the vulnerability Sakura saw in his expression surprised her and pulled at her heartstrings. She gave him a reassuring smile, not knowing exactly what had come over him but having a fairly good guess. He lowered his face to hers, pausing just a moment before meeting her lips. It was soft and tender, and something passed between them that she felt all the way through her being.

Hot water splashed down over them as Deidara kissed her in a way he never had before. It sparked so many things to life inside her that she felt like her whole body was tingling. He moved her slowly until her back pressed into the cool tiles beneath the showerhead and their kiss began to grow more heated. His fingers threaded into her hair and his lips trailed down her throat and along her collarbone, and her hands moved up his back to grasp beneath his shoulders. His mouth trailed down her chest and closed over a rosy nipple as his arms slid around her waist tightly. She moaned softly, the moan turning to a pleasured gasp when he straightened back up and lifted her with him so she was straddling his thigh. She worked her fingers into his hair and arched into his amazing mouth, sighing in anticipated pleasure as his palm pressed into the soft flesh of her other breast.

His other hand slid down her thigh and she shifted to straddle his hips, his hard length pressing against her hot center. They both moaned at the contact and he lifted his head to capture her lips again, his tongue gliding into her mouth lustfully. He supported her weight by leaning into her so both hands could suckle and lap at her breasts, and she moaned raggedly into his mouth. She rolled her hips against him, wanting to feel more. Deidara groaned and his hands slid down her sides to grip her hips. Their eyes locked as he lifted and lowered her down, sinking slowly inside her inch by inch.

He lifted her again and brought her down upon him with another slow, deep thrust. He buried his face in her neck and began to rock into her in a slow, torturous way that was completely different from the last time they were in this position.

"Gods, Sakura…you feel so fucking good," he whispered brokenly against her neck, almost inaudible under the rushing water, and his arms tightened around her almost desperately.

She moaned with his particularly deep thrust and gripped his hair and shoulder as she writhed against him. "S-so do you…ah!"

He continued to move within her in deep, easy strokes until they couldn't control their slow rhythm any longer, then he worked her against him urgently until she cried out her release, before finding his own a moment later. They stayed joined against the wall for several moments, their arms around each other as she placed soft kisses along the top of his shoulder. Then he lowered her down with a lingering kiss and she grinned at him as they rinsed off and exited the shower.

Deidara grabbed one of the large fluffy white towels and wrapped it around her, then grabbed another and tucked it around his waist. She grabbed a smaller towel and moved close to him as she gently rubbed it over his hair. He smirked and closed his eyes, unused to this new level of intimacy, but quickly finding that he enjoyed it very much. When she was done she used the same towel to pat down her own much shorter hair, and he cupped the back of her neck to pull her in for a long, affectionate kiss.

"What happened to breakfast?" she asked when they broke apart.

"Probably sitting outside the room door, yeah," he said with a grin.

"So did you order me one of everything?" She moved out of his grasp, but held onto his hand as she stepped back.

Deidara laughed, and when she turned away his features settled into a soft, thoughtful smile and he let her pull him out of the room.

* * *

"I'm starting to think it was a bad idea to leave the room after all, yeah." Deidara leaned back against the low wall near the path they'd been walking down and sighed, watched Sakura hop up to sit on top of the same wall and wondered how she could find the energy to do such a thing.

The rain had finally stopped some time after breakfast—which was technically lunch considering how late they'd slept, and they'd decided to roam around the resort and hang out where they would have a clear view of the service road. Even though the rain had passed, the humidity remained. The sky was still overcast, and the occasional bursts of sunlight didn't deter the heat any. The air was thick and uncomfortable, and they were sweating even while standing still.

"We haven't seen any activity on that road all day," Sakura grumbled, indicating the service road they'd been surveying for hours on end from different locations. She shifted on her perch and her knee brushed Deidara's elbow as she straightened her legs out in front of her for a moment. "What a waste of time."

"Well, we have nothing else _to_ do besides waste time until it gets here. Whether that's tonight or sometime tomorrow, all we can do right now is wait, yeah." Deidara casually raised a hand to stroke lightly up her smooth calf.

Sakura's disgruntled expression softened at his touch and she reached out to play with the ends of his ponytail. "Well, at least we could be having _fun_ while we waste time, not stand around slowly dying of heat stroke," she grumbled again, though less irritably than before.

Deidara leaned his head back to look up at her and smirked. Just by touching her he'd calmed her annoyance and made her relax a little. He liked how responsive she was to him, and not just physically. But it seemed to run both ways. It was strange to be so attuned to another, but it was also nice to have someone who understood and related to you so easily. He didn't have to explain himself or waste time trying to convince her with most things, and he never became bored or disinterested with the things she said. It was just easy to be around her.

"How can you stand to wear your hair like this when it's so hot?" She lifted the pale blond strands away from his neck and felt they were slightly damp from the heat.

He shrugged, and his hand continued up her leg to caress over her thigh as he turned toward her. "Try running around the deserts of Suna wearing an Akatsuki cloak, yeah. Compared to that, this is pretty tolerable."

Sakura smiled. "I still have my cloak, you know. It's actually in my pack back in our room."

Deidara grinned up at her and moved to stand between her knees, hands sliding over her hips to close loosely around her waist. "Yeah?" He already knew that of course, but he wasn't going to say so. "I still have one too, another solid black one like yours."

She let her hands rest on his shoulders as he stepped in to her. "It means a lot to me. As strange and unwelcome as that situation was, I missed you all after it was over. Especially you," she said softly, hunching over until their foreheads touched. "I kept it as a reminder of our friendship and of the time I spent with all of you." She paused and then laughed. "I think I'm the only person in the world who fondly remembers being a hostage."

Deidara chuckled. "That was the most _un_-hostage-like hostage situation I've ever participated in or heard of. You sure threw us all for a loop, yeah. And I have a memento of you too, remember?" She looked at him curiously, and he brought his left hand between them out of the way of prying eyes.

The mouth in his hand grinned widely at her, revealing a gap where two of the teeth were missing. Sakura laughed. "I forgot I did that to you. Did it ever cause you problems?"

He shook his head slowly. "My art is all about the tongue, not the teeth, yeah," he said with an impish smirk.

She rolled her eyes at the innuendo. He looked entirely too smug about it, but at least his arrogance was merited. His hands slipped beneath the hem of her shirt to touch her skin, his thumbs rubbing light patterns against the small of her back. He pressed his lips to her collarbone and she closed her eyes, enjoying the moment.

Sakura felt so contented, so natural like this, with Deidara, that she couldn't believe a little over a week ago she'd been like a completely different person. That wasn't really her; that was the person she became to protect herself. She was happy now and felt like she could be herself once more, but she also felt very vulnerable. She had lowered her guard and now she was open to being hurt again.

Deidara was a ninja and his life was violent and dangerous. While it was true he was very formidable, with power to rival a Kage, and he was currently doing work far below his skill level and there was little these days to seriously put his life in danger…it was always a possibility for even the best shinobi. And he was reckless in combat, just as likely to off himself in some radical display of art as he was to be killed by an enemy. She had grown up knowing that death was a part of the life she had chosen, that she was bound to lose some friends and family along the way. That was why the rules of emotional detachment existed, to keep soldiers functioning when everyone around them died. But Sakura had never been any good at that part of being a ninja. She couldn't help but love and let people close to her heart, and she couldn't help but hurt when they were taken from her. She might have been okay if she'd only lost a few precious people. But she had lost them all. Except one, as it turned out. She couldn't help but let him back in, and now she was terrified of what would become of her if she lost him too. Should that keep her from trying, from moving on and giving herself a chance to be happy again? No, she'd already attempted that strategy and failed. It was too late now anyway. It had been too late the moment she woke up in that motel room and saw him again after eight years. As soon as the thought 'Deidara is alive' passed through her mind, the walls she had built around herself began to crumble.

She was treading on dangerous ground here…bordering on some serious emotional dependency. Deidara was the only person she had left, and he had been the one to help her and bring her back to life after years of dark depression. Now she had gone and made it worse, attaching herself to him even more by bringing sex into it. But she didn't need to worry about her motives for wanting to stay with him. She wanted to be with Deidara because she cared about him deeply, not because she needed him as some metaphorical floatation device. The real question was, what did _he_ want?

This development was still new and she should just give it time, but they didn't really have time. They would be leaving here tomorrow night and once they delivered the sword a decision would have to be made to either stay together in some form or go their separate ways again. Sakura honestly couldn't imagine parting ways after finally being reunited. 'Good job on the mission, see ya around sometime' just didn't cut it in this situation. But she wasn't going to impose herself on him. She didn't think Deidara intended to give her a friendly pat on the back and walk off into the sunset when this mission was over, but she didn't want to assume anything about the current and/or future state of their relationship. Assuming about others' feelings had produced some seriously bad results in her past, and she was not going to set herself up like that. Still, his feelings for her seemed genuine. When he looked at her it felt real. His touches, his kisses, and the way he made love to her all felt very real. This morning in the shower, it felt like they reached a deeper level of intimacy, and in that moment she'd felt like he needed in more than a sexual way. Then again, she could just be seeing what she wanted to see. It wouldn't be the first time.

Her internal debate ended when Sakura noticed that Deidara's chakra was just slightly agitated. Not enough to be noticeable to others, but she was a medic and in close physical contact with him and she felt it. He was also starting to fidget a little, his fingers tightening and loosening slowly against the small of her back as he stared at something over her shoulder. He was doing these things unconsciously, she realized, and it wasn't the first time he'd done it today.

"What's wrong?" she asked, tilting her head down to see his face.

"Hm?" He straightened and looked up at her.

"You seem anxious about something." She turned to look behind her briefly, but saw nothing out of place, just some buildings and hotel guests involved in various recreational activities. "A few times today, and even a bit yesterday, you've seemed a little restless and, well…fidgety."

Deidara frowned slightly, shook his head. "Nothing's wrong." He stood up fully and moved his hands from her waist to rest atop her thighs as he stretched his neck. She didn't look convinced, and he sighed in mild exasperation. "It's just…missions like this aren't really my thing, and they start to bother me after a while, yeah."

"Why did you take it then?"

He looked at her like it should be obvious. "Money."

She couldn't really argue with that; it was a lot of money, and it was her reason for accepting the job too. But she still didn't understand what he was so antsy about. "What's so bad about it though?"

Now he looked slightly annoyed, and his fingers were twisting the hem of her shorts. "I don't like undercover missions, okay? My style isn't suited for it." He looked up at her, a strange glint in his eyes that wasn't exactly pleasant. An edge crept into his voice. "I don't like it when my art is repressed, yeah. When I have to do missions like this that interfere with my creative expression I tend to get a bit…worked up, and…well, I just don't deal well with restrictions on my jutsu."

Sakura watched him with slightly widened eyes. Was he saying he was having _withdrawals_? He just blew up a whole building like, five days ago. What more did he want? "So you're saying you're having urges to blow things up?" she asked cautiously, not quite sure how to handle this side of Deidara.

A fleeting grin that was more frightening than friendly passed over his face, and his hands tightened on her thighs. "Kinda, yeah. I mean…I don't have anything specific in mind, but…it's more like the fact that if I _did_ want to, I _can't_, and that really bothers me if I think about it too much."

Sakura was somewhat relieved to hear it was more about his aversion to rules and restrictions than an actual compulsive _need_ to be a pyro, but she was still a bit thrown off by him at the moment.

Then his chakra spiked a little. "Although," he said in a low, fervent tone, "there _is_ some stuff around here that would make great art. Like…that glass roof in the lobby, yeah. When it blows, all that glass would shower down to the floor like snow…beautiful, deadly snow engulfed by flames…and the sound it would make…like thousands of crystal bells…" His tone was almost reverent, practically a whisper as his fingers ghosted over her cheeks and into the soft hair at her temples, sweeping it back from her face as he leaned in closer, excitement burning in his eyes. "Can you imagine it? It would be amazing, yeah." He whispered the last words against her cheek as his lips trailed lightly over her jaw.

Sakura was a little alarmed by his words. She knew he would never hurt _her_, but he was still unpredictable and dangerous to others at times, and she was slightly concerned about what he might do. He was practically vibrating with excitement at what he was picturing in his head, and his zealous words and the fanatical look in his eyes were a good reminder that he wasn't entirely sane.

But then, neither was she. The fact that she'd once created an alter ego in her own mind was proof that she wasn't the epitome of mental soundness. She also had some intense anger management issues, so she didn't really have room to point fingers at others for having crazy impulses.

And really, what ninja _wasn't_ just a little bit nuts to begin with anyway?

She interlocked her fingers behind his neck. "I'm sure it would be fascinating, but you couldn't do it without hurting innocent people," she said carefully, not wanting to sound like she was denying him lest she set him off. She'd talked him down before; she was sure she could do it again, and she had more tricks in her arsenal now that they were intimate. Deidara frown-pouted at her words, so she hooked her legs behind his thighs and lifted his face up to focus on her rather than what he was thinking. "If you could figure out a way to do it and not harm people, I wouldn't mind seeing it with you, _after_ the mission is over." She smiled playfully and planted a lingering kiss on his lips.

Actually, what he was describing _did_ sound fascinating, and she was being honest when she said she would like to see it. His passion for explosive art must be rubbing off on her. She didn't care about the structure of the hotel—Shingo undoubtedly had plenty of money for repairs and he was almost certainly_ not_ an innocent artifact collector and businessman, so she felt no guilt there. She was okay with Deidara blowing the roof off the building, as long as it didn't get anyone killed.

She continued to kiss him until his chakra settled and he calmed down. He responded eagerly to her, his fingers twisting in her hair as he pulled her downward to his level. Tired of straining to her elevated position, he simply grasped her hips and lifted her down between his body and the wall, and then moved with her, pressing her against a taller part of the sloping stone façade as his mouth slanted over hers and he deepened the kiss.

Sakura broke away for air with a breathy laugh, and he continued his attentions on her neck. Apparently thinking about explosions excited him in other ways as well. That was good, he could use that as an outlet for his pent up energy. _Good for me too_, she thought, as Deidara nibbled just below her earlobe and sent a shiver up her spine. They were in public, but they couldn't really be seen, and she had to admit the knowledge that there were people around was a bit exhilarating. She leaned her head against the wall with a soft murmur of pleasure as he slipped his hand under the hem of her tank top, the mouth in his palm nibbling up her stomach. "You know, there's one way that isn't restricted at all," she said silkily. He raised his head to look at her with a devious and utterly sexy smirk, and she trailed her fingertip along his jaw. "You can create all the art you want with me."

"Believe me, I plan to, yeah," he murmured, brushing his lips teasingly against hers and pulling back when she tried to make it a full kiss. The expression on his face as he looked at her made her heart flutter. "You're amazing, you know that?" he said, surprising her and causing her to blush a little.

"You're not so bad yourself," she said warmly.

Deidara grinned and tightened his hold around her waist. "Sure I am. And that's why you like me," he said, and lowered his lips to her neck again.

She squirmed in delight as what he did tickled and aroused at the same time. He was sort of right though. She did seem to be drawn to dangerous bad boys, or at least guys with something off-kilter about them. Sasuke had had more issues than she could count, Itachi had been a ruthless sociopath, Kakashi had fostered severe depressive tendencies and an addiction to literary porn, and Deidara was an anarchist and a borderline pyromaniac. Sakura's taste in men was even more proof or her own psychological issues. But she'd never worried too much about those things before, because her men had always treated her well no matter how crazy they were.

Deidara had always been good to her, and the way he was making her feel right now was wonderful. But he was as unpredictable and volatile in character as he was in his fighting style. He was obsessed with his own jutsu, to the point of being suicidal in the case of his 'masterpiece.' Could she set herself up for the possibility that he may get tired of her, or recklessly get himself killed one day? Could she let herself fall in love with a man like that?

A wave of anxiety washed over her as she realized the implications of her thinking. She was more emotionally attached to him than previously thought if she was asking herself a question like that, and she still had no idea about what he really wanted from all of this. She was falling for him hard and fast, and she didn't think she could stop herself if she tried. What if it wasn't the same for him?

She pressed a soft kiss to his neck, the salty taste of his slightly sweaty skin lingering on her lips. She continued along his jaw until she got to his mouth, and he tilted his head and met her kiss hungrily. She pressed into him as he once again worked wonders on her senses. When he pulled back she was breathless and flushed, her worries forgotten. "Is it just me or is it getting even hotter out here?"

The sun was starting to set and the late afternoon haze was setting in, making the muggy air nearly unbearable. "It _is_ getting hotter. I'm pretty sure we're not gonna see anything today," he said, referring to the reason they were out here, looking vaguely toward the service road with mild irritation. Then he met her gaze again and a mischievous smile formed on his lips. "Let's head back to the room, yeah."

"Are you serious? It's way too hot to even _think_ about sex! Just the contact we have now is making me sweat," she said incredulously.

Deidara grinned. "Who said I was talking about sex, huh? Pervert,"

She gave him a look. "Says the man currently groping my ass..."

He looked down at his hands as if he _wasn't_ fully aware he'd moved them to their new position. He shrugged. "It's a great ass."

She smiled appreciatively and ran her hands over his firm chest, admiring the way his snug tank top showed the definition of his lean muscles. "I bet it's cooler down by the beach. Maybe we could walk back that way," she suggested.

"Alright." His hands slid up to her waist and he pulled her against him. His mouth hovered just over her ear, his warm breath tickling deliciously. "Also," he murmured in a low tone that made her feel all fuzzy inside, "you forget that our room has air-conditioning, yeah."

Sakura gave him an alluring smile and they stepped away from the low wall and back onto the footpath, and she reached down to take his hand as they walked.

* * *

The beach was definitely cooler and they enjoyed the refreshing ocean breeze as they leisurely strolled back to their bungalow, their sandals in one hand and their fingers gently interlocked on the other.

Deidara kept making her laugh by teasingly licking and nipping at her palm with the mouth in his hand. The people around them probably thought Sakura ridiculous, as she would spontaneously burst into giggles for no apparent reason, shooting playfully dirty looks at her partner who hadn't appeared to do or say anything. He messed with her for several minutes that way before she stopped him by bringing their joined hands up and pressing her lips to his palm affectionately.

Deidara halted his steps and stared at her in amazement. He hadn't expected her to do something like that. Sakura didn't think it a big deal; she hadn't minded that mouth anywhere else on her body, quite the opposite in fact. His bloodline limit had never bothered her; it was just part of him. Sure, there were narrow-minded people who were freaked out and repulsed by such an oddity, and maybe that's what he was used to. But Sakura was a ninja who'd had many comrades with odd abilities and even odder physiologies, and as a medic she'd been exposed to a lot of weird stuff. She'd gone to school with a boy who had thousands of bugs living inside his body and called them out at will, so Deidara having mouths on his palms was mild in comparison. Any woman who experienced what he could _do_ with those extra mouths would never think strangely about them again, she was sure of that.

But her gesture was obviously very significant to him, and he stared at her for another moment before an adorable, boyish grin spread slowly across his features. Sakura smiled warmly as she turned to start walking again. Resistance tugged at her hand and she turned back, and Deidara pulled her back toward him as he bent his head and kissed her.

In younger days Sakura had dreamed of romantic moments like this, envisioning herself being passionately kissed by a gorgeous man on a tropical beach at sunset…and then he would take her back to their bed and make love to her over and over. Of course, in those youthful dreams the gorgeous man had dark hair and eyes and was as different from the real man kissing her as night from day. Just as the dreams of the boy had evaporated over time, so had the fanciful ideas of ever living out such ridiculously romantic scenarios. Yet here she was—in the last place she ever thought she'd be with the type of man she never imagined herself falling for, and she found that the reality was much better than those silly childhood fantasies.

By the time they got back to the room night had fallen and the humidity was significantly lighter. Sakura switched on the light by the door and the room was lit in a low ambient glow. Deidara walked over to the sofa and flopped down to stretch out lazily. In a good mood and feeling playful, she joined him by nimbly hopping over the back of the couch and landing in his lap. Half sprawled as he was, he barely caught her as she landed on his middle, forcing an amused grunt from him. Sakura giggled and with some awkwardness managed to shift so that she was straddling him.

His hands flexed over her hipbones, and the look in his eyes told her what he thought about her current position. She gave him a playful smirk as her fingers moved beneath his shirt, raising it up inch by inch. He raised his arms and sat up a little to let her take it off, and then his hands were back, fingers slipping under the waistband of her shorts and tracing along the edge of her panties. His fingertips left a trail of heat in their wake that pooled deep in her belly. Sakura absolutely loved the way he looked at her, like she was the only thing in the entire world that interested him. She caressed up the smooth expanse of his torso and bent to trail affectionate kisses over his toned chest. He gave a soft sigh of enjoyment, slipped his hands under her shirt to caress her back and sides as she curled over him.

Sakura was simply being affectionate, rather than seductive, though the easy, attentive way they touched each other was still having an amorous effect on both of them.

"I was just thinking…" she said softly with her cheek against his skin, her fingertips tracing over the abstract markings of his seal. He made a quiet murmur of acknowledgement, and she continued. "We haven't used the hot tub yet…"

A smirk formed on Deidara's lips. "Hmm, no we haven't. It'd be a shame to leave without using it, yeah."

"My thoughts exactly." She leaned up to give him a brief kiss, pulling away before his magical tongue could trap her again. "I'll get changed. Meet me there?"

"Mmhm," he murmured, letting his hand slide over her leg as she got up, tapping her rear with a wicked smirk. She stuck her tongue out at him as she headed toward the bathroom where she'd left her swimsuit.

Sakura emerged a couple minutes later in her black tie-on bikini. She smiled to herself, remembering what Deidara said about this particular article of clothing and wondering how he would react now that he didn't have to keep his hands to himself. She passed through the bedroom and entered the bamboo enclosure. Deidara was relaxing in the warm swirling water with his arms up on the edge. He was facing the doorway, and his eyes roamed appreciatively over her lithe figure as she stepped down into the sunken spa.

She stood waist deep in the heated water, letting her hands smooth back and forth over the roiling surface. "This is different than a hotspring," she mused, getting used to the feel.

"Only the bubbling, and it's artificially heated, yeah."

Looking up at him with a playful smirk, she flicked her wrist to send a splash of water in his direction. He chuckled and raised a hand to block it, and then wrapped that arm around her waist as she moved to sit in his lap.

He'd tied his hair up in a low ponytail, so only the very ends of it were getting wet as he sat chest-deep in the water. She slipped one arm around his neck and rested her cheek on his shoulder. "This is really nice," she said quietly, her fingers trailing up and down his chest and abs. "I kinda wish we didn't have to leave tomorrow. Or ever."

Deidara didn't answer right away, gazing unfocused at the water's surface. His thumb stroked over her hipbone where his hand rested on her thigh. He exhaled slowly in what could have been a sigh, and finally replied, "Me too."

Several quiet minutes passed as they relaxed in the warm water, enjoying each other's touch. Sakura continued to run her fingers along his firm torso, not paying attention to the fact that her hand was steadily moving lower until she brushed over the small ridge of muscle above his hip bone and blinked, quickly coming out of her tranquil drowsy state.

"Deidara…" she said slowly, a bemused expression on her face.

"Hmm?"

"Where are your swimming shorts…?"

A roguish grin spread across his features, and he merely shrugged.

Sakura laughed, wondering how she'd been sitting on his lap for at least ten minutes and hadn't noticed he was wearing nothing but a smile. "If I knew you planned to skinny dip I wouldn't have bothered putting this on…"

"Why do you think I didn't say anything, hm? I wanted to see you in that bikini again." The backs of his fingers trailed over her stomach. "And I wanted to do _this_…" He pulled one end of the tie in front and the small triangles of material slipped to the sides, revealing much more of her breasts without falling completely open.

Sakura pulled back, slipping off his lap to stand, making no attempt to re-cover herself. Deidara didn't move, simply continued to watch her with a sly grin. She stood in the center, water swirling around her waist, and a sultry smile curled her lips. She reached up to grasp the two open sides of her top, but instead of retying them she slowly slipped the dark cloth from her bust, fully revealing her breasts, feeling a sharp thrill at the hungry look in his gaze. He didn't look at her exposed chest at all; those blue eyes locked on hers with a predatory gleam, and she felt heat build within her and her nipples tighten under the intensity and promise of his stare alone.

She continued the slow, seductive removal of her bikini top, playfully tossed it at his head as she backed away a bit more, moving to the far side. He caught it on a finger and dropped it on the tiled edge as he stood and stalked toward her, his gaze never wavering.

Playing coy, she eased along the edge away from him. His smirk widened as he caught on to her game, and when he reached out to grab her by the waist she giggled and snaked away from his grasp. Deidara chuckled darkly and continued to close in on her, fingers grazing her waist or hands brushing a thigh as she continued to playfully evade him. The hot tub wasn't that big and he could have caught her in an instant, but that would ruin the fun.

Finally, wanting to enjoy his nearly naked prey, he swooped in and grabbed her from behind. Her laughter rang out as he spun around with her, splashing water over the edge and across the ground. He sat on the bench again with her in his lap, her back pressed against his chest. "Now that I've caught you, little hellcat, what should I do with you?" he growled low against her ear, sending a shiver through her entire body as his hands moved over her abdomen, one moving upward, the other downward. "Hmm…I think I want to hear you purr."

His teeth gently grazed her earlobe and she tilted her head with a sigh of pleasure. He nibbled the skin of her neck as his hand closed over her bare breast, the tongue darting out and swirling around her tightened nipple before drawing it into the mouth and sucking gently. He had her squirming and gasping within seconds. Her arms lifted and linked behind his neck as she arched into his hand.

His other hand continued its descent until his fingers hooked under one side of her bottoms and with a slow pull the ends slipped open. His fingers slid just under the front edge until they reached the other side and undid the last tie. The scrap of black material came away easily, and floated to the other side of the hot tub. Beneath the surface his fingers skimmed up the length of her inner thigh, all while his other hand continued to lavish attention on her breast. She was already panting with pleasure and anticipation. "I love the sounds you make for me, Sakura. Like their own little works of art," he rasped, his breath tickling over her ear and neck. His fingers ghosted over the soft pink curls between her legs. "Especially when I touch you here…" He was rewarded with a sharp, breathy moan. She was already wet, the slick moisture of her desire different than the liquid swirling around them, and the knowledge that he turned her on so quickly and easily sent a jolt straight to his groin. He was used to women getting worked up quickly with him, after all he had a few advantages, but Sakura was by far the most passionate, not to mention the most beautiful when aroused. She was truly a masterpiece, superior in every way.

His fingers moved away and she made a small sound of disapproval at the lost contact, but he distracted her by his hand gently pulling her taut nipple between its teeth as his own mouth trailed hotly over her throat. She sighed raggedly, turned her face toward his and he caught her lips in a searing kiss. He lifted her thigh over his, spreading her legs apart. She whimpered, knowing what was coming, and he ended the kiss with a wicked smirk as his hand slid back up her thigh and his fingers stroked her. He slowly slipped one finger inside and she moaned, her hips rolling as her arousal intensified. A second digit joined the first and her head fell back against his shoulder.

"Deidara…mmhh…" she panted close to his ear, her face turned into his neck.

She was unable to stay still now, her groin and chest straining against both of his hands as her heavy breaths were quickly becoming panting moans. Her pleasured writhing and his name from her lips were incredibly arousing, and Deidara was almost painfully hard just from touching and listening to her. He couldn't wait to replace his fingers with another part of him that he knew would make her moan even louder, but he wasn't quite finished with her this way yet.

The third tongue flicked out to lap over the swollen button of nerves he hadn't touched until now, and she writhed against him with a loud moan as the already intense pleasure he was giving her became white-hot and she began to tremble. Teeth enclosed her nipple, and he pushed his fingers deep within her as the mouth of that hand closed over that most sensitive spot and sucked gently. Her moans became a string of pleasured cries and her body felt like it was bursting into flames as he sent her racing toward the edge. Suddenly her fingers tightened against his shoulders and her body arched stiffly as she came. He held her against his chest as she shuddered and gasped her release, not letting up on his ministrations until she collapsed against him again in a boneless heap.

Sakura took a moment to catch her breath and turned her face to him. "How the_ hell_ did you get so good at that?" she asked breathily.

Deidara looked down at her flushed face and a sly grin spread across his features. "Art is a bang, yeah."

She laughed softly and tried to give him a playful swat, but she couldn't really move yet, and ended up tapping him on the shoulder. "You're such a cocky bastard." He merely chuckled and lowered his face to kiss her. She responded passionately, parting her lips at the soft touch of his tongue. She turned in his arms, moved across him to straddle his lap again, facing him this time. "You know…you're not the only one with a few tricks up their sleeve." Her hand trailed down the ridges of his abdomen. "One of these days…I'll be the one making _you_ scream," she whispered against his lips as she took him in her hand.

Deidara sucked in a sharp breath and closed his eyes as her fingers stroked up his hard length and closed around him tightly. "Is that so?" he whispered, his lips brushing over hers.

She sighed as he lifted his hips against her hand, the tip of him rubbing against her. "Mmhm. I would do it right now…but I can't hold my breath that long…"

Deidara's eyes opened wide at her provocative words, and then she was sinking slowly down upon him until he was buried inside of her. He hissed softly at the feel of her tight and hot around him, and gripped her hips as she began to move. Their lips met as she rocked and ground against him, the warm liquid swirling around their bodies giving them even more heightened sensation. He lifted his hips to go deeper inside her and they both groaned. His hands roamed up her torso and cupped her breasts firmly, tongues immediately ravishing her sensitized flesh and making her moan loudly against his mouth. She broke away from his lips as her pleasure spiraled higher and her breath quickened.

Unable to take her torturously slow pace any longer, he gripped her ass firmly and stood up, lifting her onto his hips and turning their still-joined bodies around. He sat her on the edge and she lifted her legs to wrap around him, her thighs parting allowing his thrusts to go deeper.

"Unhh…Deidara…more…" she panted against his neck, their angle amazing but not enough to bring her to release again.

His hand worked into her hair and he kissed her passionately as he lowered her, and she braced her hands against the tiled floor as he laid her on her back. He trailed hot, open mouthed kisses down her chest and stomach as he straightened back up, grasping her thighs as he began to thrust into her again. This new angle allowed him to hit incredibly deep, and her eyes snapped closed as she moaned wildly. Her fingers clawed futilely at the wet tiles as he shifted the angle of his hips, stimulating that perfect spot inside her with every thrust.

His breaths were shallow and rapid as he began to lose himself in the feel of her, hot and velvety around him. He didn't know if he could last much longer this way. A primal groan escaped his lips as she contracted tightly around him as she neared her release. "Sakura…"

She heard the warning beneath the pleasure in his tone, and she bucked her hips upward as the heat within her coiled and intensified to an almost unbearable level. "Oh, gods…_harder_…"

There wasn't a man alive who didn't love hearing that, and with a pleasured growl he gripped her thighs and drove into her hard and fast. Her moans became louder and longer as she began to topple over the edge, and he brought his hand to where they were joined and pushed down, the tongue flicking as he continued his hard thrusts. She came instantly, her back arching off the ground as her orgasm exploded within her. He quickly found his own release as he watched his lover's ecstasy, gorgeous and writhing beneath him, her breasts heaving as he emptied himself inside her, both of them finding completion in a moment of perfect, radiant art.

Exhausted, he eased forward and rested his forehead on her flat tummy, supporting his weight with his elbows on either side of her. She cradled his head against her abdomen, her fingers easing through the strands of his hair as they brought their breathing under control. "Damn…" she whispered breathlessly, barely able to keep her eyes open after such an intense experience.

He nodded against her, feeling incredibly drowsy himself and wondering if he would even be able to move off of her. "Uh-huh…" he murmured, a silly grin on his face.

Sakura laughed almost inaudibly. "If we don't move I'm going to fall asleep right here."

"Me too, yeah." He braced himself and placed a kiss above her navel before pushing up. He climbed out of the hot tub and grabbed the towels laid aside. She lifted her hand to him lazily and he reached down and pulled her up, wrapping a towel around her in the process and then securing his own.

Sakura dried off and stepped forward to slip her arms around his waist, nuzzling into the crook of his neck, sighing in contentment as he held her and began to walk them into the bedroom where they fell on the bed with soft laughter, their towels falling to the floor. She slipped beneath the covers and he followed, limbs curling and wrapping around one another as they got comfortable.

He kissed her softly, unhurried and without intent, and she pulled his long hair free of its tie to fall over his shoulders. "Goodnight, Deidara," she whispered sleepily, snuggling into his chest.

"Goodnight, Sakura," he whispered into her hair, his arm tightening around her smaller frame as he closed his eyes and smiled.


	8. Heist

**Silver Lining**

Chapter Eight: Heist

* * *

For the third day in a row Sakura opened sleepy eyes to find herself wrapped in a warm embrace. She loved how Deidara tucked his arms around her and nuzzled his nose to her hair and skin, loved the way their bodies seemed to fit together as if they were always made to end up like this. She wouldn't have guessed him to be a snuggler. But then again, years ago when she first met him, she wouldn't have guessed him to be a lot of things he turned out to be.

His arm around her tightened as he began to stir and wake, and she laughed silently when she glanced down and realized his hand was smooshed between her cleavage. She slowly turned over and he rolled onto his back, arm settling around her waist as she propped herself up on his chest. Her lips brushed over his collarbone, and a drowsy smile formed on his features as he woke fully.

"You always wake up before me," he murmured, his fingers combing into her hair as she continued the feather-light kisses over his chest.

"Maybe it's because I like seeing how cute you look when you're sleeping, like such a nice guy, without that cocky smirk you always have," she teased.

Deidara didn't like to think there was ever a time he looked anything other than intimidating, or at least cool and impressive. "I'm not a nice guy," he muttered. "You don't like my smirk?"

Sakura smiled at the small pout on his lips and shifted upward so her face hovered just above his. "You're nice to _me_. And I think your smirk is sexy," she said playfully, and the exact expression she was referring to appeared on his lips. "I love it, actually. You wouldn't be you without it."

Deidara just looked at her, and she could see he was thinking something, carefully processing some little piece of information. It dawned on her that what she just said was possibly skirting around a far more profound subject, and she suddenly felt nervous. What if he picked up on it? She should change the subject now, before her stupid mouth blurted anything else it shouldn't…

But she didn't get the chance, because the hand in her hair was pulling her head down and his lips were on hers, prohibiting any brush-off or excuse she might have made. He rolled her onto her back, but the kiss didn't deepen or intensify, there was no intent or urgency, he was kissing her just because.

Sakura didn't really care why; she loved kissing for whatever reason, and she especially loved kissing Deidara because he was so ridiculously good at it. She also loved that he seemed to enjoy it as well; after all it was sort of his _thing_.

If she thought about it enough, she realized there were quite a lot of things she loved about him. If she added them all up, did it mean she loved _him_? She knew it didn't exactly work like that, but still. What she said a moment ago had come dangerously close to alluding to the possibility that she might maybe feel that way, and it was obviously something that wasn't comfortable being out in the open with either of them and that's probably why he kissed her: to shut her up.

He pulled back and his blue eyes stared into hers for a long, quiet moment. "What are we going to do?"

Sakura blinked, her heart giving a small thump in her chest. What was he asking her? Had he been thinking the same thing she was, or was he talking about something else entirely? She didn't want to give a real answer for fear it might not be what he meant, so she eloquently replied, "Wha—?"

"About the sword. It wasn't delivered last night like we thought it would be, and the exhibition is tonight, yeah."

She gave a small inaudible sigh, not sure whether to be relieved or disappointed. Of course she wouldn't have thought of that—it was kind of hard to think business with him lying half on top of her and looking at her that way. She wondered how he could be thinking business either, and thought maybe he was trying to change the subject as well.

"I don't know," she said. "Is it possible it was delivered, and the sensors you left might have missed it?"

He frowned. "No. There's nothing wrong with my jutsu."

"I wasn't saying that, I was just thinking of all the possibilities." She ran her hands up his arms in a placating gesture.

His disgruntled expression faded, but he sat up, pushing his hair away from his face.

Sakura sat up behind him. She didn't want him to be upset with her, especially over something so inane. She didn't doubt his abilities and hadn't meant that in the slightest, but she knew how he was. He was extremely touchy about his art, especially concerning any potential faults in his technique, and he would probably always be a little irrational about it. She pressed her lips to his shoulder blade, fingertips tracing the length of his spine. "It will definitely arrive sometime today, so we should pack up and be ready to go at a moment's notice," she said, then rested her cheek against his warm skin and slipped her arm around him.

