A/N;

-Cherry Blossoms with a Hint of Revenge and Art-

-ch4 | Sleeping With the Enemy-

At the crack of dawn, or at the crack of Satan's asshole, as Deidara referred to it, all five members woke up, ready and pumped for the away mission. Especially Sakura. After being stuck in Konoha for months, working hospital shifts and doing small missions, she was ready to get out and get on with this. Stopping briefly by her parents' house to say goodbye, she walked through the empty streets to the gates that lead to outside of the village, the healer let her mind wander. It would be interesting to be on the same team as Sasuke and Deidara, this time around. Neither Inner or her Outer self would admit to this, but she was happy that Sasuke was finally back were he belonged; With Team 7. Plus Sai and Deidara, of course.

At the thought of him, Sakura realized that this would probably be the first time she would ever be working alongside an Akatsuki member. She still thought of the bomber illy, but over the past few weeks spent with that loud, rambunctious jerk, the pinkette had grown fond of him without quite realizing it. The girl came to a complete stop, letting that thought replay in her mind. Was she.. Actually beginning to like Deidara? As a friend, of course. There wasn't any romantic feelings in the equation. None at all. Scoffing, Sakura began her walk once more. If one looked past his rude and bothersome outside layer, Deidara was actually.. Nice. When they didn't threaten to gut each other slowly and painfully, their brief conversations were .. nice. Sakura had seen the way he talks about his art, too. The passion and pride that's in his voice when he speaks of it was .. nice.

If there was any feelings between the blonde and pinkette, it was surely a brother/sister relationship. Yes, that was it.

Maybe her steps had an extra bounce in them, maybe they didn't.

Or maybe Sakura just couldn't tell.

.

Over at the gates, Naruto and Sai were the first two to arrive. Which was surprising that Naruto even got up this early. The two boys sat on the ground, backs leaning on the wall of the giant gate, chatting freely between each other. The knuckled headed ninja was obviously pumped to start the mission already; He was smiling more this morning. Sai, of course, noticed. He noticed everything.

"This mission sounds like a piece of cake. I've been on harder ones," Naruto bragged, waving his hand. "Have I ever told you about the time where I fought against the great Zabuza himself?"

"Where you battled bravely against his sidekick and got a bridge named after you? Yes, I'm quite familiar with this story," Sai replied, monotoned. His eyes rolled at Naruto's comebacks ("Do you have anything named after you? Yeah, I didn't think so!"), when, out of the corner of his eye, he spotted their pink headed friend. They stood, and trotted over to meet with Sakura, exchanging shouts of hellos on the way there. Sakura lazily waved a gloved hand at them, with the corners of her mouth turning up in a small smile.

The three of them stood there for a moment, a pause in between them. "Kakashi-sensi isn't going to be here for another seven hours, so lets go sit," Naruto suggested, already turning to walk back over the spots that were previously filled by Sai and him. Sakura and Sai followed, pace slower than the blonde shinobi's. Once they were all seated comfortably on the ground, the discussion of who was going to catch Shao Meng first broke out. Feelings and egos were slightly bruised, but they all had their pros and cons. The decision of waiting and letting the days take their course was made, by Sakura, whom had the most butthurt.

Soon after the little dispute, the jailers arrived. They were both given quite nice uniforms for the mission, and Sakura's eyes lingered the longest. Especially on Deidara's. Remembering the thoughts from this morning's walk, her jade eyes forced themselves to look down at her heeled boots. Sat noticed this action, finding it intriguing. "Is it just me, or do you have a little crush on Deidara?" the pallid teenager mused aloud, looking over at the frowning kunoichi. Sakura simply ignored him, refusing to participate in his games and teases.

Unfortunately, Deidara had other thoughts.

"Hey, I don't blame her if she did, yeah," the Akatsuki replied, shoulders rolling in a careless shrug. "I'm hot."

Naruto and Sasuke both scoffed in an unison, finding that statement ridiculous. However, that didn't mean it wasn't true. The blonde bomber was decked out in a fitted black T shirt with sleeves that showed off his muscles quite nicely, and that stopped halfway at his elbows. A vest covered his chest, with little pockets on the front filled with who knows what. One would think clay, but there was a better chance of throwing stars and the like filling those pockets. The vest was a dark blue, slightly resembling the vest that Kakashi and Yamato wore, but not. He wore simple black pants with a belt, but the small pouches that hung at his sides were questioning. Deidara's hands had fingerless gloves on them, for obvious reasons.

Sasuke wore something similar to his outfit before being captured by Konoha, but his skirt thing wasn't there. Instead, pants filled that position. A sword, most likely a katana, was hanging on his back, though it was hidden by a decent sized backpack that both him and Deidara had. The onyx didn't have gloves like the other jailed member did, but his arms were covered in bandage all the way up to his elbows. His wrists had cuffs on them, which Sakura assumed was the charka restraints. They could be easily dismissed as thick bracelets. Sasuke wore the same untucked, zip up shirt he usually did.

