Killing isn’t something that you can quite understand until you commit the act.

It is never justifiable because one person somewhere will disagree with any reason that you can give them to try and justify the “it”.

When Sakura first killed her hands didn’t shake, her skin didn’t crawl, she didn’t sweat or cry or get sick or get scared. She simply committed the act.

And she committed it again and again and again.

You see…

Sakura had a very clear view of right and wrong. Some things, things that hurt the ones you cared about, where very simply, wrong.

Everything else…

Well…

Everything else was in the very wide view of ‘right’. It did not matter that the people she killed might have had loved ones, it didn’t matter to her because they where not her loved ones.

If they couldn’t protect their loved ones, it was on them, not her.

In her view, there where only the ones she loved, it was lost on her that she could hurt others with her acts that in her mind, where so very simple.

Acts that in the large view of things would have been much more difficult to deal out if it wasn’t for a child’s selfishness curled within her being. A selfishness that said ‘mine’ and ‘you can’t have it.’

It was lost on her that her actions could matter to anyone other then the members of her family.

But it was not lost on her that others had different views, that they might see what she did as wrong. It was very simply, not her problem.

Everything was so simple when you let it be.

She did her job and cut down the men in front of her, she did her job without a single thought in the negative, even as blood touched her cheek, rolling down and cooling in the air, it didn’t matter.

Fear, hunger, anger, she wasn’t killing because she enjoyed it, she felt nothing for these people, for these pawns.

So the killing continued, it continued until she was called away.

And she left, taking advantage of the mass confusion to make her way from the village.

It was in leaving the chaos that she saw the shock of blonde, running after the blur of black that followed after the three shinobi of the sand.

And it was a very simple thing that had her following, it was the very simple fact that she was indeed quite selfish and she wanted to follow.

Because life was simple.

Only when you let it be that way.

Xoxoxoxoxoxox

Child’s Play

Chapter Nine: of Broken Dreams

“If she be all tenderness, she will die. If she survive the tenderness will either be crushed out of her or-and the outward semblance is the same- crushed so deeply into her heart that it can never show itself more.” –Nathanial Hawthorne, Scarlet Letter

Xoxoxoxoxoxoxo

Even through the display of power from the Sand and the Sound, the Akatsuki, though operating separately from all the villages, moved liked they themselves had planned the attack from the very beginning.

The Konoha Village and her people held itself together rather well. As the Akatsuki set the last piece of the trap they had planned in place they began retreating.

Seen only by the few they were marketing too, they weaved their way from the confusion and mass chaos with sublime grace and vindictively…

…Only to turn up one short in the end.

Deidara was the first one to voice his concern when Sakura didn’t met up at the rendezvous point. Of course, he voiced his concern the moment they arrived and Sakura was not with Zetsu when they had clearly seen her leave before they had.

Sasori hadn’t seemed as concerned as his blonde companion but the glances out of the corner of his eye betrayed him. Though it wasn’t until Itachi joined them that either of the two parental figures made a move.

They contacted Pein as soon as Itachi frowned at the lack of a certain pink haired little female.

Xoxoxoxox

Sakura was shocked at the brutality of the attack towards her, the sand cut through the humidity and air and dried it, her skin tingled and burned as the tiny particles of sand rushed towards her.

She was thrown back and into the tree, the wind knocked out of her. Her doppelganger was popped into a burst of smoke.

The real Sakura was kneeling beside Sasuke, he was clutching his arm and grinding his teeth, he was in pain from attacking the Sand Shinobi Gaara.

Naruto was doing his best to keep Gaara from attacking but Gaara was having none of it.

Sakura could feel the overwhelming amounts of chakra beginning to pour into the sand, the red head was without a doubt a ‘demon container’.

Sakura’s eyes slammed shut.

Sakura’s hands flew to her ears

She ground her teeth and tried, tried so hard not listen to the little voice in her head.

Kill them, it said.

Kill them before they kill your family.

Help me, it said, save the ones you love, the beasts, we need them.

But Sakura couldn’t kill them, her hands shook and teeth clattered, her heart pounded heavy in her chest and eyes stung.