Deidara nodded absently and his arm settled over hers, his thumb stroking her wrist. "The event starts at eight. If it's not in that room by seven it probably won't be, meaning they'll take it straight to the showroom. If they do that, it also probably means they'll take it straight out again and never use that room at all and our plan is screwed."

"Well, we can't take it during the show. The heavy security as well as the civilian factor would just make it too difficult. We'd have to fight for it, and innocent people would get hurt. This is supposed to be a stealth heist, not a smash and grab. Yotsuba wanted us to get away clean and leave no trail," she said, growing frustrated with their limitations.

"Well that may not be what he gets, yeah," Deidara countered darkly.

Sakura nodded, thinking over their very short list of options. She wrapped part of the sheet around her naked form and scooted around to face her lover. They held each other's gazes for a moment, and then she grinned and leaned in to playfully kiss the tip of his nose. A small smile turned the corners of his lips and his grouchy aura lessened as he pulled her into his lap. She nestled into him and rested her head on his shoulder, "If we aren't able to get it beforehand, and we can't get it during, then we can still get it afterward. If we have to, you can scout the outbound roads from the air and we can ambush the convoy as it leaves," she suggested.

He thought about it for a moment. "That could get ugly, yeah."

"It depends on how many guards there are. It shouldn't be a problem for us, considering only a handful of them are shinobi, and low level ones at that," she countered. "But, because they're just hired thugs and not trained soldiers, I'd like to avoid killing anyone if possible."

Deidara gave her a skeptical look. "You really think two of us can neutralize an entire armed convoy without killing any of them," he said flatly.

Sakura frowned slightly, because he was likely right. "Well, like I said, it really depends on how many of them there are." She looked up at his face and gently brushed the stray lock of hair from his eye. "And I know you can create charges that only have enough power to knock a person out and not kill them."

Deidara gave her a long look, aware she was slyly trying to temper his more violent and reckless side, but then he gave a conceding shrug and sighed. She could be a little over-compassionate at times, but he supposed it was to be expected with her being a medic, and he knew her big heart was a major source of her strength. He didn't _enjoy_ killing, so he was fine doing it her way. But if going easy on their enemies lowered their chances of succeeding and getting away alive and in one piece, the deal was off.

"Besides," she continued, "it's all hypothetical, right? Hopefully plan A will still pan out and we won't have to worry about it."

"Yeah." He tilted her chin up to kiss her briefly, then eased her from his lap as he made to get up. "I'm gonna take a shower."

"'Kay," she replied softly, watching him as he walked across the room. When he was gone she untangled herself from the sheets and lay back down. He wasn't in a very good mood this morning, though she knew it wasn't due to anything she said. Maybe he was just in a professional mindset, knowing they had a job to do tonight—a job that was getting sketchier and more potentially dangerous by the hour. He probably had a lot on his mind right now.

Sakkura had a lot on her mind too, not the least of which was what was going to happen a day or two from now, when they would have to decide what to do from there out. Honestly Sakura was more worried about that than she was about this mission. She wondered if Deidara was thinking about that too, and she was more than a little anxious about what he would do when that moment came.

What would happen when they had to lay all their cards on the table?

* * *

They spent the rest of the morning going over the blueprints once more, planning their route along the ventilation system that would drop them into the secure room in the sub-basement. They also fleshed out their backup plan in case they did have to ambush the convoy after all.

When it was all worked out they packed their belongings, feeling slightly wistful that they had to leave this beautiful, relaxing place. They got rid of the things they'd purchased for their cover and erased their presence in the room. When the theft was discovered and an investigation launched, it would look as though the Yamadas had simply checked out on schedule like dozens of other guests.

Sakura decided to keep her new swimsuit and the burgundy kimono and lingerie; she'd taken a liking to them and they suited her personal style more than the other girly garments. Deidara liked them too—another good reason to keep them. And of course she kept the little stuffed monkey he'd unintentionally won for her at the carnival. He frowned when he saw her with it, but then smiled when he noticed she was taking it with her.

Ready as they were going to get, they left the room and split up. Sakura returned the blueprints to the security office using the same method in which she got them, disguised as the security manager this time for extra measure. Deidara went to identify the ventilation shaft that would be their entry point into the complex maze. Sakura returned to the room first and double-checked that everything was ready to go. It felt good to wear her own clothing again. She had yet to don her gloves and medic's apron, but the familiar comfort and flexibility of her shinobi gear made her feel more at ease.

With the preparations complete, there was nothing to do but wait. Sakura opened the bedroom window and sat in the cushioned sill to watch the rolling waves and diving birds along the beach while waiting for Deidara to return. After a while the soothing sounds and warm fragrant breeze lulled her into a light catnap.

She woke to the soft click of the door. A moment later Deidara entered the bedroom and she admired his change in appearance, for he too was wearing his own clothes. She preferred him this way, it was more _him_ and there was a good reason she'd never been attracted to civilian men; ninja were just so much hotter. She smiled at him, and he returned it with his usual smirk. He didn't come over to her, instead lying down on the bed with his arms behind his head, expectantly waiting for her to join him.

Sakura obliged and crawled onto the bed to curl up beside him, propping her chin on his chest while he lowered one arm to settle around her waist. "Any trouble?" she asked.

He shook his head. "Nope. The entry point is in the middle of a low-traffic hallway, so we won't have to worry about being seen going in. You?"

"No problems. The security guards in that office are all civilian, so it was nothing to slip in there. Though a cleaning lady tried to flirt with me while I was disguised as the security manager."

He made an amused sound. "Did you flirt back?"

She shifted higher so her face was near his. "Jealous?"

"Totally," he murmured before pulling her down into a kiss.

His grumpy mood seemed to have lightened, probably because he didn't have to pretend to be a boring, regular guy anymore and could be himself again. She trailed her finger along his jaw, over the long scar. "When and how did you get this?"

"About…four years ago I think," he said. "The mission was booked by two different contractors, and when two shinobi show up for the same target it's not pretty. A kunai fight in a narrow hallway is never fun, yeah."

She could hear in his tone that the memory was clearly unpleasant. She continued to absently trace the thin line with a fingertip. It ran from his earlobe to the underside of his chin, and she knew the kunai that put it there had been aimed for his throat, and missed it by an inch. He held an S-ranking for more than just his explosive jutsu, and she knew he was highly skilled in all tactical areas, but still…close-quarter, hand-to-hand combat was not his forte.

"I've been in one or two like that myself, when I'd get cornered by bounty hunters," she told him. "I have the same problem you do—not being able to go all out because we'd get caught in our own destruction. I'm not the best with close-quarter fights either."

Deidara smiled, thinking how though their methods differed, the results were quite similar. It was exciting to think about the kind of explosive chaos they could create together. "I'm good enough, because I won and he's dead, yeah," he replied dryly.

She brushed her lips over the line. "Well, I'm certainly glad he missed what he was aiming for…but the scar itself is kinda sexy."

He 'hn'd' in response as her lips trailed closer to his mouth. They kissed, and soon he was rolling her onto her back, slowly unzipping her shirt and tossing it aside. She moved his shirt up his back and his mouth broke from hers as he helped her take it off, then she removed the tie holding his hair up and gently ran her fingers through the thick strands as it fell over his shoulders.

There was no rush to their actions, and he made no attempt to remove more clothing as they lay there, simply savoring each other's touch and the wonderful feel of skin against skin.

"You don't have many scars…is that because you're a medic?" he quietly murmured against her collarbone, his lips moving idly over her skin.

Sakura played with the ends of his long hair as he made a path down her torso. "Partly. I didn't do much that would earn major scars as a genin. I learned medical ninjutsu shortly before making chuunin, but even then I didn't see much action because I was too busy studying with Tsunade-shishou. It wasn't until Gaara was taken that I was sent into the field again…so I suppose in a twisted way I have _you_ to thank for forcing me back into active duty," she said wryly.

Deidara chuckled, his breath fanning over her stomach before his lips pressed against the skin above her navel. "You're welcome, yeah." He continued his lazy path and paused when he came across a small scar about two inches wide on her lower abdomen, just above the waistband of her shorts. "What about this one?"

Her expression sobered, and she was quiet a long moment before answering. "I wanted to keep that one," she said quietly.

He softly traced the smooth line. "Why?"

"Because it was the one that almost killed me."

Deidara looked up at that, noticed her expression. He examined the scar more closely, drawing on a lifetime of battle experience. "It's from a sword…a katana," he analyzed quietly, and saw her small nod from the corner of his eye. "And based on the entry point it pierced vitals…I guess it's a good thing you're a medic or you'd probably be dead from this, yeah." He looked up to meet her jade gaze again.

Sakura shook her head, a bitter smile on her lips. "I'd be dead from it anyway. The blade was poisoned and I was out of commission before I could even try to heal myself or apply an antidote. I'm not the one who healed it."

He could tell she was implying something, but he couldn't guess what. "Who did?"

She held his gaze for a long moment. "Chiyo-sama," she answered quietly.

Deidara stilled in realization, and his eyes returned to the pale scar. "Oh," he murmured softly. He frowned as his thumb stroked back and forth over what he now knew was the handiwork of his former partner. When he asked her the first time about that battle she'd said she only survived because of the old woman, and now he could see she had meant it literally. Sasori had nearly killed her, but instead she had killed him. The fact that Sakura defeated his partner at such a young age and in such an impressive way was the only reason he'd bothered to get to know the petite, pink-haired kunoichi. He'd gotten more than he expected for his curiosity, and now, over a decade after she fought his partner to the death, this amazing, beautiful girl was his lover. Sakura was lying in his arms at this moment because of a series of fateful twists. A thoughtful smile spread across his features. Life was full of irony.

His lips brushed her soft skin once more, placing a kiss not on the scar but just above it, and his hands stroked over her hips as he picked up where he left off.

Deidara hooked his fingers under the waistband of her shorts and eased them down a few inches, his lips and the occasional tease of his tongue leaving a tingling warm trail across her skin. Without any apparent purpose other than to expose more of her skin to his exploration, he slipped her shorts over her hips and down her legs, tossing them carelessly off the bed before kissing a trail up her body once more. He propped himself up on one elbow as his gaze roamed slowly over her pale, smooth skin. Her lithe figure stretched and shifted under his touch. He smiled approvingly at the lovely vision before him. "I love how comfortable you are in your own skin, yeah. You don't try to hide yourself from me for some ridiculous insecurity."

Sakura huffed a soft laugh. "I wasn't always. I used to be very insecure about my looks. But in time I realized most of it was only in my head, and the parts that weren't I couldn't change anyway so it was a waste of time to worry about it. I don't concentrate on my flaws anymore, but I still know I'm not perfect, outside or inside."

Deidara frowned slightly, shifting over her again. "Perfect is boring, yeah. Perfect is dull, unchanging, and very easy to get tired of." His fingers smoothed over the flat area between her breasts. "True perfection lies in the fleeting, true beauty in the unpredictable. The things you would call flaws are what make you unique." He touched lightly over the scar on her abdomen, and his voice was almost a whisper as he moved over her. "Every scar…every freckle…" his lips brushed over a tiny spot near her shoulder, "every imperfection you have is beautiful, Sakura."

Sakura was spellbound by his rapt attention. He was almost reverent in the way he touched her, all light caresses and soft kisses as if worshipping her body not in spite of its imperfections, but because of them. She felt incredibly beautiful under his gaze. He was being curiously tender with her, but it had been a long time since she'd felt so desired and adored, and she cherished every second of it.

Long strands of blond hair fell over his shoulders and tickled deliciously against her sides as he grabbed the narrow front of her bra between his teeth and tugged playfully. Her hands smoothed over his shoulders and down his toned arms, and his actions turned purposeful now as their sensual touches became more arousing.

Deidara shifted upward and his mouth hovered just above hers, and her body warmed under the intensity and desire in his azure gaze. She tilted her chin up in a silent plea, and a small smile graced his lips as they brushed over hers, slowly, teasingly, before he slanted his mouth to hers in a passionate, searing kiss. Sakura made a soft sound in her throat and met the smooth glide of his tongue with her own, gently pulled his lower lip between her teeth. He smirked against her mouth, shifting his weight so he could thread his fingers into her hair. Too soon for her liking he was moving away, trailing open-mouthed kisses down the column of her throat as his arm slid under her to unhook the clasp of her bra. It slipped from her shoulders and disappeared to some unimportant place, and his mouth trailed along the top of her breast. He was in no hurry, continuing to tease lightly around the sensitive mound. His hand caressed up her stomach, slipped around her ribs just below her other breast. His tongue flicked over the taut bud and Sakura sighed breathily. His palm cupped over pliant flesh and she felt the same erotic tap of tongue on the other side.

He was teasing her, working her up slowly, and she eagerly anticipated what he had in store for her, the explosive heights he planned to take her to. There was something different about his attentions this time, and she had a feeling she was in for one hell of a ride.

Her eyes snapped shut and her back arched as both nipples were enclosed by hot mouths. Twin tongues alternated between slow suckling and rapid flicks. She writhed under him as he worked her into a panting frenzy. Could he make her come from this alone? In this moment it felt entirely possible. But all capacity for thought was erased the next moment when his teeth closed around the already over-sensitized peaks and she cried out, her grasp in his hair tightening from the intense pleasure.

Just when she thought she couldn't take any more of what he was doing to her, he released her. The hand that had previously been at her breast moved slowly down her stomach, brushed between her thighs, and his fingers began to slowly stroke and tease her. She was practically aching to be touched there after the state he'd worked her into and she moaned raggedly when his fingers eased inside. His fingers curled and stretched within her as dual tongues worked her breasts. She felt like she would explode, and her quivering body prayed for sweet release.

Deidara had other, more torturous ideas. His fingers and tongues withdrew completely, and she growled in disapproval as he hovered over her. He kissed the pout from her lips and she arched against him impatiently. "Shh," he whispered against her mouth. "Be patient, hm, I've only just begun to have my way with you." He began to move again, sucking and nibbling a heated trail down her chest and abdomen, over her hipbone and along her thigh, slipping her panties down and tossing them aside as he went. He settled on his stomach between her thighs and she began to pant with the anticipation of his mouth on her, but instead his fingers returned and slowly teased and stroked her aching womanhood as he raptly watched the pleasured expressions flicker across her face with every brush of his skilled fingers. Sakura thought she would go mad if he didn't stop this sweet torment and give her some relief. He hadn't yet used his own mouth there, only his hands, and she was getting hotter just thinking about the experience she was in for.

Deidara smirked devilishly and made a pleased sound as he watched the flushed, aroused beauty and his artistic vision unfolded in his mind. He nipped her upper thigh teasingly, and her breaths grew heavier as he moved lower and lower.

She felt his breath against her heated skin and his hand slid up the back of her thigh, teeth nibbling as he lifted it over his shoulder. She waited for an eternal breathless moment, and then her head fell back against the pillow and a heady moan escaped her lips as his tongue finally touched her. He enjoyed what he was doing nearly as much as she did, and his tongue ravished her so perfectly, skillfully pleasuring every heated spot, save one. So far he had ignored that most responsive area of nerve endings, instead working her into a writhing, moaning frenzy. So hypersensitive had he made her to even the smallest touch, that when his tongue finally flicked over that sensitive little button she bucked her hips sharply with a loud cry, her fingers gripping the sheets beside her head. He held her hips down to stop her wild thrashing, his tongue never ceasing the slow, rhythmic circling. He was deliberately tormenting her, altering pressure and rhythm to prevent her from climaxing. She silently vowed to make him pay for it later, but right now she was helpless beneath him, desperately needing his touch.

He'd brought her so high that she was going to topple over the edge whether he wanted her to or not, and he decided to reveal one last trick that would spiral her into explosive rapture.

The pliant movement of his tongue became more direct and she felt his fingers again, stroking and stretching. The pleasure burned white hot and her moans went up an octave as she felt the beginning waves of release, but she wasn't prepared for what he did next. The tongue in his hand circled her opening and slipped inside, swirling within her as his own tongue lapped and sucked until she was completely lost. She cried incoherently as she came, wave after wave flooding every corner of her being, her release drawn out and intensified by his continuing actions.

Her cries receded to pants as she came down from the mind-shattering climax, her overloaded senses making her feel weightless and slightly disoriented. But the sensations didn't lessen because Deidara wasn't stopping or easing up. It was too much, she was too sensitive, the feeling so intense it was almost painful. "Deidara…s-stop…it's too…aaaaahh," she murmured brokenly, her fingers clawing the sheets, her hips bucking urgently but she didn't know if it was toward or away from those two incredible tongues. Deidara ignored her pleas, tongues moving faster and deeper within her. She was sobbing with the intensity of the pleasure, tears leaking unnoticed from the corners of her eyes as the heat rapidly coiled white-hot within her and exploded outward. Her body arched and spasmed under the onslaught, and her vision spiked before fading black and all she could do was _feel_.

Her climax seemed to stretch to eternity yet was over all too soon, and when she came back to herself again, she saw Deidara had moved up her body and was watching her with a look of captivated awe as he stroked her hair from her damp brow. "You okay?" he murmured with a soft smirk, and his fingers tracing over her cheek as he wiped her tears away.

Sakura managed a faint smile. "I don't know…that was so…I don't even know how to describe it. I thought I was going to pass out." Deidara slipped his arms around her still-trembling body, settling once more between her thighs. She felt his erection press against her thigh and realized he'd removed the rest of his clothing somehow. How long had she been out of it?

Even after what she'd just experienced she felt the desire building once more, her body reacting with anticipation for the feel of him inside her. His lips trailed over the expanse of her chest again and she sighed anxiously, her fingers threading into his hair, pulling him upward to look at her. "I can't take any more teasing," she whispered breathlessly. "Please make love to me."

His gaze softened and he smiled before pressing his lips to her cheek. "I have been the whole time, Sakura," he whispered. His lips trailed along her jaw and down her throat, and she lifted her thighs around his hips as he slowly sank within her. His eyes closed tightly, his breathing slow and heavy against her neck as he fought to keep from driving into her madly.

She moaned breathily as he filled her completely, perfectly. Her arms wrapped around his back and her mouth pressed hotly against his collarbone, her thighs parting and lifting to take him even deeper.

A soft groan escaped his lips as she enveloped him fully, silky thighs and soft hands moving over his skin, her body tightening and welcoming as he began to move. Never had a woman aroused him so. Sakura was radiant, shimmering and gorgeous as she succumbed to him. It was all he could do to control himself.

Sakura sighed blissfully, relishing the smooth slide of his abdomen over hers as he thrust slow and deep within her. Her nails grazed lightly against his shoulders and he lowered himself, bracing on his elbows, bringing their torsos into full contact as he buried his face in the hollow of her neck. He hit a spot within her that made her moan and roll her hips upward, her hands flying to grip the pillow on either side of her head.

Deidara breathed the scent of her hair and tasted the softness of her dampened skin. This was different than the times before. He felt dizzy, overwhelmed by her presence and the feel of her around him, like satin and liquid fire. He raised his head to watch her, the expressions she made in her passion doing things to him he couldn't name. Long lashes fluttered open to reveal fathomless pools of brilliant green. His hand wove tenderly into her soft hair, and the fingers of his other hand slid up her forearm and laced with hers as their rhythm increased.

Sakura clasped his fingers tightly and her heart swelled as she gazed up at him. The look on his face and in his eyes was so profound it nearly brought tears to her eyes.

It seemed as though time had slowed, only the two of them existing in this moment. Soft light filtered through the window, the afternoon sun catching his hair in golden highlights as it fell over his shoulders, creating a curtain around them, their own private world. The sheets rustled softly beneath them, the stillness punctuated by soft moans and sighs.

He hovered just above her lips, their breath intermingling and increasing in pace as passion began to overtake them. His fingers squeezed hers with every thrust, their joined bodies rocking together in perfect union. "So beautiful…" he whispered reverently, gazing into her luminous, lust-clouded eyes.

She smiled softly, her eyes closing as she was hit by another erotic wave of sensation. She was so close; she could feel the heat spread from her core to the tips of her fingers and toes, encompassing all of her senses.

His thrusts became harder, more urgent, and Deidara felt his control slipping. He lost himself within her and didn't care, abandoning himself to this incredible feeling. He lowered his head that last inch to kiss her and knew this was the only place he wanted to be, that he belonged here, in her velvet heaven. In this moment he belonged to her.

Her head fell back with a low moan as her climax flooded through her, not as intense as before but just as beautiful, and he let himself fall over the edge with her. She tightened and arched beneath him and he shuddered against her, the broken sounds of their pleasure mingling together as they shared their release, finding completion in each other.

Deidara's fingers unlocked from hers, joints stiff from grasping so tightly, his arms slipping around her frame as he rolled to the side a little, removing the majority of his weight from her. He pressed his face into her neck and closed his eyes tightly as he waited for his pounding heart to slow. He was at a loss, unable to think properly and not knowing how to describe what he was feeling if he could. He had never in his life experienced anything like that before. It was transcendent, a magnificent revelation. Sakura had completely captivated him and at the height of pleasure she was the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen. He had lost control of his artistic vision and instead become a part of it. It was not about her but about _them_, together, producing a moment of art more breathtaking than any he had created before.

Sakura sighed breathlessly, her own heart racing. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders, cradling his head, a soft smile on her lips as he tightened his arms around her. She noticed he still wasn't moving and she glanced down at him curiously. "Deidara?" He raised his head slowly and met her gaze. He looked a little dazed, not unlike she imagined herself looking a while ago. "Are you alright?"

A silly, boyish grin spread across his features. "I've never been better," he replied, his tone slightly awed. He leaned closer until his lips were just above her mouth, but his eyes remained locked with hers. "That was a masterpiece," he stated with quiet excitement. "No work of art I've created, even with my jutsu, has ever come close to that." His hand came up to cup her cheek as he pressed his forehead against hers. "Sakura…thank you."

She laughed, amused by his abstract thinking but understanding the deeper meaning all the same. "Anytime," she said playfully.

Her fingertips brushed the sides of his neck and jaw as she tilted her face up, lips brushing softly against his. He reached down and pulled the sheet over them, sighing as he nuzzled against her, and her arms wrapped around him as they drifted into a peaceful sleep.

* * *

Sakura was stirred from slumber by pressure on her shoulder and the feel of fingers gently grasping her chin.

"Sakura…"

Deidara's familiar tenor murmured close to her ear, and her eyes slipped open as he turned her face toward his. Her eyes opened fully and adjusted to the darkened room, then locked onto his questioningly.

"It's here," he said in a quiet voice.

Her drowsiness vanished, and she rose on her elbows as he released her and stood up. She saw he was already half dressed. "How long ago?" she murmured, her voice a bit scratchy from sleep.

"About ten minutes," he answered while pulling his snug mesh tank over his head, and then reached for his shirt.

She sat up and swung her legs off the bed while looking for her clothes, namely her underwear. She located them and the rest of the articles Deidara had carelessly thrown around the room and dressed quickly. He tossed her shirt to her as he tied his hair up, and she zipped it and moved to the windowsill to grab her gloves and medic's apron.

They were ready quickly, and with a last check to make sure everything was set, they grabbed their packs and made to leave. Sakura took a final look at the bed they had shared and the rooms that now held so many memories for them, some of them life-changing, and with a nostalgic smile followed Deidara out the door.

The two ninja moved through the shadows, not using the pathways because they no longer looked inconspicuous and technically they should be on their way to the gala right now. Deidara led the way to the main hotel building and they slipped inside a back door into the staff break area. It was empty as expected; the regular employees gone home at this hour and almost all security was at the exhibition. They passed quickly through the empty corridors, past the laundry facilities and janitorial supply, until eventually Deidara stopped in the middle of a hallway. Sakura stopped next to him and glanced up toward the ceiling, focusing on the large vent above their heads. It was about two and a half feet in diameter, a close fit but thankfully neither of them were very large.

Sakura placed the tips of her fingers on the wall below the vent, drew chakra to her hands and feet, and crawled up the wall with ease. She stopped below the vent and removed a kunai from her holster, using it to unscrew the bolts holding the metal cover in place. It came away with a soft clank, and she anchored herself at the knees, looking like she was simply kneeling over a hole in the floor rather than one in the wall as she held the cover to one side and pulled a few senbon out with her free hand. Everything was so much easier with chakra. She placed two senbon between her teeth and shoved the third through the metal slats of the vent cover, pinning it firmly to the wall. Next she removed her pack and pushed it into the vent opening, then turned to Deidara as he too slipped his pack from his shoulders. He handed it to her and she shoved it through with her own, and then climbed through the metal opening. Deidara quickly followed her up and into the passage, releasing the vent cover as he went. She handed him her remaining senbon, and he used them to superficially anchor the covering from the inside.

Sakura shoved their packs in front of her until they reached the first branch-off and moved them out of the way. She was going first because she was smaller, but she was following Deidara's directions on when and where to turn as he'd placed spiders all through the network of shafts earlier and could hone in on them with his chakra. The going was slow because it was quite dark and they had to low-crawl and remain as silent as possible. The passageways also smelled strongly of dust and metal and it was far from comfortable.

They paused briefly as he concentrated. "Sakura," he said after a moment.

"What?" she asked, glancing over her shoulder.

"Did I ever tell you you have a really great ass?" he drawled playfully, his eyes enjoying the perfect view he had of her toned legs and rear.

Sakura shook her head. "Shut up," she said mirthfully, and began to crawl forward again.

Eventually they reached a vertical shaft and slipped down it until they reached the sector of narrow metal corridors running through the sub-basement. It was cold down here, a fact made worse by having to slide on their stomachs along the metal airshaft. They crawled for several more minutes until they came upon a wide crossroads where several shafts intersected. They were close now, and Sakura used the wide space to let Deidara move in front of her. Now it was her turn to stare appreciatively at his backside as he crawled ahead. They turned a corner into a dead end with a single grate and he indicated with a tilt of his head that they had reached their destination.

He pulled out a kunai and pried the metal covering open, making sure to secure it so it didn't crash to the floor, then silently slipped out of the vent and dropped into the sealed room full of priceless antiques. Just as they'd worked out earlier, Sakura made seals and cast a high-level genjutsu around the immediate area. If anyone came near this room they would be caught in her illusion trap and not be released until the thieves were long gone.

She watched her partner move across the room to where his three clay spiders were jumping up and down madly. She smirked at the amusing sight and her pulse quickened with anticipation as she saw what they were jumping on just as Deidara picked it up.

It was their sword. A katana, wrapped in a traditional silk covering of black and set on a gilded stand. Deidara uncovered it to make sure it was indeed the same sword described in their mission directive. The scabbard was a dark, rich russet color, the hilt was ivory gilded with gold, and the wrappings on the guard were also threaded with gold silk. And there, just below the hanging cord was the identifying mark: a golden dragon with rubies for eyes, clutching a large diamond between its claws. It was gorgeous, and it was obviously worth a fortune.

And they were going to steal it.

Deidara grinned at her with a glint in his eyes. She smiled back excitedly and he quickly re-wrapped the sword, moved across the room and handed it up to her. She took it carefully and scooted back to allow him room as he climbed up the wall and back into the shaft, securing the vent cover once more. Their target was acquired, now all that was left to do was get out.

They quickly made their way back through the maze of metal passageways, retrieved their packs from the side corridor where they'd left them, and made sure the hallway was clear before exiting the vent with their prize. Sakura quickly screwed the covering back on, they secured their packs and then they were running silently through the service areas and out the same back door. They slipped through she shadows of the darkening night, swiftly and in total silence as only two elite ninja could, pausing only a few times to avoid the occasional employee or guest.

They leapt onto the roof of an outlying maintenance building and vaulted over a concrete wall at the back of resort property. They ran without stopping until they reached a small hill near the service road, and in a matter of moments one of Deidara's clay birds towered before them. They mounted quickly and Deidara donned his scope. After making sure they weren't being followed and wouldn't be seen taking off, the bird lurched upward and they were flying away into the night.

#

The flight away from the island was relaxed and easy. The advantage of having a clay bird to transport them by air meant they couldn't be followed even if the theft _had_ been discovered and tracked to them this quickly, which wasn't likely.

The view of the nocturnal landscape was amazing; moonlight turning the rivers into brilliant threads of silver, the occasional lights of passing towns dotting the ground below. Sakura felt the same sense of tranquil freedom she'd experienced the first time she'd flown, only now it was even better with Deidara's warm chest pressing against her back, his arms wrapped securely around her waist as the sword lay across her knees. She relaxed against him and leaned her head back onto his shoulder, and his lips brushed the side of her neck as he smiled against her skin.

They weren't scheduled to meet with Yotsuba and deliver the sword until tomorrow afternoon, and since he practically owned the large factory town where his office was located they didn't want to make an appearance there until necessary. So when they reached the mainland they landed just outside the nearest village and walked the rest of the way to a small secluded inn.

They checked into a modest but clean room and dropped their bags in the corner. It was shabby compared to the luxurious suite they'd spent the last week in, but to them it was nice and cozy, more suited to their tastes and lifestyle. It felt like a return to the norm, and Deidara immediately flopped onto the bed and stretched out with a sigh.

"I can't believe it was really that easy," he stated incredulously, watching Sakura as she moved across the room.

Sakura crawled across the mattress to sit close to him, stolen artifact of immeasurable value in hand. "Well, almost all the opposition was civilian, and that makes it much easier. Not to mention the level of technical security was obviously not meant to keep out shinobi." She gave him a soft smirk and trailed her fingers up his thigh. "Besides, not _every_ mission is life or death, ending in a huge battle."

He gave a short laugh. "It usually was for me, yeah. Kinda came with the job, you know?"

She gave a conceding shrug, not really wanting to think about all the ultraviolent things he may have done in Akatsuki. "Well, you won't hear _me_ complaining that everything actually went according to plan." She removed the silk covering and examined their stolen prize. Her hands smoothed along the scabbard, admiring the craftsmanship. She slipped the blade free of its sheath with a soft click and the hum of sliding steel, pulling it out halfway and assessing the quality of the blade. "This really is beautiful…I can see why someone would go to so much trouble to steal it."

"Hn," was his only reply. Deidara was far more interested in her apparent fascination with blades than he was in the actual sword. He could appreciate the quality of the craftsmanship, but the majority of the aesthetic appeal was lost on him because he didn't find any real beauty in this kind of artwork. Now Sakura, on the other hand, was a different matter. The muted excitement in her expression as she handled the deadly blade, the way her eyes glittered as she imagined what it would be like to wield it, now _that_ was appealing. To actually see her doing so would be equally enticing, because nothing was sexier than a beautiful woman who knew her way around a deadly weapon. Especially one who looked like her. Sakura, with her petite frame and pink hair, was deceptively fragile-seeming. The massive destruction she was capable of, her fiery unpredictable temper, and her interest in unusual things were all in paradox to her delicate pretty appearance and that was what made her so irresistible and exciting to him.

Deidara's hand reached out and smoothed over the skin of her thigh, slipping below the edge of her apron, and she smiled at his touch as she continued her examination. Her fingers traced down the length of the polished scabbard and she felt something strange, a tiny vibration in a certain area near the bottom. Her brow creased as she felt for it again, this time bringing chakra to the tips of her fingers to assist in the search for the anomaly.

Deidara noticed and his attention refocused. "What?" he asked cautiously.

She frowned as her fingers traced around the base of the sheath. "Something's strange about this area…feels like its pulsing almost…"

"I didn't notice anything earlier," he said, sitting up fully and frowning now as well.

"You're not a medic—you aren't as sensitive to chakra," she explained simply.

His eyes narrowed curiously, and then widened as there was a tiny click and Sakura removed a small piece of wood to reveal a hidden compartment in the bottom of the scabbard. She reached inside the opening and a rolled piece of paper slipped out. Her gaze flicked up and met his in a shared moment of surprise, and then she carefully unrolled the small scrap.

Her eyes widened as she recognized a transformation seal, used to conceal important items and hide them in unlikely places. She looked up at Deidara again and they stared at each other for a long moment.

"Do it, yeah," he nodded at the seal.

Sakura looked over the seal and memorized the procedure, then made the corresponding hand seals. A moment later there was a soft pop and they were staring at a scroll where the paper had been. Anxiously, she slowly opened the scroll. It was marked as belonging to Hidden Mist, and as she looked it over she realized it was a forbidden jutsu.

Her gaze traveled upward and met her partner's, and his expression was just as dark as her own. "That deceiving bastard…" she said in a low tone, her eyes narrowing angrily.

"You better break more than his nose when we show up tomorrow, yeah," Deidara said. "Otherwise I may just kill the son of a bitch."

Sakura shook her head in angry incredulity. "I can't fucking believe he didn't tell us about something like this, as if it wasn't an important factor! Withholding this kind of information to save a little cash can easily get a shinobi killed. I can't believe it was actually so easy to take, considering what's concealed in it."

"Shingo probably thinks no one knows about it, so he wouldn't feel the need to guard it as anything but a regular antique. He may not even know about it himself, though that's not likely."

"Well our employer certainly knows. He lied about so many other things, we don't even know for sure if he's really an antiques collector. He is a former shinobi; he may just be after this scroll and not want the sword at all. I _knew_ there was something suspicious about all this from the start."

"Mhm," Deidara agreed, reaching to take the scroll and look over it himself.

"I wonder what he plans to do with this," she said anxiously.

He finished his perusal and rolled it back up before handing it to her again. "It doesn't matter…our job was to steal and deliver the sword. That's it. Whatever else is going on, it's not gonna be the end of the world, and there's no reason to get involved in it further, yeah," he said, mildly exasperated by her old habit of being an overcurious do-gooder.

She sighed and nodded. She had an inquisitive nature and liked to solve mysteries, but he was right, and truthfully she really didn't want to be involved with these people or their dealings any longer. She made the hand seals and the scroll transformed into a scrap of paper once more. She rolled it up and sealed it inside the compartment, then wrapped the silk covering over the sword and set it aside.

She removed her gloves, apron and boots, and yawned as she unzipped her shirt. She crawled across the mattress and pulled the covers back, and looked up to see Deidara watching her, his attention drawn by the sound of her zipper. He'd kicked his boots off and was now pulling his shirts over his head as he fixed her with a sinful smirk. She knew what he was thinking and she smiled as he turned out the bedside light.

He moved across the bed toward her, a dark silhouette in the moonlit room. His mouth descended on hers and he slipped her opened shirt from her shoulders before gathering her into his arms and sinking into the cool sheets with her. Sakura sighed and responded eagerly, and soon all thoughts of stolen swords and forbidden scrolls and what would happen tomorrow drifted from her mind as he took her away to a place where only the two of them existed.


	9. An Unexpected Encounter

**Silver Lining**

Chapter Nine: An Unexpected Encounter

* * *

When the time came for their meeting with Yotsuba, Deidara and Sakura left the quiet coastal village on the back of one of his flying birds. The ocean stretched away into the horizon and the wind rushed past their faces, doing wonders to ease the discomfort of the agonizing mid-afternoon heat. The trip was pleasant, and over all too soon.

A haze of smog hung over the industrial city where their contractor operated, columns of foul-smelling smoke rising from the many factories. They glided above the crowded, dirty streets toward the largest factory complex that housed Yotsuba's base of operations.

Sakura's mood soured as the complex came into site, her mind filled with thoughts of confronting their misleading employer. She could sense Deidara's anger rising as well. Though he had every right to be angry, she hoped he wasn't planning to do anything extreme. Sakura was angry about lied to, but she could settle for a broken bone or two. After all, Yotsuba was only a smalltime crook. But Deidara was dangerous and ruthless when pushed, and she was feeling anxious about the upcoming exchange.

He obviously had no intention of messing around with formalities because he flew them right over the complex wall, past the main gate and security checkpoint, landing right in the middle of the open yard outside Yotsuba's office. Several of Yotsuba's men approached, rather slowly as a few of them recognized the two less-than-friendly shinobi their boss hired a week ago, as well as the small ruckus each of them had caused. Sakura identified the burly man whose wrist she'd broken, standing outside the office door glaring at them.

Deidara grabbed the silk-wrapped sword and jumped down nimbly. He let his chakra leak a bit, intimidating to the wary yet hostile men surrounding them. Sakura did the same and jumped down beside him. Even civilian thugs who didn't know a thing about chakra could still _feel_ it when it was applied as pressure like that, and though they didn't know what they were sensing, they knew right away it would not be smart to mess with these two.

No one came any closer as the two of them walked to the building's entrance, but as they reached the small set of steps leading to the door, the man with the splint on his wrist moved to block their path.

Sakura's eyes narrowed as she stepped into his view. "You sure you want to do that?" she asked quietly, glaring up at him.