.. Stylish.

Accompanying the two boys were two ANBUs. Because of the silent and masked men, it was too awkward for them to converse amongst themselves. Kakashi, late as always, was the last one make it. He began to apologize, using the excuse of helping an elderly lady, but all of them told him to shush up before he could start. The ANBU motioned for the silver headed man to come, and they had a quiet, one sided conversation. No doubt that he was just receiving orders, not a chitchat. When the three where finished with that, both ANBUs disappeared.

"They're not coming?" Sasuke asked quietly, eyes glancing around the area for any signs that he was wrong.

"Nope," the masked elder replied shortly, beginning to walk out of the gates. When realizing that the othersweren't coming, he turned and raised his single eyebrow at them. "What, are you coming on this mission or not?" That got all of them to run and catch up with him.

One full day of walking was finally over.

Team Seven arrived in the little town of Oshiro. Before entering the town, Kakashi had made them all change into the 'tourist' clothes that they were instructed to bring, so suspicion would rise upon their appearances. After they all checked into the hotel that Tsunade was reluctant enough to agree to paying for, the group climbed the stairs up to the two rooms the Lady Hokage had granted.

"So.. How're we going to split this up?" Sakura asked, as they stood before the two rooms that were across each other.

"I'll take Naruto and Sai," Kakashi said, beginning to open the door on the left. Naruto began to argue how it would be better to have him with Sakura, so that those 'criminals wouldn't do anything to hurt her'. Deidara pouted at that, putting his still gloved hands on his hips. "She can handle it. If anything happens, we'll hear them. Plus, she can just cut their windpipes, if necessary," the sensi replied to the supposedly future Hokage, walking into the room. Sakura grinned to herself, liking the idea of that.

"Catch!" Sai called from inside the room, tossing the key out to the three outside. Sakura's palm was opened to grab it, but Deidara, being taller, snatched it first.

"H-Hey!" she stammered, watching as the blonde moved to open the door. The second it was unlocked, the artist turned the knob and opened the entrance, though, he was pushed out of the way as Sakura rammed right through him, with Sasuke following behind quietly.

"Rude," Deidara scoffed, getting to his feet.

.

An hour later, the three sat at the counter in the kitchen, all showered and fed. The sun had set; night was here. Sasuke was quiet, which was normal, with his head in his palm and eyes looking elsewhere. Deidara had his gloves off, and he was messing with the stitchings on his palms that sealed his poor babies. Sakura sat with her head down, chin resting on the tops of her arm. She was too tired to scold the blonde in front of her to cut it out, so she watched.

Giving up with that minutes later, Deidara leaned back in his chair. "This is boring, yeah. Lets go out into town and cause havoc," he proposed, to basically no one.

"Can't," Sakura responded, eyes fluttering close. "Kakashi-sensi says we have to stay in our rooms."

"So when do we get to go out? I've had enough of you twats."

"Tomorrow. The festival doesn't begin till another two days, so the we'll most likely spend them scaling the grounds or something ninja-like."

Sasuke hn'ed. "Sounds boring."

"See? Even the Uchiha brat agrees with me," Deidara said, looking at the already asleep Sakura. Both onyx and blue eyes exchanged glances at each other, but the blonde soon got up from his seat and dashed into the room he was sharing with Sasuke. The avenge sighed, seeing he'd be the one to bring his friend.. Acquaintance? Enemy? Sakura back to her room. Gingerly picking her petite body up in a bridal style, Sasuke held her to his chest, looking down at her innocent face. That travel must have been hard on her, considering how she barely rustled. Someone could walk right in with intent to kill her, and she wouldn't even know it. However, the healer would only allow herself to sleep this deeply if she felt she was in safe hands. Sasuke recalled this little fact from the many missions they went on together, back in the old days, when they were simply children. A moment passed by as he thought back to these old memories, but they were soon abandoned.

After laying the girl on her bed, the onyx glanced around the room. Left with nothing to do, Sasuke sat on the floor in between the two beds, staring out the window at the dark world outside. His mind wandered, pondering on what this little mission would bring. Yes, it was a total waste of time. He could be out there, challenging rouges and hunting for Itachi. Hell, Sasuke would rather waste time with his other cell than with pathetic little Team Seven. It didn't matter how much he still cared for his childhood friends; the more time he wasted here, the more breaths Itachi Uchiha was taking. Teeth gritting in anger, the avenger remembered why he left Konoha in the first place. These guys were a joke.

