Naruto 1. The Great Escape

Young Blood

By: Smash41KMF

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Naruto Shippuden, I do however, own this story and the OC characters that are in it

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><p><strong>Summary<strong>**: **Sakura and Sasori are sent on a recruiting mission. Nothing special right? That's what they thought, at least until the organization's best candidate takes a rather obsessive interest in Sakura. Will Sasori step in and set the rookie straight, or will he sit back and watch as this new member preys on his innocent cherry blossom?

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><p><strong>Chapter One : The Great Escape<strong>

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><p>Sakura yawned, closing her eyes and leaning to her left until her cheek met with the soft material of the black cloak, adorn with the Akatsuki signature of red clouds, which covered her red-headed and recently made flesh-and-blood partner's shoulder. Normally, she avoided getting too close to the puppeteer, because, despite his attempts at reassurance, she wasn't convinced that he wasn't going to try and kill her the moment such an opportunity came about.<p>

_"What would be the point of me killing you, Sakura-san?" _he had asked her, when she told him of her paranoia. She had accidentally run into him, and immediately scrambled to put a good distance between them, in fears of being decapitated.

She had told him that it'd be revenge for killing him and for destroying everything he had worked for to become a puppet of his own when she revived him into human form. To her surprise, and irritation, the man had simply laughed at her before answering with a smug grin, _"Killing you would only result in the loss of a much-appreciated medic for the organization, a tolerable partner for me, and a kunoichi who still has many years ahead of her to live for."_

To be honest, she hadn't expected him to say that, so the natural reaction was for her jaw to drop open slightly. He had simply smirked in response, but it lacked his normal taunts, making it seem a tad more genuine. However, while she should have been overjoyed by the knowledge that she no longer topped her partner's 'To-Kill' list, Sakura had instead reacted in disbelief; a reaction that consisted of calling the red-head a 'Kami-sama forsaken liar' and storming off after telling him to go back to his room and play with his 'collection of rotten dolls'.

In response to this, rather than walk away like usual, the ex-sand-ninja caught her by the wrist as she passed and with a swift tug, had her flat on her back in front of him. The move had caught her off-guard, and the impact with the wooden floorboards sucked the air from her lungs, rendering her useless. Her partner knelt down and looked down at her again with that infamous smirk.

_"See,"_ He had whispered, his mouth beside her ear as his disheveled red-hair blocked part of her vision. However, the taunting tone of his voice was the least of her problems as she swallowed audibly in an attempt to get the air back into her lungs and slow down her racing heart. To be brutally honest, Sakura was confused; both by the measure of his forwardness, and by her body's reaction. Unfortunately, Sasori had seemed to sense the pinkette's unease and chuckled softly, causing Sakura to fight the urge to blush, especially when his tone dropped seductively. Sakura felt herself losing control of her body as pink crept onto her cheeks as he growled against her ear, his voice a deep, vibrating rumble.

_"If I _really _wanted you dead…"_ he had hissed, his voice sending a series involuntary shivers down her back, but before she could respond, he pulled back. Sakura blinked, and bit back a gasp when she recognized the position they were in. First she was embarrassed, then surprised by his boldness, and finally angry that she hadn't notice _when_ he had moved from his position behind her head to straddle her sides. Sasori had simply smirked, amusement flashing in his eyes as he watched a string of emotions wash over the young kunoichi's face: embarrassment, surprise, and finally…. anger. Then, before she could catch his brief moment of unease at her mood swing, Sasori looked away and focused his lazy gaze on the pink strands of hair that brushed his hand. He above her, his knees on either side of her stomach, one hand pressed into the wooden floor beside her head, his fingers barely brushing the loose, silky locks of pink hair that fell from her ponytail and splayed across the floor around her head.

_"You _would_ be dead…" _It was only then that Sakura had noticed the trio of thin senbon needles pressed gently into the side of her neck: one where the bottom of her ear met her jawbone, the second pressed under her jaw where her pulse beat rapidly against her will, and the last prodding the tender skin where her throat met her collarbone. Sakura fought the urge to swallow, trying to avoid being pricked by the more-than-likely poisoned needles while also refusing to allow him the satisfaction of seeing her obvious discomfort.

Sakura nearly sighed at the memory; it was the first time he showed anything other than distaste or pure boredom towards her, but her thoughts were soon interrupted by the rough sound of his own, groggy mumbling.

"Are you really _that_ tired, or do you just like using me as a pillow?" Sakura scowled, squeezing her eyes shut tightly, before scooting closer to the puppeteer and hugging him around the waist with a playful purr – just to spite him. Despite recently acquiring a human body after twenty long years inside 'an eternal work of art', Sasori didn't encourage physical contact. If anything, the thirty-six-year-old puppet master avoided it at all costs. So, for the sake of her own amusement and to simply irritate him, Sakura would try to hug the man as often as she could, despite his threats to turn her into a human puppet.

"A little bit of both, but it helps that you're warm now." She replied lightly, feeling him growl slightly at her persistence and refusal to release him, even as he attempted to pry her off.

"So, if I were still an eternal masterpiece… this wouldn't be happening?" he asked stiffly, glaring down at the girl, before sighing in defeat. He knew his attempts were useless when physically, she was stronger than him, so in the decision to save his strength in case he needed it later, he let one arm drop to his side. Then, having no desire to touch the twenty-year-old medic, he uncharacteristically scratched the back of his head with the other hand.

"Sasori, you were a _puppet_-" Sakura replied flatly, amused by his childish determination to not touch her. She knew he was aware of her motives, that she was only trying to help him, but after nearly two decades inside an unweathering, unfeeling body of wood and metal, two years of living in a human body did not erase his distaste for physical contact. So knowing this, she almost smiled when he gave up and begrudgedly let his right arm rest around the small of her back, only to hiss in surprise when she felt a sharp flick to her forehead. She lifted her head from his shoulder and glared, only to be met with a briefly, victorious smirk.

"-_Art_. Sakura. I was _art_-" he hissed, flickering her again, hoping it'd make her let go, but instead, she pressed the side of her head into his chest, just under his chin and hugged him tighter, almost painfully so.

"Until I killed you." She replied smartly, closing her eyes and silently marveling at how solid he really was beneath that large cloak. However, that thought only paled in comparison to the satisfaction she felt when she noticed how tense he was, despite his calm tone and steady heartbeat.

"-until you killed me… and brought me back to life two years later." He replied with a smirk, which earned a playful, chakra-enhanced poke in his side. He flinched, an eye twitching briefly before he lifted his head towards the ceiling of their train cabin and taking a deep breath, fighting the strong urge to retaliate at her childish attacks on his mid-section.

It had been about two years since he had been reborn in a human body that was only about a year older than his young partner, and he was still trying to adapt to the way the body reacted. Whether it was through the sense of touch or taste, he was still learning and surprisingly enough, Sakura had decided to try and help him make-up for all the years he lost to being an ageless puppet. She'd take him shopping to help his discomfort with large crowds of people, had him try all kinds of foods to figure out what tastes he liked or disliked, she even took him back to her home village to celebrate the marriage of two of her close friends; a Hyguua ANBU and a weapons specialist if he remembered correctly. It had been the first time he ever felt uncomfortable asking a question, because oddly enough, he just wasn't able to comprehend the emotions and mannerisms of the two lovers. He couldn't understand the gentle, yet so confident and strong expressions that coated the couple's persons, nor was he able to find the meaning behind each discreet touch, or lingering gaze they shared throughout the night of festivities. Amidst his confusion and much to his own irritation, he was forced to question Sakura whom, he assumed was too surprised to respond appropriately, started to laugh at his befuddlement. He had glared at her in response, and it was then that she had seemed to realize that he wasn't kidding, and for some unknown reason, he saw her cheeks grow a faint shade of pink.

Her initial react had only confused him more, but before he could question her any further on it, an alerting clinging of metal on a thin glass of wine sounded through the air, and the father of the bride rose to his feet to give his speech before the happy couple's first dance. The chance then presented itself later in the night, during dinner to be exact. At first, Sakura hesitated, before turning her head towards the lovely couple as a wistful smile graced her delicate lips. Then, she turned back to look at him, and he felt his lungs contract, while his heart was all but crashing through his ribcage; it was a sensation he had never felt before, but it engulfed his entire body, spreading like wildfire and filling him with a uplifting sensation as something in his stomach fluttered.

_"Love."_ Is what she had told him, using such a simple word to identify the obviously complex behavior. Despite himself, Sasori had given her a truly curious look, still unable to grasp the concept of the affection, and in response, she replied with a small laugh, lifting a hand to hide the tiny grin that claimed her slightly glistening, pale pink lips.

Sasori refrained from shuddering at the memory, unwilling to disturb the girl's slumber, as the unfamiliar and almost giddy feeling took to his stomach once again. It was another thing he had yet to find control over, the way his body reacted against his will to certain things like the heat and the cold, but most specifically, pink-haired his partner.

Taking his chances, while also struggling to tame the gradual increase of his heartbeat, Sasori spared the young kunoichi a small glance, and felt a small, gentle smile tug at the firm line of his mouth. She was asleep, her head tucked almost perfectly under his chin, her toes barely hanging over the edge of the bench while her left knee was resting gently on the outside of his thigh. However, the only force preventing the girl from laying her head in his lap was the loose circle of her arms around his waist, one hand dropping to rest lightly on his leg.

_'She looks peaceful.'_ He noted silently, _'More than I've ever seen her, at least.'_

Without thinking, Sasori felt his right hand remove itself from its place on the small of her back and before he could stop himself, he felt her soft-as-silk pink locks slip through his fingers effortlessly. Then, in response, Sakura snuggled closer, drawing her knees in closer as she let out a soft hum. Sasori froze, his eyes growing as he paused in his ministrations, prepared to pull his hand away, when Sakura shifted, moving a little closer and clasping her hands together and letting them lay loosely against his hip.

To say that Akasuna no Sasori was simply bothered by the close proximity between them would be a blaringly obvious understatement. In fact, he was _extremely_ uncomfortable to have this woman, who was more than capable of crushing every bone in his body with her bare hands, _snuggling_ against him as if he was a child's teddy-bear. However, at the same time, he felt an unexplainable heat burn into his cheeks as a tingling and feather-light sensation spread throughout his body and his stomach began to flutter uncontrollably.

Sasori was not oblivious; he knew that, if it were any other woman (although he would never allow _anyone_ of the opposite sex, save for Sakura and perhaps Konan, touch him) he would have felt nothing. It was this logic, which had come to be questioned and consulted numerous times, that had pointed to this being a reaction that only the presence of his pink-haired partner could conjure. However, no matter how many times he tried to explain the feeling to himself, tried to break it down and understand it, the explanation for this enlightening sensation continued to elude him.

This was another case where, despite his distaste for asking for help, he would have asked Sakura what she was doing to him. Was it genjutsu? Was she simply practicing it on him? What was it meant to do, what were these effects supposed to achieve? These, along with several, equally aggravating questions danced restlessly about in his mind, and it was disrupting his concentration. He wanted to know the meaning of these odd tremors of inexplicable emotions, but he knew that he wouldn't be able to ask Sakura. He did not know what they meant and he was not willing to face the brunt of the kunoichi's fury in the case that he said something wrong in the process, especially considering that it involved her directly. However, he'd be damned if he tried to ask any of the other members, Konan aside, because he knew that, one way or another, whether they knew the answer or not, he'd be ridiculed for be unaware or for seeking help. Oh no, none of them were going to help, and he didn't want to test Sakura's temper any time soon.

Sasori sighed, feeling only slight aggravation in the realization that he was on his own this time around, when he felt Sakura move again. He looked down slightly and found a pair of sleepy green eyes watching him curiously.

"What's wrong, Sasori?" she asked, suppressing the urge to yawn as she met her partner's uneasy brown eyes.

Sasori blinked, looking at the girl for a few seconds, before shaking his head and glancing out the window, "Nothing, go back to sleep."

Sakura glared at him, opening her most to protest, when the soft sounds of approaching footfalls made both shinobi freeze. Sasori was the first to take action, slipping his hand into Sakura's hip pouch, earning a hard glare in the process, and extracting two paper bombs, holding them out to Sakura and raising an eyebrow. It didn't take long for Sakura to catch on and she grinned before snatching the tags and putting them under a hinge to make them look like train tickets, while he removed his cloak.

"Deidara would be so proud of you." She said, grinning at the scowl she received for the comment while she watched Sasori fold his cloak and set it in his lap, before looking at her and frowning slightly when his gaze caught the gleam of her headband. "What?"

"You're going to have to take that off." He said, gesturing to her headband. He knew she hated taking it off, it represented her loyalty to her village, both as a ninja and a medic, but he also knew that they couldn't be discovered or else their mission would be a waste, even if it was just a recruiting job.

He watched her hesitate, before slowly raising her hand to the knotted cloth sitting against the back of her neck. Untying the material, Sakura held the only thing that signified her existence as a shinobi of the Hidden Leaf Village delicately in her hands. Although she was often times reluctant, Sasori knew that he never had to worry, because despite her attachment to the headband, he knew the young kunoichi understood the importance of maintaining their cover while carrying out undercover missions. So, with predicted hesitance, Sakura held the headband out to the former Suna ninja.

With another small sigh, Sakura placed a hinge over herself, and then one over her partner as he carefully put her headband in one of their backpacks, before turning back to face her. They looked at each other, examining each other's civilian hinge, before glancing back at the door to the cabin as the sound of footsteps grew louder, stopping periodically at the doors of each of the cabins to check the passengers of the train for tickets.

Sakura sat back against the cabin bench and closed her eyes patiently while Sasori remained silent, waiting for the conductors to come and check their 'tickets'. However, a small light went on in Sasori's mind and he glanced over at his partner, an idea that would hopefully sell their innocent appearance as a young couple just a little bit better, while also catching the kunoichi off-guard, a hobbie that always had amusing turn-outs.

Sasori smirked, before reaching an arm around Sakura's waist and pulling her down so her head fell onto the folded cloak in his lap. She let out a small gasp, before looking up and glaring at her partner as the footsteps stopped at the cabin beside them.

"I told you to go back to sleep, remember?" he said with a victorious smirk, especially when her attempt to protest was cut off by the sounds of footsteps stopping outside their cabin. She glared at him, reaching up and dropping their 'tickets' into the breast pocket of his button-up shirt, before turning away and closing her eyes, feigning sleep as the cabin door slid open.

