The Girl They Never Saw [Completed]

Chapter 13 ~ Desert Sun

      "The one's who don't cry are not the strongest. The strongest ones are the ones who cry for a bit, then get back up and keep fighting." -Sakura Haruno

      Sakura trudged through the sand, Deidara and Sasori on her right. She was immensely grateful for the silence, but it was short lived.

      "True art is a bang, my man!" Deidara shouted at Sasori randomly.

      Sakura groaned. Here we go again.

      "On the contrary, art is eternal beauty." Sasori grunted.

      And so ensued yet another of the two's arguments. Sakura tuned them out, and thought about the mission at hand. A surveillance mission to Suna, to gain knowledge on the Kazekage. Gaara probably hadn't heard of her defection yet, perhaps she could use that to her advantage. She glanced over to see Deidara and Sasori in a strange position. Deidara's arm was clamped around Sasori's neck, and he was trying to smash clay into the crevices of the puppet's face, while Sasori's poisoned stinger hovered threateningly over the blond's back and three chakra wires were controlling Deidara's legs and trying to yank him off.

      Sakura blinked rapidly, then a wicked grin spread across her face. "I ship it." She muttered under her breath.

       They both froze and turned to her. "What! The! Hell! Un!" Deidara shouted, struggling to untangle himself from Sasori.

      Sasori just glared at her, totally at a loss for words.

      The expressions on their faces were priceless. Sakura collapsed to the ground, laughing so hard tears were forming in her eyes. "Oh Kami help me." She croaked through spasms.

      Deidara frantically waved his arms. "No! No! No! You've got it all wrong, un!"

      Sasori glanced at Deidara out of the corner of his eye. She thought he was in love with this brat? Ha. As if.

      When Sakura could again breathe normally, the trio continued on their way. Deidara was red as a tomato, and couldn't even look at either of them. Sasori appeared emotionless, but that was expected. And Sakura, Sakura was back in her endless thoughts. It had been a brief moment, but she had noticed. She was growing attached to the Akatsuki. And she wished she wasn't. In the end, it would only make her job that much harder.

      Three hours later, Deidara nudged her shoulder. "We're here, un."

      Sakura looked up to see the walls of Suna looming above them. The guards watched them curiously, and Sasori sent Sakura a look. She nodded, and began to weave a genjutsu over the trio. It was slow going, just a strand of hair here and a bit of cloth there, but by the time they reached the gate it was finished. The clouds on their cloaks had disappeared, and Sasori's puppet Hiruko appeared taller and skinnier, with a woman's face. He glared at Sakura, but she ignored him. Deidara and herself had also changed, but not so drastically. Deidara had cropped black hair and a scar on one cheek, and she had brown hair that reached her knees. They kept moving forward, and the guards stopped them, but not hostilely.