He glanced down at her, and she saw a glint of apprehension in his eyes before he looked back to Deidara. "You didn't think you'd be getting a warm welcome after what you did to two of my men last week, did you?"

Deidara locked his icy eyes onto the bigger man's and fixed him with a smirk that promised very unpleasant things. "We have an appointment with your boss. If you're smart you'll move now, yeah."

Sakura could clearly sense the man's anxiety, but either pride or sheer stupidity kept him rooted to the spot, and he snorted derisively at the veiled threat.

"Just because you two are some special shinobi the boss hired don't mean you can do whatever the hell you want. You got some balls barging in here like that. And _you_." He sneered at Sakura. "Me and my men try to show you a good time and you give us nothing but attitude, yet you're runnin 'round with a guy like _this_?" He looked her over slowly, eyes lingering on her chest. "The offer still stands, sweetheart: ditch the girly-man, and I'll give you the ride of your—"

His boast was abruptly cut off by a yowl of pain, his mud-colored eyes widening in shock as he saw the kunai protruding from the top of his meaty thigh. Deidara shoved the man out of his way, and he fell to his knees clutching his bleeding leg. With one last glare and a malevolent smirk, he turned his back and heading through the door.

"S-son of a…bitch!" the slumped-over brute growled.

Sakura stepped over the writhing goon as she followed after her partner, and she caught the man's pain-filled, watery gaze as she passed. "Feel lucky, asshole. He could have just as easily planted that kunai in your eye socket." Sakura entered the building and shut the door behind her.

Inside was empty, their abrupt arrival having drawn everyone to the yard, so they made their way to the back without further interference. They stopped before the door to Yotsuba's office to address the only guard that hadn't run outside, but the man inclined his head and spoke first.

"He knows you're here, you can go in."

They entered and were immediately engulfed in the same thick haze of cigar smoke as before, and again the large figure of their contractor sat behind the desk, his hulking shape illuminated by the bright light through the blinds.

"My, my…you two certainly have a habit of unconventional business dealings," Yotsuba's gruff baritone drifted toward them.

"You're one to talk," Sakura scoffed. He looked at her sharply, calculating her implication, but then his focus turned to Deidara.

"So, how many of my men did you injure this time?"

"Just one…so far."

A tense moment passed as they stared at each other across the wide desk, but then Yotsuba gave a small chuckle and shrugged.

"No matter. You did what I hired you for, and flawlessly. The newspapers show no reports of a theft or disturbance of any kind at the hotel, not counting a minor incident in a nearby town. Most importantly, nothing can be traced back to me—or you—so congratulations on a job well done. Apparently you two work well together." He chuckled heartily and turned his attention to Sakura. "Looks like you didn't end up having to kill your partner." His gaze now focused on Deidara with a knowing grin. "After sharing a room with this beauty for a week, either _you_ have the willpower of a monk," he looked at Sakura again, "or _you_ weren't as opposed to a little recreation as you said you were. Maybe you took my advice and had some fun after all, eh?"

Deidara's expression darkened further, and Sakura crossed her arms over her chest. "How is that any of your business?"

Yotsuba laughed again, hearty and slightly grating. "Alright, alright, just making conversation. I forgot neither of you are into small talk. So then…let's see my sword."

Deidara held it out over the desk and Yotsuba reached up with both hands to take the sword from his grasp. He slipped the silk covering away and his gruff expression lit with appreciation as his eyes traveled over the length of his stolen prize. "Ahh, wonderful…" he slipped the blade free of the scabbard with a soft click, pulling it out halfway. "A truly magnificent work of art."

Deidara snorted derisively, but withheld from contradicting him.

After another moment of inspection, Yotsuba sheathed the blade and set it on the desk. He then reached into a drawer and withdrew two envelopes, tossed them on the desk and looked up at the waiting pair with a satisfied smile. "You two were worth every penny."

Fine words, coming from a man who withheld critical details in order to save a little cash. Sakura fixed him with a scathing glare. "You did ask for high level shinobi, after all," she said dryly.

Since he was closest to the desk, Deidara picked up the envelopes and handed one to Sakura. They both glanced inside to make sure it was indeed their contract fee and that it appeared to be the proper amount. "And you got two of the best in the world, yeah," he added without looking up.

"The one bad thing – for a man like you – about high level shinobi," Sakura continued, sounding almost bored, "is that they aren't easily fooled." Her expression hardened and she pocketed the envelope before crossing her arms over her chest again.

Yotsuba's pleasant expression turned serious as he glanced back and forth between the two ninja.

Deidara also put his payout away and focused on Yotsuba with the same menacing glare as his partner. "Did you really think we wouldn't notice, hm?"

"I'm not sure I understand what you mean," he replied in a manner that said just the opposite.

Sakura's eyes narrowed. "We don't give a damn about the true reason for this mission, or about the sword and what it's concealing. What we _do_ care about is that you lied to us just to avoid paying us more. Going in there without knowing what to expect could have put our lives in danger," she said heatedly.

Yotsuba stared at them for a long, tense moment, and then a dark chuckle escaped his lips. "Well, I won't deny it. I'm a collector, and this item happened to be of dual interest. But you see," he patted the sword on the desk with a large rough hand, "Shingo didn't know that anyone knew about this beauty's little secret. He never saw it coming and still has no idea who took it. I'm sure he feels like a fool now, but it was his mistake to not guard it better. And I knew you two weren't likely to encounter any real trouble…after all, I know who you are…both of you," he looked pointedly at Deidara as he finished, his expression smug and unapologetic.

"Then you should already know we aren't the kind of people you want to screw with. Especially _him_," Sakura said.

Deidara's expression turned dangerous. He didn't care that the man knew his identity and history; there were very few people still alive who wanted him dead enough to come looking for him. But he didn't take well to being threatened or manipulated, no matter how trivially. "You're fucking lucky I don't take what you owe us in body parts, yeah. I still might. I'm undecided," he finished with a shrug.

Yotsuba remained outwardly calm under the very real threat, but small traces of fear could be detected in his posture and aura. "No need to get nasty about it. It's just business…nothing personal. I don't care who you are or who may be interested in you, just like you don't care about this sword," he patted the stolen artifact again. "It would seem discretion is best all around, don't you think?"

The two angry shinobi and their contractor stared darkly at each other for several tense moments, then Sakura straightened and made a grudgingly conceding gesture. "Fine. You got what you wanted. We're done." She didn't want to stand around arguing about money or anything else, because she had a feeling every second they remained here, the more likely it was that Deidara would kill the stout businessman. She turned and put a hand on his arm. "Let's go."

Deidara glanced down at her, but his sinister expression didn't lessen. He appeared to weigh the pros and cons for a moment, and then he 'tch'd' in annoyance and turned for the door.

Sakura followed, but paused after a few steps. She turned, bringing a finger to her lip as if recalling a thought, "Oh…there's just one more thing…"

An instant later she was standing by the desk and Yotsuba was clutching his nose in both hands. His brain finally registered the lightning-fast action and he emitted a loud groaning wail as blood began to seep through his fingers.

"_That_, is why you don't fuck with elite shinobi." She leaned down further and tilted her head to murmur contemptuously in his busted face. "You should thank me that this is all you're getting you fat bastard, because _he_ wanted to kill you." She straightened and moved back to her smugly grinning partner.

The door burst open and the lone guard from outside appeared, obviously drawn in by his boss' pained outburst. He held a hand radio, intent on calling for backup if necessary.

Sakura's gloved hand clenched in a fist, ready to knock the guy out before he called for help.

However they avoided further fighting when Yotsuba raised a bleeding hand to halt his guard, the other still clutched to his face. "Lhettem gho." He knew a broken nose would be the least of his problems if the men he had on hand tried to fight these two.

The guard lowered his radio and stepped aside. Deidara gave the glaring man a cruel smirk as he passed, and Sakura didn't look at him at all as they left the office and made their way out of the building.

Outside, the large clay bird they flew in on was surrounded by a dozen curious thugs, but they quickly moved away when its creator and his partner emerged from the building. Without paying much attention to the wary onlookers, Deidara and Sakura jumped onto the artist's construct and a moment later were rising into the air and flying away from the industrial complex.

* * *

They flew to the other side of town, to a cleaner, less populated area where the stench of the factories didn't permeate the streets. They set down in the middle of a small park, and once they both dismounted the bird disappeared with a pop and a puff of clay dust.

Sakura had no idea why they had stopped or what Deidara was planning. "Where are we going?" she asked as she drew up beside him.

Deidara didn't answer right away. Then he shrugged and looked off in the direction of the nearest street. "Nowhere really. I just thought we might find a place to stay for the night or something…since we don't have anything else to do, yeah."

Sakura watched him for a moment. Was he trying to stall? Could he be trying to postpone the moment when they would have to figure out what to do? It was hard to tell with him, and if that's what he was doing she wasn't sure whether to take it as a good or bad sign. But one more night was one more night. "Okay," she replied casually, and they walk toward the street.

The afternoon sun was brutal, and when after several blocks they spotted a small inn, they decided that just about anywhere was good if it got them out of this exhaustive heat.

They reached the corner and were about to cross the street when Sakura paused, her attention focused on something down the alley. Deidara followed her gaze. There was a dog, a street animal by the look of it, rummaging through the contents of a knocked-over trash can, looking for a scrap of a meal. It was a pitiful sight, but it didn't explain what had caught her attention so sharply. Then it moved to the other side of the rubbish pile and he saw it; the pronounced limp in its hindquarter. He looked a bit closer and saw the dog was badly injured, one of its back legs mangled and bleeding, obviously broken.

The dog noticed them. It didn't run, but its ears fell back against its head and it emitted a long, low whine. Sakura knelt down and made a small noise to the animal, and it whined again and wagged its tail once in cautious greeting. She reached out, continued to beckon the pitiful creature with small words voiced in a calm, soothing tone, and the dog began to slowly and cautiously limp toward her.

Deidara remained still as she coaxed the injured dog. As she drew to a stop in front of Sakura with her tail between her legs, he saw the extent of the injury and frowned slightly. The poor thing looked like she'd been run over by a wagon. He wasn't exactly soft-hearted, but he did hold a small affection for certain animals. All of his clay creations were animals, after all. He watched as Sakura carefully reached out and pet the dog's head, eliciting several cautious tail wags and another pleading whine. She continued to stroke over the head, neck and shoulders to soothe and calm and build trust, and after a moment she began to pet down the animal's side toward its hips and the injured leg. The dog seemed happy just to receive affection, and she allowed Sakura to inspect the injury though she whined nervously. "Shh, you're okay," Sakura murmured soothingly.

A small smile formed on Deidara's lips. Not thirty minutes ago, Sakura was the badass kunoichi who'd broken the nose of a man three times her size without blinking. Now here she was all softness and compassion, healing the leg of a stray animal without hesitation. She really was amazing.

When Sakura finished the dog tentatively put weight on its leg, and once she realized there was no pain, she stood on all four legs and wagged her tail happily. Sakura giggled mirthfully when the dog licked her face. "You're welcome. Just stay away from horses and carts from now on, okay?" She gave her a few more gentle pats before standing up.

The dog took a step forward and pushed her nose against Deidara's knee, finally saying hello to the male. Deidara reached down to pat the dog on the head, scratching behind her ears and receiving several tail wags and a lick on the wrist for his attention. The dog moved away and began to walk around, testing her restored leg, eventually breaking into a trot and disappearing around the corner.

Sakura smiled satisfactorily and readjusted her pack on her shoulders, then noticed the appraising way Deidara was looking at her. "What?" she asked lightly.

Deidara just shook his head and smiled, reaching around her waist to pull her in. She moved readily, hooking her fingers behind his neck for leverage as she rose up to press her lips to his. He held her against him a moment longer before they turned and continued toward the inn.

* * *

Sakura sighed and wiped her gloved hand across the back of her sweating neck. It was early evening but the sun was still up and it was still miserably hot. Why exactly had she volunteered to go out and get dinner?

Honestly it was because she'd wanted a few minutes to herself, to try and figure out what was going on and what was going to happen. For all her years of experience with cryptic men, Deidara was surprisingly difficult to read. Perhaps it was because his behavior was completely different from what she was used to interpreting. He didn't hide his emotions, but he wasn't exactly open to talking about them either. His moods were easy to read, but his intent and motives were hard to deduce. She should just ask, but she was almost afraid of hearing the answer. So far she hadn't had any luck in sorting out her troubled thoughts, and now the smell of food was distracting her.

She peered up at the signs of the nearby food stalls, and her stomach growled eagerly at the smell of tempura. With Yotsuba's payout and the leftover pocket money from the mission she could afford to eat the best cuisine for months, but tempura was her favorite, and she found herself drawn to the stall offering her beloved fried indulgence.

"If you're looking for tempura, I know a much better place a few blocks down."

Sakura whirled around at the voice, and her jaw dropped as she identified the speaker. "Temari…" she said slowly, shocked to see the former Sand kunoichi.

"Sakura…quite a surprise to run into you here, of all places," the blonde woman said with a wry smile.

Sakura gave a small incredulous laugh. "Yeah…"

"You in a hurry? If you have a few minutes I can show you that other tempura place and we can catch up a bit…maybe have a drink," she offered casually.

Sakura had some time. Deidara wasn't expecting her back right away, and she _did_ want to talk to her old comrade and find out what had been happening since she'd been gone. "Yeah, sure," she said, and fell in to step beside the taller woman.

Temari led her to another part of the shopping district and Sakura spotted the promised tempura stall, much larger and significantly cleaner looking than the previous one, but they stopped instead in a small café across the street from the greasy food stand. They sat down at a table in the back where it was cooler and ordered iced tea and a plate of dango.

Sakura noticed the owner of the place seemed to vaguely recognize the curvaceous blonde, and when their order was brought out Sakura took a sip of the blissfully cold beverage and fixed the other kunoichi with a curious look. "You seem to know your way around this place pretty well. Do you come here often?"

Temari shrugged. "Often enough, I guess. The production and shipping industry here are vital to Fire country, so I come here occasionally with another ambassador from the Daimyo's camp to meet up with the mayor and city council, to make sure everything's running smoothly and ensure no one is using the ports for illegal business like drugs, human trafficking, that sort of thing. I'm here for the next week and a half for inspections," she explained, then picked up a stick of dango and leaned back in her chair as she took a bite. "So what are you here for?" she mumbled through chewing.

"I just finished a mission, so I'm staying in town for the night before heading out again." Temari gave a small nod and continued to watch her with interest. "How are things in Konoha?" Sakura asked after a moment.

"Better. _Much_ better. The rebuilding is nearly finished. Money's scarce with the limited missions, but when hasn't it been?" Sakura smiled knowingly at that, and Temari continued. "There are finally enough kids for a new academy class. You know usually a first-year class is all kids around six or so, but due to so few births the past several years, this new class ranges from five to ten year olds. So my two girls, Masaki and Akane, are both in the same class as Kazuki and Toshio."

Sakura smiled wistfully at hearing the boys' names. "How are they?" she asked quietly.

Temari gave a small laugh. "Exactly like their fathers…brilliant and rowdy. They fight all the time, but they're the best of friends and it's nearly impossible to separate them for anything. They both have crushes on my girls, though I'm not sure which one likes which." She laughed, and Sakura laughed as well. "Toshio recently discovered he could see through walls with his Byakugan, so you can imagine the trouble they've been getting into. They're a handful, but Hanabi's a strong woman and a tough kunoichi, and she keeps 'em in line. They'll be excellent shinobi one day."

Temari watched her for a long moment. "You've been gone over two years, Sakura…are you ever planning to come back?"

Sakura's expression became clouded. "I don't know. I never planned on staying away forever. I still don't…but I know right now I'm not ready. You of all people can understand that, right? I can't return to Konoha for the same reason you can't go back to Suna."

Temari's expression sobered at the mention of her home village. "I get it, believe me. There's nothing left in Suna for me; the place is practically rubble and my brothers are dead. I understand why you can't face Konoha just yet…but you know you can't stay away forever. You owe it to those boys. More importantly—you owe it to Naruto and Sasuke to be part of their sons' lives and tell them stories about their fathers."

Sakura sighed and blinked several times, suppressing a sudden tide of emotion. "I know…and…I'll try to stay in better contact from now on…but it's still too soon, Temari."

The blonde kunoichi gave an accepting nod. "Well, they're just now entering the academy, so it'll be a few years before they'll really need your influence." Her expression suddenly turned critical. "I understand your need to make a new life for yourself because I did the same, but I sure didn't think you'd choose to do what you're doing now…"

Sakura frowned. "What do you mean?" she asked slowly, sensing an unpleasant turn in the conversation.

Temari crossed her arms over her chest and fixed Sakura with a piercing stare. "The truth is, running into you at the tempura stand wasn't an accident. I saw you earlier today…and I waited around to catch you alone." Sakura stiffened and her eyes narrowed slightly at the implication. "What the hell are you doing with him, Sakura?"

"He was my partner for the mission I just finished," she answered evenly.

Temari's eyebrows shot up in surprise, and then her dark green eyes narrowed suspiciously. "What was the mission about?"

Sakura crossed her arms over her chest and her frown deepened. "Is this why you brought me here? To grill me?"

"Not exactly. I'm just _highly_ curious as to why you'd be running around with one of the world's most notorious S-class criminals…one who's supposed to be _dead_, by the way."

"I just told you: he was my mission partner. I didn't know he'd be my partner, and I sure as hell didn't know he was alive until I met him for the job."

Temari shook her head incredulously. "And you actually worked with him? After everything he's done…everything you've been through because of Akatsuki…I mean what the fuck, Sakura?" she said, her voice rising slightly.

Sakura glared across the table. "I'm not going to sit here and be interrogated by you, Temari. Nor will I have my motives or my loyalties questioned. You know me better than to even _think_ something like that. Either listen calmly and be objective…or I'm out of here," she said firmly.

Temari glared back at her. "You can't really expect me to be objective about the guy who invaded and nearly destroyed my village and then killed my brother," she said darkly. The two women stared at each other for a long moment, and then Temari emitted a frustrated sigh. "Fine, whatever. I'll try to stay rational…just get on with it," she muttered.

Sakura took a deep breath and debated where to begin. "You asked about the mission…the contract was an undercover heist for a private antiques collector, simple as that."

Temari was skeptical. "_You_…and _that guy_…doing an easy job like that? That's kind of hard to believe, you gotta admit."

Sakura sighed. "I do medical work when I can, but it's not always available, so sometimes I do other jobs. I work to live…I take missions that pay well, but aren't too dangerous. He does the same. Believe it or not, he's just an independent shinobi now, same as I am. And you know damn well what his name is," she added reprovingly.

Temari waved dismissively and rolled her eyes. Sakura frowned at her. Neither woman was the nice-girl type, and this conversation would go nowhere fast if they couldn't manage their tempers.

Finally, Temari spoke up again. "At first I wondered why you didn't try to kill him when you saw he was alive, but now that I think about it I remember hearing something about your…experience…several years ago."

Sakura nodded. "It's true; Deidara was there eight years ago when Akatsuki kidnapped me. I told Shikamaru all about it when he became Hokage, because we were still at war with them at the time. I don't know how much he told you, but I'll tell you the whole story, and then maybe you can understand."

She took another deep breath. "It's like this: You know how Gaara used to be…how violent and dangerous he was…how he killed so many people with almost no provocation?" Temari frowned slightly but nodded, and Sakura continued. "But it turned out that on the inside he wasn't a monster, he was just driven to become what he was by circumstance, and eventually when you got to know him, when he _let_ you get to know him, you realized he was human just like the rest of us. Eventually he became a good man. Well, that's sort of how it was for me with Akatsuki. No one was more surprised than I was by how well they treated me under the circumstances. Sometimes it was like I wasn't even a hostage. I know some of the Akatsuki were true monsters, barely even human anymore. But the four I knew…they weren't that bad when you really got to know them. They did bad things, yes, but what shinobi hasn't?"

Temari regarded her for a long moment, then sighed and made a grudgingly conceding gesture, because she knew Sakura was right. Her brother Gaara had been the perfect example of that fact.

"Nobody knows this, but I'll tell you now because it doesn't matter anymore," Sakura continued. "Deidara was brought into Akatsuki by force; he didn't get a choice. I'm not saying that excuses the things he did, but it does put a different perspective on it. He went along with them willingly enough, but he wasn't part of the trusted inner circle and was pretty much left out of the loop, merely given orders to follow. And if it helps any to know, he told me once that the explosion that would have destroyed Suna was a calculated bluff; he was counting on your brother using the last of his chakra to absorb it. He's not your normal average guy by any means, but he's also not the wild maniac everyone thinks he is."

Temari still looked skeptical, but Sakura could see she was thinking carefully about what she'd just heard. "We became friends during the time I was held captive. Real friends, more than just someone I could tolerate in a screwed up situation. We made a connection, and it was really hard to let go when I returned to Konoha. I mourned him when I heard he died, so it's true that when I saw him again and realized he was alive, I was very happy."

"So you're telling me _that_…" she caught herself, "_Deidara_…despite everything he's done, is really a good man," she said cynically.

Sakura smiled faintly. "Well, he's far from a saint…but yes…he is a good man."

"So how long have you been sleeping with him?"

Sakura's mouth fell open and then snapped shut, and she glared indignantly at the blonde kunoichi. She didn't respond, and Temari's eyes widened slowly in disbelief. "Fucking hell, Sakura…the way you defend him…and the look on your face when you talk…you're _in love_ with him, aren't you?" she accused, the distaste clear in her tone.

Sakura frowned and looked away, and she was quiet a long moment as she pondered the blunt question. "I…I don't…" She sighed and met the other woman's olive gaze again. "He makes me happy, Temari…" she said quietly. "You understand how major that is, don't you? I lost everyone I ever loved and I thought I'd never be happy again. You remember how I was…"

Temari's expression softened somewhat and she gave a small nod. "Yeah, I remember. It was like you were just waiting to die and join them. When you left, honestly, a lot of people thought that's exactly what you'd gone to do." She sighed tiredly. "No accounting for taste…but, that guy really makes you happy, huh?"

Sakura nodded. "He does. He saved my life, more than once. He's good to me. He makes me laugh when I thought I no longer could. He makes me want to live a real life again. He's very important to me."

The two women were silent for a while, Temari processing everything Sakura had told her, and Sakura contemplating Temari's blunt questioning and just how true it might be.

Temari broke the long silence, leaning forward and resting her elbows on the table. "I understand. Of course you know I'm going to have to tell Shikamaru that he's alive, and that you're with him."

Sakura's eyes widened with slight alarm. "There's no need to make a big deal out of this. The larger shinobi world thinks he's dead, and for all intents and purposes there's no harm in keeping it that way."

Temari's expression hardened. "I'm not in the habit of lying to my husband, Sakura, and I don't intend to start for the likes of _him_."

"I'm not asking you to lie about it. I just don't want you to make it seem like… like he needs to be eliminated or something. I mean think about it; it's been six years since he went off the radar…if someone of his infamy was making real trouble, don't you think Konoha would have heard about it by now?"

"I suppose, but that doesn't mean he won't start if given the opportunity…say if another group bent on world domination pops up in the future. He's dangerous, and the crimes he's already committed are enough to warrant his capture."

Sakura's gaze became slightly pleading now. "I only met him again a week ago, and we've only been…_together_, for a few days. But I know Deidara better than anyone. He has no worldly ambitions—he never really did—and as far as I can tell he hasn't done any major criminal activity in years. He's not a threat to Konoha or any other hidden village anymore. The rumor of his death wasn't a fluke, Temari; he wanted out of Akatsuki…he _wanted_ to disappear. He just wants to live his life as normally as a shinobi can. Please don't start a manhunt for him. Please trust me on this," she finished with quiet urgency.

Temari regarded sternly her for a long moment, and then sighed. "I do trust you, Sakura. That's the only reason I sat down to talk to you about this instead of sending a message straight to Konoha. You're a smart, strong woman, and I really don't think you'd get your priorities all twisted by some guy you've fallen for, so I know you're being honest with me. I can see he makes you happy, so I guess I can admit there must be _something_ decent about the guy. And I get that you're trying to protect him and the new life you're trying to make for yourself. If you say he's not a threat anymore…I'll believe you."

Sakura sighed in relief. "Thank you."

Temari waved dismissively. "You're welcome…I guess. But I'm still going to tell Shikamaru."

"Temari…" Sakura's brow creased anxiously again.

"I have to tell him, Sakura," she said resolutely, but a smirk curled the corners of her lips. "I have to tell him because he's my husband. _But_…not everything my husband hears is heard by the Hokage…"

Sakura smiled faintly, feeling relieved and grateful. "Thank you again, Temari."

"Don't worry about it." She brushed her frizzy hair away from her brow. "Those of us who survived…we have to find a way to move on, and live for the sake of those who are no longer with us. And if by some chance a person finds a way to be happy again…then they should take that happiness and run with it, and no one has the right to judge them for it," she said quietly.

Sakura nodded wistfully. Temari was a wise woman despite her rough demeanor, and they understood each other because they had both been there in their own ways. Eventually Sakura made to get up. "I really should go. I came out to get dinner, and if I don't return soon he's going to start to wonder."

Temari nodded. "Alright."

"It was good seeing you again, Temari. I'm glad we got to talk." Sakura smiled at her.

Temari retuned it. "Yeah. So am I."

"Tell Shikamaru I said thank you…for everything. And tell him I _will_ keep in contact more regularly from now on. And…give Hanabi and the boys my love," she finished quietly, standing and straightening her medic's apron.

"I will," Temari promised, standing and hefting her fan from its position against the wall. "We all hope you'll come back someday. Who knows, Shikamaru is ridiculously laid back about these things, so you may even be able to bring _him_ with you…if you keep him out of trouble from now on."

Sakura couldn't help but smile at the possibilities, even if it was getting a bit ahead of things. "I'll do my best."

The two kunoichi took one last look at each other. Then Temari held out her hand in farewell. "Take care of yourself, Sakura."

Sakura reached out and grasped the other woman's gloved hand in a firm grip. "I will."

With that, Temari headed down the street, her enormous fan slung over her shoulder. Sakura watched her disappear from sight, then crossed the street to the tempura stall with a smile.


	10. Eyes Wide Shut

**Silver Lining**

Chapter Ten: Eyes Wide Shut

* * *

After her unexpected meeting with Temari, Sakura returned to the room with dinner, but when she entered Deidara met her and suggested that since the sun was setting and the heat had broken, they should eat outside. Sakura had a feeling he was just bored and tired of sitting in the room, but she agreed enthusiastically and they made their way to the small park they'd landed in a few blocks down.

It was pleasant and relaxing, a welcome change after the stressful day they'd had. Sakura didn't mention her run-in with Temari, and Deidara didn't ask why she was out so long. When they finished eating they simply lounged on one of the wooden benches, not ready to return to the room just yet.

Deidara slouched against the seat with his arms slung over the back, and Sakura sat sideways with her legs bent across his thighs. She leaned into the pocket created by his raised arm and rested her head against him, and he lowered an arm around her shoulders. They sat like that for several minutes, not really speaking, and after a while Sakura began to think about her conversation with Temari.

Temari had asked if she was in love with Deidara. Accused her, to be more accurate. Sakura had contemplated it before, but only in the back of her mind, and she never dwelled on it for long. She didn't really want to know, even for herself. Coming to a conclusion about that when she was still insecure about the future of their relationship or if they even _had_ one, would just make things all the more complicated.

Her thoughts were diverted momentarily when Deidara brought his other arm down over her legs, his hand stroking over the exposed skin between her boots and the edge of her shorts. He shifted their positions slightly so he could lower his head and plant delicious, shiver-inducing kisses along the side of her neck. He nibbled just below her ear and she laughed softly as it tickled and thrilled at the same time. But even his sensuous affections couldn't completely distract her. The conversation with the other kunoichi had brought her fears to the forefront and they refused to back down this time.

Was she in love with Deidara? She didn't know. She was afraid to know. She was afraid to listen to any tiny voices in the recesses of her heart that might whisper '_yes._' Until she knew where they stood she couldn't listen to that voice, because admitting it even to herself would make it even harder if he didn't want this as much as she did.

The one thing she was sure of was that she didn't want to go her own way again. She didn't want him to leave her. She didn't want to go back to the life she'd been living; miserably alone and struggling to survive.

Deidara felt the shift in her mood. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing, I'm fine," she said softly, keeping her tone light.

"Sakura…"

He wasn't fooled, and he shifted his hold around her shoulders to force her to look at him. She didn't want to do this now, or ever, but it looked like there was no avoiding it anymore.

She breathed deep and then sighed. "I was just thinking," she muttered, her fingers fidgeting with the cloth of his shirt, "It's just…well, you and me ending up like this just sort of _happened_…and…I guess I'm wondering what exactly this is…with us. _Is_ there an 'us?' I mean…is it real?" she asked with quiet trepidation.

Deidara pulled back and fixed her with an incredulous look. "_What_?"

Sakura was a bit startled by his abrupt reaction, and she bit her lip nervously as she held his gaze. "I just mean…we haven't seen each other in years, and then this mission where we had to act like a couple…I just wondered if maybe it only started because—"

"I already told you it has nothing to do with the mission," he interrupted. He grasped her shoulders and turned so they faced each other. He couldn't believe what he was hearing from her. "Sakura…back then, when you were with us…you _had_ to have known…" he said pointedly.

Some of her anxiety dissipated at that, and she gave a faint nod. "Sort of, though not until that last night… I almost thought you were going to kiss me there by the fireplace." She smiled at the memory.

"I wanted to," he said with quiet firmness. "I _should_ have. If you knew that then how could you even think this started as an act, or that it's some random thing, hm?"

Sakura could see he was a bit offended. "I don't know…I'm sorry," she mumbled. "I guess I'm a little anxious about it because…I didn't want to go back to the way things were before."

Deidara's expression softened a little and he tilted her head up to look at him. "I wouldn't do this just for a mission." He paused a moment. "Well…if I'd had a different partner and she was attractive and willing, then sure, I probably would have slept with her." He shrugged.

Sakura pursed her lips wryly. _Men_.

He looked at her very intently. "But the rest of it…_this_, what we're doing right now…I wouldn't do this with anyone else, yeah. I've never been with anyone like this before. The mission is over, Sakura, and I'm still here," he finished quietly.

"Oh."

She mentally smacked herself. That certainly wasn't the most eloquent answer she could have given, but his words surprised her. He could speak expressively for hours about art, but he was usually a bit awkward about personal things, so she knew he was serious. It was what she needed to hear, and a smile crept over her features. "So it's real," she said softly, gazing hopefully into his pale blue eyes.

He gave a small huff of exasperated laughter. "Don't be stupid." He kissed her forehead and his arms wrapped around her shoulders, pulling her in. "Of course it is."

* * *

Deidara came out of the shower to find Sakura curled up in the bed, half asleep. He switched off the light and slipped in behind her, and his hand caressed down her arm to her waist as he leaned over and pressed his lips to the shell of her ear, inhaling the sweet scent of her freshly washed hair and skin. "Don't tell me I wore you out again," he murmured, a hint of smugness lacing his tone.

"Mmm," she mumbled, a small smile gracing her sleepy features at the memory of the last couple hours. He'd made a point of showing her just exactly how into her and their new relationship he really was. "You and the heat," she said groggily. "This heat is kicking my ass. I can't wait to get out of Fire country, maybe head somewhere north where it's cold."

Deidara chuckled and slipped the thin strap from her shoulder, his lips ghosting over the skin his action exposed. "You say that now, but you won't like constant rain and snow either. Also, up north you'd have to dress for the cold and not wear those little shorts. That would be a real shame, yeah." His hand slid from her waist to move over hip and along her bare thigh.

Sakura murmured a small sound of amusement. "You still found me attractive even in pants and a heavy cloak," she teased.

He laughed softly and wrapped his arm around her waist again, fingers slipping under the hem of her shirt. "Very true, but you look good no matter what you wear. I think you look hotter in your regular clothes than those girly dresses, though. And those boots you wear are sexy as hell, yeah."

She smiled appreciatively. "Yeah? I'm surprised you didn't say I look best when I'm naked."

"Well, _duh_," he replied playfully, his hand sliding further under her shirt. "Though maybe naked _with_ the boots would be the hottest…"

"I'll have to remember that," she said slyly.

"Keep talking like that and you'll be up all night no matter how tired you are, yeah," he murmured against the shell of her ear, before pulling the lobe between his teeth.

She turned a little to see him better. "You're insatiable."

He grinned. "Only with you. I'm obsessed with the amazing art we make together. And with you…" He pressed his lips to the junction of her neck and shoulder and his arm tightened around her waist. "Do you know what happens when an artist becomes obsessed with something? I hope you're ready for what it means to be my muse, yeah."

She giggled softly. "Somehow I don't imagine I'll be complaining."

Despite his suggestive words, his actions didn't turn more amorous, and it was quiet between them for few moments before he spoke again. "You know, Yotsuba was right about one thing; we do make a pretty good team."

Sakura nodded sleepily. "Yeah, we do."

"It's kinda nice to have my own personal medic."

She huffed. "Just remember it's not a free pass. If you go and act even _more_ reckless than you normally do just because you know I'll heal you, I'll beat your ass so bad you'll look like your clay by the time I'm done," she warned playfully. He laughed quietly at her threat. She nestled back further into his warmth, her eyes growing heavier as she began to drift off. He bent his head to kiss the back of her neck, and she drowsily remembered pieces of two important conversations today. "Deidara…?"

"Hmm?" he murmured, lips still ghosting over her skin.

"This is definitely real, right?" she mumbled sleepily.

Deidara lifted his head to see what he could of her face, but her eyes remained closed. He couldn't believe she was still questioning this. Was he unconsciously doing something to make her doubt it? Sure, he was a bit anxious because it was foreign to him and he didn't really know how to go about the whole 'serious relationship' thing, but that wasn't going to stop him from being with her now that he finally had her.

How could she not have realized how he felt about her before, eight years ago? Everyone else had. Leaving her there in the blood-spattered snow with her teammates had been one of the hardest things he'd even done. Kisame had seen it, and warned him as they were leaving. '_Let it go, man. This is how it's meant to be_,' he'd said, and by 'it', the shark nin mostly meant 'her.' He knew Kisame was right, but he'd wanted nothing more at that moment than to snatch her up on the back of his bird and fly away with her. If he'd thought for one second she may have wanted that, he would have.

He sighed and bent his head again to press his lips to her cheek. He closed his eyes and his arm tightened around her smaller frame as the truth behind his words washed over him like a wave, and he whispered softly against her ear, "Yes, Sakura…very real."

Sakura sighed happily and smiled as she realized she'd been worried over nothing. "That's good," she whispered, almost incoherently as her hold on consciousness slipped away, "Because I'm probably gonna fall in love with you."

Deidara's eyes widened slowly as the words tumbled out. He knew she likely wouldn't remember saying it. She was lost to asleep as the last words passed her lips, and that was a good thing because he was completely speechless. _Him_. _Actually_ speechless. Not because of what she'd said so much as what those words did to him. He felt the kind of anxiety he hadn't felt since…ever. But he also felt strangely elated at the same time, and once he recovered from the shock he realized that he was smiling. Grinning like an idiot, to be more accurate.

He'd always imagined that if a woman ever said something like that he would be out the door in two seconds flat. But this was Sakura, and he was honestly _happy_ to hear those words from her, happy to know she wanted someone like him in her life. Even in his most abstract thoughts Deidara never imagined something like this for himself, because it wasn't a life a shinobi like him was entitled to. He didn't know if he was even capable of living that kind of happy life. He didn't know how to be that man. He didn't want the house and dog and kids and all those things normal men wanted. He didn't think he'd ever want the lasting love and companionship, either. But the more time he spent with Sakura, the more he realized he may have been wrong about at least one of his ideals.

As reckless and dangerous as his life had been, it was a small miracle he wasn't dead yet. He was almost thirty—impressive longevity for a shinobi, and nearly unheard of for one who'd led the life he had. Maybe that was why the thought of putting it all behind him and turning over a new leaf seemed more appealing than it had before.

And now he had a reason. Finding Sakura again after so many years had to _mean_ something, right? It was as if fate had thrown them together again, against all odds. He would be an idiot not to recognize the significance of their reunion.

He'd had to walk away from her once, but he had never stopped thinking about her. Now she was back in his life and it was better than he could have expected. Did he actually want to settle down? _Could_ he settle down? Well, maybe not _settle down _in the traditional sense, but at least stay by her side and try to live something of a normal life with her, as much as two shinobi ever really could. Could he be the kind of man she deserved? Deidara didn't know if he could. But over the last few days he had realized that he wanted to try.