Sasori glanced up, his gray eyes settling quietly on the two men standing in the doorway, both wearing uniforms that signified their positions on the train, as well as the company's emblem. However, as any ninja would know, while these people looked like innocent conductors checking for tickets, they were also Jounin-level shinobi of the land the train was headed for. Sasori watched both men, he could tell that they were suspicious of the pair, considering that it would have been pointless to try and mask their chakra signatures entirely, so they had opted for only partially hiding their tracks. This meant that about a quarter of Sasori's reserves were leaked, while Sakura's was left alone, because it would have been impossible to disguise her as anyone other than the Fifth Hokage's former apprentice.

So, as if on cue, both men glanced at Sakura, their chakra flaring in warning, before one of them turned back to look at Sasori, holding out his hand. Initially, Sasori simply blinked, before feigning realization and nodding. One hand still entangled in her silky pink locks, Sasori reaching into his shirt pocket and withdrew the hinged tickets, hoping Sakura's genjutsu was strong enough to fool the two so that they wouldn't have to resort to setting off the bombs. While the Akatsuki was known for being ruthless and violent S-ranked missing-ninja, they tried to avoid situations that could possibly endanger any nearby civilians. So, as Sasori leaned forward slightly, trying to be care as to not awaken the supposedly sleeping medic, he watched the second man step reach back, undoubtedly into a conceal hip pouch, while the other examined the 'tickets', his brow furrowed slightly.

Sasori's stomach churned slightly when he heard the soft sound of a knife being drawn, but he let his gaze fall on the first man as he stepped inside the cabin, while his partner stood by the doorway, holding a ticket in one hand and a knife in the other.

"State your business." The first said firmly, and Sasori glared at him, putting a finger to his lips, before leaning to the side slightly, careful not disturb Sakura as he quietly reached into his bag. The second man flinched, raising his knife slightly, but Sasori shot him a stern look, lifting his other hand from his partner's soft hair to hold up a hand to the ninja at the doorway.

Slowly, Sasori lifted his hand from his bag, a scroll signed by the Fifth Hokage that stated Sakura's vacation leave for one week with him there to insure that she actually took it. After the war, the Akatsuki made a deal with the Hidden Villages, Konoha, being the most favored party of them all, had been the most cooperative in the deal. While the members of the Akatsuki refused to be tied to any village, or controlled by any, Konoha had asked for them to cease hunting the host of the Nine-tailed fox. Eventually, a truce between the two had been issued, and was accepted from both sides, with a few conditions. Conditions that were tied to the pink-haired medic faking sleep in his lap.

The deal was that Sakura was to be available to the Akatsuki as medic, which they were in dire need of, and would be allowed to carry out missions that would not compromise her as a medic or as a ninja loyal to the Hidden Leaf. In return, the Akatsuki were required to provide assistance to each of the hidden villages if reasonable, and were forced end their pursuit of the jinchuuriki hosts. And in the case of war, the Akatsuki were in no way eligible to participate unless they had ties to whichever lands were warring, and even then it was voluntary.

It had been four years since that agreement, and to say the least, it had been a benefit to everyone, including Sakura, who had known grown out of simply being a teammate of both Naruto Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha, no longer was known only for being the former student of both the Fifth Hokage, Lady Tsunade and Konoha's infamous Copy Ninja, Kakashi Hatake, she had even grew beyond being the one to save Kankuro, the Fourth Kazekage's brother, and beyond assisting Granny Chiyo in killing him the first time around. Now, she was not only respected as one of the greatest medics to have ever lived, but also as a very powerful kunoichi in her own way.

Silently, Sasori handed the scroll to the first of the two men, before speaking in a soft tone, still pretending Sakura was asleep. "This should explain everything."

He watched as the first man shoved one of the 'tickets' into his pocket and opened the scroll, his eyes scanning across the scroll's writing, before letting out a grunt and thrusting it towards his partner, who tucked away the other 'ticket' and followed suit. Sasori resisted the urge to smirk, when he felt Sakura shift, she peacefully expression faltering as she mumbled under her breath. Feigning annoyance, Sasori shot the man in front of him a sharp glare.

"I don't think I need to warn you that she doesn't like being woken up." He said flatly, his gaze shifting between the two men, whose chakra flared, before glancing down at Sakura, who turned over to face him, one hand jabbing him in the stomach. Sasori winced visibly, glaring down at her as she returned to her previous position.

"Stop making so much noise, Tomaru." She grumbled, her knees curling up closer, innocently, while Sasori took a deep breath, glaring at the two other men in the cabin, silently telling them to leave. However, the opposite happened, and in the blink of an eye, Sasori felt something tear into the top of his right shoulder, and Sakura sprung from his lap, driving a knee into the groin of the first man as he held the sword that cut into Sasori's arm.

With a growl, Sasori leaned forward, dodging the kunai hurled at him by the second man and grabbing both of their bags, before kicking the window out while Sakura caught the man in the doorway in the jaw with a hard right-hook. She turned back to face him, grabbing the scroll issued by the Fifth Hokage, before joining him at the window.

"Are you good to go?" he asked, his left hand gripping the edge of the window from the outside as he squatted in frame, his other arm hanging by his side as the wound to his shoulder continued to bleed, catching Sakura's gaze almost immediately. "We'll worry about it later, but right now we need to go."

Sakura nodded, watching him haul himself onto the roof of the train with one arm, the soft 'tup's of his sandals on the metal top assuring her of his safe landing. Taking a deep breath, Sakura stepped up onto the ledge, gloved hands gripping the top of the frame as she mimicked his moves. However, she was just about in the clear, when something latched onto her ankle, and she looked down to see the first ninja, the one she'd kneed in the groin, holding onto her foot and slowly pulling her back inside.

"Sasori!" she shouted, her grip on the window frame beginning to slip as more of her body re-entered the cabin. Sakura looked up, hoping she'd see the red-head, when she felt something around her waist while a warm breath murmured against her ear.

"Hold on tight!" he ordered, and as soon as she had her arms draped around the back of his neck, Sakura felt his grip tighten around her and she was slowly pulled up. She heard a curse sound from inside the cabin, and she growled when she felt something cut into her Achilles' heel, before lashing out, kicking at the man and smirking at the resounding crack of her foot making contact with his nose, before Sasori successfully pulled her on top of the train.

Normally, Sakura would have thought nothing of their position, but there was something about the feeling of his one hand pressed into the small of her back while she was lying on top of him that made her heart beat too fast. However, that thought soon crumbled when a groan of pain came from the man, and she quickly scrambled to her knees, her hands already glowing green as he struggled to sit up.

"Idiot, just hold still." She hissed, pushing back the fabric of his black T-shirt and netting top in order to correctly heal the wound.

"We don't have time, brat!" he snapped, trying to pull away, but Sakura glared, using his own movements to push him down and pin him to the train's rooftop, long enough to stop the bleeding. Sasori glared her, pushing her off and standing up as soon as she was done. Still annoyed, Sakura followed his lead, holding his harsh gaze, until the sounds of angry shouts fill the air above the train. She looked to Sasori who, still glaring at her, tossed her her bag and turned away, crouching by the the opposite side of the train and searching the surrounding for some sort of safe landing. "We need to get off this thing and cover our tracks as soon as possible." He said firmly, looking over his shoulder at Sakura, who was glancing over the other side as well.

They were on their way to Iwa for a simple recruiting mission and afterwards, she had been planning on enjoying her enforced vacation, but suddenly Sakura was getting the feeling that this wasn't going to be as easy as she had hoped. Sakura sighed, hanging her head in brief defeat.

"So much for my vacation…" she sighed, before pointing out a passing lake, the safest target for them to aim for while jumping from the train, it would also eliminate their scents for any trackers.

"Oh, I don't believe that I'm _that_ bad, besides, technically, you haven't started your vacation, remember?" Sasori replied as he came to stand beside her as they heard the ninja break through the window on the opposite side of the train.

"No, you're just _horrible_ company." She replied with a smirk. Sasori snorted in response.

"So you say." He muttered, ignoring the sounds of sandals stumbling on metal behind them as he gathered chakra into the soles of his feet and crouched, bracing himself for the take-off. "Now, let's go." And with that, Sasori shot forward, flipping a few times before diving into the lake.

"Hey, be careful! I only sealed it enough to stop the bleeding!" Sakura shouted after him, before imitating her partner and launching herself more gracefully off the train. "You idiot, why are men always so reckless…"

Sighing, Sakura took a deep breath and closed her eyes upon impact with the water, before plunging into the cold depths. _'This is going to be an interesting vacation…'_

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><p><strong>Alrighty then! I hope you all enjoyed this first chapter of Young Blood. I honestly can't think of a better title, but I really wanted to post this story. But anyways, a big thank you to my lovely friend xxPowerOfYouthxx, who has been my little drawing board of imagination, she's helped me sort out parts of this chapter, so THANK YOU!<strong>

**To everyone else, review and enjoy!**

**~Smash41KMF**


	2. Lectures, Pillows, and Physical Contact

Young Blood

By: Smash41KMF

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Naruto Shippuden, I do however, own this story and the OC characters that are in it

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><p><strong>Summary<strong>**: **Sakura and Sasori are sent on a recruiting mission. Nothing special right? That's what they thought, at least until the organization's best candidate takes a rather obsessive interest in Sakura. Will Sasori step in and set the rookie straight, or will he sit back and watch as this new member preys on his innocent cherry blossom?

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><p><strong>Chapter Two : Lectures, Pillows, and Physical Contact<strong>

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><p>"You're insufferable."<p>

Sasori looked up and raised a smooth eyebrow towards his pink-haired partner as she tugged a wet, tangled knots of hair. She was glaring at him, her slim, practiced fingers working tirelessly at the clumps of bubble-gum colored locks that were stuck together because of the murky lake water. It had been about two hours since they jumped off the train and into the lake, a plan that had effectively shaken the ninja from the train off their trail - as much as Sakura hated to admit it.

"How so?" he asked, returning to his prodding of the small fire he had managed to make, while she got out a packet of instant ramen she claimed to have 'stolen' from her ramen-loving blonde-haired, blue-eyed best friend. As expected, Sakura glared at him, dropping her hands away from her hair to set them on her hips, a sure-fire precendement to a long lecture.

"Well, for starters, you re-opened that cut on your shoulder; add that to the fact you dove straight into a lake full of bacteria and gunk-"

"'Gunk'?" he interjected, offering her an amused smirk at her juvenile choice of words, to which she rolled her eyes.

"Yes. 'Gunk'." she repeated. "You also ruined our spare clothes, and you have yet to give me back my headband!"

Sasori watched the twenty-year-old as she let out a huff, before promptly sitting down across from him and checking on their dinner. The thought of futher aggravating the young kunoichi was enticing, but as Sasori looked closer, he could see the faint bags under his partner's eyes and the slight slump in her shoulders that indicated both stress and fatigue. He frowned at the realization. Perhaps the Hokage was correct in ordering the girl to take an entire week's leave for vacation.

Sighing, Sasori stood up and walked around the fire, before sitting down behind his partner, and although she was refusing to show it, he action were unsettling to her, and he knew it.

"Sasori...?" she asked softly, turning around to look at him wearily, but he shook his head.

"Just turn around and be quiet, or else this will be the last time I make amends for my dasterdly deeds." he replied dryly, but Sakura could hear the faint undertone of amusement in his voice as he ordered her to turn around. With a small sigh, Sakura obeyed and found herself staring into the fire, watching their dinner cook slowly, when she felt long, slim fingers slip into her hair and carefully work their way through her wet locks. Her eyes widened and a small smile formed on her lips as she sat quietly and let him untangle each and every knot in her hair. To say the least, Sakura was surprised, she hadn't expected him to do this, nor would she have asked him to, but now that he was, she was glad; the feel of his light, skillful touch weaving in and out of her hair, loosening and de-tangling each and every troublesome stranf that was caught or clung to together. His rough, calloused finger tips grazing over her scalp, tracing gentle patterns into the back of her head.

Sakura smiled, closing her eyes as he continued his ministration long after he had freed her hair of all its knots and clumps. And it didn't seem to bother puppet-master as she slowly began leaning back until her back was pressed against his chest and the back of her head fell onto his shoulder, her eyes shut, breathing steady. Sasori smirked, his hand faling from her hair to carefully reach past her and grab their small dinner and set it beside him. Then, trying to move as little as possible, Sasori spread his legs so that she was positioned comfortably between them, while he reached over and grabbed his (relatively) dry cloak to cover them as the evening breeze came in.

Sasori sighed, leaning back against the trunk of tree sitting near the edge of the clearing, their small campfire only a few feet in front of him. The small flame, coupled with the heat of his partner lying against him, Sasori knew it wasn't going to be long before he too fell asleep as he struggled to keep his eyes open. Sasori yawned, squinting to try and stay awake, but each blink only made his eyelids heavier, until they would no longer open and a comfortable darkness overtook all of his senses.

Maybe this physical contact thing wasn't so bad after all...

Subconsciously (or maybe not), an arm snaked around Sakura's waist, pulling her closer to the red-head. She smiled to herself before snuggling closer, welcoming the warmth he provided as her head fit perfectly beneath his chin, her ear over his beating heart. She smiled.

_'He really **does **make a good pillow...'_

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><p><strong>Okay, so this was just a little filler chapter, because I couldn't think of any other way to put it in and still have a chapter flow correctly. Soooo, yeah, you get me drift?<strong>

**But anyways, I'll be doing shout-outs from now on, at least, to the best of my ability:**

**So here's a big THANK YOU to all of you who put this on their Favorites/Alerts list, or put ME on these said lists for authors:**

**SweetScarlett97  
>wierdpony115<br>Gigicerisier  
>AlexandraG<br>Yin-Neko-Kura-Haruno**

**And OF COURSE to my VERY FIRST reviewer for this story:**

**river dweller () - Thank you, I'm very glad that you liked it, even though it doesn't really have much relation to the actual story line!**

**And AS ALWAYS to the rest of you reading but not making yourself known! But anyways, if you like this story, I have a story on my profile page : 'Yuki no Hana'. It's like my pride and joy and I love writing it, but I'm not getting a ton of response, since it isn't really a romance story, nor is it centered around a Naruto character, rather my own OC. However, I am very proud of it, and I would very much appreicate it if more people looked at it and made comments, it's a good story that isn't getting any attention.  
><strong>

**ANYWAYS, thanks again for everyone's support and to everyone else, review and enjoy!**

**~Smash41KMF**


	3. Caution

Young Blood

By: Smash41KMF

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Naruto Shippuden, I do however, own this story and the OC characters that are in it

* * *

><p><strong>Summary<strong>**: **Sakura and Sasori are sent on a recruiting mission. Nothing special right? That's what they thought, at least until the organization's best candidate takes a rather obsessive interest in Sakura. Will Sasori step in and set the rookie straight, or will he sit back and watch as this new member preys on his innocent cherry blossom?