Sakura could not kill Sasuke who looked at her concerned.

Sakura could not kill Gaara who was turning into some…thing…

Sakura could not kill Naruto and even if there was a way she could help her family capture a biju, she could not do it if it’s container was her friend.

So she jumped from the tree, rocketing forward, slamming Naruto out of the way of the oncoming attack.

The sand choked her and scratched her but she and Naruto broke out of it, and in taking the attack she got caught up in the sand.

Even as she fought against it she knew she was in trouble, it was stronger then she anticipated.

Naruto yelled and Sasuke called out something, but she was tired and slowing down and the sand coffin was starting to wrap around her.

It was a combination Sasuke’s final chidori and Naruto’s rasangen that busted her out of the sand coffin, leaving Sasuke and Sakura immobile and unable to fight.

Sakura would never forget what Naruto did that day, for a teammate and a friend, not even for her family would she hurt him.

She watched him fight, watched his determination and the emotion that crossed his face.

Sakura shut her eyes at the fighting.

She left the area before the fight was over, the commotion had attracted too much attention and she was running far behind schedule, she’d be in big trouble if she didn’t leave now.

She felt him win as she raced through the trees, through exhaustion and weariness she knew he won.

She smiled a little and raced on.

The ringing in her ears only seemed to get worse as she continued; she barely heard the radio feed clicking in her ear.

“Sakura can you hear me?”

Sakura pushed off the branch and hovered in air, fighting the sting in her eyes, her body felt heavy and her limbs were numb.

“I can hear you.”

Her voice was quiet now that the interference from the two creatures had passed; she was picking up the signals again. The ring on her chest, beneath her shirt had grown warm. The buzz in her ears only seemed to grow louder.

She couldn’t hear what they where saying to her.

It took her a second to realize she was falling. She was only able to turn herself so she didn’t get hurt too badly when she hit the ground, the moment her body touched the ground everything went black.

She had actually heard her body connect with the ground.

Sakura had never before felt the physical limitations of a shinobi, when you lived with the seemingly “invincible” limitations seemed to disappear.

But the impact of her body on the solid ground stunned those limitations into her, and as her thoughts faded with her consciousness she finally understood defeat.

So that was what mortal meant.

Xoxoxoxox

Sakura had never felt quite the way she felt with Sasori speaking to her.

Well, speaking was the wrong word, she was being scolded, and the barely contained fury behind his normally quick to the point deceptively calm voice was unnerving.

Three minutes into it and her knees were shaking, his voice grew in volume and her body started to tremble and she drew in on herself.

When he didn’t let up on his scolding and his voice truly sounded angry for the first time since she could ever remember, she started crying. And for the first time in her life Sakura was sent to her room in a true blue punishment.

And she cried all the way.

Xoxoxoxoxoxox

The next day Sakura talked to Pein, he didn’t yell at her or make her cry like Sasori had, he had spoken to her like a child and for the first time since she had arrived at the Akatsuki Sakura felt herself grow up.

She acknowledged that she had made a mistake, that she had been outmatched, that she had been stupid and selfish and it was unacceptable and Pein let her realize this all on her own.

And for lack of a better way to put it, Sakura died a little inside.

Xoxoxoxoxoxox

She was silent for two days afterward, Deidara didn’t say anything to try and break the gloom but worried blue eyes, sympathetic and concerned followed her actions.

Sasori didn’t emerge from his workshop and Sakura didn’t go into it.

Akatsuki members where scarce during those three days, hardly one was there, Pein’s plan being carried out as the attempted war with Konoha distracted villages into themselves and away from their actions.

It was on the fourth night that Itachi and Kisame returned and Sakura retreated to her room and sat in the corner with her back against the wall, the cool wall comforting her and making the horrible feeling inside her numb a little.

It was Itachi that pulled her out of the corner and took her upstairs and outside with him.

…And when Sakura started crying he didn’t tell her stop or try and encourage her to do so. She leaned against him and cried and he kept his hand on her head and let her.