Finally, he'd gotten the girl. It had taken eight years, but now she was his. Sakura had actually worried that he would go off on his own and leave her hanging, but it had never even crossed his mind. Even if they hadn't become lovers he wouldn't have done that. She was his friend, first and foremost. It should have been obvious. She was just insecure because she was afraid of being alone, but what she didn't know was that now that she was with him again, there was no way he was letting her go. Not if he could help it.

* * *

Sakura's eyes opened fully and all traces of sleep vanished in an instant. Her heart was racing of its own accord, but years of training and experience kept her breathing even. She masked her chakra and set all her senses on high alert.

Honed shinobi instincts had woken her, but the room and the night around her were perfectly silent and still. Deidara lay behind her, an arm wrapped around her waist, his body relaxed and his breathing as even as her own. But she knew without doubt he was wide awake and on-edge as well.

After a long, highly tense moment, it was clear they were still alone in the room and it was safe to move. They both sat up quickly and their eyes met in the dark. The light of a streetlamp outside filtered dully through the curtains and she could just make out his features. His expression mirrored hers; tense and alert with the knowledge that something dangerous was nearby.

They silently got out of the bed and moved through the dark room, and in less than a minute were both dressed and fully armed. Then they heard something that sent their instincts into overdrive—faint shuffling and scraping above them, on the roof. And though it couldn't be heard, that same instinct was telling Sakura something was approaching from the hallway as well. They grasped their weapons and melded silently into the shadows of the room to wait.

Another tense minute passed, and the only sound was the pounding of her own heart in her ears.

Suddenly Sakura sensed movement near the window, and a then the glass shattered and flew across the room in jagged shards as a dark figure swung through the open pane, followed immediately by three more. The door burst open and four more dark shapes moved into the room to box them in. Several shuriken flew toward the window and one of the dark figures went down, gasping and clutching at his throat. Sakura threw two kunai toward the figures in the door, both weapons hitting flesh with a dull thunk. The first man fell to the floor, kunai lodged in his skull, and the other three leapt away, one clutching his shoulder.

It all happened within seconds, and once they'd surprised their attackers Sakura and Deidara sprang away to avoid the barrage of weapons hurled at their revealed locations. The open door provided a bit more light from the hallway and aided them in locating their attackers once more. More kunai in each hand, Sakura leapt toward the nearest figure. Deidara crashed into two more across the room.

As the battle waged in the dark room, it became clear that these were not common thugs or low-grade shinobi. These were professional assassins, easily jounin level. It didn't matter who sent them or why, that could be figured out later. Right now all that mattered was eliminating them.

Deidara blocked his opponent's kunai and managed to grapple the other nin into a headlock. He snapped the man's neck and snatched the kunai from his lifeless grasp just as another charged at him. This one was wearing a claw, and Deidara parried it with a kunai. He ducked quickly to avoid the swipe of the claw and plunged his weapon just below the man's ribs. He heard a warning call from Sakura and glanced in the direction of her voice. He sprang away just in time to avoid the body that crashed through the wall and out into the street, propelled by a lethal punch from the petite kunoichi.

The other guests would be waking up any second now, and Sakura hoped they had the good sense to stay in their rooms. There were only three assassins remaining, and Sakura hadn't received so much as a scratch, and neither had Deidara as far as she could tell. These mystery shinobi were skilled, but Deidara and Sakura were both classified with an S-ranking, and the power-gap was vast. The only reason it was taking this long was because they were indoors, and neither could unleash the full extent of their power.

Two assassins advanced on Deidara and he raised his kunai with a vicious grin. The third moved in on Sakura and she readied herself to end this fight, her last kunai in hand. He attacked and they began to grapple, Sakura looking for a hold that would allow her to fling her opponent through the wall as she'd done with the last one.

She glanced in Deidara's direction and her eyes widened when she saw one of his two opponents spring a hidden blade in his boot, and as it flashed in the moonlight she saw the slickness of poison along the metal. He aimed his kick at the back of Deidara's thigh. Alarm flooded through Sakura and without even thinking, she flung her kunai as hard as she could. It hit the assassin in the chest, and because of the chakra-fused power behind the throw, it tore completely through his torso and thudded into the wall behind him.

The assassin stood in shock for a moment and then crashed to the floor. Deidara quickly finished off the other with a stab to his jugular and turned to see what happened. He noticed the tainted blade protruding from the fallen nin's boot, and he looked to Sakura with an expression of surprise and gratitude.

Sakura had disarmed herself with that throw, but her attacker still had a kunai. She dodged his slash and grabbed his wrist in her hand, quickly breaking it, and he groaned loudly as the blade dropped from his useless fingers. Still holding his wrist in one hand, she swung her elbow and struck him a chakra-infused blow to the face. She brought her elbow across the other side of his face on the backswing and the man crumpled to the floor in a lifeless heap, his skull crushed by her deadly strength.

All opponents down, Deidara and Sakura looked at each other across the room, grimly satisfied and just slightly winded from the multiple opponent fight. A few hotel guests were starting to poke their heads out of their rooms now, and the clamor of concerned voices could be heard down the hall. They needed to get out of here before the local authorities showed up.

Sakura began to move toward Deidara. There was sudden movement from the shadows, and he turned and saw that the nin with the poisoned blade wasn't quite dead yet, and had reached into a pouch at his waist and withdrew several exploding tags. Deidara had no more weapons to throw at the persistent assassin, and his eyes widened in alarm as the man used the last of his strength to fling the tags outward, and with the last of his chakra, detonated them.

"Fuck!" He sprang away instinctively, flying toward Sakura. He didn't reach her in time, and as the tags exploded the shockwave sent both of them crashing through the wall and into the next room over as their room and the entire corner of the building was blown apart.

For a minute everything was black. Then there was a dull, hollow droning in Deidara's ears, like shouts and panicked voices that sounded very far away. His eyes cracked open and his vision swam for a moment, and then the pain set in and he groaned as he slowly came back to his senses.

His eyes opened fully and he strained to look down at himself. He was sprawled on his back and partially covered in broken, smoking debris from the wall he'd been knocked through. He tried to move and felt a searing pain in his leg, and he shoved a piece of charred paneling away to reveal a large splinter of wood protruding from his thigh. He clenched his teeth and a groan of pain escaped his lips as he reached down and pulled the thick splinter out, and felt the gush of wet blood soak his pants as it pulled free. It hurt like a bitch, but he'd live.

The shouts and voices were getting louder now as the shellshock wore off. Suddenly his eyes went wide. _Sakura!_ He forced himself to stand, ignoring the pain in his leg and other places as he began to look for the kunoichi.

"Sakura?" he called out to her, searching, his field of vision impaired by darkness and smoke. He coughed several times and moved as fast as his leg and the fuselage would let him. "Sakura!" he called louder. His heart was racing and pounding in his ears, and he fleetingly wished it would shut the hell up so he could hear if she answered him.

Then he saw her, and for a split second his heart seemed to stop completely. She was half buried under more of the demolished wall, and she appeared to be unconscious. He rushed over to her, pulling the charred debris off of her and throwing it aside. There was a gash and a long trail of dark blood running down her leg. But what concerned him most was the dark matting of blood in her hair, trailing down her temple. She was unnaturally pale beneath the soot sticking to her skin.

He bent over her still form and brushed her tangled hair from her face. "Sakura, can you hear me?" he said urgently. She didn't respond. He lifted her partially and turned her face toward his. "Sakura!" he said again, a hint of panic creeping into his voice.

An agonizingly long moment later, her brow furrowed and she emitted a small, pained groan. He let out the breath he'd been holding as her jade eyes cracked open and blearily met his own.

"Dei…dara," she whispered thickly, her brow creasing in pain and disorientation. "Wha happn'd?"

"There was an explosion." Her eyes widened and she tried to look around, then groaned again and squeezed her lids shut as the pain blotted out her vision momentarily. "Are you okay? Can you move?"

She nodded weakly. "Yeah…I'm just really dizzy."

Deidara held her head and shoulders as he sat her up a bit more, and she grasped him tightly as he helped her stand. "We have to get out of here," he said with quiet urgency, looking around at the damage and noticing the sounds of onlookers were getting closer. He led her back to what had once been their room, both of them limping slightly. "Wait here for a second, okay?" he said, and released his hold on her.

Sakura braced herself against the side of the gaping hole for support as Deidara moved away from her and into the next room. He returned a minute later with both of their packs slung on one shoulder, and she sighed in relief that he'd been able to find them and that they were intact. There were a lot of precious things in there, and she would be devastated if she lost them.

He slipped his unoccupied arm around her waist to support her as they entered the destroyed room. They walked several feet before Sakura's knees buckled, her head swimming and her vision blurred. She had a pretty serious concussion, and he needed to get her somewhere safe quickly so she could heal it before she passed out and risked slipping into a coma. "Hang on to me," he said, and she obeyed without hesitation, linking her arms around his neck as he picked her up. Pain burned in his shoulder, and Deidara realized he'd been injured there too and hadn't felt it until now. He ignored it and secured her in his arms as he moved over the debris and the bodies of their attackers, toward the massive hole in the wall that led to the street.

He shifted his hold on her so he could reach into his clay pouch. A moment later he tossed the mould out the of the open wall and then a large clay bird was rising and snapping its wings open, leveling out in front of the gaping hole and hovering before them. He held onto Sakura and jumped from the opening onto the back of his construct, wincing as pain tore through his leg on the landing.

He kneeled down as the bird began to rise. "Sakura, stay awake okay?" he said close to her ear.

She rested her head against his chest. "I know…I'll be fine," she murmured listlessly.

The bird he'd created was meant for speed, and they quickly flew away from the city. The sky was lightening as dawn approached, and he searched for a good place to land. After several minutes and miles, they set down in a small woodland surrounding a large cliff formation. He assumed there would be a cave or cleft they could shelter in, and he went to locate one. He found what he was looking for fairly quickly and came back for her, helping her down and letting her lean on him as he led her to the nearby opening in the rock.

Upon entering the small cave, Sakura immediately slumped against the wall and closed her eyes.

Deidara sat beside her with a small groan of pain. "Are you able to heal yourself right now?" he asked.

She nodded wearily, leaned her head back against the rock wall and stilled. He wondered for a second if she'd passed out, but then he saw the large cut near her hairline begin to glow faintly and mend itself. Apparently she didn't need her hands to heal her own body, and was doing it all from the inside. He'd never seen anything like it, and it was fascinating to watch.

Several minutes later the wound was gone, though the blood would remain until wiped off. She sighed and cracked her eyes open to look at him. "Lemme see that leg now," she said, her voice tired but not as strained as it had been.

He wasn't aware that she'd noticed his injuries in her disoriented state. "It will be fine, don't waste your chakra. Heal your own leg instead."

She shook her head stubbornly and sat up, turning to face him. "It's superficial, and my chakra is fine. I'm okay now, so let me heal your leg or I will pin you down and do it by force."

Deidara sighed and shifted obediently, and she leaned over him to inspect the wound and then placed her hands on his thigh as cool chakra flooded under his skin. "What was it?"

"Wood splinter. A fucking big one."

"Hm. You're lucky it didn't puncture your femoral artery," she said quietly.

"I know, yeah." Exhaustion was beginning to creep over him now that the adrenaline was wearing off.

"So who do you think sent them?" she asked after a moment. "Shingo?"

Deidara scowled. "Well, whoever did it just signed their fucking death warrant. My guess is Yotsuba. He said Shingo doesn't know who stole his sword, and even if he did, how would he have found us this quickly unless Yotsuba tipped him off? But it's more likely that Yotsuba himself sent them."

Sakura finished up his leg and moved to the burn on his shoulder. "You think he hired those assassins to kill us because of what happened at the meeting? He may be a scumbag, but I didn't think he'd be that petty."

"Hn. Most likely he sent them to cover his tracks, to eliminate any evidence that he was behind the theft, and control the number of people who know about the scroll, yeah. He said he was the only one who knew besides Shingo, and I think he's trying to keep it that way."

Sakura pondered that for a moment. "I think you're right. It was Yotsuba. Bastard probably intended to kill us all along. And after the way he deceived us we would have every right to go to Shingo and sell the information of who paid us to take his sword. Yotsuba probably assumed that, and is trying to prevent it."

They were quiet for several minutes as she finished healing him and then focused on her own leg. He watched her as she did, his gaze focused on her charred, torn clothes and tangled hair, and the dark rivulets of dried blood mixed with the grimy dust on her pale skin—still far too pale after healing her head injury. He probably looked just as bad. But he didn't care how she looked. He cared about how she had ended up that way and why, and about the flashes of the explosion and ensuing chaos that kept running through his mind.

Sakura finished and looked up at him with a tired smile, and was a bit surprised at the expression on his face as he watched her—grim and troubled and something else she couldn't recognize. She was about to ask him what was wrong when he suddenly grabbed her head in both hands and sealed his lips to hers. This kiss was not tender or affectionate. It was demanding, possessive, and there was a hint of desperation in the way he held her against him.

He broke away from her lips and kissed her cheeks, her nose, her brow, her hair. He pressed his face into her neck with a ragged sigh, and she softly whispered something he couldn't make out as he pulled her against him tightly.

Deidara couldn't stop seeing the blast hit her as he failed to reach her in time. He couldn't stop remembering the dread he'd felt as he called for her, searched for her. When he found her beneath the debris, pale and bleeding and unresponsive, for a split second he had experienced a type of fear he'd never thought possible. He was _never_ afraid, not of anything. He'd never possessed enough self-preservation to be afraid. But until he had seen her breathing, until she had woken and looked at him, he'd been terrified. Not alarm or surprise or concern, but genuine, sickening fear that she had been killed.

Sakura wasn't dead. She was alive and here in his arms and things were fine now. But he couldn't stop thinking about the panic the thought of losing her had caused in him. He didn't know for sure who had tried to kill them, he could only make an educated guess. But there was one thing he was certain of; he would find out, and somebody was going to pay for it. Somebody had it coming, in fucking _spades_. For trying to take her from him like this, for nearly killing the only person in this world he truly cared about, he would cut their fucking heart out and feed it to them. He would blow them to bits, and then blow those bits into even smaller bits.

Deidara never, ever wanted to feel that all-encompassing fear again. He never again wanted to see her like she had been a short while ago. He would do whatever it took to protect her from now on.

Sakura didn't ask what had come over him. She knew, because she'd felt it too when she'd seen that poisoned blade going for his blind spot, and later when she'd realized how close that wood fragment had come to a major artery. He would have bled to death if it had entered less than an inch to the left, and although she'd concealed her worry over it, she still felt the creeping fear that she had just come close to losing her last remaining precious person.

He shifted to sit with his back against the rock wall, closing his arms around her as she sat snuggled between his knees. Her arms slipped around his back and she burrowed against him with a sigh. "What are we going to do now? Where should we go?" she asked sleepily, beginning to drift off as the sun rose outside and the forest birds began their morning song.

Deidara was wide awake despite the rapid onset of fatigue, his mind still racing. He lowered his chin to the top of her head and tightened his arms around her as he murmured quietly into her hair, "Don't worry, I know exactly where to go, yeah."


	11. Advice from a Shark

**Silver Lining**

Chapter Eleven: Advice from a Shark

* * *

The fisherman emerged from his modest house and stood on his porch with a faint smile. The sun had just begun to set on the horizon, and the cooler air of evening was slowly replacing the heavy heat of afternoon. A peaceful, hazy lull was settling over the island. He could hear the crickets beginning their evening song in the thick grove of trees not far from the house. The fireflies would probably make an appearance tonight as well. Nights like these were perfect for napping on the porch.

But first things first. The tide was about to come in; the perfect time to cast a net off the dock in hopes of a good catch in the morning. It would rain soon as well. It was still a ways off, but his keen nose told him it would be here sometime tomorrow. He chuckled to himself; summer storms always brought in the best hauls. That thought in mind, he made his way toward the shed on the side of the house, grabbed the net hung on the outside wall and hefted it over his brawny shoulder, and then turned to make his way down to the nearby shore.

He hadn't even gone ten feet when he heard a strange flapping sound some distance away, quickly drawing closer. It rang familiar, but it took him a second to identify the noise. A wide grin spread across his aquiline features, and a moment later he felt the tingle of familiar chakra.

He made his way back around the house to the spacious open area he considered his 'front yard,' and just before he rounded the corner he heard that familiar airy pop indicating his unexpected guest had landed. He approached the blond man standing with his arms crossed and a cocky smirk on his pretty-boy features.

"Yo," Deidara greeted with a tilt of his chin.

"Well, well…I wondered when you might show up again," Kisame replied with a toothy grin. "What's it been…a year? Year and a half?"

"Something like that. Don't tell me you missed me, old man."

The shark nin gave a curt laugh. "Only when I'm drunk, kid. So what brings you out here? Just in the neighborhood?" He lifted the net from his shoulder, intending to toss it onto the porch as the idea of fishing fell to the back of his mind.

Deidara shrugged. "If you consider a couple hundred miles to be in the neighborhood, yeah." His smirk widened to a sly grin. "Actually…a few days ago I found myself a stray hellcat, and I thought you might want to say hello."

Kisame's brow rose in surprise as he recognized the term. His silver eyes widened and the net dropped forgotten from his hand when the 'hellcat' herself emerged from around the far side of the house where she'd been waiting with her chakra masked.

"Well I'll be damned…" he muttered in amazement, grinning ear to ear at the pink-haired kunoichi walking toward him.

Sakura quickened her pace and a wide smile spread across her features at the site of the huge shark. Giddy and impulsive, she jumped on the giant man and squeezed her arms around his broad shoulders in a bear hug, her feet dangling nearly a foot off the ground. "It's good to see you again, Kisame!"

Her strength elicited a grunt from the shark, but he laughed heartily and gave her back a few friendly pats. "Likewise, Princess."

Deidara laughed quietly at the amusing scene. Sakura dropped back to her feet, grinning at the use of the old misplaced nickname she only tolerated from the shark. She took in his appearance, noting the changes the last eight years had put on him. For the most part he looked exactly the same, only his hair was a lighter shade of blue from sun exposure and a few emerging strands of gray. There were a few more wrinkles around his strange silvery eyes, but it was to be expected, because if she remembered correctly, the shark nin was well past forty.

Her expression sobered somewhat and she gave Kisame a light shove to the chest, and because he wasn't expecting it he actually took a couple steps backward at the impact. "I thought you were dead, you know…" she said in mock-anger, but her eyes glinted playfully and a small smile was on her lips. "I'm glad you're not."

"Still feisty as ever, eh?" he said, looking over her shoulder at his partner.

"Feistier," Deidara replied with a grin. He walked over and stood next to Sakura, who met his gaze with a soft smile.

Kisame had bent to retrieve the dropped net, and when he straightened and saw the two shinobi standing close, a sly knowing grin spread across his features.

"You gonna invite us in or what?" Deidara asked.

He tossed the net onto the porch and appraised them a bit more before answering. "I suppose, since you came all this way." He moved toward the door and opened the screen, holding it open and nodding at them to follow. "You two hungry? I make great sushi."

Sakura glanced at Deidara, who smiled at her and gave a nod in testimony to the shark's statement. "Sounds great," she said, grinning as they crossed the threshold into the house.

* * *

Kisame's boast was well merited. Dinner was surprisingly excellent, especially since Sakura remembered him being terrible in the kitchen. Apparently he was quite good when the food didn't actually have to be cooked. Or maybe he was only good with fish. Whatever the case, the meal was delicious, and afterward the three of them went outside with a bottle of sake and sat in chairs on the porch to enjoy the beautiful summer evening.

"So, now this Yotsuba guy wants you both dead." Kisame reaffirmed his understanding of the story the two had relayed to him. "Even though you told him you didn't care about the sword or what he wants to do with the scroll?"

Deidara and Sakura both nodded somberly. "My thought was that he's trying to prevent us from going to Shingo and selling him the name of the person who hired us. It's a good assumption on his part, actually, because after the way he deceived us I was seriously thinking about doing it," Sakura said sourly.

"That or he's trying to erase all evidence of his theft and any outside knowledge of the scroll's existence, and intended to kill us from the start, yeah," Deidara added.

"It's probably all of those reasons," Kisame said. "What did the scroll say?"

"We don't know. Neither of us can read Mist's encryption. But from the look of it, it's almost definitely a forbidden suiton jutsu," Sakura answered.

Kisame nodded thoughtfully, as the scroll was of obvious interest to him.

"Tell you what; after I kill that motherfucker I'll bring you the scroll, and _you_ can tell _us_ what it says, yeah?"

Kisame snorted indignantly. "_Bring_ it to me? Oh hell no, kid. Don't think I'm not in on this one," he said with a sinister, razor sharp grin.

Deidara's smirk was just as wicked as the shark's. "I thought you were retired, old man."

"I am. But even a man of leisure such as myself needs a little excitement. Samehada too; it gets cranky if it doesn't get a little exercise now and then."

"You may be disappointed. Yotsuba's status as a former shinobi is barely worth mentioning, and his men are only hired thugs. I doubt it's going to be much of a fight," Deidara said.

Kisame just shrugged. "Don't matter to me. And you never know; obviously the guy has a few decently skilled men on his payroll if he sent those assassins after you, and once he finds out you two didn't die in that explosion he'll up his security. Things may get interesting after all. Besides…we're partners," he finished simply.

Sakura smiled thoughtfully as she read the underlying tone in the shark's words that spoke of the friendship the two former Akatsuki shared. She was glad Kisame wanted to help them. Taking out Yotsuba would be as easy as sneaking into his office or home and killing him quickly. But she knew without asking that Deidara had no intention of making it that simple _or_ that painless for their double-crossing contractor.

After the attack they had slept the day away – or at least Sakura had – in that cave and then headed to a small village for the night to clean up and refresh their supplies before travelling to Kisame's the next day. But before they left the forest, Deidara had blown apart several dozen trees and boulders to release some tension and anger, not to mention make up for all the restrictions he'd had to deal with on their mission. He'd already been angry at the deception and slightly resentful about leaving Yotsuba alive, and the attempt on their lives had pushed him over the edge. That was a very dangerous thing to do when it concerned a former Akatsuki.

"So what about this other guy…Shingo?" Kisame continued as he poured each of them another cup of sake.

Deidara shrugged indifferently and downed his cup in one gulp. "What about him?"

"He doesn't know we were the ones who took his sword," Sakura said.

"Yeah, but it's likely that he will in a few days. This Yotsuba guy wants you dead. Shingo will too if he finds out it was you. So it's probably safe to bet that Yotsuba will find a way to tip him off, because if they're _both_ after you, it majorly increases the odds that you'll actually be killed next time. Also, if the blame is placed on _you_, then Yotsuba won't have to worry about Shingo coming after _him_," Kisame explained somberly.

Sakura chewed her lip anxiously. "Well…if we just don't go back to southern Fire or the island nations…

"It ain't a matter of disappearing, Princess. You're both well known and easily recognizable shinobi, and if anyone really wants to put the resources into finding you, they can. Unless you want to go live as hermits in the mountains or something."

"Fuck that. I'm not gonna run or hide from some pathetic cut-rate crime lord, or anyone else for that matter," Deidara said irritably.

"Then the only option is to take them both out."

Sakura sighed with quiet resignation. "I don't want to run or hide either. I hate to say it, but I think you're probably right. Shingo will know soon and once he does, this won't end until they're both neutralized." She wasn't a fan of vengeful retribution, and she would prefer to take out their threats quickly and cleanly, but she knew in this case there was no talking Deidara down. He was furious, and he would be ruthless and cruel when it came to dealing with their attempted murderer. Now that Kisame was in on it, they would probably lay waste to the entire complex. She knew what they were in the past, what they still _are_ beneath the surface. Wolves amongst sheep, content for the most part to be docile…but still dangerous, and not at all hesitant to bite back when pushed. In a way, Sakura was a milder version of the same. She too was a shinobi, born and raised in the dark underworld of society, and she knew how situations like this worked.

However, that wasn't the real reason she was so reluctant. Truthfully she worried about the attention this was sure to bring down on them. Or more accurately, on Deidara. She had convinced Temari that Deidara was finished with making large-scale trouble and it was okay to leave him in peace. Then that very night, the hotel they were staying in had blown up. Temari was still in that town on ambassador duties and would have heard of the explosion by now. The investigation would (hopefully) show they had been attacked first, but it still raised suspicion about the man Sakura had vouched was no longer a threat to society. And now…Deidara was planning to go back there and kill Yotsuba and probably anyone who tried to stop him as well. Two violent incidents involving explosions within days of each other in a town Deidara was known to have been in…it wasn't hard to figure out where the initial blame would fall. Guilty until proven innocent, due to his past and infamy. And he would only be innocent of half of it.

"So when do we do this?" Deidara asked.

"There's a storm coming in from the east, and it's gonna hit sometime tomorrow," Kisame said. They knew he had to be right because he could smell water from miles away and he was never wrong about changes in the weather. "Your birds can't fly in the rain and there's no big hurry at the moment, so once the storm passes we can gather information and make a plan."

"So is it okay if we stay here until then?" Sakura asked the shark nin.

Kisame stared at her blankly for a second and then burst into loud barking laughter. "What the hell are you talkin' about, girl? Of course you're staying here! It'll be just like old times, except without all the angst and impending doom."

Sakura laughed and looked over at Deidara, who was also smiling.

"I want a rematch on our drinking contest, Princess. And no burning it off with chakra this time."

She grinned. "Finally figured it out, huh?"

"It only took him two years, yeah," Deidara said.

Kisame chuckled and downed another cup of sake. He fixed an appraising silver gaze on the two younger ninja. "You're both welcome to stay as long as you want. It'll be nice to have some company again. Although, I only have one extra room…but I'm guessing by the way you two make eyes at each other that won't be a problem."

Sakura gave a small, almost shy smile, but Deidara fixed his partner with a blatantly shameless smirk. "Not at all."

The shark laughed. "No surprise there."

They sat on the porch talking for some time, until the sake bottle was empty and it was well past midnight.

The sake had given Sakura a warm and pleasantly fuzzy feeling, and the crickets in the nearby thicket were soothing to hear, and she soon found herself growing sleepy. She also knew that the two partners would probably want to talk alone and catch up or guy-talk or something like that, so she stood with a yawn and stretched. "I'm getting pretty tired, I think I'm gonna go get ready for bed."

"Down the hall, last door on the right, and the bathroom's across the way," Kisame informed.

"Okay." She let her hand run over Deidara's shoulder as she passed him, but he caught her hand before she moved away and gently pulled her downward until she was bending eye level with him. His hand caressed up her arm and he tilted his face toward hers, holding no reservations about showing affection in front of the shark or anyone else. Sakura was very pleased by that, and smiled as she leaned in to softly kiss him goodnight.

"I won't be long," he murmured quietly when their lips parted. He loosely held her arm as she moved away until her fingers slipped from his grasp and she disappeared into the house.

When he turned his attention back to Kisame, the shark was grinning from ear to ear.

"So. You and Sakura, huh."

His lips curled in their usual smirk. "Yep."

"About time."

Deidara huffed. It wasn't like he'd had any opportunities in the last eight years. True, he could have gone looking for her, but he wasn't going to interfere with her happiness, and once the war started it wasn't safe for either of them and he wasn't sure if she would even want to see him again.

Kisame noticed the younger man's lack of smartass retort, and studied him appraisingly. When he spoke his tone was quiet and absent of the usual teasing lilt. "You know I have a bit of a soft spot for that girl, so this would usually be the part where I would say I hope you're serious about this…" Deidara's pale eyes sharpened intently, but the shark ignored his partner's warning glare and continued. "But I think it's pretty safe to assume even _you_ were surprised by just how serious you are about her."

The two men stared at each other for a long moment before Deidara finally answered.

"It's Sakura," he said simply.

Kisame gave a small nod. Those two words explained it all. "I know. Your feelings for her were pretty obvious from day one. Honestly back then, I was sure _you_ would be the one to make a move on her, not Itachi."

"Maybe it would have been better if I had," he mused quietly.

"No. The thing with her and Itachi…they both knew it wasn't gonna last. She knew it would be over when the fight came so she was emotionally prepared for it, and Itachi, well…he knew he was gonna die. But if it had been _you_…the tie wouldn't have severed so cleanly. The tie didn't sever _at all,_ in fact, because look at the two of you now. Her feelings for you would have interfered with her loyalty to her village and her friends. Being involved with you back then would have put your lives in danger from both sides. It happened the way it was meant to."

Deidara stared at him for a moment and then huffed a small exasperated laugh. "How are you so goddamned wise all the time, hm? You're not even all that smart."

Kisame chuckled. "I may not be a genius, but I've been around a long time. I could always tell when you were thinking about her, you know. Even after years passed, you still got that same look on your face," he teased.

Deidara snorted indignantly. He did _not_ get a 'look' when he thought about her.

The shark expected that exact reaction from his partner, and he laughed quietly. "Well I think it's good you two finally got together. So what are you gonna do now that you finally got your hellcat?"

His brow furrowed slightly. "Am I supposed to do something specific? I'm not planning on the white picket fence and a bunch of kids if that's what you're talking about," he said flatly.

"That wasn't what I meant, and somehow I don't think Sakura is the kind of woman who wants that either. But you gotta have _something_ in mind…I mean what are you gonna do, be a shinobi until you're old and grey or die? Drag her around with you and live the same screwed up lifestyle you've always known?"

"Maybe we'll just live here and mooch off of you forever, yeah," Deidara replied sardonically.

Kisame shrugged. "I wouldn't care. It'd be nice to have the Princess around again, and after all these years I've learned to tolerate your ass," he jibed, evoking a smirk from the younger man. "But I've said it before; people like you and me…we don't really expect to have the option of retiring or settling down or even living to a decent old age. We got our second chance six years ago and you convinced me to take it, and every day I'm glad I did because if I hadn't I would certainly be dead, and I gotta admit I like the simple life I've got going now. But for some reason I can't figure out, you went right back into it again. You're lucky you're not dead yet, and I know you know it. And somehow, now you have a _third_ chance, man. That's unheard of for people like us. You ain't getting any younger, kid. You've got a great girl at your side now, and maybe you should take advantage of this one."

Deidara didn't respond right away, his gaze turned inward. "You're not telling me anything I don't already know, old man," he said quietly.

"Well, maybe you'll actually listen this time, eh?"

"Maybe I will. Are you finished with the life lesson now, Dad?"

The shark laughed, flashing his pointed teeth. "For now. But call me that again and you're dead, pretty-boy."

"My girl might have a problem with that. It's not really a good idea to piss her off too much, yeah."

Kisame chuckled and leaned back further in his chair. "Speaking of her…I'm wondering how you two managed to meet up like you did. How did she react to seeing you again?"

"Well she obviously thought I was dead, so she was really surprised. Even though we were glad to see each other again it was a little awkward at first, considering everything."

"Makes sense. But why would she take up a freelance contract? Isn't she still a Leaf nin?"

"Technically, yes. I'm pretty sure she had permission because she wouldn't just abandon her village, but she left Konoha after the war and I guess she's been doing contract work to get by for the past couple years, yeah."

Kisame nodded thoughtfully. "Probably needed to get away. From what I heard through the shinobi circles, the war must have been pretty rough on her. How was she when you found her?"

Deidara's brow furrowed as he thought about Sakura's emotional state only a little over a week ago. "She was a mess. Like a shell…like she was just existing and not really living, yeah. She thought she had nothing to live for. Her village was nearly destroyed and she lost all her friends…and she doesn't know I know this but she was also involved with one of her teammates."

Kisame's eyes widened. "Which one? Not the runt Uchiha…"

He shook his head. "No…with Hatake Kakashi."

The shark's eyes got even bigger. "The Copy Ninja? _Really_…well, I guess that makes more sense than little Sasuke-kun…but damn…knowing how emotional she is, she must have been torn apart by all that happening in just a few years."

"Exactly. I understood why…but I couldn't fucking _stand_ to see how self-destructive she'd become. That thing that makes her special, that _fire_, it was just…gone, suffocated under all that grief. It was so wrong for someone like her to be that way, yeah."

"Well she seems pretty happy now. So what changed her back again…you?" Kisame said with a sly grin.

Deidara's smile was absent of its usual smugness. "I guess so, yeah."

Kisame nodded sagely. "Good. I guess she needed you. And I think you probably needed her too, kid."

Deidara didn't reply, but his silence and the expression in his unfocussed eyes were answer enough for the older man who knew him well.

It wasn't difficult for Kisame to notice Deidara's unusually somber, almost brooding demeanor, nor was it hard to see how strained and tense he looked. Something was weighing heavily on his normally easygoing partner. "You know…Sakura is cuter than ever, but you kinda look like shit for a man on cloud nine," he remarked pointedly.

"I haven't really slept much the past few days, yeah," he murmured irritably.

"I know it's been a while since anyone was hunting you, but it's not like you to get so stressed about something like this." Kisame gave him a long, appraising look. "So I'm guessing this is less about you…and more about her."

Deidara stared at the shark, debating whether he wanted to talk about it. But they had been partners for a long time, and Kisame was the only person besides Sakura he actually trusted, so with a heavy sigh and a troubled frown, he related the details of that night.

"The night we were attacked…we took out those assassins no problem; they were nothing for two shinobi like us, yeah. But one of them didn't die right away, and he used the last of his strength to detonate an entire stack of exploding tags."

Kisame's eyes widened. No matter how elite and powerful a shinobi was, no one was impervious to something like that.

"Sakura couldn't see him from where she was. She was coming toward me and she walked right past him as he set them off…I tried to get her out of the way, but…" He shook his head, expression darkening as the moment replayed itself in his head. "We got blown completely into the next room. We both could have died, and Sakura…she came really close, yeah," he said quietly.

Kisame understood perfectly now, but remained silent as his partner continued.

"When I came to, I searched for her through all the debris. I kept calling for her but she didn't answer…I eventually found her buried under half the wall. She was unconscious and bleeding badly from a nasty head injury, and when I saw her like that…I thought she was dead. I pulled her out of there, and then I could tell she was alive but she still didn't respond and for a moment…I thought I was going to lose her. I was…" He took a deep breath. "It really scared the hell out of me."

Kisame nodded somberly. He knew from years of experience with the reckless man that Deidara was a stranger to fear. He was never concerned about his own safety, so to hear him say he was afraid for Sakura, that the thought of losing her scared him…it spoke volumes. The changes in his partner were subtle, but profound. "Yeah…I hear love will do that to ya," he said slyly.

Deidara met the shark's silver gaze, but he didn't deny it, and after a moment he looked off into the trees.

Kisame's smile turned slightly sadistic. "That explains why you're so wound up about this whole thing. No doubt, that Yotsuba's death won't be pretty, eh?"

His expression darkened into a sinister scowl. "Slow and painful, yeah."

A few more minutes passed as they sat quietly, but Deidara had grown even more somber after that conversation, and eventually he stood up with a small stretch."I'm going to bed," he said gruffly, and turned for the door.

"Hey."

He paused and turned to look at his partner.

"Relax, man. She's safe here, you know that. We'll take care of this, and then you two can live happily ever after," Kisame said quietly, pointy-toothed grin present as usual.

Deidara regarded him silently, then gave a small accepting nod and went inside.

* * *

When he entered the dark bedroom at the back of the house, he undressed quietly so as not to wake Sakura. He pulled the tie free from his hair and hung his shirt over the back of a chair before moving to the bed.

Moonlight filtered through the small gap in the curtains. Free of the light pollution found in cities, here the moon was unusually bright and cast pale blue shadows across the room. He had always liked the light in here, especially at night. This was technically _his_ room—it was his when he lived here and Kisame hadn't changed a thing over the years. The shark probably always knew he would come back someday.

Deidara sat at the edge of the bed and angled himself to look at the sleeping kunoichi. When living here before he never would have imagined he would be sharing this bed with her. Had a nice dream or two about it, maybe, but never thought it would actually happen. But here she was, sleeping on her stomach, her face turned away from him. The moonlight cast a lavender hue to her coral hair and illuminated her smooth pale skin, and he reached out to twirl a silky lock between his fingers before trailing them lightly down between her shoulder blades. She didn't stir even a little. He watched the gentle rise and fall of her quiet breathing. She was comfortable with his presence, she felt safe and secure in this place, and so she slept deeply and unguarded.

It was exactly why he brought her here. This was the one place where he knew for certain they would be safe, where they could figure out a real plan and not have to worry about being attacked in their sleep again. Deidara had been on edge the past two days, unable to sleep fully, always on the lookout for more assassins. It was like being in Akatsuki again, only more stressful because this time he was concerned for someone besides himself. Nearly losing Sakura like that had awoken an instinctive need to protect her, to make sure she was safe. He knew he didn't need to—she was one of the most powerful ninja in the world, and she would undoubtedly kick his ass if he tried to shelter her, not that he would anyway. But he didn't want to lose her, and he couldn't help feeling overprotective. So he had brought her here, knowing Kisame would help them.