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter Three: Caution <strong>

* * *

><p>Sasori grumbled. Nighttime had passed much quicker than he had anticipated, and as the early morning sunlight lit up the clearing, Sasori knew they'd be behind schedule if they waited any longer to start moving towards Iwa. Under normal circumstances, Sasori knew that this wasn't a problem for either his partner or himself; however, under normal circumstances, neither would Sasori fall asleep on mission in unknown territory. Ergo, this obviously wasn't normal. In fact, Sasori found himself surprisingly <em>unwilling<em> to get up, despite the cold, dirty ground and the uncomfortable backrest the tree behind him provided. Perhaps it had something to do with the cute, pink-haired medic currently curled up against him.

Sasori cracked open a single eye and glanced down, before becoming very conscious of the positions of their bodies, hers especially. Surprisingly enough, his cloak had stayed on them throughout the night, but beneath the fabric, Sakura had taken the liberty of getting comfortable as she used him as a pillow. In return, Sasori held the medic in his lap with one arm around her back and the other draped around her waist while she curled up with her head tucked in the crook of his neck, her legs strewn over his thigh. Somehow, Sasori felt their position made her seem smaller, younger, more fragile than the fighter that she was.

Sasori took a deep breath, trying to quell the sudden urge to smile as he quietly observed the sleeping medic; he could feel the same fuzzy feeling begin to rise in his stomach, but he couldn't bring himself to look away from her. Unconscious, she looked younger, more relaxed and docile; so much so that one would never imagine a shattered jawbone to a result of her angry fist. Of course, while the puppeteer knew better than to let her appearance mislead him, he was fascinated by the transformation her slumber had caused in her facial features. Her eyes were hidden by bubble-gum locks that fell over her shoulders as elegantly as pink silk, but the slightest glimpse of the small, gentle smile that graced her lips made his heart beat just a little faster.

The irregularity made Sasori hesitant. Sakura was a trained medic, even while unconscious, it wouldn't take her long to sense the sudden change in his heartbeat. It was also very uncharacteristic of him to be rattled by something so irrelevant, he'd have to think fast if he didn't want to be caught, he couldn't risk their relationship becoming awkward for this mission.

Cautiously, Sasori shifted against Sakura's weight, although she was light, having her in his lap did make moving around somewhat difficult. Sighing, the Akatsuki member leaned back against the tree and glanced around the clearing before turning his attention towards the horizon. He frowned, noticing that the sun was rising in the sky, a sign that they had slept past sunrise, which was when they had originally planned to depart. On top of that, because their train ride had been cut short, they would be forced to cover more distance on foot than they'd been expecting, it would also take longer because Sakura would be forced to change once they reached the border into Rice Country. The trip was initially meant to only be about a day or two by foot, but with the additional distance, they'd be forced to add at least a day of walking into their plan, which would potentially jeopardize their chances of meeting one of the Akatsuki's newest recruits.

It was an unpleasant conclusion, but Sasori swallowed his annoyance and closed his eyes. Taking a deep breath, he reveled in a few more seconds of this peacefulness before lifting Sakura in his arms and standing, his arms supporting her knees and her back. It had been a long time since he'd ever felt so at peace in the presence of another person, and he knew it would be most likely be the last time he'd be able to see the young kunoichi in such an innocent light until the mission was completed and they returned home.

Sasori sighed to himself as he turned around and carefully set the girl back down, pulling his cloak back over her and setting to work on cleaning up their campsite. Normally, he'd have woken her up, but something made him sympathize for the girl, this was an important mission and she'd soon be forced to do something she'd never be able to forget.

Sasori growled inwardly as he kicked about the small pile of charred branches and twigs they'd used to make the small fire for dinner the night before. The mission, what it required Sakura to do, it irritated him. Sasori could feel his anger rise as he kicked some more dirt and dust over the burned ground. He understood what the duties of a kunoichi, as a ninja and as a warrior, were, but when a mission required a girl so unexperienced and naïve to seduce a man without first knowing the beauty of it at the hand of someone they love... even he was human enough to find it wrong.

Sasori glanced at the pink-haired medic and sighed as he cleaned up their dinner and pack their things. However, often times when male ninja find the idea immoral, their female counterparts had a tendency to accept their fates with little remorse, seeing it as a sort of duty, rather than a loss of something special. Sakura wasn't much different. In fact, Sasori could still remember her seemingly level expression when her Hokage informed her of the possibility of losing her virginity to a stranger while on this particular mission. Sasori had approached the Hokage about it afterwards, after Sakura had left, but the order stood and he couldn't forget the calm expression she wore when she complied, her tone unwavering, her resolve firm. It was an unsettling situation and at first, Sasori had refused to accompany her on the mission, but Pein wouldn't budge; although the leader of the Akatsuki didn't show it, Sasori could feel that the man was also concerned for the girl, saying that Sasori's presence would be more essential for her rather than for the purpose of the mission. It was a comment that had initially confused the puppeteer, but he questioned the decision of the leaders no further and agreed to accompany Sakura throughout the course of the entire mission, her safety and security being his top priority.

The sound of rustling drew the red-head's attention back to the medic and he watched her begin to stir, her arms stretching above her head as his cloak slid off her shoulders and pooled around her hips. He watched her yawn as she lowered her arms and raised a hand to rub her tired eyes, before glancing around the clearing. Sasori fought the urge to smile at her childishness as she blinked the sleepiness from her eyes and greeted him with a small smile accompanied by a wave. He made no move to respond to her, ignoring the emotions welling up inside him and trying to act as normal as possible, which was to make a harsh response at her inattentiveness to the time of day.

"We are a day behind schedule, Sakura. If you'd have slept any longer, I would've had to go through the trouble of waking you up, and I wouldn't have been nice about it, either." he answered plainly, lifting the remains of their dinner towards her. "This is your breakfast. If you don't want it, throw it away." he said, and Sakura nodded, reaching to take the container, along with the chopsticks he had left in from the night before.

"I doubt this is healthy, but oh well." she mumbled to herself, but nonetheless, her partner stopped and glared at her, walking over and snatching his cloak from her, brushing it off to get rid of the dirt and dust that clung to it overnight.

"I told you already, if you don't want it, just throw it away; otherwise, stop complaining and hurry up." Sakura scrunched up her nose and resisted the urge to stick out her tongue at the man, before proceeding to finish the past night's dinner. Once finished, Sakura packed up the rest of their things and rose to her feet to join Sasori at the opening into the woods. "From now on, Sakura, I will not wait for you, we need to get to Iwa as soon as possible." he warned before turning and walking ahead, his mind elsewhere.

The medic frowned. It was true that she was used to the puppeteer's sour disposition, but it was rare for Sasori to make such a statement before they headed off. Normally, if the man was annoyed by something, he'd say whatever was on his mind the moment it annoyed him, never did he wait to address an issue, it was too polite of an action, even for him.

However, on the other hand, Sakura also knew that it would be impossible to convince Sasori to openly admit that he was irritated, nor would he tell her why he was in such a foul mood if she asked. So, the only thing she could do for the time being was to follow quietly and carefully, doing everything that was required of her in order not to further aggravate the ninja because, much like Tsunade, Sasori was not the type of person to patiently tell someone off, he'd sooner kill her than he would ignore her.

His mood swings were always peculiar. So, stealing a quick glance at her partner, Sakura let out a sigh and forced her legs to follow the pace of his long strides because if there was one thing she was positive of it was that Akasuna no Sasori was in a very, very bad mood.

* * *

><p><strong>Okay, so this was just another little filler chapter, because I couldn't think of any other way to put it in and still have a chapter flow correctly. Soooo, yeah, you get me drift?<strong>

**But anyways, I'll be doing shout-outs from now on, at least, to the best of my ability:**

**So here's a big THANK YOU to all of you who put this on their Favorites/Alerts list, or put ME on these said lists for authors:**

**SweetScarlett97  
>wierdpony115<br>Gigicerisier  
>AlexandraG<br>Yin-Neko-Kura-Haruno**

**And OF COURSE to my VERY FIRST reviewer for this story:**

**river dweller () - Thank you, I'm very glad that you liked it, even though it doesn't really have much relation to the actual story line!**

**Also to everyone else who I may have missed, I haven't updated this in a long time! I know I said I'd have more time over the summer, but I guess I lied, I'm still super busy! Anyways, thanks again everyone!  
><strong>

**And AS ALWAYS to the rest of you reading but not making yourself known! But anyways, if you like this story, I have a story on my profile page : 'Yuki no Hana'. It's like my pride and joy and I love writing it, but I'm not getting a ton of response, since it isn't really a romance story, nor is it centered around a Naruto character, rather my own OC. However, I am very proud of it, and I would very much appreicate it if more people looked at it and made comments, it's a good story that isn't getting any attention.  
><strong>

**ANYWAYS, thanks again for everyone's support and to everyone else, review and enjoy!**

**~Smash41KMF**


	4. Instincts and Desire?

Young Blood

By: Smash41KMF

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Naruto Shippuden, I do however, own this story and the OC characters that are in it

* * *

><p><strong>Summary<strong>**: **Sakura and Sasori are sent on a recruiting mission. Nothing special right? That's what they thought, at least until the organization's best candidate takes a rather obsessive interest in Sakura. Will Sasori step in and set the rookie straight, or will he sit back and watch as this new member preys on his innocent cherry blossom?

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter Four: Instincts and Desire?<strong>

* * *

><p>Sakura felt uneasy. They'd finally reached the border into Rice Country but Sasori had yet to say a single word to her since that morning. She knew he was annoyed about the time they'd lost from jumping the train, it was evident in the back-breaking pace he'd forced them to travel at for the past six hours, but somehow she had a feeling that there was more to the puppeteer's sudden mood swing than what was letting on. However, although the two had managed to grow a little bit closer, Sakura knew that Sasori would never tell her what was on his mind, and if she asked he would pull away from her even further.<p>

Sakura sighed, sending the red-head a small glare for being withdrawn right before a mission, before returning her attention to the fading treetops before them. It was frustrating to work with the ninja whenever he was irritated about something because he had a tendency to clam-up and ignore his partners entirely, but compared to many of the other members of the Akatsuki, Sakura and Deidara were the only people who seemed to be able to tolerate the moody puppeteer; Deidara, however, was usually the reason Sasori was annoyed.

Sakura chanced another glance towards the ninja, hoping that she could at least read something in his expression, anything to help her understand why he was so unhappy. However, when sea-foam green eyes were met by an even, yet annoyed maroon glare, the young medic flinched. It was a gaze that lacked any enthusiasm and declared utter boredom to mask complete disdain. It was an intimidating stare that made many people hesitant around the ninja, a look that Sakura had seen numerous other people receive, but never had it been directed towards her. The idea made something inside her feel uncomfortable, but she didn't look away.

"If you have something that you want to say, just say it." he growled, turning his attention away from her as he pulled himself to a halt on the next branch ahead of her. He kept his back to her as he spoke, his head turned away as he surveyed the ground below. "Otherwise, start setting up camp, we've traveled far enough today and you're obvious exhausted. I'm going to have a look around to make sure we weren't followed."

He hadn't allowed her a second to speak before he turned and disappeared into the tree behind her, leaving a rush of air in his wake, so strong that it would have knocked her backwards if she hadn't been cautious of his current temperament. However, Sakura felt her stomach lurch as she recalled his words, the harsh tone of his voice as he snapped at her. Perhaps her friends had been right, maybe it was a mistake to try and teach the man how to reconnect with his emotions, to try and help him become a little more human again. Perhaps, twenty years as a heartless doll couldn't be reversed, maybe she really couldn't keep her promise to Lady Chiyo, maybe it really was impossible for Sasori to become human again.

Sakura sighed, closing her eyes and trying to refocus her thoughts before turning around and gazing in the direction the man had disappeared. Clenching her hands into fists, she took a deep breath and shook her head. Maybe Sasori couldn't become human again, but she had spent two years searching for Sasuke, so she wasn't going to give up on Sasori either. Somehow, she'd find a way to save him, just as she had promised his grandmother.

* * *

><p>Sasori was furious and he had no idea why; all he knew was that he had to get away from Sakura. He knew she was most likely confused, trying to figure out the reason for his strange behavior and most likely blaming herself in someway, but something inside him was boiling. The feeling couldn't have come at a worse time, he was supposed to brief Sakura on the rest of the mission before they crossed the border into Rice Country, but every time he thought about it, he felt anger bubble inside him at the thought of Sakura 'using any means necessary' to acquire an audience with their target. These human emotions were unfamiliar, but he knew that it was going to hinder to their mission if he couldn't keep himself under control, which meant that he'd would be forced to put distance between himself and the pink-haired medic.<p>

The notion almost made him feel guilty, he was aware of how hard she had been working, trying to help him come to terms with his newly re-found emotions, but if his emotions cost them this mission, the consequences weren't something he wanted Sakura to think about. She didn't know it, but the members of the Akatsuki rarely failed to accomplish their missions, those who were unfortunate enough to return alive from an incomplete mission were less likely to be sent back out again. In this case, while the punishments had become less severe, Sasori had no intentions of failing to complete this mission.

It was a sensitive mission, one that was going to be carried out mainly by Sakura, he was only there for her security and to make sure things ran smoothly. Although their initial objective was to complete this job as a recruiting mission, there was information about their target that the Fifth Hokage hadn't wanted Sasori to tell Sakura until they crossed the border and were heading through Rice Country, information that made Sasori feel somewhat uncomfortable around Sakura. The truth was that their target, despite being a nineteen-year-old playboy with an unusual ability to implant images scenarios into someone's mind, wouldn't not be allowed to return to society if the offer to join the Akatsuki was declined. That was where Sasori was meant to step in. His job was to keep Sakura safe and in the case that the offer is refused, it would be Sasori's job to make sure that the boy couldn't do anymore harm in society.