It had always made sense to the others that in some way Itachi was the best suited to deal with these situations.

He was, after all, the only one to live a remotely normal life before hand, the only one to have any experience with younger siblings.

So when he told Sakura that everything in life had a price, including love or friendship or sympathy or hate or anger, that everything she ever did could be judged as right or wrong or evil or good by anyone with an opinion in his or her body, Sakura listened.

Sakura’s sniffles had quieted, and when he told her that it was the things that hurt you that defined your person and not the actions you took or the decisions you made but the reasons behind those decisions and actions that truly made you who you were, she knew it was okay to make mistakes.

It was okay to feel remorse as long as you learned from it, it was okay to be afraid of something if you could overcome it.

Everything was okay if you just made it that way.

Everything was simple, only when you let it be.

Sakura rubbed her eyes and held Itachi’s hand and shook a little.

Everything would be okay.

And Sakura wouldn’t have to cry over it anymore.

Xoxoxoxoxoxo

Sasori sat in the kitchen at the large, heavy wooden table situated in the small, rarely used kitchen.

He had been alive for a very long time, he had seen many things, he had been through many things, but there was always something new to make an ass of you, even after fifty plus something odd years.

He could still remember Sakura’s first tooth, if someone had told him fifteen years ago what he’d be doing after joining Akatsuki the last thing he’d expect to hear was, ‘raising a pink haired little girl with no space boundaries what-so-ever with a group of highly skilled S-class criminals.’ He’d have skinned them.

It sounded ridiculous, completely ridiculous, and of course that was what had happened turning his life into a ridiculous rollercoaster of things that never should have happened to begin with.

Sasori shut his eyes and sighed, standing from the wood table that his own body was made up of he made his way from the kitchen and towards the exit.

He had a mission to get too.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxo

Loose tooth

A scream cut through the Akatsuki hideout nestled far underground and safely away from prying eyes… and prying ears.

The scream was quickly followed by a shout of, "Don't touch it!"

It was an oddity that the entire Akatsuki was present during any one point in time and today was a day like most other days with only a few members lingering about here and there.

Itachi, Kisame, Deidara, Hidan and Kakuzu where in the general vicinity of the loud, unexpected scream and shout, and of course, they all went to investigate, much to Kakuzu disgruntled mumbles and Hidan's cruses as he stumbled out of bed and towards the chaos.

It was much to everyone's surprise that Sasori was kneeling on the floor looking patiently at the bed situated against the wall.

"Sakura."

There was no reply from the bed where a quivering lump had formed from beneath the covers.

"Sakura, come out."

There was a shuffle, the bump moved to the edge of the bed then disappeared where Sakura thumped to the ground before scrambling beneath the bed for better coverage, there was scrapping, then a thump, she'd shuffled herself into the wall beneath the bed.

"Sakura." Sasori's voice never changed pitch, "Now."

"NO!" The cry was followed by more shuffles and panicked noises of someone cornered.

Hidan was the first to walk in on the delicate situation, and in the way he handled all delicate situations…

"What the fuck is all this goddamned screaming about? Huh?!"

Sasori glanced over at Hidan, a dark look on his face.

Kakuzu, Kisame, Itachi and Deidara stepped into the room to investigate, the only room in the Akatsuki hideout with… stuffed animals and… crayons, gawd forbid that one of the crayons ever got into one of their kunai pouches, imagine throwing a deadly crayon with razzle-dazzle scratched across it straight into a ANBU's forehead.

Kisame was still having nightmares about the possibilities.

Kisame peeled back his lip and grunted, "What's all the commotion about, Eh?"

Sasori almost sighed, almost.

"Sakura has a loose tooth."

There was silence, Deidara's shoulders drooped, "Of course, that explains everything."

Sasori stood up with a dark eyed, tightlipped frown, he really didn't appreciate the sarcasm.

Deidara stepped forward to the bed, purposely avoiding his irate partner to speak to the little girl hiding under the bed, "Sakura-chan, what's the matter?"

"Saso-sori's going to-to pull my t-tooth out!"

There was silence in the room for about two beats.