His thumb stroked lightly across her skin as he thought about his conversation with the shark. Kisame really hadn't told him anything he didn't already know, and hadn't already thought about a dozen times or more.

Deidara knew how he felt about her. He'd been thinking about it a lot over the last several days, about just exactly how much she meant to him, and exactly what he wanted with her. He'd first started to realize the truth on their last day at the resort, in that quiet interlude in their room, that transcendent experience that surpassed every work of art he'd ever made. But nearly losing her in the attempt on their lives had brought everything into sharp focus, and now it was clear as crystal in his mind.

He loved her.

He did, and _had_ maybe for a long time now. He didn't know when it started, but the more he thought about it the more he realized he had probably loved her since that time eight years ago when she had been their captive. It would explain a lot about the way he'd always been with her, why walking away had been so hard. Of course he hadn't realized he was in love with her because he hadn't known how to identify that emotion, having never felt it before. Even though he now recognized it and accepted it, it was still overwhelming to him that _yes_, he actually _was_ capable of loving someone besides himself, and _yes_, what he felt for Sakura was real love.

Deidara had considered the possibility that he was simply obsessed with her in an artistic sense, because he loved all those little things about her that were, to his mind, art: her laugh and the light in her eyes, her fiery temper and her spirit and the amazing art they created _together_. But he also loved her warmth, her big heart and her generosity, her intelligence and courage and her willingness to look beyond labels and appearances. And most of all, even though it scared him at times, he loved the way she made _him_ feel when he was with her.

Sakura made him feel calm, at ease, trusting in a way he could never be with anyone else. She made him happy, not because she made him laugh or did things to please him, but in the true, heartfelt sense of the word where he just felt better when she was around. She _accepted_ him, exactly the way he was. For all his arrogance, deep down inside Deidara knew there were things about himself that were not worth bragging about and that he should not be proud of. He was morally ambiguous, overly volatile and obviously a little insane. He had no idea what she saw in him, from day one, to make her care for him like she did. But she _did_ see something, and he was profoundly grateful to her for looking past his darkness to the man underneath, and he would make sure she never regretted it.

His fingertips ghosted over the smooth skin of her back once more. He wasn't ready to tell her yet. But he would, soon. Because she deserved to know, and because he didn't want her to question where she stood with him ever again.

The exhaustion of the past two days was creeping up on him again, and he sighed. Careful not to disturb her, he slipped beneath the covers, fitted himself against her smaller form. Sakura stirred and gave a small pleased sigh. She whispered his name softly in her sleep, subconsciously reacting to his presence, and she shifted slightly to nestle back into his chest.

Deidara smiled and pressed his lips to the soft skin between her neck and shoulder. Finally able to relax, his thoughts drifted away as he fell into a deep, peaceful sleep, the woman he loved wrapped securely in his arms.


	12. Calm Before the Storm

**Silver Lining**

Chapter Twelve: Calm before the Storm

* * *

Sakura awoke the next morning before either of the men. Deidara barely even stirred as she eased herself out of his embrace and got up. He had been understandably stressed and on edge the past few days, not to mention angry, and she knew he was exhausted. As she quietly got dressed, she watched his sleeping face and smiled. She wondered if he was aware he'd taken up the role of 'overprotective male' since that night or if he was doing it subconsciously. Normally something like that would bother her but given the situation, it was sort of to be expected. He wasn't being chauvinistic or extreme about it, and truthfully she found it to be rather endearing coming from someone like him.

As she padded down the hallway, she smiled at the sounds of snoring drifting from Kisame's room. Aside from that, the house was remarkably quiet. They were out in the countryside, and so the only noise was created by nature. If she listened carefully, she could even hear the faint rush of the ocean. There was only one major city on this small island, and the surrounding towns were the quiet sort of places where not much ever happened. Kisame's house was set on a grassy hill near the shoreline, nestled against a strand of pine forest. On the other side of the forest was a dirt road leading to the nearest town about ten miles away. It was the perfect place to disappear and live out your days in peace.

Sakura had no idea what sort of food the shark man kept in his house, but she had decided to make breakfast in thanks for his assistance and letting them stay in his home, and also because it was nice to have friends she could hang out with again. So as quietly as she could, she began rummaging through the kitchen.

Kisame groggily wandered out of his room around twenty minutes later, drawn by the smell of frying bacon. The main area of the house was simply a large single space containing the kitchen, dining and sitting area so Sakura noticed him as he emerged from the hallway and sat at the small dining table to watch her.

"Morning," she greeted over her shoulder as she piled the finished bacon onto a large plate with the eggs.

"I distinctly remember you not being able to cook," he said with his usual amused grin.

"Just because I don't _like_ to doesn't mean I _can't_," she quipped, walking over to set the heaping plate in the center of the table. She walked away to grab another plate containing toast along with a pot of coffee, and she caught his skeptical look as she made her way back. "I learned, okay?" she said with a small laugh, setting the remaining items on the table and taking a seat opposite the shark. "I'm no gourmet, but I don't think you'll complain."

"I wouldn't complain if you slapped cold gruel on a plate, Princess. Gone hungry one too many times to turn my nose up at a meal."

Sakura chose not to comment on that little insight to a darker past, and watched him portion his plate for three. She poured herself a cup of coffee and grabbed a slice of toast. Though Deidara needed rest, she didn't want him to have to eat his breakfast cold, and she was just thinking about going to wake him when he finally wandered out, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

"Mornin' sunshine," Kisame jibed, snickering at his half-asleep expression as he seated himself adjacent to Sakura.

"Mmph," was his answer. He began piling food onto his plate. It was clear they weren't going to get much more out of him until at least one cup of coffee was in his system.

Sakura smiled at him. Deidara was about as much of a morning person as she was. She could just picture the habit of late nights and lazy mornings they would undoubtedly fall into together. Rising early like she had today was a rare occurrence that she only did willingly on special or significant occasions. The three of them back together like old times was one of them.

"Did you build this house, Kisame?" she asked in an attempt to start up a real conversation.

"We both did," he replied, nodding toward Deidara.

"That would have been amusing to watch."

"Oh it was," Kisame said. "Since this guy had no clue about anything."

Deidara snorted indignantly. "They don't usually build things out of wood where I'm from; it's all bricks and concrete, yeah."

"You wouldn't believe how many times he smashed his fingers trying to hammer in nails," the shark snickered.

"The telepathy jutsu hadn't worn off yet, that's why my nails were still black, dumbass. Yours were too," he retorted.

"Riiiight."

"Tch, whatever. At least _I_ didn't fall through the roof…"

"Hmph."

"_Twice_."

"Don't make me bring up that time you – argh!"

Sakura laughed as Kisame reached under the table to rub his shin where Deidara had kicked it. She was tempted to ask him to continue, but then again, maybe she didn't want to know.

"So you said a storm would be coming in today…any idea when?" she asked, changing the subject.

"Few hours or so…definitely by mid-afternoon. Why?"

"It's been a long time since I've done any good training," she said nonchalantly.

Both men grinned at her.

"You're on, Princess."

"Is there a good place to train? I don't want to destroy your house," she teased.

"Of course there is. We built a training area in the woods, yeah."

"Would you expect anything less from us?"

Sakura grinned, and saw her excitement reflected on the faces of the two male shinobi. With that to look forward to, they quickly finished their breakfast and headed outside.

* * *

"Ghuh!"

_This is going to hurt_…was the one thought Sakura managed to have as she flew twenty feet through the air, propelled by a kick to the gut from a giant shark man.

It did. _A lot_. The wind was knocked out of her as her back hit the tree and she fell another five feet to slump on the ground. As soon as the stars cleared from her vision she was rising up, not expecting her opponent to give her time to recover.

So she was a little surprised to see Kisame exactly where he had been when he sent her flying, slightly hunched over with a large hand pressed to his face.

She spit a small trace of blood onto the ground and got to her feet with a grimace just as Kisame was forced to take a knee, still clutching his head. She made her way over to him and he looked up at her with a bloody grin.

"Thasa helluva kickh ya got, Prinsheth," he slurred trough clenched teeth. Blood dribbled from his nose and chin.

Her knee to his face just before he caught her with his own kick did more damage than she'd realized, but she couldn't help her smile. "Likewise." She knelt in front of him, pulled his hand away and replaced it with her own, sending chakra to her fingertips to assess the damage. His nose, jaw and cheekbone were all broken.

"Goddamn, are you guys trying to kill each other? Ease it up or you'll both pass out before _I_ get to do any training," Deidara said as he walked over from where he had been watching the seemingly mismatched spar.

Despite his obvious pain, Kisame grinned. "Been too long sinsh I been in a proper figh'…go' bit carried away."

"Stop talking, idiot, I'm trying to heal you," Sakura scolded, then smiled sheepishly at Deidara. "He's so damn strong and tough, I guess I compensated with a little _too_ much chakra."

"You hit that tree pretty hard, yeah. Are you okay?"

She nodded. "I think he cracked a rib or two. Nothing major. I guess we call this one even, eh?" she said to Kisame, who nodded.

Deidara smirked, amused that his tough little hellcat thought of cracked ribs as a minor injury. "Well don't use too much chakra on healing, 'cause you gotta fight me next, yeah."

"Don't worry; I've still got plenty left in me to kick your ass."

"Cocky little thing, aren't you?"

"And _you_ aren't?"

He merely shrugged.

Sakura finished healing Kisame and then set to work on her ribs. "How exactly are you and I supposed to fight? You're aerial and I'm close range. Our tactics are completely mismatched."

"And you were saying you could kick my ass?"

She threw him a playful glare. "How about a taijutsu match?" she challenged.

"I beat you last time we went hand to hand, yeah."

"That was then. And I would be using chakra this time."

"Cheater."

"_Ninja_," she countered, sticking her tongue out at him.

"There's a couple ways you could even it up a bit. How good are you with a sword?" Kisame asked her.

She gave a small shrug. "Pretty decent."

He nodded. "I'll be back." He stood and walked back toward the house. He returned a few minutes later with an ice pack in one hand, and a pair of ninjato in the other. He tossed one to Sakura and the other to Deidara before sitting down.

Sakura examined the weapon. It was nothing fancy, just a basic training sword. She unsheathed the blade and tossed the scabbard aside, and Deidara did the same. Adrenaline began to pump in her veins again as they faced off in a fighting stance. The majority of the thrill was in the unpredictable. She had no idea how good Deidara was with a sword—he was a long-range fighter and she had never seen him use any weapons other than kunai and shuriken. Her only clue was that he was ANBU a long time ago, meaning he definitely knew how to use a sword, and was probably pretty good if not a bit rusty. At the same time, he had no idea how good _she_ was either. She was never ANBU, but she had convinced Sai to teach her shortly after making jounin, and though she was out of practice after so many years, she was fairly skilled with a blade.

Sakura moved first, flickering as she pushed forward and brought the blade down in a clean slash. Deidara parried and brought his leg around to trip her. She spun away and raised her arms to block his next attack. It took a minute to get used to again, but after a few rough swings and some tricky footwork, she felt herself slipping into a state that was a combination of conscious control and pure instinct, attacking and counter-attacking with a grace and ease attributed to muscle memory. She began to really enjoy herself.

Deidara was giving her a run for her money, but she held up under his skill and incredible speed. From the way he grinned the entire time, she knew he was impressed with her as well. She didn't use chakra in her swings as the jarring force could break his arm or worse, but she did use a little to reinforce her parries and blocks because he was naturally much stronger than her and would quickly drive her back if she didn't.

Several minutes passed in their nearly equal match. Sakura was good, but Deidara was stronger, and due to experience, better. Her energy was beginning to wane and without a chakra boost to her attacks, Deidara was starting to overpower her. Then, in a move she didn't even fully register the mechanics of, he ran his blade down the length of hers and twisted it at the hilt to disarm her. She felt the guard slip from her grasp and immediately reacted to what would have been a fatal mistake in real combat. To defend from his next attack she let go of the sword before it was forced from her grip, and dropped to a crouch as she slammed her fist into the ground.

The earth shattered beneath Deidara's feet and he barely managed to jump away as the ground split in a wide rift. He attached himself to the nearest tree with chakra, crouching against the trunk with a wicked grin. The place she'd occupied was empty, and he registered her blurred movement just before she reached his tree and drove her fist into the trunk. A loud _crack_ rent the air and the tree seemed to explode into splinters. He leapt away as the tree toppled over, and he couldn't help but laugh happily. This was more like it! He hadn't seen Sakura fight like this since the day they kidnapped her all those years ago, and her devastating technique excited him to no end.

Wanting to see more of her artistic destruction, he deliberately landed on the ground and sent a small low-charge missile in her direction. It was hardly more than a firecracker and wouldn't hurt even if it hit her directly, which he knew it wouldn't. As expected, Sakura dodged the tiny explosion and flashed him a playful grin before stomping her booted heel into the ground. The earth beneath him shook and rumbled as the majority of the training area was torn asunder by her power, and rather than a single crack, the entire forest floor ruptured and crumbled. Kisame actually had to get up and move to avoid having his seat upturned.

Deidara leapt onto another tree and flung a few shuriken at her. Sakura dodged and leapt up onto the same tree with him, and he ducked and sprang away from her deadly swing. The tree split in half behind him as he leapt into midair, already molding clay for his next move.

Sakura leapt after him, but her eyes widened in surprise as an enlarged clay hawk appeared and Deidara landed on its back. She tried to grab it but she hadn't propelled herself hard enough and with an irritated growl she fell back to the broken ground as he lifted higher to hover above her. She glared up at him, and he watched her with that smug smile that she normally liked but now only infuriated her.

"What happened to keeping things even?" she shouted up at him.

Deidara laughed. "Hey, you're the one who changed the game! Should've just accepted your loss in the swordfight, yeah."

"I don't give up that easily. And I'm still going to kick your ass!"

"Can't kick it if you can't catch it!" he goaded, and tossed several small birds down after her.

Sakura took off running, dodging the missiles as they exploded with minor force around her. Evading the swift little critters was difficult due to the fact that she'd torn up the training area and her footing was rather treacherous. Several minutes passed this way, with Sakura running and dodging clay projectiles and avoiding tripping, throwing kunai and shuriken at her opponent while he taunted her. This was going nowhere, and she was growing tired. It was almost unfair how much of an advantage he had in combat, but there was no such thing as a fair fight between ninja. She needed to do something drastic if she was going to get the upper hand.

She grabbed hold of one of the tree trunks she'd smashed, used her chakra to lift the giant log and swing it like a bat at the smirking explosives master. It took him by surprise, mostly because she was swinging an _entire tree_ like it was a twig, but his construct was agile and he was able to maneuver away from it. She used the fact that he was concentrating on avoiding a hit—watching the end of the tree rather than her—to create a shadow clone. The clone replaced her in swinging the trunk and she flickered away into the trees. She chose the tallest tree in sight and ran to the top, making sure to keep her chakra masked. Below in the demolished training area, her clone began to swing at Deidara in a way that forced him to maneuver in her direction. He didn't seem to realize she was herding him, and she grinned as the clay bird dodged and evaded and moved steadily within range of her hiding place.

Timed inside a particularly forceful swing that took all of his attention to avoid, Sakura leapt out into the air and grabbed onto the bird's talon. The rapid shifting and twisting as the bird dodged her clone's attacks made it difficult for her to crawl up the back, but it also meant Deidara didn't notice the extra weight or movement. She pulled a kunai free and stealthily slipped behind his kneeling form.

Deidara froze when he felt her breath on his neck, just before the tip of the kunai pressed into the skin of his throat. Well, _shit_. He found her fighting style a little _too_ exciting, and had let himself get distracted.

"Looks like I win," she murmured next to his ear.

The clone below dropped the tree and vanished, allowing him to steady the bird into a gentle hover. He made a sound that was half laugh, half sigh and turned his head a little. "I guess so, yeah" he said with mild annoyance.

She released the pressure of the kunai to avoid nicking him as he turned around to face her. She smirked smugly and crawled closer. "Now that you're at my mercy I have to decide what to do with you," she purred.

"I like the sound of that," he growled, wrapping and arm around her waist as his mouth descended on hers.

The kiss surprised her but she responded eagerly, wrapping her arms around his shoulders as he pulled her closer until she was straddling his lap. His hands roamed up her back and weaved into her hair, his tongue sweeping hungrily into her mouth. She quickly found herself becoming breathless in a way that had nothing to do with the intense training session.

"Hey! What the hell are you two doing up there?" Kisame hollered from the ground below.

They broke apart with matching grins. Luckily the shark couldn't see them from his position. The clay bird slowly descended to the ground and they jumped down as it vanished.

"So who won?"

The smug smile returned to Sakura's face. "I did."

Kisame was slightly surprised by that. "Did you underestimate the Princess and let your guard down?" he asked his partner.

Deidara huffed indignantly, and the beginnings of the frown-pout could be seen on his features. "No, I just got…distracted for a minute."

"Ah, I see." He was about to tease him further but Sakura spoke before he could.

"Sorry I destroyed your training area," she said with a sheepish smile.

He looked around at the torn up ground and broken trees and laughed. "Don't worry about it; it's not the first time. It used to be a lot smaller, but it got expanded after this guy took out so many of the trees. The rain will likely fill these cracks and the ground will settle as it turns to mud. When it dries out it'll be good as new."

Perhaps Kisame had sensed it, for the storm chose that moment to make its appearance with a low rumble of thunder. The sky opened up and began to pelt them with large cold drops.

"Looks like training is over, yeah."

"That was fun, though. It's been a long time since I've gotten a good workout," Sakura said.

The men nodded their agreement, and they gathered up their equipment as the torrent increased. Kisame noticed the kunoichi already moving away from the area. "Where you goin'?"

"I call first shower!" she shouted over her shoulder as she sprinted away.

The two former Akatsuki laughed, and followed her back at a slower pace.

* * *

Sakura made sure her towel was securely tucked in place before pulling the bathroom door open and peeking out. The window at the end of the hall showed it was still raining heavily, a fact further emphasized by the faint drumming on the roof above her. She emerged into the hallway, intending to quickly cover the short distance to her room before anyone saw her. She'd only made it a couple steps when movement caught her eye and she turned her head to see Deidara coming toward her down the hallway.

She gave him a small smile and continued to their room, assuming he would follow her in to grab some things before heading to the shower, but she assumed wrong. Something in his eyes made her pause, and the next thing she knew he closed in on her and grabbed her around the waist. He steered her until her back hit the wall and was kissing her before she could utter a word, pressing into her firmly as his hands roamed over her hips and up her sides. Sakura secretly loved it when he was dominant like this, and her hands fisted in the cloth of his shirt as she parted her lips to the lustful glide of his tongue.

His lips broke from hers but his body shifted even closer, hands splaying below her breasts as he pinned her beneath him. "You know the only reason you won that fight?" he rasped.

The primal tone of his voice and the ghosting of warm breath against her skin caused her to shiver, and she unconsciously arched against him. If his actions on the bird were any clue, it wasn't hard to guess. "Because watching me smash things turned you on?"

An amused growl escaped his lips as he nibbled a trail down the side of her neck toward her collarbone. "Hm…you could say that."

He nudged her leg aside with his knee and a small gasp escaped her as she felt the evidence of that statement rub against her unclothed center. His roaming hands were causing the towel to come loose, and she squirmed a little as she realized this probably wasn't the best place to be doing such things. "Where's—"

"Went to town for some errands," he answered before she finished asking. He kissed up the other side of her neck, teeth closing down on a spot he knew to be sensitive. "Won't be back for a while, yeah."

Sakura moaned breathily. Such a short time together like this and he already knew all the right places to touch her and kiss her, all the perfect spots that melted her into jelly or turned her into a wanton minx. She nearly protested when he stopped nibbling and stilled against her.

Deidara sighed and closed his eyes, hands flexing over her hips as his lips pressed to her cheek. "How do you do this to me?" he murmured softly, his nose nuzzling her face.

The shift in his demeanor surprised her, though the lustfulness was still present in the way he pressed her hips to the wall with his own. "Do what?"

"Make me want you _so bad_." He accentuated his point by pushing a little harder against her as he tightened his grip. "You don't even have to do anything. Every time I'm near you I just feel like I have to touch you, it doesn't matter how."

"Pheromones?" she offered.

His brow creased and his eyes cracked open slightly. "What?"

She smiled at his confusion and shook her head. "Nothing." He wasn't the only one who felt the magnetic pull between them, to be nearer, just to touch even if it was merely a brush of hands. And when it was like _this_…it was nearly overwhelming. Her hands locked behind his neck and she wrapped her leg around his thigh. "Deidara…"

He understood her plea in the whispering of his name, and with a soft groan his mouth ravished hers once more. His splayed hand traveled down her towel-covered stomach and slipped beneath the edge to caress her bare skin. His fingers slowly trailed downward, eliciting a quiet moan from his lover. Her leg around his left her thighs spread, and he brushed light fingertips over her hot, wet womanhood. "Already?" he growled, growing even harder at her eagerness.

Sakura moaned as he continued to stroke her, with little teasing flicks of tongue against her heated flesh intensifying the heat pooling in her core. They hadn't had sex in two days, having been too stressed and exhausted since the attack. Was her body really missing him – craving him – that much? "I want you," she whispered.

Deidara didn't need to be told twice. His hand slipped from between her legs to grasp her thighs and lift her upward. Her legs wrapped around his hips and the he felt the heat of her desire through the fabric of his pants. He groaned softly and leaned into her, wanting to rip that towel off and have her right here. As hot and tempting as the idea sounded, he knew Kisame could return at any time and wouldn't appreciate him doing Sakura against the wall in his hallway. He ground against her a few more times, eliciting soft moans from her with every push of his hips, before pulling her away from the wall and carrying her into their bedroom. He kicked the door closed behind him and she reached over his shoulder to turn the lock before he moved with her to the bed. She peeled his shirt upward, barely breaking their heated kiss as the cloth lifted over his head, and then he pulled the towel free of her body and dropped it as he set a knee on the bed and slowly lowered her down.

But Sakura surprised him, for as soon as her back touched the mattress she used her legs around his waist as leverage and pushed him over until he was the one on his back. She immediately went for the button of his pants and made quick work of removing them along with his boxers until he was just as naked as she was. She took in an appreciative eyeful of the toned and utterly sexy male specimen beneath her, and then gave him a seductive smirk as she began to slowly crawl upward.

Deidara found the sight of the beautiful nude kunoichi stalking up his body like the hellcat she was to be incredibly erotic. He reached out to wrap his arms around her and pull her down but she placed a hand in the center of his chest and shoved him back to the bed. It didn't hurt, but she was forceful enough to make her intention clear. He didn't resist further; with a view like this, he had no arguments about staying put. She ran her tongue along the rim of his ear before pulling the lobe between her teeth. "Feeling frisky, are we?" he murmured, turning his head to try and capture her lips.

Sakura pulled back before he could. "Mmm…you have no idea." Her tongue teasingly dipped into his ear, and she smiled at his sharp intake of breath. "I told you before…that someday soon _I_ would be the one to make _you_ scream…" She trailed off suggestively and moved downward to press heated kisses along his collarbone.

His eyes widened slightly, and he felt a tightening in his groin at the ideas she conjured. He sighed pleasurably at the sensations of her lips and tongue on his skin, and he brought his hands up to caress whatever parts of her he could reach from his position. She allowed it, not minding if he touched her as long as he didn't try to take control. He was okay with that, for although he was usually the one in control when it came to sex, with the way she was moving and touching him right now he didn't think he would mind sitting back and letting her take over. Besides, her provocative words had him curious as to what she intended, and to whether or not she would actually be able to pull it off.

Sakura placed hot, open mouthed kisses down the plane of his chest, leaving a moist trail in her wake. Her tongue traced over the dark lines of his seal and his hand came up to cradle her head, fingers weaving into her hair. She flicked her tongue over a flat nipple before closing her teeth in a playful nip, smiling satisfactorily at the pleasured hiss from her lover. She continued downward, kissing, licking and nibbling her way over the smooth ridges of his abdomen. Her tongue ran along that sexy ridge of muscle just over his hipbone, and she was rewarded with the first small moan from him.

Deidara jerked a little as her fingers trailed down his sides and over his stomach, and she smirked as she remembered he was just slightly ticklish. Her hands and mouth moved steadily lower, and she found that she was arousing_ herself_ with thoughts of what she had in store for him. It was time for a little payback, for all those times he made her wail like a banshee and left her a quivering pile of jelly. She had no complaints at all about what a devastating lover he was, but he was just so smug about it…and, well, two could play _that _game.

Another hiss escaped his lips as she took him in her hand. Her fingers closed around him and gently stroked up the hard length, and he groaned softly as her thumb grazed over the smooth tip. The ends of her hair ghosted over the sensitive skin above his groin as she moved lower, her hand continuing the gentle pumping rhythm.

Deidara watched every move she made, the visual stimulation nearly as erotic as the physical. She looked up from her position between his legs and locked that fiery emerald gaze onto his, her lips curling in a sensual smirk just before she slowly ran her tongue over his head. Her smirk turned utterly wicked, and his eyes widened as she licked her lips and her tongue took on a faint bluish glow. _Chakra_. _Oh, shi_—

Her tongue swirled around the tip in a slow circular motion, and the tingling of her chakra sent erotic vibrations down the entire length of his shaft. His head fell back against the pillow and a strangled moan escaped him at the overwhelming sensation. Her hand continued its slow rhythm as she worked her mouth over him, lapping and kissing every inch before taking him in her mouth and gently sucking. It was so intense he felt it reverberate through his entire body. His fingers tightened in her hair and it was so hard not to thrust upward into her mouth. Every lap of her tongue felt so fucking good he was moaning audibly, but he didn't care. "Sakura…oh _fuuuck_—"

Sakura felt the heat flood her core as he abandoned all pretense of control and fell apart under her touch as she had done for him so many times. He had barely touched her, but the fact that she had him so worked up turned her on immensely.

His hips now moved of their own accord as she sent him careening toward the edge. It felt so good, but he didn't want to leave her behind. "Sakura…if you don't stop I'm gonna…" She merely quickened her rhythm, swirling her tongue around the tip before taking him into her mouth as far as he could go. Another strangled groan escaped him as she increased the chakra flow. He lost it. His back arched and he actually cried out as he came, so intense and overwhelming it made his eyes roll back in his head. She never stopped sucking, extending his release and taking in every last drop. His hips jerked involuntarily as she continued to kiss his hypersensitive flesh as he came down. He was panting in the aftermath of the most powerful orgasm of his life, and hadn't realized his fists were clenched tightly in the sheets until he released them to find the joints stiff.

Sakura crawled up his body to lay atop him, a blatantly smug smirk on her lips. He wrapped his arms around her and gave her a silly lopsided grin. "Wow…" he murmured.

She smiled happily and lowered her head to press soft kisses over his chest. "That's what you get for torturing me so many times."

"In that case I'll have to do it more often, yeah."

She laughed softly and gave him a playful swat. His hands roamed over her hips and he shifted as he tried to roll them over. She stopped him with a gentle but firm hand over his hip. "What do you think you're doing, mister?"

"Returning the favor."

She shook her head slowly. "I want you inside me."

Deidara was still raring to go mentally, but his body wasn't cooperating after what she'd done to it. "I gotta recover from that first. May take a bit."

"What happened to my insatiable artist?" she teased.

"You gave him the world's best blowjob and he died a happy man, yeah."

Sakura laughed softly. "That's no problem. When I said I could do just about anything to your body with chakra, it wasn't an exaggeration," she purred seductively.

His brow quirked curiously, but she merely pressed her lips to his in a soft kiss before rising up to straddle him. She took hold of his flaccid member and his eyes widened again as her hand began to glow with chakra once more. Then his mouth fell open in amazement as she sent her chakra beneath his skin and channeled the bloodflow to his groin. It felt strange but it also felt oddly good, and within seconds he was rock hard again. "Holy fuck…"

Sakura merely smiled in that seductively smug way and leaned up to kiss him again. Their tongues twined in a sensual dance as she positioned herself over him, both of them moaning into each other's mouths as she slowly sank down until he was buried inside her. She began to rock back and forth against him, and the feeling of him filling her so fully and perfectly was incredible. Sakura was so aroused by this point that her release came almost immediately, and she ground against him with a throaty moan as the waves of orgasm washed over her. She came down from the high to find herself still very much aroused, the heat rapidly building within her again. Deidara gripped her tightly and lifted his hips beneath her, hitting a spot deep inside and making her moan loudly. She grasped his hands and interlocked their fingers as she sat up fully and continued to rock back and forth, up and down, then began rolling her hips in slow grinding circles as she neared climax again. She could see he was getting close as well, and the look of concentrated bliss on his features as she rode him only increased her desire. He pulled his hands from hers and ran them up her flat stomach, then cupped her gently bouncing breasts and pulled her nipples into the mouths.

Her rhythm increased and her moans went up an octave she began to topple over the edge again. The contracting, liquid heat combined with the way she screamed his name in ecstasy were too much and he soon found himself following her, gripping her hips and driving her down onto him as he groaned in release.

Sakura leaned forward and slumped atop him in a boneless heap, a breathy laugh escaping her lips. "Damn. I needed that."

Deidara laughed softly and pressed his lips to the moist skin of her neck as he stroked up and down her back. "I think _you're_ the insatiable one, yeah."

"Mmm…" She raised her head to plant a lingering kiss on his lips as she slipped off of him and collapsed at his side. She rested her chin on his chest and placed lazy kisses against his skin, cooing in delight as his fingers tenderly combed through her damp hair.

A few minutes passed in silence, and then; "Sakura?"

"Hm?"

"What are pheromones?"

She burst into laughter, recalling what she said in the hallway. When she finally stopped giggling and managed to look up at him, she smiled at the adorably confused look on his face. "Well, essentially they're chemicals the brain emits, which stimulate certain reactions in others of the species. They're released as a scent only detectable by humans on a subconscious level."

He thought about it for a moment, and then gave her a strange look. "You mean like animals in heat or something?"

She laughed again. "Basically, though not quite that blatant, and it doesn't necessarily have to do with reproduction. Medical studies have shown that pheromones are a big part of what makes us attracted to a person, and possibly play a bigger role than physical appearance."

Deidara smirked at his little medic. He had a feeling she would talk for hours about all sorts of scientific stuff…but he had other ideas. He rolled over and pinned her beneath him. "Hm, well, I don't need anything like that to tell me how attracted I am to you, yeah." He placed a sensual kiss to the hollow of her throat. "And it has nothing to do with physical appearance either."

"Nothing at all?" she asked teasingly as she ran her hands up his smooth back, nails lightly grazing.

His muscles rippled slightly under her touch and he smirked against her skin. "Well…maybe a little," he said, and then bent to capture her lips in a slow, passionate kiss. She was gorgeous and sexy as hell, but he found her beautiful and irresistible in so many ways that had nothing to do with her looks. It was why he… He pulled back slowly and met her depthless jade gaze. "Sakura…"

She smiled up at him and tenderly brushed a stray strand of his hair aside. The look in his eyes made her heart swell. "Mm?"

"I…"

"_OI! Where the hell are you guys? I brought food!" _The sound of the screen door slamming shut echoed along with Kisame's gruff bellowing.

A quiet huff escaped Deidara's lips. _Way to ruin the moment, fish-face._ Sakura seemed totally unaware of what he'd intended, so he tried to ask his annoyance at the interruption.

"What were you saying?" she asked him.

He gave her a small, wistful smile and shook his head. "Nothin," he said quietly, and kissed her one more time before sitting up.

Sakura knew that was a lie. He had definitely been about to tell her something, and from the expression on his face a moment ago it seemed pretty damn important, too. She sighed inaudibly and sat up as well. She knew pressing him about whatever it was would only irritate him and then he might not tell her at all. She had a few things to tell him too, and was waiting for the right moment. But as she watched him get dressed she couldn't help but smile. He would tell her when he was ready, and she could only hope it was what she thought it was.

* * *

Later that night, Sakura lay in bed listening to the sound of the rain. Throughout the day it had alternated between heavy torrents and a more regular tempo, but hadn't once stopped. She loved the rain, even the fact that so many of her painful memories had happened when it was raining didn't greatly diminish the soothing, peaceful feeling the sound brought to her. It was a good thing then that it was raining now, because she definitely needed something to calm her growing anxiety.

Her attention refocused at the sound of the bedroom door opening, and she turned her head. Deidara had just come from the shower, and she smiled at him as he closed the door with a soft click. She rolled onto her side and propped up on one elbow to watch him, eyes roaming appreciatively over his toned bare torso, admiring how his pants rode low and gave her a peek at his hipbones.

"See something you like?" he drawled, for though he was facing away he could feel her eyes burning into him.

Her smile widened. "Very much so, yes."

He threw his towel over the back of the chair before moving to the bed. "What if I object to being objectified, hm?" He pulled the covers back and slipped in to lie facing her.

Sakura laughed and pushed his shoulder lightly. "You know you love it."

He gave her his usual smirk and his hand roamed up her thigh to settle on her hip beneath the blanket. She inched a little closer and closed her eyes, enjoying their closeness, breathing in his freshly showered scent. She wished they could stay like this forever. She wished all of their problems would just go away and they could stay here, happy and relaxed and carefree. She knew that once this storm passed – probably tomorrow, Kisame had said – they would begin planning an attack against those who wished them harm. Tonight might be the last chance she had to talk to him about what was on her mind.

"Deidara…?" she began quietly, her fingers tracing the lines of his seal.

"Hm?" he murmured just as quietly. His thumb stroked slowly back and forth over her hip.

"I've been thinking…"

"About…?"

She took a deep, quiet breath. "Is this really necessary, this whole retribution thing? Don't get me wrong," she added when she saw his brow pull down in a frown, "I do want Yotsuba to pay for trying to kill us and I agree about taking him out. But I mean, we could sneak into his house at night or something. It would be easy. We don't have to destroy his complex and kill any of his men who get in the way… And as far as Shingo…he hasn't even done anything to us yet."

"He will, yeah," Deidara said, and though he remained quiet his tone was stern. "You know he will. Do you really want to wait until he tries to kill us too before doing anything about it? Do you want to wait until we're attacked in our sleep again?"

Her brow creased anxiously. "No…it's just…"

"You're being too soft-hearted about this, Sakura. Our enemies don't have to worry about an entire village backing us up. We're all alone out here, yeah. You can't afford this kind of compassion."

"I know," she muttered. "It's not really about compassion though. I'm worried about the repercussions this could have on us."

His frown deepened. "What do you mean?"

"This won't go down quietly, and I don't think it's a good idea to draw this kind of attention to ourselves, especially not you. You're supposed to be dead. What you're planning to do is a good as leaving a calling card saying Deidara of Akatsuki is still alive and causing trouble. And now Kisame is with us…you have to know how it will look—like Akatsuki isn't as dead and gone as everyone thought. That could lead to a whole mess of problems we don't want," she tried to explain.

Deidara remained adamant, and shook his head dismissively. "It's not like we're gonna rampage the countryside. Any suspicion will die down when nothing else happens afterward and we fall off the radar again. One incident with some civilian crime boss isn't going to raise any red flags because no one knows were alive, yeah."

He noticed the troubled, almost guilty expression in her eyes before her gaze fell, but he misinterpreted it. His own expression softened somewhat, and he reached up to brush a stray strand of pink hair from her brow. "You understand why I'm doing this, right?" She looked up again at his softer tone. "I'm doing this so we don't have to run or hide from anyone, and we can live the way we want to live without worrying. I don't want to come that close to losing you again. I'm trying to protect you."

His quiet words pulled at her heart, and with a faint smile she softly brought her fingertips to his cheek. "Deidara…"

"I won't change my mind, Sakura. Not on this. I'll do whatever it takes to keep us safe."

She wasn't going to get past his stubbornness, and definitely couldn't fight against something even stronger: his pride. She sighed and shook her head in frustration. "You don't get it, Deidara. I'm trying to protect you too. I…I can't lose you again, and I'm afraid of what will happen if we do this! I don't want you, or Kisame for that matter, to be chased by hunter nins and targeted again because of this!"

Suspicion crept into his mind, and his eyes narrowed slightly. He could tell this was more than a theoretical concern. She was truly worried about something. "Nowadays hunter nins only go after shinobi their village considers a direct threat to them. Why would hunters come after us when all the villages think we're dead? What are you not telling me, Sakura…" he asked slowly.