However, the only concern Sasori could find about the mission was with himself and he was beginning to wonder if he'll be able to separate right from wrong. He could already feel the line between his relationship with Sakura beginning to waver and this was one mission where he couldn't afford to let his judgment become hazy. It was his duty to protect Sakura, but in the end this mission was about her and he couldn't let his emotions jeopardize her success rate, no matter how much he disagreed with her instructions.

The thought drew a tired sigh from the red-head as he carefully finished surveying the surrounding area within a quarter mile of their campsite. There was no avoiding it, he had to return before Sakura started looking for him. He sighed, running a hand through his hair before starting off. No matter what happened, it was his job to protect her, and until they returned from this mission, he'd force himself to remember that, for both of their sakes.

* * *

><p>He should have been back by now.<p>

Sakura sat impatiently against the tree trunk, carefully braiding her hair was she listened for some sign of his approach. It was unlike Sasori to take very long to do a perimeter check, the man was all about efficiency, but no matter how unsettling he may be acting, Sasori was _never_ late. The knowledge put Sakura on edge, it was the reason why she hadn't decided to change yet, being alone in a foreign nation, ninja were trained to never let their guards down.

Tying the end of her braid tightly, Sakura listened to the rustle of the leaves overhead as the breeze swept through the treetops. Her hand crept into the knife sheath clasped around her thigh, her index finger hooking onto the loop at the end of the kunai knife as she pressed herself back into the trunk and focused on searching for companion's chakra signature. Her ears perked up at the sound of twigs cracking and snapping under the weight of another person, and as the sound drew closer, she braced herself. Seconds passed and the forest grew silent as the slightest flare of chakra caught Sakura's attention.

Jerking the knife, Sakura twisted to her right and whirled around the tree; a split second later, the sound of clashing metal rang out through the trees and sent the birds flying. Sakura blinked, green eyes wide as she felt her knife being knocked out of her grasp barely seconds before she was pinned to the tree, her own knife beginning to her throat as she stared up into the dark scarlet eyes of her partner. With one hand holding a knife to her neck as the other covered her mouth, Sasori had her trapped beneath him. They stared at each other for several moments before Sasori lowered the knife, but he refused to relinquish his grip.

"You should learn to recognize your teammates' chakra signatures." he stated plainly, leaning in and pausing to whisper against her ear. "You could've killed me."

"You're late." she replied, glaring at him for making her feel uncomfortable with his invasion of her personal space. Sasori was unaffected, and simply frowned at her.

"What I do isn't any of your business." he was quickly growing irritated, Sakura could see the look in his eyes already beginning to shift, but she couldn't resist the urge to try his patience, just this once.

"I was assigned as the lead on this mission, Sasori." she answered evenly, trying to match the annoyance he'd showed her earlier. "If you have a problem, I need to know about it." She regretted her words the moment they left her lips.

Sasori's eyes narrowed and he growled at her, his free hand, clenched in a tight fist, slamming into the tree trunk beside her head as he leaned forward and ran his other hand down the side of her leg, taking satisfaction in the quickening of her heartbeat as he unsnapped the catch on her thigh holster and slipped her knife back inside. He could feel his temper rising and for once, he didn't care if he was scaring the twenty-year-old. Taking a step forward he felt her begin to tremble as he placed his hand on her hip and lowered his lips beside her ear.

"If I have a problem, you say?" he hissed, "What would you do?" It was cruel, but this was the only thing he could do, he would make her hate him, he couldn't have her feeling attached for this mission, so it was part of his job to make sure she'd have no problem ignoring him in the future, to protect her.

Sakura fought the urge to blush, it had been a long time since Sasori had ever been forceful with her, but this time, rather than feeling fear, she felt oddly...excited. The lack of space between them made her feel antsy, and the way he whispered, it made her nervous, but she had to answer him, to prove to him that she wasn't weak anymore.

"I...I would try to help you." she didn't know it would be so hard to speak, but as she words reached him, she never thought she'd be speechless when she heard him chuckle.

"Help me, huh?" he teased softly, chuckling again before tightening his grip on her hip and whispering. "Tell me, Sakura, how far would you go... to help me?" It was just a game, but somewhere deep down he already knew the answer, but hearing it come from her made it hurt much, much more.

"How far... would I go?" she repeated, pausing only to take to a deep breath before answering. "I would go to the ends of the Earth to help a friend, Sasori." She was embarrassed to say it aloud, she couldn't help but turn her head away, she'd already given up trying to hide her blush. She was ready to hear him laugh at her, make fun of her for being sentimental, for such a childish response. She just wanted him to say something that would tell her that he was back to normal again, but his answer was the last thing she would have expected.

She heard his breath catch and his hand left her hip as he drew away, just a little bit. However, Sakura still refused to look at him, but Sasori then did the unexpected. He lifted his hand and carefully, almost gently, took hold of her chin and turned her head to face him. It was unavoidable now, their eyes met and Sakura could feel herself being trapped by his surprisingly soft gaze. She could feel her body moving on it's own as she raised her hands and held his shoulders lightly as he leaned down. Their foreheads touched and Sasori opened his mouth to speak when the sound of cracking branches and shouts rose in the distance.

His eyes widened and Sakura could almost feel the surge of disappointment run through her when he began to pull away, suddenly more alert and on-edge than before. The noise was approaching faster than either of them could move, and although she tried, Sakura couldn't determine which direction they were coming from. The rustling of leaves and branches sounded from the left and Sakura reached forward, grabbing the puppeteer by the collar and preparing an escape scroll behind her back, when she felt herself being lifted off her feet seconds before a group of children tore through the brush and entered the clearing they'd been standing in.

To her surprise, Sasori had gotten them into the tree tops just as the children ran into view, but she couldn't bite back the yelp of pain when they collided with the tree trunk. Below them, she saw the children pause in their play and look around for the source of the noise, and she quickly covered her mouth before turning to look at Sasori. He was crouched beside her, his pack slung over his shoulder as he carefully watched the children standing below, hold her bag in his free hand.

Sakura resisted the urge to smile as she reached out to take her bag, pretending not to see the light hue of pink that dusted his cheeks. However, just as she had a grip on her bag, he jumped and whipped around to look at her. A moment of silence passed between them, before Sasori released her began and stood up to leave.

"We'll need to go a day without rest, I didn't realize that we were this close to a village." and with that, Sakura watching the man start off without another look back.

It was true, Sasori was a confusing person, but it was moments like these that made Sakura really wonder what he might have been like before he turned himself into a puppet.

_'Hopefully, he'll tell me himself, one day.'_

* * *

><p><strong>OKay! Soooo, I know everyone has been bugging me to update this, so here you go! I was debating making this two chapters or not, but oh well, reviews are much appreciated! I hope you enjoy!<strong>

**~Smash41KMF  
><strong>


	5. Fear, Trust, and Pondering

**Chapter Five: Fear, Trust, and Pondering  
><strong>

* * *

><p><em>He lifted his hand and carefully, almost gently, took hold of her chin and turned her head to face him. It was unavoidable now, their eyes met and Sakura could feel herself being trapped by his surprisingly soft gaze. She could feel her body moving on its own as she raised her hands and held his shoulders lightly as he leaned down.<em> _Their foreheads touched and Sasori opened his mouth to speak…_

"…Sakura."

Sakura blushed, eyes wide and cheeks red with embarrassment when she realized Sasori was staring at her, a small frown tugging at his smooth lips.

Sakura raised her fingers to her mouth, gently touching her own lips as her mind wandered off, briefly pondering what it would have been like to actually _kiss _Akasuna no Sasori, when the man spoke again.

"Sakura." The puppeteer repeated, obviously not in a very good mood and Sakura didn't want to test her luck after what happened – what _almost_ happened.

"Hmm?" She responded as innocently as she could, looking up at the red-head as he approached her from across their little campsite.

"You're going to ruin our dinner." He said plainly, gesturing towards the pot of instant ramen that hung over the little fire pit.

Sakura's eyes widened and she gasped as the noodles began clinging to the insides of the pan. She could almost feel her companion sigh before taking the pot and wooden spoon from her and rescuing their meal from becoming a shriveled mess.

This was wrong. She needed to be forced for this mission. She had more important things to think about than what going on between her and the ex-Sand ninja sitting merely meters away, grumbling about the over-cooked noodles. Jumping off the train had set them back by two days in their mission and, despite having travelled the day and the previous night to try and make-up for the lost time, they had about another day and a half to reach Iwa before their target was expected to leave. It didn't help that they would soon be forced to continue by foot, disguised as civilians, or risk being spotted. Either way, they would be cutting it close.

"His name is Tora Hiirogashi." Sasori stated as he set down the pot and leaned over to extract a small scroll from his pack, handing it to Sakura along with her share of their dinner.

Setting the pot beside her, Sakura took the scroll and opened it deftly, trying her hardest to forget the feeling of how Sasori's fingers brushed hers when he handed her the scroll.

_'__For goodness sake, Sakura, stop acting like a little girl. It's just Sasori.'_

The thought struck her oddly and the medic stole a glance at the exiled shinobi.

To the untrained eye, he looked bored, which would normally be the correct assumption, but Sakura knew better. Sasori's mind was elsewhere, he was just better at hiding it.

Deciding to leave the man to his thoughts, Sakura turned her attention to the scroll in her lap.

_Name: Hiirogashi, Tora_

_Age: 19_

Sakura frowned. She knew their target was young, but she didn't expect a shinobi about her age.

_Village: Iwagakure_

_Family: None_

_Affiliations: None_

_Status: Top Priority Criminal_

Despite their target being a complete stranger, Sakura couldn't help but feel her heart hurt for him a little; because, in some ways, his file resembled Sasuke's and it made her heart ache.

_Crimes: Desertion of Hidden Village_

_Treason/Espionage_

_Patricide/Familicide _

_Murder_

_Theft of Classified Black-Ops Mission Specs_

Sakura felt chills go up her spine as she continued further down the list, her stomach clenching as she read the details about the target's father's death and the gruesome murder of the two young children who had witnessed their father's murder.

Her stomach churned uneasily as she put the scroll down and took a deep breath to try and calm her nerves. Her hand brushed the cold pot of ramen beside her and she resisted the urge to gag. It was a subtle, yet sweet gesture of Sasori to leave her the better noodles, she could tell just by looking at the ramen, but she had long since lost her appetite. It was sad, considering this would probably be the last meal they had until they reached Iwagakure, but Sakura knew she wouldn't be able to keep the sodium-filled concoction down after what she'd read.

Beside her, Sasori shifted quietly, his crimson gaze glittering like rubies in the firelight as he watched her carefully. He could see the stiff, defensive set of her shoulders, the clench of her jaw, and the hardness of her emerald eyes as she steeled herself and made an attempt at finishing the scroll.

He had always found it interesting that, for a medic, she was surprisingly uncomfortable with having to read about grizzly accounts of assassinations and death; and yet, she could stare death straight in the eyes with more confidence than anyone he'd ever meet. However, the puppeteer could see that now was not the time to admire the pinkette for her unshakeable faith. He needed to say something.

"Sakura." Sasori watched the girl jump slightly, gripping the scroll tightly in her hands as she turned her head towards her partner.

Her nervousness made him frown. It was already hard enough for him to keep himself from talking her out of doing this mission, but now, she was aware of what was at stake, of what she was about to sacrifice.

"I'm fine." She said roughly, her voice tight in an attempt to hide the fear that was evident in her eyes.

"And I'm stupid." He replied sarcastically, gradually becoming annoyed with the medic's insistence on lying to him.

This time, though, Sakura frowned at Sasori before standing up and turning her back to him, the scroll still clenched in her hand. Sasori's narrowed and he watched her carefully, glancing at the pot that still contained her untouched portion of ramen.

"I don't care how upsetting you find the contents of that scroll, you need to eat." He said harshly, obviously unhappy with the way she was letting her emotions get to her.

Then, it occurred to Sasori that they had left things open-ended and it was probably bothering her just as much as the report on their target. Resisting the urge to sigh, Sasori stood and quietly approached the back of Sakura.

* * *

><p>To say the least, Sakura was tired.<p>

And frustrated.

Everything about her posture screamed it, and Sasori nearly laughed at how easy she was to read. He, however, held his tongue and approached the medic in silence, grabbing her wrist when she tried to move away from him.

"Stop running away from me." He said smoothly, not bothering to leave the annoyance out of his tone when she refused to face him.

"Leave me alone, Sasori." She hissed. "I want to be alone."

"Too bad, you're not going anywhere until you eat." He replied, tightening his grip just enough to get his point across.

"I'm not hungry."

"I don't care, you'll need your strength tomorrow."

"I said no, Sasori!" Sakura snapped, whipping around to face the man angrily, only to be shoved into the trunk of the nearest tree, her vision blurred as she tried to regain her bearings.

As her vision cleared, Sakura found herself face-to-face with a snarling Sasori, his crimson gaze dark with anger. The hand holding her wrist had rooted itself in the bark next to her head, while his other hand was planted firmly beside her hip, preventing her escaping. Sakura felt herself shrink somewhat beneath the shinobi, her eyes large as he leaned down towards her.

"I told you not to take this mission, Sakura." He growled, "I _tried_ to protect you, but you told me you were _'perfectly fine.'_"

"That's because I _am_ fine."

"Stop lying to me!" Sasori snapped, punching the tree trunk beside Sakura's head, spraying bark and pieces of splintered wood in all directions.

Never before had he felt so angry, especially towards Sakura. She had always been level-headed and confident, he admired that about her; but right now, she was showing fear, weakness, and she was vulnerable – it made something inside him stir violently. It made him furious and he had no idea why. All he knew was that it was because of _her_.

"You're scared, so just admit it already." He continued, his hand clenched in a bloody fist beside her head. "You need to trust me, Sakura. Otherwise, I can't help you."

A long silence fell between them and Sasori could feel her breathing slowly even out and her body begin to relax beneath him.

"I'm not weak, Sasori," she began, looking at him hesitantly before looking away and continuing, "but I am scared."

As soon as the words left her mouth, Sasori breathed a sigh of relief. He hated to admit that he was worried, an emotion he was not grateful to Sakura for teaching him; but, at the same time, he couldn't really blame her, she didn't know that she was making him feel so human. The poor girl was utterly clueless.

Sasori lifted a hand from tree and gently stroked the pad of his thumb along Sakura's cheek, wiping away the blood that had come from a small cut on her face. However, once the red liquid was gone, he couldn't bring himself to release her.