Deidara shifted, "Umm… well Sakura, if your tooth's loose, un, then you need it pulled."

"Nooooo!"

Deidara glanced at Sasori who was choosing to stand by the others gathered in the room.

"Uh…" Deidara shifted so he could peer under the bed at Sakura, wide green eyes peered back at him, "Why don't you come on out Sakura, you know if your tooth comes out and you put it under your pillow tonight you might get some money from the tooth fairy, hmm?"

"Tsk, Unlikely."

Deidara threw Kakuzu a dirty look, Kakuzu shifted his eyes away.

Deidara turned back to the bed and the occupant beneath it, "Sakura-chan, come on out sweetie, no ones going to pull your tooth."

"LIAR! You're lying!"

The hysterical cries had Kisame sighing, "Alright, move over, come on kiddo, time to come out."

Kisame kneeled by the bed and dipped down to look at Sakura, "Come on, right now."

Sakura shook her head vigorously; the little girl wasn't coming out without a struggle.

Kisame sighed, "Alright then, we'll do this the hard way."

Kisame stood up and walked around to the other side of the bed, there was scrambling beneath the bed but Sakura wasn't fast enough, Kisame ducked down and reached beneath the bed to catch Sakura's leg and with a tug he'd slid her from beneath her hide-a-way.

Everyone in the room, hardened man killer and seasoned murderer, flinched at the ear piercing, blood-curdling scream that ripped from the terrified little girl's throat.

Kisame flinched but caught the struggling, kicking, flailing little girl and held onto her as best he could without injuring her.

Which… happened to be upside down and being kicked in his chest, he'd be lucky not to go deaf from the experience.

Kisame had just rounded the end of the bed when Sakura found an opening.

With all the viciousness of a rabid squirrel she bit him as hard she could, and in reaction to the bite…

He dropped her.

With a nice, loud THUMP and with the members of the Akatsuki loitering around the room, Sakura scrambled to her feet and darted out of the room with them all turning to watch her dart past them.

Kisame cursed, "Her damn teeth seem fine to me."

xoxoxoxoxo

Sakura ran through the hideout with her heart pounding in her ears, she had to find someplace to hide, she had to find someplace to hide, she had to find someplace to hide!

Sakura slid to a stop, a door she'd never been in before… one she wasn't supposed to go in… she glanced behind her, breathing hard and jittery, they wouldn't look for her in there.

xoxoxoxoxoxo

Deidara glared at Kisame, "What?"

Shaking his head he turned from the Akatsuki member, Kisame waved his hand in the air in annoyance, "Right, don’t anyone else jump to stop a five year old from escaping, seeing as she's so fast and dangerous and all."

Hidan turned on his heel, "Screw that, I'm not getting bit."

Kakuzu shook his head, "Children, a drain on time and money."

Itachi shifted from his spot and turned from the room, Sasori shook his head and wondered out behind Deidara, "Leave her be, she'll crawl out when we all disappear."

Kisame listened to the arguing Deidara and calm rationalizing of Sasori as they left the room, he glanced down at his hand where a crescent mark was forming on it, "Damn kid has teeth like a tiger."

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

Sakura glanced around, this was a good hiding place.

It was dark and there were plenty of places to hide.

Sakura looked around her making sure she was alone before scrambling out from behind the crate she'd been hiding behind, maybe she could find someplace better, someplace where she wasn't going to get pulled out of.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxo

Deidara tapped his foot impatiently watching Sasori move around his workshop.

Deidara swung his eyes to the door.

Deidara swung his eyes back to Sasori.

Sasori glanced up.

Deidara tapped his foot.

Sasori looked back down at what he was working on.

There was silence.

"Go on."

Deidara was out of the room in a blink.

xoxoxoxoxoxxoxo

Sakura really liked this hiding place, there was no way Kisame could reach her, she was in a really long tunnel that he couldn't possibly fit in. This was great, he couldn't get her tooth now.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxo

Deidara was feeling a little panicked.

He couldn't find Sakura.