Sakura closed her eyes and sighed. She had to tell him the truth. He may get angry at her for keeping it from him, but she could live with that if he realized how real her concerns were and stopped acting so reckless. "Before we were attacked, when I went out that day to get dinner for us…I ran into Temari of the Sand."

His brow furrowed slightly as he recalled the former Sand kunoichi. "The Kazekage's sister?" he clarified.

She nodded. "She's with Konoha now; she's married to the Hokage. And I didn't actually run into her…she said she saw me earlier that day and waited until I was alone to approach me."

His gaze sharpened intently, but he remained silent.

"Of course she wanted an explanation. So I told her…pretty much everything. About us being partners, the basics of the mission—though I left out the trouble we had with it. And she knows about us being together…I guess she saw something. I also explained to her that the reason you're listed as dead is because you wanted to be, that you wanted out of Akatsuki and just wanted to disappear. I didn't tell her about Kisame. I tried to make her understand that you're not up to any trouble and it's okay to leave you in peace. She believed me, and though she said she was going to tell the Hokage about you, they weren't going to do anything about it."

Deidara exhaled a long, slow breath, bordering somewhere between angry and not. "Why didn't you tell me about this before?"

"I wasn't really trying to hide it from you. But then we were attacked, and so much has been going on the last couple days… Are you mad at me?" she asked hesitantly.

He sighed again, and shook his head. "No…not really. But this still doesn't explain what you're so worried about. You said she believed you and wasn't going to do anything with the information you gave her, so what's the problem?"

"That's just it! I told her you were finished doing the _exact_ kind of thing you're planning to do! And it doesn't help that the very night I talked to her, the hotel she _knew_ we were staying in blew up! You know how that had to look at first glance…and what do you think it will look like when a few days later an entire factory complex in the same town goes up in flames?"

"Like you lied, yeah. Like you're my accomplice—"

She groaned and rolled her eyes before smacking him in the shoulder. "No you idiot! I don't care about any of that! I care about _you_, and I don't want the heat to come down on you for this. Yotsuba isn't worth it!"

Deidara regarded her with a troubled frown. "But _you_ are," he said quietly. "As long as you're safe…then I don't care what happens after, yeah."

Sakura stared at him, eyes burning. "Deidara…_I_ care! I don't want you to have to go on the run, especially not for me. Don't you understand how important you are to me? If I lose you I don't know what I'll—" She trailed off quietly, too upset to continue.

Deidara sighed and reached out to her, and she buried her head in his chest. He felt bad for upsetting her enough to make her cry. "I'm sorry," he murmured into her hair, "but I won't back down this time. I _can't_. Don't be so upset, it's not as bad as you make it sound, yeah." She only clung to him tighter, and he stroked her hair. "I promise we'll keep the collateral damage to a minimum, and we'll try not to do things that may leave a 'calling card' as you put it, okay?"

She didn't respond right away, but eventually gave him a small nod and raised her head to meet his gaze again. "Promise me you won't do anything too risky…or reckless."

He would promise her the moon and stars when she looked at him like that, with those big luminous eyes full of crystal tears. He brushed a trace of moisture from her cheek with his thumb and gave her a faint smile. "I promise, yeah."

Sakura understood why he wouldn't give in this time, but she was still upset by it. Some things about him would never change, even for her. "I'll figure something out," she said, almost to herself. "We'll be okay." There had to be a way, because she wasn't going to let anything get in the way of their happiness. Nothing would take him away from her as long as she had any power to stop it.


	13. What it Takes

**Silver Lining**

Chapter Thirteen: What it Takes

* * *

They arrived in the large industrial city where Yotsuba operated in late afternoon and found a small inn on the outskirts where they could lay low until nightfall. The three of them sat in the dimly lit room with the window open for ventilation, making last minute preparations to their weapons and waiting for darkness to descend.

Sakura hadn't been very talkative for the past two days. Deidara didn't really know what to make of that, and Kisame didn't want to interfere with whatever was going on between them. And so here they were with only the faint scraping of a whetstone against a kunai to break the rather heavy silence.

Once the storm passed they had gathered what equipment they would need and left Kisame's house. They traveled first to the main city on the small island, a bustling and noisy seaport where they obtained the information they needed. Since both merchants were involved in the shipping industry as well as the black market, it was relatively easy to get information about them. Yotsuba's base of operations was already known, but they had no idea where to find Shingo. All they had to do was ask around the shadier establishments, letting their less than friendly appearances convince those they talked with to spill details. They had left the island the next morning and flown through the day until they reached their destination.

Deidara inspected his clay to make sure there were no inconsistencies, and occasionally stole troubled glances at the kunoichi sitting at the other end of the bed. She wasn't really angry with him, but she wasn't happy either. She'd told him she was worried about drawing the wrong kind of attention, but he also knew she didn't like the idea of outright destroying the two merchants. She hadn't said argued because she accepted that it had to be done – that it was them or her – but she was still a compassionate person and didn't like to be ruthless. For so many years that was all Deidara knew, all he was allowed to be, and that was where their biggest differences lay. It may be the one thing they would never be able to see eye-to eye-about. It quite obviously bothered her, and that concerned him because it wasn't exactly a minor issue.

Her behavior quite frankly had him at a bit of a loss. He found that he was unhappy because _she_ was unhappy, and he felt a weird sort of anxiety he couldn't really define. He wanted her to stop being upset with him and act normal again, but he didn't know what to say or do other than give in to her, and that was something he couldn't do this time. So he let her be and hoped things would go back to the way they were after this was over.

Sakura slid her kunai back into her holster and returned the sharpening kit to her bag before standing and stretching her legs a little. "I'm going out for a few minutes. I'll be back in a while," she said as she turned toward the door.

Both men looked up at her in surprise.

"Where are you going?" Deidara asked quickly.

"I just need to take care of something. I shouldn't be gone long."

Deidara set his bag aside and stood up. "I'll go with you."

She resisted the urge to sigh. "I need to go by myself," she said quietly but firmly.

His brow turned in a small frown and he stepped closer to her. "It's not a good idea for us to walk around in this town, especially not alone," he said in the same tone.

This time Sakura did sigh, and then made a quick hand seal. With a soft pop a brunette, dark eyed and more voluptuous version of herself gazed back at him. "Better?"

Deidara stared at her for a moment, slightly unsettled because it was still her face but the rest of her looked so different, and he decided he _much_ preferred the natural version. He sighed in defeat. "Alright. Just be careful, yeah?"

"I will." She gave him a small reassuring smile before turning for the door again.

"What's with the boobs?" Kisame asked, grinning at her large illusionary bosom.

Sakura couldn't help but laugh a little. "No one could possibly think it's me with boobs like this."

The shark man chuckled, shaking his head. "Never thought I'd say this, but you look better small."

"I agree," Deidara muttered.

Sakura wasn't bothered by the topic of her fake chest, probably because the playful banter helped to break up some of the tension. "That makes three of us," she replied before opening the door. "I'll be back soon."

When she was gone Deidara sighed and sat back on the bed.

"She pissed at you or something?" Kisame asked without looking up from the unwrapped Samehada in his lap.

Deidara shook his head in frustration and rubbed the back of his neck. "I don't know…she wanted to kill Yotsuba quietly. She's not happy about what we're planning to do, yeah."

The shark nodded sagely. "No…I don't imagine she would be. Why won't you do it her way?"

His expression darkened. "Because I want that bastard to see his death coming, and not be able to do a damn thing. I want him to know _who_ is killing him and _why_, and to know before he dies that he fucked with the wrong people, yeah."

"I figured as much."

"Her main problem is she doesn't want us to draw attention to ourselves."

Kisame nodded again. "Well you know she's probably right about that. But I also think she doesn't like to see your dark side, at least not to this extreme."

"She knows what I was…and she's seen us both do worse, yeah." His tone was slightly dismissive, but his brow creased in a frown, as though he didn't quite believe his own words.

"Yeah, but she thought differently of us back then. She's also not as desensitized as we are. She may know what you're capable of and care about you anyway, but that doesn't mean she wants to be reminded firsthand. You may want to tone it down a little," the shark advised.

"I already told her I would."

It was quiet for a moment, and then Kisame fixed the younger man with a wicked grin. "Good, 'cause we don't want the princess to dump you and come running to my arms, now do we?"

"…Don't make me kill you."

* * *

Sakura made her way through the bustling, noisy streets toward the city center. Being a large industrial town, it was nearly as active at night as it was during the day. The sun was setting but it was only slightly less crowded, and the many vendors lining the streets showed no signs of closing up. This was a good thing—it was easier to blend in, easier to get lost in the crowd.

Not that she expected assassins to be lurking around every corner, but she was on guard anyway. Paranoia was a ninja's best defense. Years of experience made it second nature to always keep an eye out for potential threats, but it was different this time because she was actively being targeted.

She knew this was why Deidara was so determined to eliminate the threat against them. She understood what he was trying to do, and he said he was only trying to protect her, but he was completely missing _her_ point. Or he was ignoring it, and that was what bothered her.

He didn't seem to realize that if he drew the attention of the hidden villages and had to go on the run, of course she would go on the run with him. He would try to stop her, maybe even try to leave her to keep her safe. But for her there was no question—there was nowhere else she wanted to be more than Deidara's his side, no matter how bad things got. She could have just told him that if he put himself in danger he would be putting _her_ in danger too, but she just didn't feel right about emotional blackmail.

So she decided to find another way.

She was really frustrated with Deidara right now, and he knew it. The stupid man had no sense of self-preservation, and she was surprised his reckless methods hadn't gotten him killed years before she even met him. If he wasn't so skilled and powerful she was sure he would have been long ago. However his skill only made him arrogant on top of being reckless, so it was no wonder he was infamous for being a wildcard and a maniac. He wasn't as bad as his reputation, but he just didn't think things through sometimes.

Well, she wasn't going to let him get himself into trouble for her sake. He may not care what happened to himself, but _she_ did, and she wasn't about to let something as inane as a heist gone wrong ruin her last chance at happiness.

After the war began her life had been hard and full of sorrow, and the past two years on her own had been a living hell. Finding Deidara again and letting him back into her heart had shown her a glimpse of a life she thought was no longer possible, of the kind of love and happiness she thought was forever beyond her reach.

She would protect that hope at all costs.

Neither of her partners in crime knew what she was up to, and Deidara would definitely not like what she was planning, but she didn't care. He would just have to deal with it. His obstinacy had left her with few options, and this was the best she could come up with. She was taking the necessary steps to insure a peaceful future for them.

At last Sakura reached the center of the city, and began looking for the largest, fanciest hotel the town offered. As expected, she located it not far from the City Hall. This would almost certainly be the right place.

She checked her appearance one last time before going in, altering the henge slightly to look more impressive and well dressed, and then approached the entrance. A streetside bellhop opened the door for her with a slight bow and she entered the ornate lobby. She stopped before the concierge desk, rang the little bell, and waited to be acknowledged.

It wasn't long before a stuffy-looking elderly man appeared before her. "How may I help you, madam?"

Sakura straightened and put on an authoritative air. "I need to speak with the ambassador from the hidden village of Konoha, would you please page her for me?"

The concierge stared at her for a moment, as it was obviously strange for someone to walk in off the street and ask such a thing. "May I inquire as to your business with the ambassador, miss…?"

She frowned a little and tried to look more intimidating. "It is a matter of political discretion, and it is quite urgent."

The concierge swallowed and nodded shortly. "I understand. Unfortunately the ambassadors have gone to dinner with the mayor this evening, and it is unknown when they will return."

Sakura sighed in frustration. She didn't have time to wait around!

"If you would like to return in the morning…"

She shook her head. "That's not possible. Can I leave a message with you?"

The man quailed a little under her hard stare. "Of course. I will make sure she gets it immediately upon her return."

Sakura nodded and grabbed the notepad he offered and pen from the desktop. This was not what she originally planned, but there was no time to track Temari down or wait for her to come back. She couldn't write in code because it would make her look more suspicious, and she couldn't trust anyone at the moment – even hotel clerks – so she chose her words carefully to be perfectly understandable to the recipient, but vague and meaningless to anyone else. When she finished she read over the short message one last time.

_Nara Temari – _

_I need to speak with you. I know you understand why. _

_Meet me at the city's central park near where we met last week, tomorrow at 2 p.m._

_He will be with me, as this matter concerns all of us. Trust me, and please come alone._

Satisfied the other kunoichi would understand, she folded the slip in half, reached over the desk and pulled a strip of tape from the dispenser to seal the note and then handed it to the concierge. "Remember, it's very important she get this _tonight_," she instructed firmly.

The man nodded quickly. "Or course, madam. I will see to it personally."

Sakura nodded in and turned to leave.

"Would you like to leave a name…?" he called behind her.

She paused and turned her head over her shoulder. "She will know." Then she walked out of the building.

* * *

"Where the hell did she go? It's already full dark outside…we need to get going soon."

Deidara didn't reply, merely continued to stare out the window with his arms crossed over his chest as he'd been for the past fifteen minutes. He was worried about her alone out there, in this city full of men who worked for Yotsuba.

A minute later they felt Sakura's chakra signature flare minutely outside the room, announcing her presence so they wouldn't attack her when she came in. The door opened and the kunoichi entered, and she closed it quietly behind her before dropping the henge. Both men stared at her curiously, but she had no intention of telling them where she'd gone just yet, and they were perceptive enough to understand that. Though she could see Deidara was practically biting his tongue not to ask.

"Is everything ready?" she asked.

"Just waitin on you, Princess."

Sakura couldn't bring herself to feel contrite about holding them up. Instead she nodded curtly and checked her pack to make sure she had everything she would need.

Deidara moved to her side and bent his head close to hers. "Hey," he said quietly, his hand coming up to gently hold her forearm.

She looked up and met his concerned gaze.

"I know you don't like this…and if you don't want to be part of it, Kisame and I can go–"

"So you don't need my help?" she said sharply, her eyes narrowing slightly.

Kisame moved to stand near the door and became very focused on the wrappings of his sword, his face schooled into an unreadable expression.

Deidara frowned. "…No, that's not what I meant."

Sakura stiffened. "How can you even say something like that to me? First of all, Yotsuba is trying to kill me too. This is as much my fight as it is yours. Secondly, I'm not some damsel who needs to be kept out of harm's way all the time. And finally, there's no way in hell I'm going to sit back here and worry about the two of you, and not be there if either of you need medical attention. With everything you know about me…you should _know_ that, you jackass."

Deidara felt a sinking feeling in his gut as he absorbed her meaning. She had told him that several of her friends had died while she wasn't there, and being a medic, she would always wonder if she could have done something, or at least have had a chance to say goodbye. She irrationally blamed herself for her absence. He _really_ should have thought before saying something like that. He really _was_ an ass. He looked down and away from her hard, bright gaze, and fumbled for a moment for something to say. "I was just…"

Sakura suppressed the sudden wave of emotion. Her frustration and agitation weren't really about _this_. Deidara was only trying to take care of her and protect her, and she had bitten his head off because of a much deeper issue that wasn't his fault at all. Now looking at his guilty and slightly hurt expression, she felt awful. She sighed and took hold of his hand. "I know," she said quietly, "I didn't mean to snap at you. I'm just a little on edge." He looked up, eyes searching her face, and she could see the unspoken thoughts and a hint of uncertainty there. She squeezed his fingers. "We'll talk later, okay? Right now we need to stay focused. We have a score to settle."

Deidara nodded and squeezed her fingers in return before letting go. "Let's get this over with, yeah."

Kisame pushed himself off the wall and strapped Samehada to his back, looking for all the world like he hadn't heard a thing. The shark nin loved to tease, but he also knew when to lay off and let it lie. "Lead the way," he said with gruff cheerfulness.

With that, the three shinobi headed downstairs, and dropped the room key at the front desk on their way out.

* * *

Several men of the night shift were walking across the large open yard of the factory complex, heading toward the break room, when the strange white object landed in the middle of the enclosure. Murmurs of curiosity spread among the crowd as they stopped and stared at the cat-sized _thing_ that suddenly dropped out of the sky.

A few of the mercenaries approached the object for a closer look. As they drew near, it became obvious that it was a bird—some kind of abstract parrot. Its wings were wrapped around its body and it didn't appear to be moving. In fact, it didn't appear to be alive at all.

That was, until the strange bird-shaped thing suddenly emitted a high pitched caw and its wings flapped straight out to its sides.

A few men were startled and stepped back at the abrupt action.

"What the hell…?" said one.

A few laughs went around at their comrade's jumpiness. One of the more grizzled men knelt down to inspect the bird-object. "What're you sissies so scared of? Some kid prolly just lost his toy."

As if in response, the little bird cawed again and flapped its wings. A few more laughs went around. The crowd had grown to a couple dozen men by now.

The kneeling man poked at the bird with a look of distaste. "Weird little thing, ain't it? Kinda ugly if you ask–"

_BOOM!_

Many of the men surrounding the bird-bomb were knocked unconscious. The ones closest to the creature—weren't so lucky. Shouts of alarm rang out as the men who escaped harm were knocked back or ran away from the blast. The explosion brought the rest of the mercenaries out of the building and into the yard, and the gate guards were running to the source of commotion as well.

The men who had seen the little white bird explode – those who were still conscious and alive – shouted in panic and ran back as a much larger white bird descended from the sky. The bird swooped low and three dark figures leapt from its back to land in the center of the yard. The bird continued to fly past and screeched loudly as it picked up speed, heading toward the main factory in the distance. In shock and uncontrollably fascinated, the mercenaries in the yard could only stare as the resounding boom and large ball of explosive flame burst from the side of the building.

As the blast died down, the three figures now had everyone's undivided attention. Murmurs of alarmed recognition went round as the smoke cleared and the two smaller figures came into focus. The blond man in front reached both hands into pouches attached to his belt and fixed the crowd with a malevolent smirk.

"Anyone who doesn't feel like dying for their boss tonight…now would be the time to get the fuck out, yeah."

Many of them did just that, either backing away slowly or outright running from the scene. But the more aggressive – and higher paid – mercenaries drew weapons and began to close in around the trio. Suddenly a group of men that were obviously shinobi leapt down from the roof of the main office building. The other men took this as their cue to attack, and the fight was on.

It didn't last long. Only twenty or so of Yotsuba's men remained, and numbers like that didn't stand a chance against two former Akatsuki and the student of a legendary Sannin. Thug after thug hit the ground or flew through the air from miniature bombs, chakra-laden kicks and monstrous sword swings as the three cleared a path to the office door.

They knew their target was still inside because there was only one door and Deidara had planted spider-bomb traps on all of the windows before dropping the first bomb in the yard. As they neared the building, Sakura separated from the two men to head off another group of guards that had just run from the other end of the complex. Deidara and Kisame paused, but she motioned for them to go on without her.

"I'll stay out here and make sure no one gets in the building," she said over her shoulder. Probably she didn't want to witness what was about to go down in there anyway.

They nodded in acknowledgement and climbed the steps. With one forceful kick from Kisame, the door was knocked off its hinges, and they disappeared inside.

Sakura turned her attention back to the handful of late arrivals, giving them her best 'don't fuck with me' glare. "We're only here for Yotsuba. You're all effectively unemployed, if you know what I mean. I don't want to have to kill you. If you're smart you'll just turn and walk away."

She expected at least a few of them to turn tail like before, but instead, they laughed.

A man in front gave her a scathing look. "You? Kill us? Little girl, I'd like to see you try."

Sakura's blood boiled at not being taken seriously by these common thugs. "I don't have to try with the likes of you. But suit yourself…" She slammed her fist into the ground.

* * *

A rumble from outside and a tremor beneath their feet told the partners that the fight had begun, and Sakura was obviously winning. They made their way to the back of the building unhindered. Yotsuba didn't have devoted men—they were only as loyal as their paychecks and with the exception of those outside with Sakura, had all left or been neutralized.

The door to Yotsuba's office was closed, but another hard kick from the sadistically grinning shark and it went flying off its hinges as well.

The man himself was at his desk. Thick cigar smoke filled the room, the source of which was held between the portly merchant's lips as usual. His arms were crossed over his barrel-chest, and he fixed them with a baleful look. "I don't suppose I need to ask what you're doing here," he said in a flat tone that covered anything he might be feeling at the moment.

Deidara glared at him with icy, murderous eyes.

Yotsuba looked away from that cold stare and down at his desk, where the forbidden scroll and the sword lay before him. He took a long, slow drag on his cigar, savoring the sweet smoke as if it were the last he would ever taste of it. He most certainly knew that it was.

"Where's that bitch of a woman I hired along with you? Or did she actually manage to die in that explosion like you were supposed to?"

Kisame grinned, knowing whatever small speck of mercy his partner may have intended had just flown out the window.

"She's outside, taking care of what's left of your peons," Deidara said.

"Ah. Who's your friend?"

The shark's grin widened. "Hoshigake Kisame. A former business partner." He could almost respect the man for maintaining his dignity in the face of death. Almost.

Yotsuba's brow furrowed just slightly in understanding. "I see..."

Deidara's lips curled in a vicious smirk. "Your death wish must be pretty strong to do what you did, knowing who we are, yeah."

The stout man gave a small snort. "Well…I was pretty much counting on you both to die," he said, his voice dripping with irony. Another drag on the cigar, and then he removed it from his mouth with perceptibly trembling fingers and stubbed it out in the ashtray. He sighed heavily. "But then…I guess I suppose I should have known."

Kisame grinned his most vicious. "You should have known."

Deidara moved forward.

* * *

Sakura clapped the dust from her gloves and sat on the metal railing of the steps. She crossed her arms over her chest and looked around at the scene of battle, rolling her eyes again at the group she had just dealt with, now comatose – or maybe worse, she hadn't checked – on the ground a short distance away. As her eyes roamed her brow steadily pulled down into a frown. Blood spattered the ground in many places, as well as charring and detonation marks here and there. Quite a few of the bodies lying around the broken-up concrete yard were definitely _not_ unconscious. She hadn't really paid attention to either Deidara's or Kisame's individual battles, but now she could see they hadn't been nearly as lenient as she had. But then, she hadn't expected them to be.

She _really_ didn't like doing this sort of thing. She was a medic, and moreover, she was a compassionate person by nature. But she was a shinobi, and this is what shinobi _did_. This is what shinobi _are_. War and a lifetime of experience had hardened and jaded her somewhat, but she still always tried to keep the body count to a minimum on both sides. She consoled herself with the knowledge that these men had been given the chance to escape, and had chosen not to. Like Yotsuba, they brought it upon themselves.

The complex was quiet now that the fighting was over. Only the occasional grunt or moan from an unconscious thug could be heard. Either no one had thought to sound an alarm, or there wasn't one. Furthermore, there was no indication of any local authorities coming toward the complex. Those explosions couldn't have gone completely unnoticed. The factory _was_ on fire after all. Of course, she wasn't complaining that no outside forces had shown up.

Suddenly a blood-curdling scream rent the quiet air. Sakura closed her eyes tight and gripped the railing, trying not to think about what sorts of things would make a man scream like that. _Don't go in there. You can't go in there. You don't want to see… _She repeated the thought like a mantra as the screaming continued and eventually died out with a final horrific choking sound.

Several minutes passed in silence after that. Sakura was beginning to grow concerned about her two partners still in there, and was contemplating going in to find them when she heard rustling and footsteps from inside, and she turned to see Deidara and Kisame emerge. The shark was holding the scroll in one hand, and she was slightly surprised to see Deidara was carrying the sword.

She moved forward quickly to meet them, brow creasing as she took in their appearances. She hadn't really had a chance to look at them since they stormed the complex, but now she could see they were a little roughed-up, as she was, but worse. She brought her hands to Deidara's chest, automatically checking him for injury. Her hands moved over his shoulders to his neck and then his face, and she held his gaze steadily. There was still a trace of the cold killer there in his eyes, but she wouldn't look away. This was part of him. If she accepted him she had to accept this too, even if she would never like it.

"Is any of that blood yours?" she asked, her tone a strange mix of relief and stiffness.

He shook his head faintly. "No."

"Are you injured at all?"Another negative. She nodded acceptingly and turned to Kisame. "What about you?" she asked, running her hands over his bulky torso as well in a cursory, more formal inspection.

"Nope. I'm right as rain, Princess."

That just didn't sound right, considering the situation. Her eyes trailed down to the enormous sword in the shark's hand. Samehada's wrappings were torn open and hanging in red tatters, and she tried not to focus too much on the little fleshy bits stuck here and there in the serrated teeth. What's worse was the sentient weapon was literally thrumming with energy, ecstatic after all the 'fun' it just had. Kisame was a decent guy under the rough and sadistic exterior, but his sword was just plain evil.

The shark noticed the kunoichi's look of revulsion and chuckled. "Hey…I didn't kill anyone who didn't try to kill me first."

Sakura nodded wearily. She knew that, and it wasn't like she hadn't done the same – to a less messy extent. And it wasn't over yet. "How late do you think it is?"

"Still early, it's been less than an hour."

"Let's finish it, yeah," Deidara said, and began molding clay for their transport.

They mounted the large flying construct and lifted into the air, and Sakura was not at all surprised when once they were clear of the yard, Deidara made a hand seal and muttered "katsu!" and the building below exploded in a giant ball of flame.

* * *

The three hour flight across the bay was mostly silent. Deidara was rather preoccupied as he guided the bird, occasionally stealing glances at Sakura who appeared to be doing her best to ignore both men and was staring fixedly out over the water.

He didn't like it at all. Her attitude made him anxious, though he couldn't figure out why. He had no idea what she was thinking or feeling, if she was mad at him or not. Or worse than mad. She had most likely heard the screaming, and seen him come out of the building covered in blood that wasn't his own. He didn't feel guilty; Yotsuba had it coming and deserved what he got. But was dealing retribution to the merchant worth causing a rift between himself and Sakura?

Shingo's base of operations was located on the same island as the resort they'd stayed in before the heist, but on the other side in a seedier port city. Shingo's compound was a shipping yard full of large metal containers and crates of cargo. Apparently his business was more than a front of hotels and underground black market trade.

As the complex came into sight, Sakura pulled herself out of her self-imposed silence and leaned closer to Deidara. "Land outside the compound, I have an idea," she said.

He stared at her for a moment, then nodded. They set down in a dark alley a block away.

"What's up?" Kisame asked after they jumped down from the bird.

"I don't want to do this like we did Yotsuba," she said firmly, locking gazes with each man in turn. "Shingo hasn't done anything to us yet. We don't even know for sure if he even knows it was _us_ who robbed him. We don't have to kill him to neutralize him as a threat."

They stared at her for a long moment. "Alright…but he's not getting the scroll back. Or the sword," Deidara said finally. He didn't really want to argue with her. He had a feeling he'd caused enough problems between them already.

"No, he isn't. That's not what I'm suggesting."

Kisame crossed his arms over his chest and grinned, sharp teeth flashing in the moonlight. "What do you have in mind?"

* * *

It was a rather slow and boring night for the employees of the shipping yard. That was, until the wall next to the guard house – two feet thick and solid concrete – suddenly burst apart and collapsed before their eyes.

Shouts of alarm rang out as men spilled from the guard house and came running from all around, only to be silenced in shock as the dust cleared and three figures could be seen standing atop the pile of rubble. Front and center was a petite, pink haired girl, who would have looked out of place in such a situation if not for the smirk of smug satisfaction on her pretty features.

Sakura bent and picked up a watermelon sized piece of concrete wall. She held it for a moment, making sure she had everyone's attention, and then crushed it to dust between her hands. "Sorry to bother you boys, but could someone point the way to Shingo's office?"

Cries of dismay at her inhuman display of power went through the crowd, and one or two of them even pointed to the largest building near the demolished wall.

Sakura smiled and dusted her hands against her hips. "Thanks," she said pleasantly, walked down the pile of crushed stones. Her companions exchanged amused smirks and followed after her. As they stepped onto solid ground a couple of mercenaries moved forward.

Kisame extended the point of his bloody sword out toward the nearest men. "Back the fuck up or you die."

Apparently Shingo employed smarter men who knew when they were outclassed, because no one approached as the dangerous and savage looking trio made their way to the indicated building. Sakura took hold of the handle and ripped the door clean off its hinges, tossing it aside before moving into the building.

They entered a waiting room of sorts, and standing in the middle with a shocked expression was an aging man wearing an expensive business suit.

"Are you Shingo?" Sakura asked as she moved toward him.

The man's eyes widened and he cringed a little, but answered, "…Yes…"

The next thing he uttered was a cry of surprise as the petite woman grabbed him by the front of his jacket and hauled him toward a back room.

"W-what do you want?" he exclaimed as he was dragged along by the impossibly strong kunoichi.

"Just a chat," she replied before shoving another door open, one with a brass plate bearing 'President' on it. She dragged the frightened man into the room and tossed him into his own posh leather office chair.

Kisame and Deidara entered the room behind them and stood blocking the door. Sakura crossed her arms over her chest and fixed Shingo with her most frightening glare. He was a small, lean man, practically the exact opposite of Yotsuba.

"W-who are you people?" he stammered.

"We're the ones Yotsuba hired to steal your sword," she answered evenly.

"Yotsuba! He contacted me two days ago and told me two shinobi had tried to sell him my sword. He wanted me to buy your names from him," he exclaimed.

Deidara snorted derisively. The man's greed was unbelievable. Sakura moved closer and leaned over the desk. "Yotsuba was a liar. However, he doesn't have that problem anymore."

"Why?"

"Because he's dead, yeah," Deidara said darkly.

Shingo's eyes practically bulged out of his head. "Dead? …You guys killed him?"

"That's right. That bastard double-crossed us. We completed our end of the contract perfectly and without a trace. You probably know that more than anyone," Sakura said. An unpleasant frown appeared on his features. "But he tried to have us killed to cover his own tracks. And he paid the price for it."

A long moment passed as Shingo stared uncertainly at the kunoichi, then at the sinister looking men behind her. Then he let out a nervous half-chuckle. "I suppose I should thank you, since it appears he was trying to double-cross me as well. And now that he's dead I have an opportunity to seize his assets." He swallowed nervously and looked at Sakura again. "But then…why are you here?"

"After he failed to kill us we figured he might try to set us up to take the fall for him, and that it was only a matter of time before you sent assassins after us too. Am I right?"

Shingo stared at her for a moment. "If Yotsuba's plan had succeeded, then…yes."

Sakura nodded. "Right. So we thought we'd stop by to let you know that's not a very good idea."

Her hand smoothed over the polished surface of the solid mahogany desk. She rapped the wood a couple times with a knuckle, and then flicked the center of the desktop with her middle finger. Shingo cried out in alarm and shoved his chair back as the desk cracked and split in half under the power of just one of her fingers.

Behind her, Deidara and Kisame grinned madly.

Her lips curled in a dark smirk. "You see, Shingo…we're not the kind of people you want to fuck with. Not if you value your life. Or the life of your family."

A look of dread passed over his aging features. "W-what?" he choked.

Sakura watched his reaction closely and kept her features hard and threatening. His balding gray hair was at all angles in disarray, and he looked truly afraid. She almost felt sorry for him, but the point needed to be made. Her eyes traveled to the platinum band on his ring finger. "You have a family? A wife and kids? If you do a thing to cross us…_ever_…the last thing you see in this world will be their deaths."

She imagined the effort it was taking the two men behind her to keep the surprise from their faces at hearing such a thing from her. She hated saying it, and of course she didn't mean a word. But Shingo didn't know that.

Shingo struggled to find his voice, but eventually he rasped, "It seems my enemy was Yotsuba all along…I have no reason to go after any of you. But…where is my scroll?"

"It's gone. That's all you need to know, yeah." Deidara said harshly.

"Do we have an understanding, Shingo?"

After a long moment in which he seemed to mourn the loss of his precious forbidden scroll, he met her emerald gaze again. "We have an understanding."

Sakura nodded, and gave him a thin smile. "Good. Then you won't be seeing us again."

With that, the three shinobi left the frightened merchant alone in his office and disappeared into the night.

* * *

It was well into the dead of night when they reached the mainland again. They stopped at the same isolated inn they'd used when returning from the island the last time. They paid for two rooms, but Kisame came to Sakura and Deidara's room first so the three of them could finally get to the truth about the scroll that had caused so much trouble for them.

It was a forbidden suiton jutsu after all, and Kisame was as excited as if it were his birthday. After decoding it he informed them that the technique was one that, once you make the seals, if both hands make contact with the enemy, it will suck all the water from their bodies into their lungs, shriveling their flesh and drowning them from the inside out. Sakura wasn't surprised it was such a horrible jutsu; Mist ninja were brutal and sadistic at best. Kisame offered to teach it to them once he finished learning it, but Deidara couldn't use water element at all and Sakura wasn't proficient enough with water to master a jutsu that complicated.

It was nearing 3am, and Sakura was exhausted. All she wanted right now was to pass out on the bed, but she couldn't do that just yet. There was still one thing she needed to discuss with the two men. She picked the scroll up from the bedside table. "Kisame…do you think you'll be able to learn this jutsu by tomorrow afternoon?"

"Most likely. I'm halfway there already. Why?"

"Because it's not staying with us."

Both men looked at her sharply.

"Huh?"

"What do you mean it's not staying with us?" Deidara asked incredulously.

Sakura locked eyes with him, and her tone made it clear there would be no arguing about this. "You had to have your way, and I went along with your bloody vengeance. But this one we're going to do _my_ way. What we did tonight could potentially cause even more problems for us." She tapped the scroll against her palm. "_This_…is our insurance policy."

* * *

After she explained the plan Kisame went to his own room with the scroll, leaving Sakura and Deidara alone.

There was a rather tense silence between the lovers. Sakura sighed heavily and stripped down to her shorts and tank top before climbing into the bed. Deidara removed his shirt and pulled the tie from his hair before slipping in behind her. She didn't turn to face him, or even acknowledge that he was in the bed with her. He didn't know what to say even if he knew what exactly was wrong with her, which he didn't. He just knew it was his fault.

"Sakura…"

It was a long moment before she responded. "It's been a long night, Deidara. I know I said we'd talk…but I'm really tired. Can we talk in the morning?" she murmured sleepily.

He stared at her back uncertainly. "Yeah…I guess," he muttered. He shifted closer to her and gently slipped his arm around her waist before tentatively pressing his lips to her shoulder. She didn't move. Not away, which was a relief, but neither did she snuggle back into him like she usually did. He didn't know how much more of this he could take, and he was worried her distant behavior toward him wasn't going to go away.

What she had seen tonight was the worst part of himself, the dark and ugly side that he was probably too crazy to ever eliminate. What if she couldn't accept it after all? Had he damaged their relationship beyond repair? He should have listened to her and done it her way. He shouldn't have been so goddamn stubborn and vindictive. It wasn't worth it in the end, and if he lost Sakura because of it he had no one to blame but himself.

That thought worried him more than anything else. He wanted to make all the distance and tension go away, if only he knew how. He wanted to be assured they were okay, but she wouldn't really talk to him right now, and he knew pressing her would only make things worse. This couldn't be happening. After finally reuniting and everything they had been through to this point…

He sighed anxiously and tightened his arm around her. "I'm sorry…I…"

"…mm?" she mumbled.

He realized she was nearly asleep, and hadn't really heard him. "Nothing…goodnight," he whispered.

Sakura drifted away within moments. But for Deidara, sleep was a long time coming.


	14. A New Beginning

**Silver Lining**

Chapter Fourteen: A New Beginning

* * *

Just before two o'clock Sakura entered the gates of the city park, Deidara a step behind her. The two shinobi walked along the main path for a few minutes, and as they neared the center of the park they felt the presence of chakra to their right, coming from a grove of lush trees.

"That's her," Sakura said, pausing for a moment to regard the man next to her.

Deidara was displeased by the entire situation. He didn't care what happened to the scroll since it was of no use to him, but he wasn't thrilled about their scheduled meeting, or that Sakura had arranged all of it without telling him. He still didn't want to argue with her though, because he felt a twinge of guilt that she was technically trying to clean up his mess.

Things still hadn't gone back to normal with them. Sakura didn't seem distant today as much as preoccupied by the impending meeting, but she still didn't seem herself and they _still_ hadn't talked. It had been four days already, and if she wanted a fight with him Deidara wished she would just start yelling already because this cold-shoulder thing was driving him nuts. Sakura was normally a generously affectionate person, and he realized he had become addicted to it. He didn't like that she wouldn't hug or kiss him or even smile when he touched her, and now he felt like some pathetic love-starved idiot.

"What's wrong with you?"