Instead, Sasori felt himself being drawn forward by the unbearable urge to get closer to her, closer than anyone else had ever been before. Sakura made no move to stop him when he carefully lifted her chin as he stepped closer, pressing her gently into the tree.

She smelled sweet, despite the dirt, sweat and grime they had collected since they'd jumped off the train. It was a pure, natural scent; one that Sasori doubted any perfume company could replicate. It was distinctly Sakura.

To Sasori's surprise, he felt Sakura's hands wind their way up his chest to his shoulders where she gripped the cloth of his cloak and pulled him towards her. It wasn't his imagine, Sasori was sure of it the moment she lifted her head to look him in the eyes. Her green eyes were darker than normal, dark with desire.

Sasori found himself smirking unintentionally as he took the liberty to close the distance between them.

If this is what it meant to be human, Sasori was sure he could get used to it.

* * *

><p><strong>Greetings, everyone! Yes, I AM alive! And obviously, no, I have not forgotten about any of you, I've just been crazy busy!<strong>

**Anyways, here is chapter 5! I hope you all enjoy it! It's been a while since I have written anything, so I hope I didn't mess with the flow. I'm trying to get back into the groove of things, and I really like this story, so please stick with me!**

**Thank you so much to everyone who still bothers to read, review, favorite and follow this story and any of my others! You have no idea how much it means to me to know that people still enjoy my writing!**

**Anyways, I can't guarantee any regular updates, but I will try my best! Thanks again, and please continue to support me!**

**~Smash41KMF**


	6. Blood, Bathing, and Persistence

**Chapter Six: Blood, Bathing, and Persistence**

* * *

><p><strong>IMPORTANT NOTICE (For all you people who ignore the AUTHORESS NOTES at the end of the chapter):<br>**

**1.) YES, I renamed the story because, if you read from the first chapter notes, I picked "Young Blood" simply because I couldn't think of a name for the story. NOW, however, I have a name for the story that I feel is both ironic and very appropriate :)**

**For all the other Fall Out Boy fans out there, I love the song "Immortals" and I think it is a wonderful representation of Sasori and Sakura's relationship.**

**2.) Originally, I said that this would be the last chapter for which the story would be rated as "T" for Teen. After much deliberation and some conversations with several readers, I have decided that the story will not change over to the "M" for Mature rating, YET. There may still be a chapter or two before that happens, but it will MOST DEFINITELY happen.  
><strong>

**AS FOR LEMONS... I don't particularly enjoy writing lemons, simply because I feel that sex is a very personal topic and I don't want it to be the only reason that people read my stories.**

**SO, what I plan on doing is having the lemons as entirely separate chapters. They will remain within the chronological plot of the story, but they will not take place within chapters purely for the sake of those readers who do not want to read the lemons. This way, those of you who WANT to read the lemons, have the right to read them, while those who DO NOT, will not be forced to read them for the sake of the plot of the story.**

**I feel like this is a fair compromise. If anyone had a problem with this new format, please take it up with me separately through a private message, not in the review section.**

**Thanks again for supporting this story everybody! I am so happy to know that people enjoy my writing, it really does mean a lot to me!**

* * *

><p>Letting her eyes fall shut, Sakura groaned as delicious warmth spread throughout her body, from her flushed cheeks to her curling toes. It washed over her in waves, vaguely reminding the medic of her days as a child, when her parents would let her sit by the fireplace, wrapped in a big, fuzzy polar fleece blanket, and drink hot chocolate – only this felt <em>so<em> much better.

Tipping her head back, Sakura let out a content sigh and sank lower into the bath tub, rejoicing in the tingling sensation of hot water rushing around her sore, naked body.

It had barely been an hour since she and Sasori had arrived in Iwa, an entire day earlier than they'd expected, and she was still irritated.

Moronic, idiotic, ridiculous, inhumane, there were so many words she could think of to describe the puppeteer's decision. He, however, as if reading her mind at the time, had presented her with a simple frown and the statement that they couldn't afford to waste any time with resting if they wanted to reach Iwa before nightfall.

"'By nightfall,' my ass." Sakura grumbled, reaching over the side of the tub to pick her hip pouch off the ground. After a few moments of blindly feeling around the inside of the hard leather pouch, Sakura made a soft sound of victory and extracted several metal bobby-pins. Smiling, the kunoichi skillfully pinned her pink locks in a bun, much like the ones TenTen always wore, atop her head, before sinking lower into the water so that it covered her shoulders.

Letting out another sigh as the warm water swirled around her, Sakura lazily lifted her right arm out of the heated sanctuary and reached to side for the complimentary hotel-sponge she'd seen sitting on one of the shelves built into the wall beside the tub. Pleased when she felt the squishy, absorbent block of foam beneath her fingertips, Sakura snatched the sponge off the shelf and set it to her skin, determined to rid every inch of her body of the disgusting layers of dirt and grime that had accumulated since they had jumped off the train.

_'This wouldn't have happened if we'd just knocked them out and hid the bodies.'_ She thought bitterly, leaning back to lift her legs out of the water. She knew Sasori had been right at the time (she was currently too annoyed to care) because, even if they _had_ knocked the guards out and managed to hide their bodies without anyone noticing, there were others on-board the train and they would've had to make their escape sooner or later.

Once again cursing the 'evil, red-headed sadist' under her breath, Sakura gave the sponge a rough squeeze before dipping it in the water and continuing her bath. It still amazed her, even after spending years as a ninja, who were no strangers to long, drawn-out missions in the wilderness, just how filthy a single human being could get – it was unbelievable.

Sakura watched as the layers of 'gunk' wash off her skin and into bath water, her mind floating back to a particular red-headed shinobi and his terrible decision-making skills.

Normally, if Sasori had been concerned with their time-frame, he would have suggested that they move steadily at a faster pace and take shorter breaks for the remainder of the journey. Instead, the Akatsuki member had remained silent and suddenly took to adopting break-neck speeds the moment they crossed into the Land of Rock.

And he didn't stop for twelve hours.

_Twelve fucking hours._

That's how long he had them sprinting from the border of the Land of Grass to their destination.

Never before in her life had Sakura ever felt so much rage towards a teammate.

Sure, Naruto could be a handful, especially when Sai was in the particular mood to aggravate the kyuubi vessel; the ex-Root member always knew _exactly _which buttons to push to set off the blonde-haired ninja. And, yes, Kakashi could be a pain in the ass from time-to-time with his never-ending nonchalance and guarded personality. Even Yamato, as kind as he always was, could become overbearing with his mother-hen-like tendencies to worry and fret. Overall, though, she loved her boys dearly and would always come to forgive, which normally came after a good beating in Naruto's case.

Sasori, however, was not one of her 'boys,' and though Sakura would normally never even dare to lay a hit on the Akatsuki member, mainly out of fear of the consequences, there had been a point in their journey when she had been more than ready to punch the man into the ground just so they could stop and rest. Her logical mind won over her temper in the end, but she knew Sasori could sense the anger that was radiating off of her by the time they had arrived at the hotel because he smartly disappeared the moment they had finished checking their room for bugs, booby-traps, and genjutsus.

There was something odd about the ex-Sand ninja's hast, though. Sakura knew that her partner was fully aware of the consequences of royally pissing her off, she was a spitting image of her shishou in that regard, but Sasori had never been afraid of her. It didn't surprise her, both Sakura and Sasori knew that he was the stronger shinobi between the two of them, which meant that he hadn't left out of fear of falling victim to one of her outbursts.

_'So, why was he in such a hurry to leave the moment we got into our hotel room?'_

Sakura frowned as she leaned up and scrubbed the sponge down the length of her leg, wincing when she passed over the cut on her heel. Setting the sponge aside, Sakura placed a glowing green hand over the tendon, smiling softly to herself as she felt the healing chakra flow through her body, gather in her hand, and begin sewing the severed tendon back together.

Watching as her chakra continued to stitch her Achilles' tendon back together, Sakura pushed a little chakra into the infected skin and muscle cells that surrounded the wound, forcing the bacteria out of her body so that the tissues could heal correctly without contamination.

It was medical technique similar to how one would extract poison from a wound, and Sakura couldn't help but think of the Kazekage and his siblings, which brought her full-circle back to Sasori.

Mentally berating herself for not being able to think about anything other than her Akatsuki partner, Sakura cautiously flexed and extended her foot, testing the tendon's functionality before checking the rest of her body for any other new nicks or scratched that could have been infected during their journey.

Pleased when she found that it was only her Achilles' that had needed attention, Sakura moved to continue her bath. However, as she went to lower her legs back into the water, an unsettling revelation hit her.

It seemed that, in her angry escape to the bathroom the second they arrived in their hotel room, Sakura had completely forgotten to check Sasori's shoulder.

"Shit." She murmured, eyes wide as she grabbed the sponge and hurried to finish her bath, her frustration with the red-head dissipating.

Once clean, Sakura stood from the tub and grabbed a towel off a nearby rack as she made way towards the door. Sasori was down in the casino, casing the floor for the best escape routes and places to corner their target so Sakura hadn't seen the need to take her clothes into the bathroom with her.

However, just as she entered the threshold of the bathroom, she froze, sensing a presence in the other room. Mentally cursing herself for being so careless, she quickly wrapped herself in a towel and pulled out the few bobby pins she had used to hold up her bun.

Sakura vaguely recalled something both Kakashi and Tsunade had once told her, _"Anything can become a weapon in the hands of a ninja."_

Yanking the rubber bulbs off the ends of each pin with her teeth, Sakura easily bent the metal pins straight enough to create makeshift senbon. It wasn't much, but, if she got lucky, the pins would fly straight and she'd hit a pressure point, giving her enough time to get the jump on her intruder.

Taking a deep breath, Sakura pressed her back into the bathroom wall and closed her eyes, trying to focus her chakra and get a sense of where in the room the intruder was. What she would give to be a sensory-type right now.

However, just as she managed to pinpoint the body near the balcony, it moved – moving _towards_ her.

Cursing silently, Sakura braced herself, raising her hand that held the makeshift senbon, ready to strike the moment the intruder was within reach. Hearing the soft squeak of the floorboard outside the bathroom door, Sakura launched herself into action. Planting her right foot firmly into the tile flooring of the lavatory, Sakura pivoted and, in a flash, thrust the pins into a pressure point of the intruder's neck.

However, before the metal had the chance to connect with her victim's cream-colored neck, a strong hand grabbed her wrist while another gripped her hip roughly, effectively pinning her to the wall. An amused chuckle rumbled in the man's throat as he leaned back just enough to give her a good once-over look without giving her the room to land a hit and wriggle her way free of his grasp.

"You know…" he whispered, crimson eyes glimmering mischievously, "There are _easier_ ways to seduce a man, Sakura-chan."

* * *

><p>Sakura's jaw dropped open in surprise, her emerald eyes widening as she stared at the puppeteer in disbelief. His crimson eyes, his perfectly messy red locks, his intense gaze, the heat of his body, his chakra signature… everything about the man screamed to her that this <em>was <em>Sasori, but, deep down, something didn't seem right. The Sasori she knew would have either scoffed at her for mistaking him for an intruder or turned around and told her to put some clothes on. There was no way this was her Sasori, he would never say such suggestive things… would he?

Sakura blinked. _'Wait a second… **My Sasori**… just where did that even come-'_

Before Sakura could finish her thought, she felt Sasori move closer, leaning into her as he lowered his head.

_'He's warm,'_ she thought off-handedly, her heart thumping wildly in her chest as the grip on her hip loosened, his hand slipping down the curve of her hip. _'And he's being awfully bold.'_

She was beginning to feel nervous. They had already kissed, and though Sakura wasn't going to complain if Sasori decided to give it another go, his current forwardness was making her uneasy.

Sure, she would admit that she found the rouge ninja attractive, many people did, but just how far did she really want to go with Sasori? When she had promised his grandmother, Lady Chiyo, that she would help him become human again, she knew it would be an intimate task, but where did they draw the line? Was there even a line to begin with?

She sure hoped so.

Forcing her mind back to reality, Sakura looked up at Sasori, opening her mouth to question his behavior when she felt his head fall on her shoulder.

"Sasori…?" Surprised, Sakura reached up to check his temperature with her free hand when she bumped his injured shoulder. It was damp.

"Sorry."

Sakura's eyes widened and she immediately flew into medic mode. Dislodging herself from the wall and Sasori's iron grip, Sakura ducked out from under the man and slung his arm around her bare shoulders, not caring for a moment that she was covered only by a white, fluffy towel.

* * *

><p>Helping him out of the bedroom and into one of chairs in the main living space that was located directly across from their little kitchen area, Sakura raised his head and glared at him. He was sweating profusely and his eyes were glossy, obvious signs of a fever that probably arose from a bacterial infection in his shoulder.<p>

"You idiot." She grumbled before turning away to get her travel-pack. "I told you that it would get infected if you jumped into that lake without letting me heal you."

"If I let you heal me, we'd be dead." He mumbled in response, ignoring the sharp look Sakura gave him.

"You don't know that."

"Too risky."

"Fine. Now, take off your shirt."

Quietly, the man obliged, carefully trying to remove his arms from the sleeves one at a time, grunting in pain when he tried to slide the fishnet shirt over the shoulder wound. Sakura looked up from her medical supplies and frowned. Standing up, she bent over to look at the wound, grumbling about his blood drying through the fabric of the shirt.

"Hold still, I'm going to cut your shirt off." She commanded as she generated chakra into her hand to form a chakra scalpel. Sasori did as he was told, remaining still as he watched the medic lean forward and carefully run her chakra-infused finger down the front of his shirt, parting the fabric with ease. After helping him push half of the shirt of his good shoulder, Sakura turned her attention to his wound and grimaced.

"This may hurt." She informed him as she carefully cut the fabric around the wound free.

By the time the soiled cloth hit the ground, Sakura was back to work, her chakra scalpel pressing into the wound. Sasori drew in a sharp breath, clenching his jaw and gripping the arms of chair as each wave of pain crashed into him.

It had been ages since he ever felt this sort of pain – another luxury of being a puppet. It was excruciating, despite Sakura's chakra flowing through his body as an attempt to calm the oversensitive nerves near the injury site. Yet, in spite of it all, Sasori was glad it was Sakura treating him, even if she'd try to beat him senseless the moment she finished healing him.