And that worried him, not because she was a five year old little girl in an S-class criminal base, but because she was a five year old little girl not in an S-class criminal base where she was very much secure and not in danger from being exposed.

This was not good.

xoxoxoxoxox

Sasori resisted the urge to lift up a hand rub his temples; it was a very unnecessary habit of a movement from when he was all-human that his puppet body no longer needed to do. And come to think of it he hadn't tried to rub his temples in twenty years.

And yet here he was… fighting the urge to lift his hand from his side and rub his temples, even though he had no headache whatsoever.

Kisame, however, had no such qualms and was rubbing a fist to his forehead, "She crawled through the old furnace hatch?"

Kakuzu was flicking something along the counter in the kitchen they had all converged in, "It hasn't run since we took over the hideout, money drain."

Hidan shifted from where he was resting his head on the table, "And we, meaning you, where to cheap to do something about it."

Kakuzu sighed, "It wasn't a security risk."

Itachi straightened, "Where does it lead?"

xoxoxoxoxoxox

Sakura didn’t really like this hiding place anymore, it had lead her outside, and she didn't have any shoes on, but there was a bigger problem…

She couldn't get back in the way she came, she had pushed her way out and stepped into the cool evening air, as soon as she had the little door she'd come from had sealed tight and disappeared.

She couldn't even find it anymore, and she didn't know how to get back in.

Sakura stepped cautiously around the forest, it was cold and windy outside and there were clouds and it'd be dark soon.

She wanted to go back now.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

Sakura dragged her feet along the path she’d found, she hadn’t been out for very long but she was scared.

Sakura sat down on the dirt path and sniffled, she was lost, and she wanted to go back home, her tongue found her tooth and wiggled it, her teeth clicked shut and she flinched, they could have the stupid tooth. Even though it hurt and it was going to make a hole in her mouth…

Sakura sniffled and rubbed her eyes where tears where forming.

"Hey, little girl, why are you crying?"

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

"What," the disbelieving hiss Deidara gave afterward was well warranted.

Zetsu confirmed, "The area's had problems, it’s a breeding ground for scum, it makes sense Orochimaru would be attracted to it."

Itachi moved from the wall, "Kisame and I will take the east."

Kisame grunted in acknowledgment.

Hidan took a deep breath and released it, "We call West, dammit, I'm never going to get any damn sleep am I?"

Sasori left the room, Deidara followed quickly behind.

Zetsu glanced at the now empty room before looking at his shoes, “I wonder if there’s any meat in the kitchen…”

“Mmmm.”

Xoxoxooxox

Sakura looked up at the older boy standing in front of her, his hair was white and his skin was pale, and he was wearing makeup, Sakura blinked.

“Did you do that to your face?”

The boy looked a little flustered, “W-what’s wrong with my face?”

Sakura touched her own cheek where the boys mark was mirrored, “You have make-up on.”

The boy’s cheeks flushed a little further, he squared his shoulders and tipped his chin up, “It’s war paint.”

Sakura ‘o-ed’ she hadn’t meant to make the boy fell bad, she smiled. “It’s very pretty.”

The boy didn’t seem all that appeased, he looked down at the little girl and frowned, “What are you doing out here anyway, there isn’t a town for miles.”

Sakura curled her naked toes and tried not to cry, “I-I got lost.”

The boy frowned, “This isn’t a very good place to get lost at, who where you with? Maybe they’re near.”

Sakura shook her head vigorously, “They’re at home, but I can’t find home!”

The boy looked confused, he looked down at the rich clothes the little girl was wearing, minus shoes or socks, she’d probably wondered out on her own and no one noticed.

“Do you live in a town?”

Sakura shook her head, the little girl looked like she was about to cry.

The boy searched his mind, “Is there any kind of landmark around your house? A lake? A creek?”

Emerald eyes started to water as she shook her head vigorously. The boy looked around, almost like he was hoping the answer would be written on a tree.

He paused, “Why’d you wonder off?”

Sakura sniffled, she lifted up her hand to rub the tear away on her dirty cheek, “Otou-san was gonna p-pull my tooth.”