The hint of irritation in her voice pulled him out of his reverie, and he blinked once to clear away his unwanted and mostly ridiculous thoughts. Sakura was looking at him expectantly. Apparently she'd said something that he hadn't heard…or maybe he just had a weird look on his face.

"Nothing," he answered.

Sakura scrutinized him for a moment, clearly unbelieving, but let it go for later. Now wasn't the time to talk about anything other than the present situation. "Well, anyway…she's most likely felt our presence by now. And uh…she probably won't be to very friendly toward you…but try not to act too hostile."

He gave her a flat stare. He wasn't about to make nice with someone who had an aggressive demeanor toward him, no matter who they were.

She his expression and sighed exasperatedly. "You can't blame her; she thinks of you as the man who killed her brother…"

Deidara frowned indignantly. "_I_ didn't kill him. In fact, I had a hard time defeating him while _not_ killing him. It was the extraction jutsu that killed him, and he didn't even _stay _dead anyway."

"Do you really think any of that will matter to her? To the people of Suna you were the primary antagonist, and anyway, you participated in that jutsu so technically you _did_ kill him. And do I need to remind you about what you did _after_—"

He sighed irritably and rolled his eyes. "Fine, I get it, she has a good reason to hate me, yeah."

Sakura tried to rein in her growing irritation. She was just being spiteful and argumentative by bringing up these old issues, and she certainly wasn't helping the already tense situation. "All I'm saying is, if she tries to bait you, try not to rise to it, okay?"

Another flat stare. "I'm not kissing anyone's ass. Period."

"I'm not asking you to…just don't be an asshole." He scowled, and she could see his stubbornness kicking in. Time to switch tactics. She stepped closer and set her hands flat against his chest. "Deidara please…this is really important…" she said softly, gazing up at him.

He stared down into large, pleading green orbs for a long moment, fully aware of the psychological warfare she was waging on him. And _damn her_, because it was working like a charm. He lost the moment she touched him like that after being so distant the past few days. She probably knew it too. "Fine," he muttered in defeat, his mouth turning down into his trademark frown-pout. Sakura gave him a soft, knowing smile. Evil woman. His hands had automatically grasped her hips when she stepped in, and he really wanted to pull her closer, but part of him knew this wasn't the best time or place to try and make up – or make out – with her, so he reluctantly let her back away.

Turning in the direction of the chakra signature, they walked across the grass and into the grove. There were two reasons why Temari would be waiting there; they would be well out of sight, and the shade provided shelter from the summer heat. Temari was leaning against a tree with arms crossed, her fan resting against the trunk beside her. She straightened as they drew near, but kept her arms crossed stiffly as she warily regarded them.

"Sakura," she greeted curtly. Her dark olive eyes traveled to the male shinobi in a stony glare.

Deidara crossed his arms over his chest as well and stared back with eyes that were not as hateful, but were equally cold.

Sakura nodded once in greeting. "Temari. Thank you for meeting me like this. I know you must have a lot of questions."

Her gaze flicked back to her old comrade. "Yeah, you could say that. Your message said I would know what this was about, so I assumed it was about the incident at the hotel last week. But after last night…it doesn't take an expert to figure out that both of you were involved in what went down at the factory."

Sakura nodded. "It's true. I know how it must look, but it's a long, complicated story. I asked you here so that I could explain everything."

"You're right; it doesn't look good, especially after our talk last week. But I came here – alone, like you asked – because I trust _you,_ Sakura." Her emphasis was not lost on anyone. "So…I'm listening."

Sakura breathed deep before beginning. "Everything I said during our conversation was the truth, but there were a couple details I didn't mention because I didn't think they would turn out to matter. Obviously I was wrong about that. Deidara and I were hired separately by a man named Yotsuba. We rendezvoused after taking the contract, like I already explained to you."

Temari nodded. Deidara glanced at Sakura briefly, curious about what exactly she had told the other woman, but obviously didn't speak on it.

Sakura continued. "The job was to steal a valuable antique sword from another merchant named Shingo. We did that, and we got away clean. But what we didn't know until after the heist was that what we were _really_ stealing was the forbidden scroll that was sealed _inside_ the sword." Temari's brows rose perceptibly at that. "We have no idea how Shingo got the scroll, or how Yotsuba knew about it, or what either of them intended to do with it. It wasn't what we signed up for, and though we were very angry about being deceived, we wanted nothing to do with whatever was going on. We took our payment and left. That was the day I met you in the market. We thought that was the end of it. But Yotsuba wanted to cover his tracks, or maybe he thought we would double-cross him like he did us, and so he sent assassins after us."

Understanding passed over Temari's features. Several bodies of unidentified shinobi were found at the scene, and witnesses had described sounds of fighting before the explosion. "So that night at the hotel…"

Sakura nodded. "We were attacked in the middle of the night. We took them out, and then we left before any more trouble showed up."

Temari fixed a pointed glare at Deidara. "And the explosion that took out half the building?"

He found that question to be rather stupid, and it showed in his expression. "_Obviously_ I'm not going to blow up a building while we're still in it, yeah."

"The explosion was caused by one of the assassins detonating several exploding tags," Sakura explained more reasonably. "In fact we both took some pretty serious injuries from it. Especially me...I'm pretty lucky to be alive actually. Deidara was the one who got us out of there and to a safe place."

A long moment passed as Temari silently watched the former Akatsuki, who was watching Sakura. Either he couldn't conceal his expressions or he simply didn't care to, because it wasn't hard to see that he actually did care about Sakura, maybe even loved her. It was really annoying to Temari, because she didn't want to admit that Sakura was right about him. But she would be a hypocrite to deny what she could clearly see, while saying she had loved her brother who had also once been called a monster.

She emitted a sigh, and her eyes were not as hard as before. "Alright…so you weren't to blame for the hotel incident. But the factory…?"

Sakura took a deep breath and met her gaze evenly. "That was our doing. I'm sure you already know that factory belonged to Yotsuba. But it wasn't only about revenge for trying to kill us. We knew he wouldn't _stop_ trying to kill us, and we also guessed that he would eventually convince Shingo to put a hit on us as well, by telling him we stole the scroll from him. It wasn't going to end until he was dead. As far as double-crossings among shinobi go, it was pretty standard. You know how it works." Temari gave a conceding nod, and Sakura continued. "We did it because we don't want trouble to follow us for the rest of our lives. We just want to live in peace."

The two women regarded each other for a long moment. Then Temari gave a small nod. "I get it. If you had been operating through a hidden village instead of on your own the outcome would likely have been the same. And Yotsuba…he was actually part of the reason I'm here in this city. He was being investigated for his involvement in black market activity, namely trafficking drugs and stolen goods. Konoha doesn't care about the stolen goods; obviously that sort of thing is good money for us. But we agree with the Daimyo that the drugs are a problem we don't want within Fire's borders. I'm sure Yotsuba had a lot of enemies who would want him dead, people in that line of work usually do. If he was pegged for the drugs, most likely the Daimyo would have contracted Konoha to take him out anyway. Basically what I'm saying is no one's going to miss him, and no one will lose any sleep if the culprits are never found. Hell, if you walked into the Mayor's office right now and announced you took Yotsuba out, you'd probably be commended," she said with a dry smirk.

Sakura smiled, and Deidara looked a bit amused by that as well. They were even more justified for eliminating him than they had realized, and it was ironic that they had basically been in line with government interests all along. "Well, it's good to know we rid the world of one more scumbag," Sakura said. "I wanted you to know what happened, Temari. But there was another reason why I wanted to meet with you as well."

She looked to Deidara, and he reached into the pouch at his hip. Temari watched his movements very closely, but remained still as he pulled the scroll out and handed it to Sakura, who in turn held it out toward the blonde kunoichi.

"This is the forbidden scroll. We're giving it to you to take back to Konoha."

Temari's eyes widened slightly, and she reached to take the scroll. She understood the intent behind it; it was a peace offering of sorts, a gesture of good will and proof that they had no opposing interests to Konoha. Sakura obviously knew _she_ wasn't the one in question. She was buying Deidara's freedom, and he had come with her today to prove he had no reason to hide. Temari had to hand it to her—it was a smart move. And she had to admire the other kunoichi for her devotion to both her village and the people she loved.

She unrolled the scroll and her eyes scanned over the gibberish written there. She couldn't read the encryption, but she recognized the source. "One of Mist's, huh? Any idea what it does?"

They couldn't relate the exact details because that would indicate they knew someone who could read it. Kisame's continued existence wasn't known, and they would keep it that way. "From what we were able to learn of it, apparently it causes fatal desiccation in the enemy," Sakura said vaguely.

Temari gave her a strange look. "Desiccation?"

"It sucks all the water out of their bodies until they shrivel up and die. Like fruit, yeah," Deidara said wickedly.

She shot him a disturbed expression, and then looked down at the scroll. "Ugh," she said finally, "Mist ninja are so…freaky."

Sakura and Deidara both smirked knowingly.

Temari rolled up the scroll. "Well…this is gonna create a lot of paperwork back home, and Shikamaru will undoubtedly bitch about the hassle, but we'll make sure to set the record straight. As far as Konoha is concerned anyway…I can't speak for what the other villages might to do they ever find out."

Sakura looked relieved. "They won't. Thank you, Temari." Deidara looked indifferent, though inwardly he was rather glad for the way things turned out as well.

Temari fixed Deidara with a long, appraising look. "There's just one other thing I'd like to know. Deidara…you were reported to have died when the bijuu broke loose, like the rest of Akatsuki. Obviously you didn't. When the few surviving members regrouped in Rain, you didn't join them. You let everyone – even your own comrades – think you were dead and disappeared. What I want to know…is why."

Deidara regarded her silently for a long moment. Then he gave a small shrug. "It's simple, yeah. They weren't my comrades, and I held no loyalty to the organization. I never _joined_ Akatsuki, they came to _'recruit'_ me and made it clear that it wasn't negotiable. I never cared much about Akatsuki's goal; I only wanted to master my art. It was only a lucky accident that I didn't die with the rest of them. I saw an opportunity to get out and I took it, yeah."

Temari was tempted to ask what he'd been up to _since_ then, but like Sakura had already said, if it was anything Konoha would be concerned about, they probably would have learned about it. She'd just needed to hear it from Deidara. "Fair enough," she said finally. "I should go. There's a lot of crap to deal with after last night, even more now that we know it's tied to the hotel and a mess of other stuff."

Sakura nodded. "Alright. Sorry to cause you so much trouble."

Temari shrugged. "Eh…in the end you did us a favor." She slung her fan over her shoulder. "I guess I'll see you around sometime."

"Yeah," Sakura replied with a faint smile.

The blonde kunoichi paused and locked gazes with her. "I meant what I said before, Sakura; we really do hope you'll come back to Konoha someday."

Sakura's only reply was to widen her smile. Temari flicked one last unreadable gaze at Deidara, then turned and walked away.

Deidara watched Sakura as she watched Temari leave. She had a wistful, almost day-dreamy look on her face; no doubt in regard to the other kunoichi's parting words. It made him uneasy.

"That went well," she remarked pleasantly.

"Hn." Slowly, almost hesitantly, he reached to brush a lock of pink hair from her cheek. "I know you did this for my sake…thank you," he said quietly.

Her eyes softened as she looked at him. "You wanted to protect me, and this was my way of protecting you."

Deidara smiled, relieved that she didn't seem so distant anymore, but that tiny niggling in the back of his mind just wouldn't go away. He wanted to talk whatever this was out with her. He wanted to apologize. He _really_ wanted to kiss her right now. But the chance to do any of it was gone when she spoke again.

"We should go now, that way we can be back at Kisame's house sometime tonight," she said evenly, and turned in the direction of the path.

He couldn't tell if she was being evasive, or if she really had no idea. Once they were back they were going to _talk_, even if he had to get Kisame to drain her chakra while he tied her to a chair. He wouldn't think about the fact that she may kill him after. He certainly picked a difficult woman to fall in love with. "Right," he said blandly, and followed after.

* * *

The next morning, Sakura woke up alone. Her eyes blinked open slowly, and her brow creased in slight disappointment at the empty space beside her. The sheets were cold, meaning Deidara had been out of them for some time.

It was strange because usually she woke up first. Even if he woke before her, he usually stayed in bed with her or simply woke her up with playful morning affections. Then there was the fact that she knew Deidara was very tired last night. After meeting up with Kisame back at the hotel, they'd flown all the way back to his house, not arriving until after midnight. The chakra required to keep their transport going all that way had pretty much exhausted him, and they'd barely said a word to each other before falling asleep.

Sakura was quite aware that something was off-key with them. She'd been rather displeased with him, and Deidara obviously knew it because he'd been hesitant with words and contact. She wasn't angry that she hadn't gotten her way. She'd been upset that his recklessness put him in danger, as well as herself and Kisame to a lesser degree, but he had refused to listen because of his pride.

So she let him sweat for a few days. She was over it now, especially since things had turned out so well and there would be no repercussions for their violent revenge spree. But Deidara still seemed to think he was in the doghouse, because there was still that sense of expectancy when they were alone, like he was waiting for her to start ranting or say 'we need to talk.' Honestly she hadn't expected him to be so sensitive, especially after blatantly ignoring her concerns and putting them here in the first place. But he was surprisingly perceptive to her moods. The last time they'd been at odds, it ended in a huge fight—was he expecting that again?

Today she planned to talk to him, to assure him that she wasn't mad and he could stop walking on eggshells. He wasn't usually cautious about making people angry—including her—so there must be some reason why he was so reluctant to upset her. She would definitely have to find out.

However when she made her way out to the main area of the house, Deidara wasn't there. She didn't feel his chakra signature anywhere. Kisame was at the table with a pot of coffee and a plate of toast. It was a setting for one. Frowning slightly, Sakura grabbed a mug from the rack on the counter and seated herself across from the shark. "Where's Deidara?" she asked as she reached for the coffee pot.

"He left early this morning," Kisame replied casually.

That surprised her a little. "Did he say where he was going?"

"Nope. He took that katana with him, though."

Now she was really curious. "What for?"

Kisame shrugged. "No idea. Probably either to trade, bribe someone, or sell. He didn't say."

Her frown deepened. That was strange. They had stolen that sword _together_, and it irritated her a little that he would do something with it on his own. "I wonder why he didn't tell me…"

"He said he didn't want to wake you. I wouldn't worry though; he knows what he's doing with stuff like that."

Sakura nodded absently. "Did he say when he would be back?"

"Later today maybe, possibly tonight. He probably went to the mainland, so it's hard telling." He took a long drink of his black coffee. "He'll come back," he added as if in afterthought.

Sakura looked at him strangely. Was he implying she was worried he wouldn't? She knew the tension between them must be apparent to the shark, but what exactly did he think was going on? Had Deidara said something to him? "I know. Why would you say that?" she asked warily.

He shrugged again. "You two haven't been very lovey-dovey the past few days, and it's not hard to tell you're pissed at him."

Sakura sighed. "I wasn't _mad_ at him…well, okay, maybe a _little_ mad. That's what I wanted to talk to him about today. But now he's not here," she said dryly.

"_Now_ you want to talk. You got some pretty bad timing, Princess."

"What do you mean?"

"He's been trying to talk to you for days, but you keep brushing him off. Even _I_ noticed it. That's why he thinks you're still angry."

"I…hm." She cut off with a frown. Maybe she _had_ been brushing him off when he tried to talk to her. She just hadn't wanted a potential argument while everything else was going on. She had tendency to let her bad moods get the better of her, and she knew she had been an outright bitch to him a couple times. Had she gone a bit too far with the coldness?

As if he read her mind, Kisame elaborated a bit more. "To tell you the truth, I think you've got him a bit worried."

Her brow creased in confusion. "About what?"

"That you might be reconsidering your decision to be with him."

Sakura was so surprised that her mouth hung open in shock before she managed to exclaim, "_What?_ He thinks I'm going to _leave_ him?" Kisame didn't reply, and she tried to wrap her head around such an unbelievable concept. "That's just…so _ridiculous_. Why the hell would he think something like that?"

"Have you given him a reason not to?"

Again she stared at the shark nin with her mouth agape. She _must_ have been a bit too mean to Deidara lately if _Kisame _of all people was saying something. "Well…no…but still—he should know better than that."

"Well…I uh, may have said something about it…"

Sakura's eyes narrowed, and Kisame's gaze shifted to the side. "I was just giving him crap…but it may have gotten into his head," he finished sheepishly.

"_Kisame!_" she groaned, "You _teased_ him that I was going to leave him?" She sighed angrily and brought a hand to her temples. "You _know_ he's touchy about personal stuff!"

"Sorry?"

Sakura glared. Hard.

Ksiame shrugged dismissively. "So he got a little freaked out for a few days. You're not _actually_ going to dump him, right?"

She rolled her eyes. "Of course not."

"Then don't stress over it, just straighten him out when he gets back."

Sakura still couldn't quite believe _this_ was what all the weirdness was about. She laughed incredulously. "That idiot. I mean, I would never leave over something like this…"

"Well, having a man who's half-crazy and slightly homicidal isn't exactly something most women would want to deal with."

Sakura scoffed. "I'm not most women. I've cared for men who are _completely_ crazy and _majorly_ homicidal. Deidara's faults are mild compared to some of the shit I've dealt with in my life. And besides…I've got issues of my own that aren't very easy for others to deal with," she said frankly.

Kisame gave her a toothy grin and laughed quietly. "You're a hell of a woman, Sakura. Deidara is a lucky man to have someone like you that loves him."

Sakura nearly choked on her coffee. First, she had only ever heard Kisame address her by name once before. Second, he had just said something _profound _and highly complimenting. And third, he had just blatantly called her out on her feelings! "Eh…um…" she sputtered lamely.

He snickered at her. "Have you told him?"

She looked down at the mug in her hands. "No…" she muttered. Then she looked up at him with anxious eyes. "You're not going to say anything are you?"

He shook his head. "Not my place, Princess. It's yours, and you should do it soon before he really freaks out." He grinned.

"I thought _I_ was the insecure one," she mused wryly. "He really is being an idiot about this though. You don't give up on people because of disagreements or minor character flaws…relationships don't work like that."

"How would _he_ know that?" Kisame pointed out frankly. "I don't know everything about him, but I do know the kid's never had anything. No family, no friends. Nothin.' He has no idea about those kinds of relationships. Now that he's finally got something worth holding on to, he doesn't want to let it go."

Sakura stared at him. It was odd to be talking to Kisame about relationships…but then again, who else was she going to talk to about it? He was right, and now she felt bad for putting Deidara through the emotional ringer, selfishly thinking she was the only one afraid of losing.

The shark's words also brought to mind another point. Deidara didn't know her quirks yet, or many of the day-to-day things about her. They had always connected on a deeper level, but because of the origins and the course of their relationship, they didn't know each other all that well when it came to little things. She didn't know his favorite color, or food, or what kind of music he liked, and vice versa. So of course he wouldn't realize that she was prone to be temperamental, that she did this kind of thing all the time it didn't really mean anything serious.

"I never knew you were so wise, Kisame," she said with a soft smile.

He grinned widely. "I do what I can."

They fell quiet as they finished breakfast, and Sakura began to wonder what she was going to do with herself today. "So what is there to do around here?"

He shrugged. "Sunbathe?"

She gave him a flat look. "Do you see this pale skin? No thanks. What do _you_ usually do?"

"I commune with nature."

"…Seriously?"

"No."

"Oh good," she said quickly. That just sounded weird, coming from him. Even if he _was_ part animal.

"Usually I fish," he explained. "And drink. While fishing."

Sakura laughed. "Naturally."

"If you can't find anything better to do you can help me gut and clean the haul from this morning and get 'em in the smokehouse out back."

_That_ was something she'd never done before, as there was no fishing industry in Konoha and genin missions consisted more of cleaning leaves out of people's gutters than cleaning fish. It sounded tedious and rather smelly, but it was busywork and would take her mind off of things for a while. "I have no idea _how_…but sure, why not," she said with a grin.

When Deidara returned they would talk, and she would slap him upside the head for being an idiot, then they would have fantastic make-up sex and everything would be great.

* * *

All ninja had very deft hands and were skilled with blades, so learning how to prepare a fish for smoking was a cinch for Sakura, and the day passed quickly as they sat on the back porch and worked.

However, her earlier optimism dwindled when evening came and there was still no sign of Deidara.

"You don't need to worry about him, you know," Kisame remarked casually as they finished packing up the fillets that were going to the freezer rather than the smokehouse.

Sakura had already given up on wondering how he was so perceptive. "Yeah…I know. But I still will."

The shark smirked knowingly. "Hn." After a moment he added, "I can finish up here. Go take a shower or something."

"Well _that_ was rude," she retorted indignantly.

He grinned. "Don't wanna smell like fish when your man gets back, do you?"

She glared at him as she rinsed her hands in the sink, but her lips curled in a smile. "Ass."

"Just lookin out for ya," he teased.

She punched him in the arm as she walked away.

Once she'd cleaned up, Sakura brought a bottle of sake out to the porch and curled up in a chair to watch the fireflies. Who knew where Kisame was at the moment, but she kind of wanted to be alone anyway. The glowing insects reminded her of summer nights in Konoha, and she wistfully thought of her former home.

Could it ever be home for her again? She knew she couldn't run forever. Now that she had let go of her grief and started to move on, could she possibly return someday? She could admit that a part of her really hoped so. What would Deidara say about that? Of course she wouldn't go without him. She didn't even think she _could_ handle her past staring her in the face without his support. But if he was somehow allowed to return with her, would he even want to?

All of that was speculation for a much later date, if ever. Right now she should focus on what to say to Deidara to make things right between them, and on whether or not she should confess the full extent of her feelings to him. Even after all that had happened, she was afraid it might be too soon.

As midnight approached and the sake bottle grew emptier, her anxiety went into overdrive. What the hell was taking him so long anyway? Deidara couldn't have expected to be gone this long or he surely would have woken her this morning to let her know. He would probably arrive late into the night, but he still better have a damn good reason or she would kick his ass.

Waiting up and worrying was pointless and she was feeling rather tired, so she went back inside and headed for her room. She changed and got into bed, and as she stretched out on her side to get comfortable she stared longingly at the empty space where Deidara slept.

She ran her hand over the cool sheets and sighed. She missed him; missed the way he held her and how it felt to be pressed against him, missed his kisses and the way he whispered to her as they drifted to sleep at night. It seemed silly to miss him after only a day, but her loneliness was compounded by the tension and distance that had been between them for nearly a week now. Was Deidara feeling it too? Was he thinking about her right now? She hated that things had somehow escalated to this point.

She closed her eyes and willed sleep to come, telling herself not to worry about it and that when she woke up, he would be there sleeping beside her.

* * *

But he wasn't there when she awoke. Again_._ The space beside her was untouched. It was the first time she had slept a full night alone since they met again. She had gotten accustomed to having him there with her and didn't like the feeling of waking to an empty bed at all. Sakura didn't know whether to be worried or angry at that point, and so she found ways to occupy as much of her time as possible. It was a very long day.

It was mid-afternoon when Deidara finally returned. Sakura and Kisame were sitting at the table playing cards when they felt his chakra signature approaching. The shark appeared indifferent; he was used to his partner coming and going.

Sakura willed herself not to run outside, and told herself not to grow angry just yet. The first thing that entered her mind when he came into the house was the fact that he didn't have the sword. The next thing was '_gods he's gorgeous…'_ She inwardly rolled her eyes and shushed herself.

"Where'd you go?" Kisame asked casually.

"Fuzen," Deidara replied.

"Hm, thought so. Smart."

The name rang a bell in the back of Sakura's mind. "Fuzen…I've heard of that place. A port in the neutral territory between Fire and Lightning…it's got the highest crime rate in the known lands," she recalled.

Deidara smirked. "That's the one, yeah."

"Sin City…you can find anything – and I do mean _anything_ – in that place if you have the right connections. Or if you can't find it, you can find information on it—for the right price." Kisame said with a wicked grin.

"Sounds like a holy land for rogue shinobi. You must have a lot of connections there," she said wryly.

"To an extent. I wasn't the one who usually handled business there, and the Akatsuki name doesn't hold as much weight as it used to, obviously," Deidara said.

"What held you up?" Kisame asked.

"Well first I asked around town to find out who would be the best person to talk to, and that took longer than expected. Then when I found an interested party the guy wouldn't meet with me until late last night. Back in the day I would've been bumped to the top of the list, yeah," he huffed indignantly.

Kisame chuckled. "Being Akatsuki did have its advantages, that's for sure."

Deidara smirked knowingly. "Anyway, I didn't get done until the middle of the night, and then it started raining and I couldn't fly." He looked down at Sakura. "Sorry I was gone so long without saying anything to you," he said ruefully.

Her expression softened. "It's alright, you had a good reason. What did you do with the sword?"

"Sold it, yeah."

Her eyes widened slightly, excitement stirring within her at the glint in his eyes. That sword was ridiculously valuable… "How much?" she asked with quiet anticipation.

His smirk widened into an impish grin. It was then that she noticed the satchel slung over his shoulder. "I think it's better if I just show you," he said, and slipped the bag from his arm.

He pulled the drawstring and upturned it, and Sakura's jaw dropped as stack after stack after stack of high-numbered bills dropped onto the tabletop. She had never seen that much money in her entire life. There must be hundreds of thousands…no…_millions_…

Even Kisame stared in awe as the pile grew. "Holy shit…"

Sakura was stunned speechless. She knew the sword was valuable…but this was just beyond imagining! There was enough money here for the three of them to live _very_ comfortably for the rest of their lives.

Suddenly she let out a high pitched laugh and jumped Deidara in pure excitement, flinging her arms around his neck. He laughed as he caught her and hugged her to him, swinging her around once in his own elation. He was happy just to be holding her again, and relieved that she wasn't mad anymore, at least not enough to be so distant.

He grinned madly as he set her back on her feet. "Looks like we're retired, yeah."

* * *

That evening, Sakura stood at the end of the dock and watched the waves, smiling as the gentle breeze blew through her hair and brought the smell of the sea to her nose. Kisame really had picked a beautiful place to settle.

The three of them had decided to split the money forty/forty/twenty, and even though it had taken a good while, Sakura had never had so much fun counting anything before. Afterward Deidara went to clean up after his long trip, and Sakura walked down to the dock, knowing he would come to find her.

It wasn't long before she felt his approach, but she continued to watch the gulls swoop in the air as he came up behind her. He paused for just a moment, and then gently wrapped his hands around her shoulders and bent his head down beside hers, his mouth close to her ear. Sakura closed her eyes briefly as the warmth of his body seeped into her, comforted just by his proximity. She really had missed his touch, and regretted being so cold to him before.

"I'm sorry," he said quietly, his hands smoothing down her arms. "For not listening to you…for making you worry and go to so much trouble to clean up my mess…for everything."

She slowly turned around to fix that luminous jade gaze on him. Deidara released her arms, but she remained just as near to him as before. He took a slow, deep breath before continuing. "I should have listened to you. It's just…nearly losing you in that explosion really scared me, and all I could think about was making someone pay for hurting you. Sometimes I get to this place where I see red and I don't think about things like consequences, and I didn't stop to consider I may be putting you in even more danger, yeah. I never meant to make you so mad…I'm sorry."

A small smile tugged at her lips. He really could be adorable at times. Her very own violent, ruthless knight in shining armor. "I wasn't really _mad_ at you exactly…"

His brow creased slightly. "You weren't?"

"More like…_extremely_ frustrated." She fisted her hands in the hem of his shirt and tugged once. "But I didn't plan on things growing so strained between us…I forgive you."

He smiled faintly with relief and reached up with both hands to twine his fingers into her hair. "Good…because I've really been wanting to do this…"

The feel of his lips on hers was instantly overwhelming, and she made a soft sound in her throat as she parted her lips for him and slipped her arms around his waist. The kiss was full of apology and yearning, and she knew that he had missed her just as much. It was a long time before they broke apart, and when they did Sakura laid her head against his collar and closed her eyes. He wrapped his arms around her shoulders before lowering his head to rest against hers.

They remained that way for a while, watching the waves and enjoying each other's embrace as the sun touched the sea on the horizon. Eventually Sakura stepped back and stretched a little, then looked up at him and shook her head in amazement.

"I still can't believe you sold the sword for that much money. I never dreamed I would be rich."

He grinned at her. "We'll never have to take another crappy mission again, yeah."

She smiled pensively. "You know…even with as much trouble that mission ended up causing us, it turned out to be the best mission I ever had." In more ways than one, because it had brought them together again. To Sakura, that was worth more than any amount of money.

Deidara was unknowingly echoing her thoughts. "Yeah," he replied quietly. Then his grin was back. "Just think of all the possibilities now…to go anywhere, do anything. True freedom, yeah."

Her smile widened. "I'm still trying to process it. I haven't really thought about where I want to go from here…"

Something in her phrasing caught his attention sharply, and Deidara suddenly that nagging anxiety in the back of his mind flared to life. She had that same wistful look on her face as before, when Temari had mentioned Konoha. Did she want to go back? Could she be thinking about returning home again? Was she going to leave him after all? He tried to keep the concern from showing on his face, but knew he was failing miserably. This wasn't something he could silently worry about until it was too late. He wouldn't let her slip away.

"Come with me."

Sakura looked up at him curiously. Did he already have something in mind? "Where?"

"Anywhere. _Everywhere_. It doesn't matter, yeah. We don't have to go anywhere, just…stay with me."

What was he talking about, and why did he suddenly look so upset? But she couldn't ask because he was speaking again.

"Sakura…I had to let you go before—I had no choice, yeah. But I can't do that now." He held her face in his hands, fingers brushing over the soft hair at her temples, and his blue eyes stared intently into hers. "I found you again after so long, and we're finally together. I don't want you to disappear from my life again…I love you."

Sakura could only stare up at him wide-eyed, heart swelling with emotion, too stunned to find words. But Deidara wasn't finished.

"It's kinda crazy…I never even thought I was _capable_ of loving another person, and I definitely never thought I would find someone I _could_ love." His fingers wove further into her hair, and he gave her the tiniest of smiles. "But you, Sakura…you're different from every person I've ever known. You're my best friend…and I love you."

A long moment passed as she still struggled to find her voice. She wanted to scream and cry and laugh all at the same time, and yet she seemed to be locked in a strange sort of trance.

Deidara misread her continued silence, and the faintest sign of worry flickered across his features. His gaze fell and his brow creased slightly. "I…I know I have nothing to offer you…and you deserve _so_ much better than someone like me." He met her eyes once more. "But you'll never be alone again…and I promise I'll do everything I can to make you happy."

The quiet humility of his words nearly broke her heart, and the tears finally spilled as she came out of her daze and touched her fingertips to his face. "Deidara…you don't have to give me anything…you're more than enough." She smiled softly up at him. "And you _do_ make me happy, happier than I ever thought I could be again. You've _always_ made me happy."

He smiled, happy and relieved, and pressed his brow to hers as his thumbs tenderly brushed the tears from her cheeks. "Then stay with me… Stay forever," he whispered.

Sakura felt as if her heart were overflowing, and the tide drowned her voice once more. She closed her eyes and smiled, and more tears fell from her lashes as she could only nod 'yes.'

Deidara suddenly felt rather overwhelmed by emotion himself. "Yeah?"

She gave a tearful laugh. "Yeah."

And then it didn't matter if her voice gave out or not, because he was kissing her with so much love and passion the entire world fell away. She clung to him blissfully as he kissed her again and again and lifted her in his arms so that her feet no longer touched the ground, so wonderfully happy that she didn't care if she could barely breathe and if she fainted right here in his arms she wouldn't mind at all.

He set her down a few minutes later, both of them breathless and grinning madly.

Sakura's smile turned playful and she gave him a tiny push. "You didn't have to _ask_, dummy…I wouldn't leave even if you told me to. Can't you see I'm completely, ridiculously in love with you?"

His grin softened. "Really?"

She linked her hands around his neck. "Really. That's why you're such an idiot for thinking I was going to leave you over what happened this week."

Deidara still looked a little uncertain. "Well, it wasn't just that. After the meeting the other day I was…I thought maybe you might have been thinking about going back…to Konoha," he said quietly.

Sakura smiled. "I was. But I would never leave you to go back, Deidara. The only life I want is one with you. Wherever_ I_ go I want you with me, and wherever _you_ go I'll follow."

He stared at her, slightly awed, and then smiled teasingly. "You sure about that, hm?"

"Of course. Why wouldn't I be?"

He shrugged almost sheepishly. "I know I'm not the easiest person to put up with, yeah."

She laughed. "And _I_ am?"

Deidara grinned and tightened his arms around her. "Not really. But I wouldn't want you any other way."

"Likewise." She rose up on her toes and leaned closer, nuzzling his nose with hers as she hovered just above his lips. "I love you," she whispered.

He didn't think he would ever get tired of hearing that. And as new as the entire concept was, he found it surprisingly natural to reply, "I love you too, yeah."

There was no more talking after that.

* * *

Unknown to the happy lovers, uphill on the back porch of the small house, Kisame watched with a wide, pointy-toothed grin.

The sun had nearly slipped below the oceanic horizon, and it would be dark soon. It was a nice night for a walk, the shark mused, and he decided that a few games of pool at the local bar in town sounded like a good idea. Maybe a dozen or so beers as well, maybe flirt with a nice curvy lady, and if things went well he may not wander back home until sometime tomorrow.

What a nice guy he was, kicking himself out of his own house. Laughing quietly to himself, he turned to do just that.

* * *

One week later, the three shinobi stood together in the shark's 'front yard,' Deidara's large white bird waiting silently a few feet away.

"Are you sure you don't want to come with us, Kisame?" Sakura asked one last time.

The shark nin chuckled and shook his head. "I've done all the runnin around I need to do in my life, Princess. I'm happy right here."

She nodded acceptingly and moved forward to give the large man a hug. "We'll miss you."

"Speak for yourself, yeah," Deidara jibed.

Sakura cast a playful glare at him. "Oh shut up. You know you will too."

He shrugged. "It's not like we won't come back at some point."

"Damn right. You better come around every so often so I don't get too bored out here. And I'll always need good drinking partners," Kisame added with a grin.

"Deal," she laughed.

With that, Deidara tightened his pack and jumped up onto his clay construct, then offered a hand down to Sakura. She took it and leapt up beside him, smiling sweetly as he kept hold of her hand as they knelt down on the back.

"We'll see you soon, Kisame!" she called, waving with her free hand.

The shark raised a hand in return. "Try to stay out of trouble this time."

With a small lurch and a rush of enormous wings, the bird rose into the air and set out at an easy pace. Sakura watched Kisame's seaside home grow smaller and smaller, eventually fading into the receding shoreline.

She turned then and smiled at Deidara, admiring how handsome he was as his hair blew in the wind. He smiled back at her. "Where should we go first?" he asked.

Sakura felt a growing sense of excitement. They were off on an adventure, one that would last as long or short as they wanted. They were completely free—from danger, from worry, from financial restraints. The sky was literally the limit. "It doesn't matter to me. All that matters is that we're together. Wherever we go, I'm sure it will be a _blast_," she said with a mischievous smirk.

Deidara gave her an adorable, boyish grin and slipped both arms around her waist, gazing at her in slight wonder. "I love you."

Sakura grinned. "I know," she replied playfully, and leaned in to meet his kiss.

She was no longer running from the past and afraid of the future. Whatever may come, they would face it together. He was the silver lining in her dark cloud, and she was looking forward to the rest of her life with the man she loved.


	15. Epilogue

**Silver Lining**

Epilogue

* * *

The warm autumn wind blew through the trees and rustled the leaves scattering the ground. The soft whooshing sounds as the breeze swayed the ancient boughs cast a feeling of peace and calm over the surrounding area.

A peal of youthful laughter rang across the clearing, causing many of the people gathered there to smile. Three children played a game of tag with wooden shuriken while several adults looked on in amusement. It appeared to be an unfair match, two boys against one very small girl, but the amusing part was that she was holding her own quite well against the larger, older boys. Her small legs carried her with impressive speed as she darted away from the projectiles, laughing happily all the while. Of course the boys were mindful not to get too rough and hurt her, but they were still giving her quite a challenge.

Suddenly the little girl dashed across the grassy area to where several of the wooden shuriken were embedded in the ground. She ducked as more came at her, and much to everyone's surprise flung the shuriken she had retrieved toward her attackers as she rolled away. The boys hadn't expected her to be able to do something like that, and they were so surprised that a few hit them before they recovered themselves enough to move away.