"Almost there," she supplied, as she slipped the scalpel under the dried crust of blood, separating the bacteria-ridden cloth and infected skin from the wound.

However, with the wound now re-opened, she had to work fast. Grabbing a clean towel, Sakura applied pressure to the wound with one hand as she pushed healing chakra into Sasori's chest with the other, working from deep inside the wound to the surface.

Silence filled the room, broken only by the soft sound of Sakura's chakra flow and their breathing.

"There," Sakura breathed, lifting Sasori's free hand and placing it over the towel as she sat back on her heels. "You still have a slight fever from the infection, but it's nothing a little sleep and some medicine won't fix. Keep that towel there until I come back to dress it."

"Where are you going?" Sasori asked, still too dazed from the pain of Sakura cutting into his infected shoulder to notice the medic clutching the towel wrapped around her body.

"Um, to get dressed…" she replied uncomfortably, looking away shyly as he looked over her attire.

She didn't want to hear his response, so she turned and headed back towards the bedroom. Her hand was on the doorknob when he called after her. She turned slightly, glancing at him over her shoulder in an attempt to keep as much of her naked form hidden from his eyes as possible.

"Thank you."

Sakura smiled slightly, nodding to the red-headed shinobi before escaping to the bedroom.

* * *

><p>Shutting the door behind her, Sakura sank to the ground. A sigh of relief slipped past her lips and she leaned back against the wall, her eyes closed, her heart thumping ferociously in her chest.<p>

He had thanked her and, for whatever reason, it made her giddy. This shouldn't have been any different from one of her patients at the hospital, some of whom would thank her for healing the most mundane ailments. Yet, when those words left his mouth, her heart began pounding against her rib cage; and now, she felt confused more than ever in regards to her mission partner.

Glancing at the clock, Sakura took a deep breath and dragged herself to her feet and over to her travel pack. It took her about a minute to find what she needed before she headed off to the bathroom once again, just in case Sasori decided to ignore her instructions a second time.

After dressing in a gray cotton t-shirt and a pair of comfy sweatpants, Sakura tossed the towel in the laundry bin and re-entered the bedroom. Padding quietly over to her travel bag, Sakura grabbed the medical supplies she needed to finish treating Sasori's injured shoulder, some medical bandaging tape, gauze, a sterile needle and some stitches, before making her way back into the living area.

She was only mildly surprised to see Sasori sitting in the same seat she'd left him. He still wasn't used to actually _feeling_ physical pain yet, so his unwillingness to move was to be expected, not that she was complaining.

"So, how'd it go?" she asked casually, setting the medical supplies on the table beside him and carefully removing the towel from his shoulder.

Sasori watched her carefully as she used the gauze to dab away the last of the puss caused by the infection before focusing her chakra on numbing skin around his wound and heating the needle. To say the least, he was curious about the stitching process for humans, despite seeing Kakuzu sew Deidera back together on numerous occasions – it was a different method than how he constructed his puppets. Unlike the crude, zig-zag pattern of Kakuzu's swift and painful (according to Deidera) medical handiwork, Sakura's movements were smooth, practiced and uniform, pulling the skin together and forcing it regrow in a natural pattern, leaving barely a pale scar in its wake. She, much like Kakuzu, was done within seconds, though the product was considerably cleaner.

"Normally, I wouldn't bandage an arm with new stitches in it, but I can't say I trust you to not overdo things." She said rather pointedly as she carefully began wrapping Sasori's shoulder and part of his chest with the medical bandages she had brought along. "Better safe than sorry."

It wasn't until Sakura pulled away and began cleaning up that Sasori realized that he hadn't answered her question.

"It went well," he responded simply. "We can go over the finer mission details in the morning."

Once again, Sakura nodded and turned back towards the bedroom when Sasori stood and caught her by the wrist, tugging on it gently.

"Are you uncomfortable with this?" He asked, his crimson gaze watching her carefully as she turned to face him, confusion in her eyes.

Sakura raised an eyebrow. "Am I uncomfortable with what?"

"This mission."

His voice was firm and in his eyes Sakura could see a glimmer of concern shine deep within the crimson orbs. It made her smile, knowing that he was worried about her, even though he probably wouldn't admit it aloud.

Sakura snorted, turning her head away and staring at the bedroom door. "I don't have much of a choice now, do I?"

"That doesn't answer my question, Sakura."

"Why does it even matter?"

"Because you are my partner, and I need to know that you'll be fit tomorrow to carry out this mission. Otherwise, I will have to inform Pein and make a change in the mission plans. I don't think I need to remind you how important this mission is."

He stated it so matter-of-factly that Sakura felt her stomach twist.

_'He's worried about the mission, not me… but he's right, this mission **is** more important than my feelings.'_

Clenching her hands into fists, Sakura turned to face Sasori, green eyes bright with anger. Sasori raised a delicate brow at sudden mood swing, but Sakura continued to glare before trying to yank her hand free of his grip. Growling dangerously, the kunoichi gave her hand another, much more forceful tug but the puppeteer refused to let go, his gaze calm as he watched her struggle.

"Now, answer my question, Sakura. I _do not_ enjoy repeating myself." His patience was growing thin; she could hear it in his voice and see the annoyance in his eyes as his stared down at her.

"Why? If your only concern is for the mission, it shouldn't matter how I feel. I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself. I don't need you to worry about me." She retorted, this time gripping the doorknob and pushing the door open. Sakura stormed into the bedroom and Sasori followed, refusing to let her walk away from him.

Once inside, Sasori shut the door and pulled Sakura against him, wrapping his free arm around her waist as his back hit the bedroom door.

"Let me go."

"Not until you tell me the truth."

"Why?"

"I already told you why."

"No. I mean, why do you even _care_?" She asked, her green eyes wide, desperately searching his gaze for some sort of answer.

"I am not heartless, Sakura," he said with no particular venom, "and I am aware of the sacrifice you may be forced to make. I am only trying to be considerate. This mission will be hard on you, both mentally and emotionally."

Sakura sighed. "I would be lying if I said that was the response I was looking for, but I guess that's the best I'm ever going to get out of you, huh."

His response was almost robotic. "My feelings for you have no place in this mission, Sakura. In fact, considering that our main objective is to coerce Hiirogashi into working with us by any means necessary, they pose a legitimate threat to the success of the mission. I apologize if my reluctance has upset you, Sakura, but I refuse to allow my feelings for you and about this mission put you or myself at risk."

Sakura swallowed hard at his words.

Raising her eyes to meet her partner's gaze, Sakura's voice caught in her throat. The cold indifference she had expected to see in his eyes was nowhere to be found. Instead, his eyes were glowing with emotion: passion, concern, fear, and something she couldn't quite distinguish.

He continued in a considerably softer voice than before. "I am not oblivious to my feelings, Sakura. I would not have kissed you if I had any doubts about my feelings for you. This being said, there are still many things that I do not understand and my hope is that you can continue to teach me about humans."

The corners of Sakura's mouth quirked upwards slightly as she raised her hands to touch his face. "You realize you're also human, right?"

Sasori sighed. "You know what I mean."

Sakura chuckled softly as her hands came up to cup his cheeks. "Yeah."

"So, are you alright with this mission?" Sakura couldn't help but roll her eyes at the man's persistence, but his gaze was firm, he was being serious about needing to know.

Taking a deep breath, Sakura looked up to meet Sasori's even gaze.

"Yes, I'm ready."

"Good. Then, seduce me."

* * *

><p><strong>Alrighty then! I initially wanted to post this for Christmas, but now I'm glad that I didn't because I wouldn't have had the chance to correct a few grammatical errors and confusing wording. I REALLY enjoyed writing this chapter for some reason. I hope I'm not confusing anyone in terms of the SasoSaku. If I am, here's the explanation:<strong>

**Sasori and Sakura have been on multiple missions together already (in case I haven't already mentioned that) so they are pretty comfortable around each other (as shown in the first two chapters).**

**So, if Sasori seems a little out of character, just remember, HE'S A REAL MAN NOW! (Just to throw in some really poor Disney humor, there)**

**Anyways, Sasori has emotions now, and Sakura is feeling conflicted because she still sees Sasori somewhat as the heartless puppet that once tried to kill her. However, Sakura has also experienced Sasori's transformation into a decent person first-hand, so it's probably a little overwhelming for her. Not to mention, Sasori WAS a human many years ago, which Sakura often seems to forget considering that she met him first as a puppet.**

**Overall, I think it makes for a wonderful complication :)**

**A VERY IMPORTANT REMINDER (For all you people who ignore stuff written at the top!):**

** Originally, I said that this would be the last chapter for which the story would be rated as "T" for Teen. After much deliberation and some conversations with several readers, I have decided that the story will not change over to the "M" for Mature rating, YET. There may still be a chapter or two before that happens, but it will MOST DEFINITELY happen.  
><strong>

**AS FOR LEMONS... I don't particularly enjoy writing lemons, simply because I feel that sex is a very personal topic and I don't want it to be the only reason that people read my stories.**

**SO, what I plan on doing is having the lemons as entirely separate chapters. They will remain within the chronological plot of the story, but they will not take place within chapters purely for the sake of those readers who do not want to read the lemons. This way, those of you who WANT to read the lemons, have the right to read them, while those who DO NOT, will not be forced to read them for the sake of the plot of the story.**

**I feel like this is a fair compromise. If anyone had a problem with this new format, please take it up with me separately through a private message, not in the review section.**

**Anyways, let me know what you all think! I'm so happy that people are still reading this!**

**Reviews are cherished (they make me so happy), and favorites and follows are always welcomed!**

**Again, I really hoped you all enjoyed reading this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it!**

**HAPPY NEW YEAR'S, Everybody!**

**~Smash41KMF**


	7. Fights, Stubbornness, and the Bedroom

**_IMPORTANT NOTICE_ (For all you people who ignore the AUTHORESS NOTES at the end of the chapter, SHAME ON YOU):  
><strong>

**1.THE TITLE CHAAAAAANGE!: YES, I renamed the story because, if you read from the first chapter notes, I picked "Young Blood" simply because I couldn't think of a name for the story. NOW, however, I have a name for the story that I feel is both ironic and very appropriate :)**

**For all the other Fall Out Boy fans out there, I love the song "Immortals" and I love how it reflects some of the irony of Sasori and Sakura's relationship in my story.**

**2. THE RATING!: Originally, I said that this would be the last chapter for which the story would be rated as "T" for Teen, but after much deliberation and some serious conversations with several readers, I have decided that the story will not change over to the "M" for Mature rating, YET. There may still be a chapter or two before that happens, but it will MOST DEFINITELY happen.  
><strong>

**3. AS FOR LEMONS... I don't particularly enjoy writing lemons, simply because I feel that sex is a very personal topic and I don't want it to be the only reason that people read my stories.**

**SO, what I plan on doing is having the lemons as entirely separate chapters. They will remain within the chronological plot of the story, but they will not take place within chapters purely for the sake of those readers who do not want to read the lemons. This way, those of you who WANT to read the lemons, have the right to read them, while those who DO NOT, will not be forced to read them for the sake of the plot of the story.**

**I feel like this is a fair compromise. If anyone had a problem with this new format, please take it up with me separately through a private message, not in the review section.**

**Thanks again for supporting this story everybody! I am so happy to know that people enjoy my writing, it really does mean a lot to me!**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter Seven: Fights, Stubbornness, and the Bedroom<br>**

* * *

><p>Sakura froze, her eyes wide as she stared at the man in her arms.<p>

"Excuse me?!"

Sasori chuckled softly, his scarlet eyes glimmering with amusement at the medic's screech of a response.

Taking a small step closer, Sasori wrapped his arms securely around the pinkette's slim waist and grinned, his lips curling up into a devilish smile as Sakura squirmed in the miniscule space left between them. Her cheeks were painted in a shade of pink that nearly matched her hair, much to his amusement.

Leaning down, Sasori took a deep breath and smiled as the sweet smell of her strawberry-scented shampoo and lavender body wash flooded his olfactory senses.

_'She hasn't used this shampoo in a while.'_ He thought offhandedly, vaguely remembering the time the medic had told him about how Pakkun, one of Kakashi's ninken, used the same shampoo as her when she was a genin. _'Maybe she doesn't use it while she's in Konoha.'_

Sasori's thoughts were cut short when he felt Sakura stiffen against him, her breathing quickening as the blush crept down the smooth skin of her neck.

Sasori smirked at her embarrassment. It was endearing, really, and immensely entertaining, how incredibly bashful the kunoichi could become in the face of intimacy, even when her body betrayed her true desires. It almost made teasing her a little _too_ fun.

He had been aware of the effect of his presence on the young medic for quite some time now, but never mentioned it out of respect for the kunoichi. However, that didn't mean Sasori didn't take advantage of it. In fact, he enjoyed embarrassing Sakura because she was so easy to rile-up and was absolutely terrible at trying to get even. He'd witnessed several of Sakura's failed attempts to exact revenge upon the blonde Jinchūriki after he locked her out of her apartment and sent her on a scavenger hunt throughout Konoha in search of her spare key. In the end, Sasori had concluded that Sakura Haruno was not meant to be a prankster, only a prankee.

Chuckling at the memory, Sasori lowered his head and pressed his lips into the tender skin of her neck and continued downward, leaving a trail of butterfly kisses in his wake. He paused when he reached the crook of her neck and whispered against the sensitive skin, taking satisfaction in the way she shivered against him as his teeth grazed the moist, lavished skin beneath his lips.

"You heard me, Sakura," he purred, his hot breath whisking across her sensitized skin as he continued to kiss a trail from the edge of her collarbone up to the curve of her jawbone, whispering huskily in her ear, "_seduce me._"

Sakura's cheeks burned as she bit her lip and tried to force down the soft groan that rose in her throat and threatened to escape her lips when the red-head nuzzled her neck affectionately. She wasn't used to Sasori being so touchy-feely and she was at a loss for how to act. Her conscious told her to put some distance between them, but her body refused to obey her, relishing in the heat of his body pressed against hers. In the end, desire beat back her conscious and a whimper broke free when Sasori spun them around and reversed their positions, pinning her to the bedroom door with one leg pressed firmly between hers. Suddenly, Sakura became very aware of their surroundings and the very little distance between them.