The white haired boy stared at the teary eyed pink haired girl.

He blinked.

He opened his mouth and closed it.

“You’re afraid of getting your teeth pulled?”

Sakura nodded her head, tears slipping down and leaving wet trails on her cheeks. The boy looked down at the ground for a second, “In my clan…” He paused, “As soon as your first teeth have grown in they are pulled,” Sakura’s hand slapped to her mouth, her eyes wide.

“If you want to eat, if you want to live, then you have to grow a new set of teeth in your mouth to replace the old ones.”

Sakura wobbled a little on the ground where she was sitting.

“G-grow your t-teeth back!”

The boy looked at the pale-faced little girl, her eyes where unfocused and she wasn’t looking too good.

He smiled at her, showing her a set of perfect pearly whites, “It’s okay,” but Sakura didn’t look convinced.

The boy lifted his hand so that Sakura could see it clearly, “Look here,” and with wide eyes Sakura watched as a bone was produced from beneath the boys skin to sit neatly in his hand in the form of a dagger.

It was amazing.

“Baby teeth are supposed to come out, you shouldn’t be scared.”

Sakura’s eyes flicked up to that of the young boy, “But I can’t grow my teeth back. I can’t make bones.”

The boy smiled, his eyes closing and dimples showing, “Sure you can, everyone can make bones, I just make them faster, you want your baby teeth to come out, when they grow back they’ll be stronger!”

Sakura’s shoulders hunched in a little, “Stronger?” The boy nodded.

“Don’t you think it’ll be okay? As long as they don’t come all out at once?”

Sakura looked at her toes and fiddled with the lose tooth in her mouth.

The boy kneeled in front of her, “If it’s lose then it’s supposed to come out, I wish I’d had loose teeth back then, it would have been easier.”

Sakura suddenly felt guilty, she swallowed and shut her eyes.

Her fingers tightened on her teeth and she pulled.

…

…

…

Sakura opened her eyes, a tooth in her view; it’d been hanging there so long there wasn’t even any blood on it.

Sakura blinked.

It hadn’t even hurt, she looked up at the white haired boy.

He was looking at the tooth with a kind of a curious regard.

Sakura fisted the tooth and stood up, she was barely taller then the boy while he was kneeling.

Sakura held out her hand.

The boy blinked.

Sakura smiled, “I’ll have more loose teeth, you can have mine if you like.”

The boy blinked and didn’t move for a moment.

The gesture was odd, but the strange surge of comfort that washed through him was unmistakable. He smiled, “Thanks.”

Sakura handed over the tooth and a warm feeling surged through her, because even though she’d been frightened she’d done it.

Sakura’s smile was bright enough to make the sun envious that day. All because of very kind gesture.

It was a gesture that was never forgotten by the white haired boy, it was something that he could never have back that was given to him again. He held onto that tooth until the day he died, and when he died the tooth stayed with him on a necklace around his neck, that would one day be buried away in someplace only shinobi would pass.

But he would die with a happy memory on a sad, dark day.

Sakura waved goodbye to the boy and the boy waved goodbye to her, he had to go and meet back with his master, and she had to be on her way home. He pointed her in the direction of a town and she waited for him to leave before going the other way.

She knew she didn’t live by a town but knowing where it was a wonderful feeling of ‘just in case.’

Sakura hadn’t walked very long before she came upon a black and white flower.

Sakura reached and out and touched it, it looked just like Zetsu! She should bring it too him!

So Sakura pulled it.

Sakura would never forget the day Zetsu grew from a tree with a yelp, she would never forget the day her first tooth fell out and she would never forget the way Sasori held his head and ground his teeth before putting her too bed and disappearing from her room.

She’d also never forget that the very next day they moved away from the Hideout and not once did Sasori let go of her hand.

End

Xoxoxoxoxoxox

Deidara sat outside the hideout, something he didn’t do very often, looking up at the stars scattered in the sky above him. Blue eyes glanced over at the appearance of his silent partner.

They both stood on the top of the hideout silently for a few moments, just looking at the sky.