The little girl cheered and jumped up from the ground, turning a beaming smile in the direction of her watching parents. "Daddy! Daddy did you see that?" she exclaimed excitedly as she ran with arms outstretched toward her father, who bent and picked her up as she reached him. "I did it just like you taught me to!" she stated proudly, her bright green eyes sparkling.

"I saw that. It was real good, yeah," Deidara replied as she shifted a little to get comfortable in his hold.

"Mama did you see?"

"I did, Kaya. You're getting really good at it," Sakura said, smiling. She handed her daughter the stuffed animal she'd been holding for her. It was her favorite toy, a little plush monkey that was rather worn and twice as old as she was. The very same monkey that Deidara had accidentally won for Sakura at the carnival on that last, fateful mission. Kaya took it and hugged it to her chest, and Sakura reached out to smooth some of the silky blonde hair that had gotten mussed in her play-fight.

"It was rather impressive, I gotta say."

They turned toward the speaker, and Sakura smiled as Shikamaru approached with Temari at his side. Their two daughters remained at a distance, talking quietly with a teenage boy who if Sakura wasn't mistaken, looked to be Kurenai's son, Asuma.

"Your letter said she was showing signs of shinobi skill, but you didn't say she was this far along," he finished as they drew to a stop.

The four adults regarded each other a moment. There was no animosity or hostility directed between Deidara and the other couple, just wary civility as they still weren't quite sure what to make of the other. The events and circumstances that had once made them enemies had happened over fifteen years ago, and there was no point in holding on to it. It was water under the bridge. The fact that they were standing here together outside the gates of Konoha, and that the Hokage and his wife had brought their own children as well as others to this meeting was a gesture that they were willing to trust.

"That was nothing," Sakura said. "She seems to have my chakra control and is learning to use what little she has very quickly. She watched us spar one day a few weeks ago and asked how we stick to things. So I explained the basics of chakra channeling to her, and the next day I found her stuck to the ceiling in her bedroom! Nearly gave me a heart attack," she laughed.

"How old is she again?" Temari asked.

"Three."

Both the Hokage and his wife's faces showed clear amazement, and Shikamaru exhaled sharply. "Damn…and does she have your bloodline limit?" he asked Deidara.

Deidara nodded. "She does." They knew because Sakura had checked recently, and determined that there were indeed little mouths under the skin of her palms, just waiting to break through. "It'll manifest once she's fully able to manipulate chakra, which at her rate will probably only be another year or two, yeah."

The Hokage couldn't help but look rather pleased about that. "Her mother's perfect chakra control and her father's powerful blood trait…sounds like you have a little prodigy on your hands."

Deidara's expression darkened slightly. "Don't call her that."

Shikamaru was taken aback. "Why not? She's clearly gifted. Weren't you also considered a prodigy in your village?"

Deidara didn't ask how he knew that, he was a Kage after all and had probably done his research. "Yeah I was, so I know how someone with a label like that gets treated by their fellow shinobi and superiors. My daughter is not going to be used like some disposable tool for the village's convenience."

The Hokage wasn't bothered by the sudden change in attitude. He had two daughters himself and he understood wanting to protect one's child from harm, even the psychological kind. He knew how shinobi were regarded in some hidden villages, that those labeled prodigies were sometimes considered little more than super-weapons, and were driven and pushed to be such from a very young age, denied their childhood and isolated from their peers. Konoha had been guilty of that in the past, but had learnt its lesson, because those sorts of things developed ninja like Uchiha Itachi and no one was eager to repeat _that_ mistake.

"Konoha doesn't operate that way," he explained casually. "I'm not saying it didn't happen in the past, but it hasn't been that way for at least twenty years. We value our shinobi, their lives are precious and not to be thrown away. Shinobi _are_ weapons, but they're also people, and Konoha has learned how to balance the two. Why do you think there are so few missing-nin from Hidden Leaf? For as much as we get called softhearted and over-compassionate, there's a reason why Leaf is the strongest of the hidden villages, and that's because of one thing; the Will of Fire—our love and loyalty to this village and the people in it. A man who fights to protect what is precious to him is ten times more powerful than a man fighting on orders or for money." His expression turned reflective, and he continued in a quieter tone, "My Sensei and I used to play shogi a lot, and the last thing he said to me before he died was that the purpose of the game was to protect the king, and that in life, the king is our children and the future generations to come. I've lived by those words since that day, and that ideal has been the foundation behind everything I've done as Hokage."

Nara Shikamaru certainly didn't _look_ like a Kage, wearing a slightly wrinkled jounin uniform rather than robes of office, slouching casually with his hands in his pockets. But the way he'd spoken just now proved that he was indeed the leader of this village, and he seemed to be a pretty good one. He had also been the one to kill Hidan, and that earned him a lot of points in Deidara's book.

Deidara thought about the main reason they were here. For Kaya. Her intelligence and ability were developing rapidly, and her parents couldn't teach her everything. She needed to go to school, needed to be around other children and make friends. A regular school was definitely the wrong place for her, especially with a developing bloodline limit like hers, and she was already taking on some of the personality traits distinctive to shinobi society and they knew she wouldn't fit in with civilian kids. Then Kaya had told them she wanted to be a shinobi, '_a super-strong and cool kunoichi just like mama!_' in her words. The decision to come here had been a heavy and difficult one for both of them, but after a lot of discussion, they had agreed and Sakura had written a letter to the Hokage.

Deidara could tell that the Hokage meant what he said, and that eased his doubts somewhat. Also, Sakura wouldn't want her child to grow up here if it wasn't a good place for her, so he relaxed a little. Kaya laid her head on his shoulder, no doubt growing bored and unable to follow all of the adults' conversation. "Alright," he said, nodding once in acceptance.

Before anymore could be said, two ANBU suddenly flickered into sight several feet away.

"Hokage-sama," one of them spoke in a mask-muted voice.

Shikamaru suddenly looked rather put-upon. "Excuse me for a minute," he sighed, and then turned and walked away to deal with business, and Temari followed after.

Sakura and Deidara looked at one another, and she gave him a soft smile. But before they could start talking they noticed someone else walking toward them from the direction of the gates. Sakura turned and her smile widened in recognition. Walking calmly in their direction was a beautiful woman with long ebony hair. Deidara noticed her eyes seemed rather opaque, and he wondered for a second if she was blind, but as she drew up to them he could see they were not white but silvery-purple, and he realized she was one of the famed Hyuuga.

She smiled as Sakura stepped forward, and the two women embraced. "Sakura, it's so great to see you again. The boys and I were so happy when we got your letter."

"It's great to see you too, Hanabi," Sakura replied as she stepped back.

"How have you been?"

Sakura's smile softened. "Good. I've been really good."

"It looks like it. I'm glad." She turned to regard the man and child next to her old friend, still smiling. "Hello Deidara. I'm Uchiha Hanabi."

Now Deidara realized why she looked so familiar; this was the woman from the wedding photo Sakura had. This was Uchiha Sasuke's widow. He wasn't really surprised that she knew who he was, but what did surprise him was that she didn't seem to care. There wasn't a trace of wariness or suspicion or negativity of any kind coming from her. She reminded him of Sakura in that way and he liked that, and so it wasn't forced to reply, "Nice to meet you, yeah."

Just then the two boys that had been playing with Kaya came sprinting over.

"Kaya-chan!"

"Kaya!"

The little girl perked up at her name, and she grinned as the older boys skidded to a halt in front of them. They both looked up at Hanabi briefly as they stopped.

"Hey mom," said the dark haired boy.

"Are you guys having fun?" Hanabi asked them.

"Oh yeah. Kaya is awesome, you should've seen what she did earlier! There are kids in the academy who aren't even as good as that," said the other boy, running his hand through his spiked dirty-blond hair. "Hey Kaya-chan, you should definitely come eat ramen with us later! Ichiraku has the best ramen anywhere! Is that okay, mom?"

"Of course, if her parents agree. Why don't you introduce yourselves?"

"We already know Sakura though! She was our dads' teammate, and she's a legendary kunoichi! She knows us already too…you're like our aunt, right?"

Sakura didn't reply immediately, because looking at them brought on a sudden tide of emotion. They were the spitting images of their fathers, and they were the same age as when she and her boys had become a team. The memories threatened to overcome her, but she tamped them down and gave the boys a warm smile. "Yeah…something like that."

"I remember you," said the quieter boy. "Well…I was only a baby, but I remember your pink hair," he amended. He smiled, and Sakura remembered often wondering what his father would have looked like had he smiled as a boy. Now she knew.

"That makes Kaya-chan our cousin! So see, you don't have to introduce yourself to family," the blond boy exclaimed.

Hanabi reached out and ruffled his messy head in mild exasperation. "Yes, of course Sakura remembers you, but Kaya's father doesn't know who you are, does he? Introduce yourself properly, Toshi, Kazu."

The blond boy grinned sheepishly. "I'm Uzumaki Toshio!"

"Uchiha Kazuki," replied the darker boy.

"We're cousins, but we're also brothers."

Kazuki shoved the other boy in the shoulder. "Watch how you say that, moron. People will think we're inbred or something."

The three adults laughed, and Deidara nodded once to the boys. "I'm Deidara."

"Just Deidara?" asked Toshio.

"That's right."

"Don't you have a surname?" said Kazuki.

"I did a long time ago, but I got rid of it, yeah."

"Oh." The boys clearly wanted to ask why, but they had manners enough to at least wait until they had known the foreign shinobi for more than five minutes.

"Your accent is cool. Where's it from?" Kazuki asked curiously.

"Earth country."

"Are you a Stone shinobi?"

"I used to be, yeah."

Toshio was staring at him thoughtfully, the wheels turning. "I think I've heard your name before…" His eyes widened before narrowing slightly. "Heeey…you're a famous bad guy!"

Suddenly Kaya stiffened, and a scowl fell across her small features. "Hey you take that back! My daddy is _not_ a bad guy!" she demanded hotly, proving she'd inherited her mother's ability to glare daggers as well.

Toshio was a bit startled by her vehemence, and looked confusedly back and forth between his mother and Deidara. "But it's true; he was in Akatsuki right? He's the one with the bombs–"

Kaya squirmed and pushed against Deidara's chest. "He's _not bad_! Let me down Daddy, I'm gonna kick him in the teeth!" she growled.

Deidara snorted in amusement but held on to his feisty child, knowing if he let her down she would do exactly what she said. Sakura couldn't help but laugh a little as well, and Hanabi was also rather amused by the hot-tempered toddler.

"Calm down, Kaya," Sakura reproved gently, "he wasn't trying to insult him. Toshio is right; your daddy is famous among shinobi, but he didn't always do very nice things. But that doesn't necessarily make him a bad person. There isn't a single one of us that hasn't done bad things, a fact that people only learn with time," she finished, looking pointedly at the boy.

Toshio looked contrite and kicked at the grass with his toe. "Sorry," he muttered.

Deidara shrugged, not bothered in the slightest. "It was a long time ago, yeah."

Kazuki crossed his arms over his chest, looking thoughtful. "It doesn't matter to me what he used to be. The Hokage wouldn't let him come here if he was still bad anyway. People can change. A lot of people still think my father was a villain and a traitor, even though he's a hero who died saving Toshi's father's life. I don't care what people say, because I know my father was a good man."

Hanabi smiled softly and smoothed her son's unruly hair. "That's exactly right, Kazu," she said quietly, and it was suddenly clear to Deidara why she had looked on him without judgment.

It was quiet for a moment, but then Toshio perked up and a huge grin formed on his sunny features. "Hey, Auntie Sakura, did you know Kazu just activated his Sharingan? And uncle Neji's been teaching me all kinds of Byakugan techniques. You guys should come and watch us train! We're the top two in our class, and we're going to graduate to genin soon!" he exclaimed proudly.

Sakura smiled. Kazuki was friendlier than his father, and Toshio was a bit more perceptive than his, but otherwise they were almost exactly the same. It was heartwarming as well as a little sad. "I'd love to," she said.

"Cool! Hey let's practice that new jutsu we learned!" the blond said to his brother. Kazuki grinned agreeably, and the two energetic boys ran back to the center of the clearing.

Kaya squirmed in her father's hold. "I wanna go play," she stated, her earlier indignation all but forgotten. Deidara smirked and set her down, and she took off after the boys.

Sakura grinned and shook her head wistfully. "Those boys…"

It was all she needed to say, and Hanabi smiled in understanding. "Yeah..." She watched the three children playing for a moment. "Your daughter is beautiful, not to mention precocious," she said amusedly.

Deidara smiled. "She's exactly like her mother, yeah."

Sakura laughed, and toyed almost lovingly with the plush monkey Kaya had once again left in her possession. "Yeah…but she's a total daddy's girl," she said, and linked her arm through Deidara's.

He glanced down at her and grinned, then turned his attention back to watching their daughter play. If someone had told him twenty years ago when he first became a missing-nin that he would be here like this someday, he would have fallen over laughing and probably launched a clay grenade at them. But like he had told Sakura once, life has a way of not going where you expected. He had meant it negatively at the time, but his feisty kunoichi had shown him it could work the other way as well.

It had been six years since the mission that altered the course of both their lives. Six years since he realized that he loved her and wanted her by his side forever, and he could honestly say the past six years were the happiest he'd ever had. They had traveled the world together, gone everywhere they'd ever heard of and wanted to go, staying as long as they wanted until they got bored and then set off on a new adventure. When they wanted to simply kick back and enjoy their financially unrestrained life for a while, they would rent a place in a nice town or simply return to Kisame's seaside home for a few months.

It was during one of those longer stays at the shark's house four years ago that a simple half-joking comment had been the start of another major life change.

* * *

The three shinobi were sitting on the front porch enjoying the summer evening, all of them varying degrees of intoxicated, talking about some of the things they had seen and done in their travels.

Sakura had drained the last of the current bottle, meaning it was her turn to go and get another. She did, only slightly unsteadily and grabbing two bottles for good measure, and as she made her way back outside she overheard Kisame ask Deidara a rather surprising question.

"So…are you and the Princess ever gonna have babies with itty bitty mouths on their itty bitty hands?" he snickered with a slight slur.

Sakura paused behind the screen door. She waited for the clear, prompt reply from her lover, but she was surprised when he didn't answer right away.

Deidara shifted a little in his chair, and then sighed quietly. "I don't know…maybe someday, yeah," he murmured absently.

Kisame chuckled with great amusement at his partner's answer.

That was the last thing Sakura had expected him to say, and she stood there dumbstruck for a moment, not knowing quite what to think. But drunk and off guard or not, they were going to notice her standing in the doorway any second, so she schooled her expression and walked out to the porch like she hadn't heard a thing.

She found the chance to bring it up later that night as they lay in bed together after two rounds of amazing sex. Even alcohol didn't really hamper his ability to give her mind-blowing pleasure, and she wore a tired and sated smile as she propped herself on his chest. "Deidara…"

"Mm?" he murmured sleepily.

"Did you mean what you said earlier…about kids?"

That woke him up fully, and his azure gaze focused intently on hers. "You heard that?"

Sakura nodded. "Do you really…want that someday?"

He sighed, and a moment passed before he replied. "I don't know…I haven't really thought about it. It was always a big 'no' to me…but I guess the answer's not so clear anymore, yeah. I thought you didn't want kids," he said, reaching up to twine her hair around his fingers.

"I _don't_ want kids. But I don't know…now that I think about it…maybe _a_ kid, as in just _one_…might be kinda nice," she said with a faint smile.

He smirked softly and tilted his head a little. "Really?"

Sakura was thoughtful for a moment, then nodded. "Yeah… a little one who's half you and half me…someone you could teach your art to. I think…I think I would like that. I don't really want to plan on anything, but maybe…just see what happens?"

Deidara was quiet a long time, his gaze turned inward in deep contemplation as he continued to absently play with her hair. Then a small, almost nervous smile curled his lips as he met her gaze once more and gave a tiny nod. "Okay."

#

After that night, Sakura stopped using her medical abilities to control her fertility, but they hadn't talked about it again. They would just see what happened. If it never did, no big deal, and if it did…then okay.

Four months later Sakura felt a tiny stirring of foreign chakra, and knew there was another life inside of her. When she told Deidara he'd been happy, but also more nervous than he'd ever been before, not even when he told Sakura he loved her for the first time. It was no longer an abstract concept of 'maybe' anymore. They were really going to have a baby. Sakura was _pregnant_ with _his_ child. It had blown his mind in ways he didn't even think were possible. But he was happy about it, and a little excited about what sorts of things would happen in the future. Sakura was happy too, and so they had looked forward to a new kind of adventure.

But it wasn't like they had settled down in the boring old fashioned sense of the word. Nothing really changed about their life after she became pregnant. Sometimes Sakura wouldn't feel well, and she couldn't drink alcohol, but other than that things stayed the same. Kisame was happy as a clam when they told him, and had celebrated by getting drunk _for_ her. They still traveled and did whatever they felt like doing for the first six months or so, and then Sakura had said it wasn't a good idea for her to travel anymore until the baby was born. She had wanted their child to be born in her native land, and Deidara's only preference was _anywhere but Earth country_, so they had rented an apartment in Fire's capital city.

Sakura had been ridiculously beautiful while pregnant, and most times when she was in the room he couldn't take his eyes off her. But living with a hormonal Sakura for nine months had definitely been an interesting experience to say the least. She had thrown an armchair at him once, after she'd stared at herself in the mirror for several minutes and then asked him if she looked fat, to which he mindlessly replied 'Don't be ridiculous.' What he had _intended _to say was: 'Don't be ridiculous, you're not fat you're pregnant and you look beautiful.' But he hadn't made it that far when the chair went flying. Of course it hadn't hit him, he was a ninja after all, but it did break the window and fly out into the street. Some people in the street below had shouted up and demanded to know what the hell they were doing and were they completely insane? Sakura then proceeded to launch an angry tirade of very impressive obscenities, yelling that she was seven months pregnant and if she wanted to throw _her_ fucking chair through _her_ fucking window then she could _goddamn_ well do it, and if they had any more to say about it they could come upstairs and say it to her face. The bypassers fled in fear from the pregnant pink haired terror and never came down that street again.

Afterward when Sakura calmed down and saw him cleaning broken glass from the floor, she realized she had just thrown a hundred pound chair at him because she'd asked him if she was fat and he'd basically told her _no_. She felt terrible that she'd overreacted so badly and had started to cry and curse her rampant hormones. Deidara was pretty much at a loss at that point, and still a bit wary of his raging hellcat, but he accepted her apology and she had been as sweet as a kitten after that.

That had been the worst of it, and surprisingly as it neared the end her hormonal episodes ceased and she settled into a calm and almost blissful state. It was during this gentler time just before the baby was born when he had learned they were having a daughter.

#

He entered the apartment after running an errand to find Sakura sitting on the couch, both hands pressed against her distended stomach, her face set in concentration. Before he could ask her about it, she grinned brightly and waved a hand rapidly at him.

"Come here, quick!" she said with quiet excitement.

He closed the door and moved toward her, and when he reached her side she grabbed his hand and placed it over her taut abdomen. Almost immediately he felt the ripple beneath his palm. He grinned and kneeled down in front of her. "How long has it been doing that?"

As soon as he spoke there was another, harder ripple beneath her skin, and Sakura laughed quietly. "A few minutes. She recognizes your voice," she said softly.

Deidara started in surprise, eyes flying up to meet hers. "_She_…?"

Sakura smiled, her eyes sparkling happily as she nodded.

He stared at her in slight awe. "How long have you known?"

"I only realized it about an hour ago. Of course I wouldn't keep something like that from you."

Her fingers lightly caressed the back of his hand as it rested on her stomach, and his gaze trailed down to their hands and the area below. A small smile formed on his lips. "A girl, huh?"

"Yeah…a little girl. Are you happy about that? I know a lot of men want a son…"

"Who wants a _boy_?" he snorted indignantly, "It's not like I care about passing on my name or anything. Besides, boys are a pain in the ass. I should know; I was one." Sakura gave a small laugh, unable to argue with that logic. Deidara leaned upward until his face was close to hers. "It's awesome. I'm happy it's a girl, yeah," he murmured, and then leaned in the rest of the way to kiss her.

"Me too," she replied when he pulled back, and smiled when he lowered himself again and pressed his lips against her tummy. He sent a tiny pulse of chakra through his fingertips into her abdomen, and was rewarded with another flutter. He did it again in another spot and got the same result in the new location. Sakura giggled softly as he continued to play with their baby. "It won't be long now…just a few more weeks," she said quietly.

He nodded slowly. "Hm. Are you nervous?" he asked, glancing up at her.

"Oh yeah. I'm _so_ ready for this girl to get the hell out of me, but I'm not looking forward to labor _at all_. But what I'm most nervous about is what comes after, you know? Are you?"

He gave a short, anxious laugh. "Scared to death, yeah," His thumb stroked softly back and forth over her stomach. "I mean, I have no idea how to do any of this. I never in my life imagined I would be here. I never thought I'd have a…a family." His brow furrowed slightly, and his hand flexed over her abdomen. "Sakura what if I screw it up…what if I'm a terrible father?"

Sakura smiled softly and gently ran her fingers through his long, pale hair. "That's not going to happen."

"How can you be sure?" he asked quietly.

"Well…do you love our baby?"

It was an odd concept, to love someone you'd never met or spoken to, someone you didn't know a thing about or have any real reason to love yet. But strangely enough…"Yeah…" He nodded. "I do."

"And you love me, right?"

That one was easy, and he smiled against her tummy as he replied, "More than anything."

"Then you have nothing to worry about. Because of that love you will always try to do what's best for us, so it will just naturally work out."

Her confidence made him laugh a little. "When you say it like that it sounds easy, yeah." He moved up to the couch and settled beside her, and she curled up against his chest as he relaxed against the armrest.

She laid her arm over his abdomen and tilted her chin up to see his face. "I just know you, that's all. You'll be a wonderful father Deidara, just like you're wonderful to me, and our daughter will love you as much as I do."

Deidara simply smiled and stroked her silky hair, then pressed a soft kiss to her forehead. She snuggled closer and laid her head on his shoulder, and they remained like that until they eventually both fell asleep.

#

Four weeks later their daughter was born. They decided to name her Kaya— after his mother. Deidara wasn't prone to sentimentality, but when he'd mentioned it Sakura had been sentimental enough for both of them and tearfully decided that would be her name.

During labor Sakura had broken his hand. He'd fully anticipated she would, but he had bucked up and held it anyway, and continued to even after she broke it, because judging by her almost-screams she was the one in real pain anyway. Sakura was a tough kunoichi, a warrior, but apparently childbirth was on a whole different level and even being run through by a sword didn't compare.

Afterward, when she'd regained enough strength to heal him and their infant daughter slept quietly, he'd laughed and told her the broken hand reminded him of their first real encounter, and they sure had come a long way since then, hadn't they? That had made her cry, but he knew they were happy tears so he had kissed her and held her hand some more, until she fell into an exhausted sleep.

Deidara had always imagined a life like this would bore him to death, or make him go even crazier than he already was. But he found there was nothing boring about it, and being a father and a life partner didn't compromise his ideals or cramp his style at all. He still practiced his art, though he had found that he didn't need to create it himself as much anymore, because he could see it now in many of the things around him. His daughter was a living, breathing work of art; always changing, always growing, always surprising. Every day there was something new. She was a beautiful masterpiece created together with the only woman he would ever love.

And as for Sakura, he loved her more each day and their passion for each other was as strong as ever. Kaya was for the most part a quiet and easily self-entertained child, so even their private life hadn't taken much of a hit, and if they really wanted some time alone they would leave her with "Uncle" Kisame for a week or so. No, life with his two girls would never get boring. The hellcat and the hellkitten, as Kisame had once joked.

People like himself and the shark didn't really deserve happy endings, but somehow fate had smiled on them anyway. Kisame had found his peace in the quiet life of a fisherman, and Deidara found his in the beautiful and spirited kunoichi and the child she had given him.

* * *

Sakura noticed him gazing down at her and looked up, warmth filling her at the expression in his eyes. "I know it's not easy for you to be here, but thank you for doing this."

Deidara smirked faintly, and glanced in the direction of their little girl. "I'm doing it for her. And for you," he said with quiet sincerity.

She leaned against him a little. "I couldn't have done this without you. You know I love you, right?"

"Yeah," he replied almost playfully, and they returned to watching their daughter play with her pseudo-cousins.

Sakura felt incredibly happy and content, not at all how she imagined she would feel coming back to this place. But Deidara and Kaya were the strength she needed to face the ghosts of her tragic past. As long as they were beside her she could do anything. It still amazed her sometimes, the path her life had taken. She thought about her years with the man who had once been an enemy. They really had come a long way—from mortal enemies to a wary truce, to unexpected friends, to lovers, to an inseparable part of each other's lives.

They had never married and they never would. They didn't need to. They didn't need rings or vows or licenses to know that their love was unconditional and they would always be together. They expressed those things to each other every day, sometimes with words, sometimes without. It was all they needed.

Deidara had renounced his clan name after they betrayed his family and he left his home village, and so their daughter had Sakura's name. They would never have another child; they had only wanted one and raising her was more than enough. But Kaya may have children someday, and if she did the Haruno clan would take a turn in a new direction, from a clan of civilian traders to a shinobi clan with a powerful and valued blood trait.

Deidara had been worried he would turn out to be a bad father, but he was wonderful from the start, if not a little clueless. The day Kaya was born he had been a nervous wreck, and he'd tried to hide it of course but she knew him too well. He had held her hand throughout the night, and when he'd held their baby for the first time he became very quiet, overwhelmed and a little awestruck, and Sakura could recall that moment and the jumble of emotions in his expression quite clearly. It was one of her favorite memories.

He definitely wasn't a typical father, and the things he taught their child were generally more dangerous than life-enriching, but such was the way of shinobi fathers throughout history. Sakura wasn't a typical mother either, and maybe that was a good thing because their daughter was clearly special. At only three years old she was already learning to read and could write her name, and her shinobi abilities were growing at an amazing rate. Kaya definitely had her mother's attitude, but for all her feistiness she was rather well-behaved. They may not be normal parents, but they were obviously doing something right to have produced such a remarkable child. Kaya would become an incredible kunoichi one day.

Shikamaru had just finished with the ANBU, and they turned expectantly as he and Temari walked back over to them.

"Sorry about that…job never ends, you know?" he said in his typically disgruntled tone.

"No worries, I know how it can be," Sakura replied amicably.

Shikamaru nodded and stuffed his hands into his pockets. "Yeah. So anyway…I don't want to get into all the hows and whys, but I'm supposed to do this properly so here it is: Deidara, missing-nin of Hidden Stone, formerly of the criminal organization Akatsuki…as Hokage I officially pardon your past crimes against Hidden Leaf and grant you refuge within this village."

Deidara didn't reply, they had already been informed otherwise they wouldn't have come here, but he nodded once in acknowledgement.

"Kaya's abilities are quite promising, but she's still very young so there's no hurry. She can take the academy entrance exams whenever you guys feel she's ready." He looked at Sakura and gave a lazy grin. "And Sakura…welcome back. You've been gone eight years, and everything's been rebuilt, so a lot will probably be different for you."

"That's probably going to be a good thing," she replied with a small smile.

He nodded understandingly. "You're probably right. And if you ever want your old job back, you know it's yours. Oh, but I do have one condition; please don't start calling me Hokage-sama. We've been through way too much together for that."

Sakura nodded and her smile widened. "Thank you, Shika."

He looked back to Deidara then. "Your knowledge and skills would be a pretty big asset, so if you ever feel like working for Konoha…or if you just get really bored and want to blow up something big…"

"I'll let you know, yeah," Deidara said with a wry smirk.

The Hokage shrugged nonchalantly. "Fair enough. I've got a few other things I have to take care of, but come and see me later to figure out all the little details and set up a housing arrangement and stuff."

"Alright," Sakura agreed, and the other couple turned to leave. The rest of the people gathered were starting to leave as well. Hanabi had gone to collect her boys and make them clean up before dinner, and she could hear Kaya saying goodbye and cheerfully agreeing to their request to play/train later. Hanabi and the boys waved at them and left, and Kaya came skipping toward her.

"I like Kazu and Toshi," she declared, taking her toy from Sakura.

Sakura laughed picked her up. "I think they like you too." With a slightly anxious sigh she turned to Deidara. "Are you ready for this?"

He gave her his trademark smirk and nodded. "Are you?"

"Yeah…I think I finally am," she said quietly, and then they turned to walk through the gates.

* * *

Konoha was much different than Deidara had expected. He hadn't known _what_ to expect, actually, but it was definitely different than anything he would have thought of. It was clean, and bright, and colorful. The buildings appeared patchwork, as if they hadn't been planned and had just been added onto as the need arose. The effect was charming and organic, and even the shabbier parts looked downright homey. It was worlds away from the mudbrick domes of Suna or the cold and dreary militaristic look of his native Iwa. The more of Konoha he'd seen today, the more he began to see why Leaf ninja were the way they were, why they were always so optimistic and do-goody, despite the fact that they were shinobi.

When they arrived at their current location he had been completely surprised by what he'd found. There was no Memorial Stone in Iwa. In the village he had been raised and trained in, shinobi were tools of war, and you didn't carve monuments for broken and discarded tools. If he had grown up here his life might have been completely different. Deidara realized he was glad they had brought their daughter to be raised this place.

Kaya was currently running around the small clearing, chasing a butterfly and picking what remained of the late blooming flowers, but when she looked up and saw him watching her she ran to him and held her arms out to be picked up.

"Daddy, who's that guy on the mountain over there?" she asked, pointing to the cliffside monument as he lifted her.

"There are seven people there, Kaya. Which one?"

"The one mama has pictures of."

He looked up at the monument again, surprised that she could place the stone likeness to a photo. He recognized the last three in the line; the Sannin Tsunade was the only woman carved there, the face at the end was Shikamaru, the current Hokage, and in between them was of course… "That's the sixth Hokage, Uzumaki Naruto. He was your mom's best friend. The boy you met today, Toshio…Naruto was his father, yeah."

"Are all those guys Hokages?"

"Your mom would know more about that than me, but yeah I'm pretty sure they were."

Kaya was silent for a long moment as she stared at the stone faces. "Did mama's friend die?" she asked quietly.

She had obviously picked up on his use of the past tense. "Yeah, he did. A long time ago."

"…Oh," she whispered. She seemed saddened for a moment, and then focused her bright green gaze on him. "Did you know him too?"

Deidara thought about how to answer. "I didn't really know him…but we met a couple of times."

"What was he like?"

What a question to ask _him_ of all people. He didn't exactly want to tell her about all the times they had tried to kill each other. Smart as she was, she wouldn't understand the complexity of her parents' past. He gave a short laugh at the irony and sighed. "He was really strong…and he had a lot of guts, yeah."

Kaya seemed satisfied with that answer, and he couldn't help but be relieved. She stared at the mountain a while longer, until her toddler's mind switched tracks. "Will Uncle Kisame come and live here, too?"

According to Kisame, the last time he'd set foot in Konoha it hadn't been fun and he'd been kicked in the face by a green-spandex wearing buffoon. "No I don't think so, Kaya. He's happy where he is. You know how much he likes to fish—how could he fish if he lived here?"

"Oh yeah," she said thoughtfully. "But we still visit him, right?"

"Of course."

She seemed to have run out of steam for the moment and laid her head on his shoulder, and Deidara set his features in mild exasperation when he realized that as he'd been holding her she had braided a thin strand of his hair. Should she even know _how _to braid at her age? He reminded himself to make sure and take it out when she wasn't looking, and before anyone else saw him.

"Daddy…why is Mama sad?" she asked suddenly in a quiet, concerned voice.

His gaze traveled over to Sakura where she knelt before the Memorial Stone, and he saw that she was crying softly. He looked again at his daughter. "She's not sad, really," he explained quietly. "This is where your mom grew up, but she hasn't been here in a long time. A lot of good as well as bad things happened to her here. I think she's just remembering a lot of different things at the same time, yeah."

"…So she's whelmed?"

Deidara smirked. She was so smart sometimes it was easy to forget she was only three. "The word is _over_whelmed, Kaya, and yeah…I think she is."

"Are you overwhelmed, too?"

He was quiet a moment as his eyes traveled over his surroundings, and he thought about everything it meant for him to be standing where he was. Then he gave a faint nod. "A little, though for different reasons than your mom."

"Hmm. I like this place," she remarked after a moment.

"It is kinda nice, isn't it?" he mused quietly.

"Yeah. I think we be happy living here."

Deidara looked again at what he could see of the village and the surrounding forest, and then a small smile formed on his lips. "I think so too, yeah."

* * *

Sakura knelt quietly before the Memorial Stone, her expression wistful and bittersweet. Slowly, she brought her hand up to touch the smooth polished surface, fingertips ghosting over the countless names carved into the black granite, generation after generation, entire families, the long history of the sacrifices made for this village inscribed for all time. It was an honor to have one's name here, but that honor was not without pain.

She hadn't been before this stone in eight years, and the emotions begin to well up as her fingers moved, pausing over each familiar moniker. So many names... mentors, teachers, comrades, friends…so many memories, so many tears.

For so long she had thought there was nothing left here for her, that she had lost too much. But today she had realized she was wrong. Those she had lost…their memories and their legacies lived on here, in this village hidden within the leaves. That was the Will of Fire, to live in honor of those who came and went before you. Sakura still had a family here, in Hanabi and those two boys with their fathers' faces. And though it would never be the same as what she'd shared with her team, a deep unspoken bond existed between her and the comrades who had survived through it all with her.

The first tear rolled down her cheek as her fingers came to a stop over a single character. _Sai_. She took a deep, shaky breath, but her fingers remained steady as they continued down the polished stone. _Sasuke_…_Naruto_…_Kakashi_. She emitted a long, heavy sigh and wiped at her eyes.

"Hey guys," she began in a very small, quiet voice. "It's been a while, hasn't it? Naruto, Sasuke…I'm sure you've heard this before but your sons are so beautiful. They look just like you. You'd be so proud of them—they're going to be amazing shinobi one day. I have a child too now; a beautiful little girl named Kaya. You guys would love her." She smiled through her tears, and took another deep breath. "Kakashi…and Naruto…I'm sorry it took so long for me to keep the promises I made to you, and it wasn't fair because you always, _always_ kept your promises to me. Naruto, if you were here now I know you would have a lot of questions, but I know you would understand because Deidara is wonderful—he loves me and our daughter, and he's helped me in so many ways I can't even begin to express. I want you all to know that I'm happy…I really, truly am. I know it's what you would all want for me."

A gentle gust of wind blew through the clearing and fanned her hair, and the soft rustling of the trees sounded to her like a thousand whispered voices, as if the spirits of those who had gone before were here with her now, offering her strength. As the fallen leaves swirled in indistinct patterns around her Sakura was filled with a feeling of serenity, and finally knew what she had until now been unable to say.

"I'm sorry I've been away for so long, but…I was afraid…of going on, of living a life without my boys. I realize now that it was wrong, that I was just being a coward. But I promise I'm going to be here from now on, and I'm going to tell our children all of the embarrassing stories you wouldn't want them to know." She laughed, and the tears flowed freely but she made no attempt to stop them. "And I'll tell them all of the wonderful, amazing and idiotic things you did, and I'll make sure they know that you were all heroes, and that knowing you, walking a path beside you and being your friend was the greatest honor of my life. I love you all…I'll miss you forever and I will always remember our bonds and the time we shared…and I'm going to go on, and live my life for all of us."

She took a few minutes to collect her emotions and dry her eyes, and then she stood with a sigh and walked over to her waiting family.

When she reached his side, Deidara lifted his free hand to gently brush a stray lock of hair from her moistened cheek. "Are you alright?" She nodded and leaned into his touch, and he pressed a soft kiss to her brow and wrapped the arm not holding their daughter around her shoulders. "I love you," he said quietly.

"I love you too, Mama," Kaya added, reaching out to touch Sakura's cheek with childlike affection.

Sakura laughed tearfully. "I love you both so much," she replied, and kissed the top of Kaya's blonde head before slipping her arms around Deidara's waist. She was truly happy. The holes in her heart had been filled, and she knew that returning to Konoha had been the right decision. She could once again call this place her home.

"Can we go eat ramen now?" Kaya asked innocently.

Sakura smiled warmly, and gave a small nod. "Yeah…that sounds great."

Kaya wiggled her way out of Deidara's hold, wanting to walk on her own, and when he set her down she skipped off in the direction of the path.

Sakura and Deidara stood still for a moment, their gazes locked on each other. He bent his head to kiss her tenderly, and when he pulled away she gave him her brightest smile and linked her arm through his, and then they turned and followed their daughter back into the village.

* * *

The End


End file.