Feeling uncomfortable in more ways than one, now, Sakura averted her gaze to the beige-colored carpet beneath their feet and made a feeble attempt to put some distance between herself and the Akatsuki puppeteer. Lowering her hands from Sasori's face, Sakura pressed them firmly against the red-head's bare chest, careful not to aggravate his recently stitched wound, and tried to push him away, unwilling to use what little of her chakra that she had left. Sasori, however, simply shook his head and chuckled, the rich vibrations causing his taut skin to shift under her touch and send tiny shockwaves through her fingertips to her entire body.

"No…" she whispered breathlessly as she tried to use the bedroom door behind her for support.

"Sakura…" Sasori was beginning to lose his patience with the medic.

He had given her space, he had given her time, he had given her multiple chances to change her mind, and she had repeatedly lied to him and insisted that she was fine.

If he were to be completely honest, though, Sasori had given up on Sakura's ability to carry out their mission days ago, because whenever they broached the subject, she became skittish and indecisive. Frankly, he was sick of it, but he'd kept his mouth shut out of respect for the young kunoichi. Now, however, Sakura needed to make a decision and Sasori was done with sitting on the sidelines and playing nice. If she didn't make a decision, he would make it for her.

"If you can't even seduce me," he said softly, almost gently, as he reached up and carefully brushed a loose strand of bubble gum-pink hair out of her face and tucked it behind her ear, his fingers lingering, itching to trace the curve of her jaw as he continued, "how are you going to seduce a complete stranger?"

"We've already talked about this, Sasori. I've been through seduction training, I've passed my evaluations, I know what I'm doing."

Sasori made no effort to hide his displeasure.

"The battlefield is not the same as the classroom, Sakura." he admonished sharply, "You should know that by now."

"I _do_ know that, Sasori, but I just can't use you to practice on. Please understand!" She was almost to the point of begging, but Sasori ignored her silent pleas for leniency - she didn't understand the importance of their mission.

"You'll to have to give me a better reason than that."

"Look, I understand how important this mission is, but you have to trust that I'll be fine." Sakura pleaded, her eyes desperately searching his for some sort of reassurance that he had faith in her and that he was just being difficult. However, when she found nothing, her heart plummeted into her stomach.

"If you continue to refuse to practice, I _will_ have Pain replace you with Konan. Is that clear?" His voice was cold and his gaze held no sympathy as he looked down at her.

Sakura suddenly felt very small and she lowered her head, hurt evident in her soft voice, "You don't think I can do this, do you?" It wasn't a question, but Sasori answered her anyways.

"You have yet to give me a reason to believe that you can."

"I told you already, I've been trained."

"You can't learn how to seduce someone from a book, you need _practice_."

"And again, I _refuse_ to use you for practice!" She was becoming angry now, her hands falling away from his chest and clenching in fists at her sides as she glared at the floor.

"And why might that be, exactly? Tell me the truth. Why can't you seduce me, Sakura?" His words were laced with mockery and irritation and she could feel them beginning to dig under her skin like parasitic worms.

"After all, it's just _practice._"

Sakura felt her temper rise, but she refused to grant Sasori the satisfaction of seeing her get angry. So, after taking another deep breath, Sakura opened her mouth to let yet another lie slip past her lips. However, this time, as she met Sasori's disappointed gaze, her words failed her and she looked away.

"Fine."

Sakura's head snapped up in surprise and she stared at the red-head as he pulled away from her and went over to his bag that sat across the room. She watched quietly, uncertain of whether or not she should move, as he knelt down and opened the sack roughly.

Silence filled the room as Sakura watched Sasori rummage through his pack for a few seconds before he extracted his Akatsuki ring and a black t-shirt and promptly shutting the bag soon after. With his back still facing her, Sasori tugged the shirt over his head and slid the ring onto his finger before replacing his bag against the wall and turning towards Sakura. He hardly spared the medic a glance before lifting his hand and attaching chakra strings to her arms and legs with ease.

"Sasori, stop this." she hissed, unable to control her body as the puppeteer flexed his fingers, effortlessly forcing her to turn herself around and face the bed in the center of the bedroom. Annoyed, Sakura made an attempt to shoot the red-head a sharp glare, but he kept her facing the bed and, within seconds, walking towards it.

Sakura growled at the lack of control over her own body. She tried to pump her own chakra through her body in an attempt to counter the strong hold of her partner's relentless chakra strings, but her efforts were in vain. Unfortunately, after their long day and a half of traveling and healing his shoulder, Sakura was drained and her chakra was quickly overpowered by Sasori's.

And so, with another swift array of movements with his fingers, Sasori walked Sakura over to the bed and had her pull back the covers before slipping under the bedspread, her legs disappearing beneath the sea foam green sheets. Sakura then reached forward and involuntarily pulled the covers over herself and laid down.

Once satisfied with her new location in the room and out of the way of the bedroom door, Sasori strode over to the aforementioned door and stepped out into the main living space and headed for the door.

As soon as Sasori left the room, Sakura felt the restriction on her movements fall away and she shot out of the bed and scrambled over to the bedroom door. However, just before she could pass the threshold, Sakura felt herself being lifted off the ground, thrown through the air and landing once again on the double mattress that occupied the bedroom over their hotel room.

"What the hell was that for? Where are you going?" She snapped, obviously upset by Sasori's sudden mood swing, as she stomped out into the living area.

Sasori refused to look at her as he approached the door that led out of their hotel room. Grabbing his shoes, the Akatsuki member sat down to put them on before he turned to answer his companion.

"To see Pain, Konan is taking your place in the mission tomorrow. You're obviously not ready." He replied bluntly as he tugged on his shoes and stood up, his hand on the doorknob.

"Sasori, I'm in charge of this mission, you can't just bench me, you know." Sakura hissed, stepping forward and taking hold of Sasori's arm. The red-head simply turned to her and frowned.

"Stop acting like a spoiled child, Sakura. You knew what you were getting yourself into when you agreed to take this mission. If you refuse to practice tonight, with me, then I have no choice but to have you replaced, it's standard protocol, you know that."

"Sasori, please don't go."

"Oh?" He asked, feigning surprise as he turned to face her completely, his hand falling away from the doorknob. Turning around to face Sakura, he folded his arms across his chest and leaned back against the door. "And why shouldn't I?"

"Because…" she started nervously, her eyes glued to the floor as if she really were a child again, confessing to her long-time crush – what a bitter memory that is. "Because I need to practice."

Sasori raised a delicate eyebrow and he watched the medic apprehensively, uncertain what had caused the sudden change of heart. "You told me that you'd be fine, so which is it, Sakura?"

Remaining silent, Sakura lifted her head and glared at her partner. She knew he was right and so did he, but she was just too stubborn to admit it.

Sure, she'd had a quick refresher course before she left Konoha, but that was days ago and she couldn't afford to make any mistakes tomorrow. Her problem didn't even have to do with practicing. Her problem was Sasori.

He was attractive; _very_ attractive. Perhaps not to the extent of the Uchiha men or a maskless version of her former sensei – she and Tsunade were the only ones that Kakashi let conduct his occasional physicals – but beneath the cool stares and bored remarks, Sakura knew the red-headed puppeteer had enough sex appeal to make women swoon if he really tried. And that was precisely the reason why she didn't want to use Sasori as her practice partner for this mission. To her, Sasori was capable of being sweet and considerate and it confused her tremendously – she still wasn't sure how she felt about the revived red-head. However, she knew if she had asked him to get ahold of Deidera, the only other male Akatsuki member she really felt comfortable around in this sort of situation, he might never forgive her. And so, Sakura had remained quiet, hoping against hope that she wouldn't have to practice before the mission, even though she knew she needed to.

_'Maybe I really will die a virgin.'_ She thought morbidly as she stared up into annoyed maroon-colored eyes and smiled sadly.

She was sure Sasori would be a good practice partner, he was calm, straightforward and brutally honest, but Sakura was more afraid of herself. What if she couldn't separate her feelings from practice? What if things went too far? As much as she trusted Sasori, he was still a man and he was only human.

_'Heh, that's funny. Not too long ago, that would have been a lie.'_

Sakura inwardly sighed and tried her best not to ignore the ex-Suna shinobi standing before her.

_'If only he **were** a stranger,'_ she thought as she looked up at him and frowned, _'then I wouldn't be having this much trouble.'_

It wasn't _her_ fault that he made her nervous.

_Nor_ was it her fault that _he_ had the worst timing in the world.

_'Damn him,'_ she cursed silently as she continued to stare down the infuriating puppeteer. _'Why did you wait until **right before** the mission to tell me how you felt?'_

It was ironic, really, that _Sasori's feelings_ were the ones throwing a wrench in her plans, but there wasn't much Sakura could do about it. So, taking a deep breath and swallowing her pride, Sakura looked away for a moment and abandoned her defiant façade before carrying out the best policy her parents had taught her: honesty.

"Look, I don't want to fight with you about this, Sasori." She started, her stomach churning uneasily.

"Then tell me the truth."

Sakura took another deep, calming breath before lifting her head and looking Sasori in the eyes.

"You make me nervous."

* * *

><p>"What?"<p>

"I _said_," she growled, annoyed that she had to repeat her embarrassing confession, "that _you_ make _me_ **nervous**."

Sasori blinked. He was surprised that Sakura actually admitted that he made her uncomfortable. It was a simple fix, really, a henge would work perfectly, but Sasori wanted to savior the sight of the medic's poor attempts to hide the bright red blush that coated her cheeks, stretched down her neck and reached the tips of her ears. She was mortified by the confession - Sasori had to look away to keep himself from laughing.

Sasori did, however, understand the woman's concerns and he felt somewhat weary of his own feelings, but their mission was more important than their relationship for the time being. Their target was dangerous, reckless, and lacked self-restraint, he couldn't be allowed to roam free.

So, when Sakura had accepted the mission, Sasori wasn't pleased, but it wasn't until recently that he understood why. Yes, at first, he had been primarily concerned about her well-being, but as he learned more and more about Tora Hiirogashi, his concern grew.

During the time he had spent with Sakura, Sasori had learned quite a lot about her, both good and bad. He learned that her favorite color was, in fact, yellow and not pink, that she loved reading mystery novels and enjoyed her apartment of "organized chaos." He had also learned about many of her likes and dislikes, such as her love for sweet treats like dango and her hatred of spiders - she'd nearly put a hole through her wooden floorboards in an attempt to kill one.

Initially, he was surprised by how open she was to telling him about her personal life like her family, her friends and her teammates. It was almost as if she had completely forgotten that he had tried to end her life when she was sixteen. He was well aware that she hadn't, though, and she had made a point of telling him as much.

Nevertheless, she had helped him adjust to his new life and he was grateful for her guidance and her acceptance; and, for the first time in his life, Sasori wanted to do something to repay her. So, when the Hokage asked him if he wanted to leave Konoha and carry on his life as a rogue ninja, with a few less targets on his back, he had surprised her by declining. When the blonde had asked him why, Sasori had been honest and admitted that Sakura had grown on him and that he saw no reason for him to continue searching the world for new additions to his own puppet, seeing that he was human once more and he was convinced that Sakura would sooner kill him herself before she ever let him try and turn himself into a puppet again. His response had amused the Godaime and she agreed to his request to remain "assigned" to Sakura. However, when he had gone to leave, the blonde woman threw a scroll sealed with a blue stamp at him, which he currently had packed away in his bag, and called to him over her shoulder as she made her way back around her desk.

_"Keep her safe, she's not as strong as she wants everyone to believe."_

To say the least, the Godaime's comment about Sakura had surprised him because, from Sasori understood, the woman loved both Sakura and her brown-haired assistant, Shizune, as if they were her own flesh-and-blood and often boasted about her protégée to anyone who expressed doubt in the abilities of the pink-haired medic.

It wasn't until he'd attended the wedding of two Leaf shinobi that Sakura knew that Sasori understood the buxom blonde's words; because, it was at that wedding that Sasori first learned about Sakura's history with Sasuke Uchiha.

Sasori, of course, was not a fool, he had long since been aware of his fellow Akatsuki member's younger brother; he even heard Deidara curse about the boy in his sleep, but this was the first Sasori had ever heard about the history of Sakura's missing teammate and what lead up to him becoming an S-class criminal.

He had overheard the name in a conversation taking place not far from where he was standing beside Sakura during the reception, and, judging by the sudden stiffening of her posture, she had also picked up on the mentioned taboo. At first, he had been confused when the pinkette quickly excused herself to go to the restroom, having just returned from the facility already, but the unshed tears in her eyes kept him quiet as he watched her weave away through the crowd of shinobi and civilians alike.

It wasn't until Sasori was positive that Sakura was out of sight that he turned around and caught sight of two of Sakura's fellow shinobi, Ino Yamanaka and her companion Choji Akimichi. The Yamanaka had been weary of him from the moment he'd met her in Sakura's apartment. As soon as she had heard his name thought he had risen from the dead to kill Sakura, and he thought she was another one of Sakura's nosy friends that raided her fridge when she wasn't home. To say the least, they both weren't entirely wrong.

It was from Ino that Sasori learned about Sasuke, about Sakura's childhood infatuation with the youngest Uchiha, about his betrayal, his blood-lust (of which Sasori had already been vaguely aware because of Itachi). It was also from Ino that Sasori learned about the Uchiha massacre, about his former partner, Orochimaru, and the immortality-crazed Sannin's insatiable thirst for power.

To the normal person it would have all sounded very sickening, but Sasori had felt only a very mild wave of guilt pass over him. After all, he himself was not much different from Orochimaru, having gone as far as turning himself into one of his very own beloved puppets. Only to have the pink-haired medic currently pressed against him punch his wooden body to bits, kill him, and then bring him back to life, in human form, with the help of his eccentric grandmother's hidden medical jutsu scrolls.

The thought of his grandmother triggered a slur of memories, from his dreary childhood to his first years as an Akatsuki member to his first encounter with embarrassed kunoichi before him. Unfortunately, the thought of Sakura also drudged up the though of the younger Uchiha, which made his blood boil.

It was ridiculous and childish and absurd for him to feel jealousy towards Sakura's sociopathic teammate, but it bothered him that Sakura had spent years chasing after the pompous brat, even after everything he had put her through. It made Sasori despise the snake-summoner with every fiber of his being.

Taking a deep breath, Sasori pushed aside malicious thoughts of torturing the young Uchiha, should he every get his hands on him without Sakura knowing, and returned his attention to the task at hand. With a small sigh, Sasori forced his irritation down and spoke in a calm, even tone. "So, I make you nervous, huh?"