Deidara sighed, “Do you ever wonder what it would have been like if we hadn’t found Sakura-chan?”

Sasori was silent for a moment, “Cheaper.”

“Hah,” Deidara grinned at the sky, “Don’t start sounding like Kakuzu, un, its not like we have all that much too spend money on, eh.”

Sasori was silent, still and unblinking.

Deidara watched him for a moment and suddenly, something curious occurred.

It was the first time in all the years that Deidara had been forced to be his partner that he had seen it, but it was there.

Frustration.

“It would have been kinder to have killed her when we found her.”

Deidara felt his eyebrows raise but Sasori continued, “This is no world for her, this world that we’ve created.”

Deidara turned his head away from the sight of his partner, “We didn’t make this world.”

Sasori smiled, no humor, no emotion, “But we facilitate it, we are the scum in this world and we are turning her into someone, something she wasn’t meant to be. If she had lived in a hidden village, if she had grown up with her parents, with people who are not like us, do you really think she could do the things she does? Kill like she does?”

Deidara wanted to chuckle, it was the first time he’d ever heard Sasori voice so much in one sitting, “I think… un… I think that she is a good a person. I think she has a good heart. I think…”

Deidara stood up from the roof, “I think, un, that if she had grown up anywhere else we would have gone crazy by now.”

Deidara grinned, “I would have anyway, un, you can talk about what-ifs until the end of time but the fact is Sakura is ours and we are Sakura’s. So if you want to feel guilty about something don’t do it in front of Sakura because, un, and trust me when I say this,”

Deidara turned and grinned at Sasori, “She loves you the most.”

Sasori shut his eyes, effectively ending the conversation, Deidara knew his partner had shut him out after he had said that, but he didn’t really mind, Sasori didn’t usually dwell on the what-ifs but if he were going to mule over it he would let him do it alone.

He turned and made his back into the hideout, leaving his silent partner behind.

Deidara fiddled with the little bit of clay in his pocket as he walked away, he wondered if Sakura wanted to play a board game with him.

Xoxoxoxoxo

Tooth, tooth, tooth

It had been three hours after Zetsu had ‘found’ Sakura that the other Akatsuki members had returned to find Sakura sitting on the counter of the kitchen making a face at the raw meet Zetsu was eating.

Deidara had walked straight in and let himself fall into a chair, Sasori had followed suit but in a much more graceful matter. The other members of the Akatsuki, excluding Kakuzu (who left as soon the pinkette was spotted) stepped into the kitchen without a word.

It was Hidan that once again showed his skills at the handling of delicate situations, “Where the hell have you been pinky? Do you know how gawd damn annoying it is to look for someone your bloody size?”

Sakura looked at Hidan, her mouth in a frown and green eyes wide.

“I was talking to a boy.”

Silence.

There was a three-way unison between Deidara, Kisame and Hidan a moment after Sakura said that.

“What boy?”

Sakura pointed to her mouth, “The bone boy.”

Deidara about fell out his chair, “Excuse me, un, what?”

Kisame leaned back in his chair and rubbed his eyes with the back of his hand.

“Here we go.”

Hidan rubbed his temples, “Damn, I think I need drink before I listen to anymore of this.”

Sakura frowned at the gathered Akatsuki, Sasori sighed, “Maybe you should start at the beginning Sakura.”

Sakura pointed to her mouth again, “The tooth boy, the boy with the bones!”

Deidara glanced at Hidan who had gone rummaging in the cabinets, “What do you mean by bones, un?”

Sakura was starting to get a bit frustrated, “There was a boy in the woods and he could make bones!”

There was a moment of silence as the sentence sunk in, Hidan turned from his search with a ‘fuck it’ and left the kitchen.

And the day was marked as one they’d rather not talk about and if it happened to be brought up again the mention of Orochimaru’s young minion Kimimaro was carefully avoided.

And even though Sakura was slightly confused at her family’s reluctance to talk she didn’t bring it up again, and the next time she lost a tooth she gave it to Zetsu who happened to think baby teeth where absolutely delicious.

“Mmmm.”