Sakura gave a small nod, but refused to look at the red-head, her cheeks still flushed with color.

"That's all the more reason to practice on me." His voice was firm, his gaze steady, watching her carefully. "Prove to me that you can do this, Sakura."

"But… you're biased." She replied bluntly, unsure of how else to get the point across. Sasori frowned slightly, his patience with her growing thinner.

She was scared, she was insecure, she was stalling, and it was he was just about at the end of his wits.

Letting out a soft sigh, Sasori carefully took Sakura's hands in his and looked into her leaf-green eyes.

"Sakura," he said calmly as he watched her lips tug into a small, reluctant smile, a sure sign that she already knew what he was going to say. "If you fail tomorrow, you're dead."

"I know, I know, but I'm just..."

"Scared?"

"Kinda..."

"Then I can't let you do this mission."

"Sasori!" Green eyes ablaze, Sakura tore her hands from the red-head's loose hold and took several steps back.

"Do not blame me for your insecurities." His tone was cold and clipped as he stared at the medic who was glaring at him from the other side of the room. "I told you not to take this mission, but you insisted that you would be fine."

"And I will be, so there is absolutely no reason for you to have me excluded!" Sakura snapped, anger seeping into her voice as glared at the puppeteer. Despite her obvious fury, Sasori's expression remained calm, collected, and unwavering and suddenly, Sakura felt another wave of outrage sweep over her and she became eerily calm.

"If you didn't think I could do this, why did you let me take this mission, Sasori?"

When she received no response from the red-head, anger overpowered her hurt feelings. Clenching her hands in fists by her sides, Sakura marched over to the puppeteer, fury roaring like green flames in her eyes.

Not a moment later, Sasori reached out and firmly took hold of her arm. Opening her mouth to protest, Sakura paused as Sasori turned away from her, his grip on her bicep firm, and pulled her further into the room.

Stumbling slightly, Sakura stared at the man as he guided them back into the bedroom and over to the double bed situated against the far wall.

"Sasori?" To her surprise, Sasori stopped, though he refused to face her.

However, when Sakura reached out to touch his shoulder, the red-head turned, caught her by the wrist and the next thing she knew, she was laying on her back with Sasori looming above her. Sakura's eyes widened and she tried to sit up, but Sasori kept her arms pinned to the mattress.

"Let me go." She said calmly, looking up at the man defiantly, despite the way his cool gaze made her skin crawl. "Now."

"No."

* * *

><p>She would probably hate him for this later and he wouldn't blame her. He was a horrible person to begin with, he didn't deserve her love, or even her time. The only reason she was still there with him was because of the silly promise she had made to his grandmother. It was at times like this that he wished Sakura had never resurrected him with his grandmother's scrolls, that she would have let him stay dead and finally atone for all his sins. But no, Sakura was stubborn if not anything else and she had been dead set on dragging his sorry soul back from Hell and throwing him into the world of the living where his head still fetched a pretty hefty price. She thought she was giving him a second chance, a way to try and make things right, to live the life his grandmother had always wanted for him, but she was wrong. Yes, while he would admit that he had so far enjoyed his time with the pink-haired medic, she had damned him to Hell once again. Especially with what he was about to do.<p>

He was going to spend the rest of his life hating himself for this, but it had to be done. He had tried to stop her, to protect her, but Sakura had refused to listen to him. She had assured him that she would be fine, that she was ready to give herself up for her village; and she had said it all with that fake smile of hers plastered on her face, the one that didn't quite reach her eyes and made her look as lifeless as his puppets.

He hated seeing that face of hers, hated it more than just about anything because it meant that she was hurting, somewhere deep inside, and she was too afraid to let anyone help. If she wasn't carefully, one of these days those fears would eat her alive, he'd seen it happen and he knew what it felt like and he was willing to do everything in his power to keep her from experiencing such agony. However, as he looked at her now, he could see that her fear of being seen as weak and insufficient had already begun to corrode her heart; it had been long before he had ever met her.

Letting out a soft, frustrated sigh, Sasori finally turned his attention back to the kunoichi beneath him whose eyes were no longer filled with anger or confusion, just concern. His grip on her wrists unintentionally loosened and she bolted upright, forcing him to sit back on his heels in order to not be head-butted by the pink-haired Jounin. She reached forward and gently touched his face, her lips drawn in a thin line as she worried her bottom lip.

"Are you okay?" Sasori hardly heard what she was saying, he was too focused on the emotions that there dancing through her eyes.

Sakura was an open book, she had even told him that she had been that way since she was a child and that she had never been able to hide her feelings, no matter how hard she tried. It was yet another one of her endearing and charming qualities that Sasori admired, and one that he prayed she would never lose.

In their profession, lies, deceit and betrayal were like second nature to many and very few lived through as much as she had and still remained so pure-hearted. However, Sasori knew this mission would change everything; it would corrupt her, taint her soul, and dim the beautiful light that seemed to follow her every move. Sasori felt a throbbing pain in his chest as he imagined Sakura dipping her toes into the pool of sins that he had quite happily bathed himself in decades ago. He didn't want to see that happen, he didn't want to remember that he could have stopped her – he wanted to take her and run far away.

* * *

><p>For the split second that he loosened his grip on her wrists, Sakura had sat up quickly and forcing him to sit back on the mattress. A pair of arms wrapped around his waist and Sasori was pulled back to reality by the very object of his affection, whose scrunched brow and worried frown actually made him smile for just a moment.<p>

"Are you okay?" she asked, looking up at him with concern as he let out a deep sigh and got lost in his thoughts again.

Sakura sighed inwardly. It seemed that she was still a hopeless romantic, wishing for happiness in the places she was least likely to find it. One would have thought, after all those years of fruitlessly pining after Sasuke, she would have learned her lesson and would pursue someone who actually cared about her and who wanted nothing more than her happiness – someone like Lee. But no, here she, Sakura Haruno, was yet again falling for another dangerous man with blood-stained hands and too many skeletons to fit in his closet. And, yet again, it would probably end tragically and leave her pride and confidence in shambles.

Originally, it had been only to fulfill the promise she had made to Lady Chiyo, Sasori's grandmother, to use her secret resurrection scrolls to bring her beloved grandson back to life in human form. Then, it became her responsibility to help acclimate the newly-human shinobi to his new life as flesh and blood; and, to be honest, along with her duties at the hospital, it had kept her busy enough to not think about her miserable love life or think about a certain Uchiha.

She had, of course, dated a little here and a little there over the years, but none of the relationships became very serious, either because of her teammates, Sasori, or because she was too busy or just not interested enough. Nevertheless, Sakura was fine with being in a serious relationship. That is, until Tenten and Neji's wedding.

The way they'd looked at each other, the sheer pride and happiness they found just by standing beside each other, she envied them. The look of adoration and peacefulness in Neji's eyes as he watched Tenten walk down the aisle, the expression of love and content that graced Tenten's features as she listened to Neji read his vows, the tenderness and loyalty in the lingering glances they shared throughout their reception – it was all so perfect. Oh, how she longed for a man to share that sort of joy with.

Without a doubt, Sakura had been so happy for her friends, they deserved to be happy after all that they had been through. However, as much as she hated to admit it, somewhere deep inside her, she resented the fact that all her friends had managed to find their soulmates while she was left behind to live out her life alone. Ino had Choji, Naruto and Hinata were smitten, Shikamaru had Temari, and even Lee had found himself a sweet, down-to-earth civilian girl to shower with all his love and affections.

So, when Sasori had asked her about the long, lingering looks of happiness shared between her dear newly-wedded friends, it had filled her with a sharp pang of sadness, but she'd answered the man anyways.

_"It's love."_ She had said, and from that moment on, she'd started to see Sasori in a different light.

At first, his curious gaze was endearing, it still was on occasion, but as he relearned more about emotions and human nature, that look of innocence and curiosity evolved into something Sakura couldn't quite describe.

Nowadays, it was rare for her to need to explain social situations or emotional reactions to the puppeteer; Sasori had always been a genius in his own right and he had learned how to pick up on social cues rather quickly on his own. His rapid improvement made her wonder why he was still assigned to her, he was perfectly capable of operating on his own long before now. Sure, they worked well together with Sasori being a long-distance fighter and she excelling in close-combat, but it didn't make much sense to her for them to remain together until Tsunade called her into Hokage Tower one morning before her hospital rotations.

According to the Sannin, despite Sasori's affiliation with the Akatsuki, the puppeteer had grown rather fond of her and he had verbally requested remaining assigned to her when given the choice to leave. To say the least, Sakura had initially been shocked and asked her sensei if the blonde was playing some kind of insane practical joke. The Godaime had simply chuckled and shook her head.

Resisting the urge to sigh, Sakura returned her attention to the man sitting in front of her, still lost in his thoughts. He looked sad, an unusual expression for him, and it made her worry. So, without much thought, Sakura leaned forward, wrapped her arms around Sasori's bare waist, tried to ignore the feel of his firm abdominal muscles contracting under touch, and hugged him, resting her cheek on top of his uninjured shoulder.

* * *

><p>At first, Sasori stiffened, but after a few moments, he carefully hugged her back, one arm wrapping around the small of her back as his other hand gently stroked the back of her head. His long, slim fingers wove methodically through Sakura's silky, bubblegum-pink hair, as if just to make sure she was real.<p>

"I don't want you to do this." He admitted softly, staring at the beige-colored bedroom wall as he continued to stroke her hair.

"I know, but I have to, Sasori. It's my mission." She replied softly, closing her eyes for a moment to fully enjoy the feeling of his slim fingertips raking gently across her scalp.

Sasori sighed, the rise and fall of his shoulders jostling the medic's head slightly and causing her to lift it to look at him. Retracting her arms, Sakura carefully took hold of one of Sasori's hands in hers and gently ran her thumb over his scarred knuckles.

"I'm confident that I can do this tomorrow, but…" she started, staring intently down at the knuckles of Sasori's left hand as she played with his fingers before looking up at him and blushing shyly.

"A little practice couldn't hurt, right?"

Sasori raised an eyebrow at this, surprised by the pinkette's sudden change of heart.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" he asked skeptically, eyeing Sakura wearily as she leaned in closer to him.

Smiling slightly, Sakura nodded, her hands still clasped around Sasori's as she leaned forward, removing one hand to brace herself against his chest as the other ghosted up his forearm, her fingertips leaving a small trail of goosebumps in their wake.

Pleased with the reaction she elicited from his body, Sakura let her gaze rake over her partner's exposed biceps. His smooth, velvety skin was littered with pale, thread-thin scars, evidence of his life as a shinobi before becoming a lifeless shell, while thicker, more raised scars curled above and below his elbow joints, his wrists and neck, everywhere where the nails and screws had once held him together as an emotionless puppet. A small, mischievous smile crept onto her lips as she lifted her gaze to meet his, a spark passing between them for a split second before she focused her gaze on the door behind Sasori and leaned past him, whispering against his ear.

"Yep. That is," She breathed, the hand on his shoulder sneaking down his torso, her smooth nails grazing the ridges of his sculpted abdominal muscle through the thin black cloth, "if you're still offering, _Sasori_."

The way she purred his name made him hesitate, his stomach clenching under her feather-light touch. Turning his head to the side, Sasori eyed the kunoichi with curiosity. Her sudden change of mind was mildly disconcerting and he had no idea what had caused it, but a small part of him was glad that she had – that she had finally chosen to trust him.

Sasori returned her saccharine smile with a small chuckle and placed his hands on her waist, toying with the hem of her t-shirt as she teased his skin with the light, playful strokes of her fingers.

"Only if you think you can handle it, _Sakura_." He growled as the hand on his stomach dipped lower, dangerously close to the waistband of his pants.

The young woman before him grinned, her emerald eyes flickering up to him, flirtatious playfulness dancing in her gaze as she leaned forward and whispered against his lips, gracing them with a ghost of a kiss.

"Oh, it's not _me_ that I'm worried about." She teased as she curled a long index finger into the waistband of his trousers and gave them a small tug in her direction. "_It's you._"

A chuckle rumbled deep in Sasori's throat as he reached between them and carefully took hold the medic's wandering hand. His heated gaze never left hers as he lifted her hand and kissed her knuckles gently. "Good, then let's get started."

* * *

><p><strong>HELLO my darlings! I hope you all enjoyed this super, extra long chapter because I probably won't write one this long for a while.<br>**

**This chapter wasn't easy to write because I honestly wasn't sure how to go about writing the seduction lesson, so I didn't.**

**Please don't be mad! I know a lot of you were looking forward to this chapter and I apologize if you're disappointed with what I provided, but I feel that this is a necessary chapter.**

**Admittedly, this chapter also ended up being another chapter filled with conflict between Sasori and Sakura and the building tension (I mean, this is realistic! Most people would be pretty tense in their situation too! I know I'd be freaking out if I were Sakura.) I'm sorry if some of you are sick of these sorts of chapters, but please be patient with me!**

** Frankly, I threw in Sasori's line at the end of the last chapter mainly for the hell of it. It sounded like an awesome thing for him to say to throw everyone off. It wasn't until I went back and re-read the chapter after it was posted that I realized that I had to follow through with Sasori's bold statement.**

**SO, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, don't hate me! The "Seduction Lesson" will actually take place as a series of flashbacks in the next chapter while (SPOILER ALERT) Sakura wakes up next to Sasori. These little humorous snippets are going in the next chapter because this chapter is already super long and I didn't want to write a whole other 6,000+ section to this chapter. Plus, I like the idea of flashbacks because then I get to play around with Sakura and Sasori's interactions the morning after their seduction lesson. Plus, now I don't have to vomit generic smut onto my computer for the sake of finishing a chapter.**

**Konan and Deidara will also be making an appearance in the next chapter, which primarily involves the preparation for the long-awaited mission and the beginning phases up until they spot the target.**

**There will also be a surprise appearance. Free cookies to anyone who can guess who it will be :)**

**I know everyone has really been looking forward to the mission and the next chapter will hopefully put some of you at ease before shit hits the fan and some serious stuff goes down.**

**Frankly, I feel like I'm just trying to delay the inevitable. I love where this story is going but the next few chapters are going to be rough, so you've all been warned!**

**Anyways, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter and I hope you all continue to support me and this story! You have no idea how much it means to me that people enjoy my writing!**

**Thanks again!**

**~Smash41KMF**


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