Sasuke let out a sigh of frustration. Here he was, torn between Itachi and cell number Seven, for the second time in his lifetime. When he pulled that picture frame down, he always thought that would be the last time he would have to break his own heart over them- Never would have he guessed he'd have to go through this crap again. Running a hand through his spiky hair, the fatigue from today's walk was finally kicking in. Eyes slowly closing, Sasuke fell asleep, right there on the floor. He was to tired to care if his back would hurt like hell in the morning.

Soon after, Deidara poked his blonde head in. Sasuke hadn't come to the room next door, so curiosity sparked and the blonde went to go satisfy it. He saw the two old friends, content in their dreams. "Hmph.." he hummed, wondering how high the chances of killing the both of them would be. Suddenly feeling left out, the artist moved to sit on the extra bed next to Sakura's, careful not to step on Sasuke. He was already grumpy during the day; Who knows how grumpy he'd be if he were to be awakened from his slumber.

Deidara laid his head down on the pillow, looking up at the ceiling with his arms folded underneath his head. His mind automatically began to go through the fantasies he would normally go through, but seeing as he was outside, in the open, his thoughts drifted to something else for a change. Like how likely his chances of getting away were.. But the artist was in no hurry to get back to the Akatsuki. He hated that organization, after all. Perhaps he'd just wait around for them to come to him. No longer able to keep his eyelids up, Deidara joined the bandwagon and fell asleep with the other two.

.

Sunlight streamed through the glass window, disturbing Sakura's rest, waking her mind before her body. Sitting up, she stretched out her limbs, feeling decent but ready for the day. That must of been some sleep. For a moment, she sat there, looking around at Deidara's messy bedhead and Sasuke's slouched figure, smiling sleepily at their innocence faces. Wait.. Deidara's bedhead and Sasuke's figure? Her gears started to turn, jade eyes widening in alarm. Sakura quickly looked down at herself, relieved that she was still in her T shirt and jogging pants from last night. Good. So nothing bad happened, other than the boys sleeping in her room.

The boys slept in her room.

How long have they been here? the healer wondered, grabbing hold of a pillow and hugging it to herself. Her eyes glanced at the clock on the nightstand, numbers reading 7:12. Too early to go bother the other boys for breakfast. Did room service bring food up this early? Oh, who even cares? Aren't you bother that these guys slept in our room? Inner Sakura demanded, fussing. Those perverts were probably watching us in our sleep! Ignoring her, Outer Sakura raised the pillow in her hands and smacked it against Sasuke once, and then throwing it at Deidara.

"Rise and shine!" she chirped happily at their unamused faces, pretending not to be bothered that they were in her room. "Its seven-something."

"Seven? Too early," the artist replied, in a pretty sexy sleepy voice. He flopped back down against the pillows. "I'm going back to sleep, yeah."

"Sleeping with the enemy around isn't a good idea," Sasuke taunted as he stood up, but it was no use. The artist was already back in his dreams. The more the onyx stood there, the more pain was being sent to his back. He groaned quietly to himself, rubbing his neck. (Sakura also found this groan quite sexy as well.) "I knew that was a bad idea," he murmured, but it was loud enough for Sakura to hear.

"I could.. Heal your back for you," she offered, slowly, eyeing him with a little suspicion. If he knew sleeping on the floor wasn't good for him, why did he do it in the first place?

Sasuke shook his head, declining from her offer. "I'll survive," he replied, leaving the room.

Slightly disappointed, the pinkette fell back against the pillows. "Ugh.." This was going to be a long day. Remembering Deidara on the other bed, she rolled off her's and climbed on top of the Akatsuki member. "Wake up, bum!" she said loudly in his ear, causing him to wiggle underneath her. "Wake up or I'll push you off!" Sakura honestly didn't care if Deidara decided to sleep all day; she just wanted to change into better clothes. The blonde ignored her orders, leaving Sakura no choice but to go ahead and push him off the mattress. Whether or not that was a charka infused push, she won't say.

"You heartless bitch!" Deidara whined from the floor, rolling around. "I was having pleasant dreams, yeah!"

"Good morning to you, too," Sakura said, sarcasm rolling off her tongue. "Do me a favor and get out. I have to change, yeah."

Pulling himself to rest his arms on the mattress, the artist narrowed his eyes at her, wondering if that added yeah at the end was supposed to be mocking him. "Why should I? Its not like I'd have anything to look at," he shot back, almost challenging her, as a sly smirk graced his lips. Highly annoyed and offended, Sakura kicked his face with her bare foot, kicking him back onto the ground.

"You didn't object it, so it must be true that your boobs are too small."

It wasn't even ten yet, and Sakura already found herself trying to kill one of the boys.

Sasuke pulled the door open, changed into fresh new clothes, only to be greeted by the sight of Sakura trying to choke Deidara's laughs away. Clearing his throat, he grabbed both of their attention as two pairs of eyes glanced over at him. "What?" the artist asked, laughter gone and a more threatening look on his face. It didn't phase the Uchiha survivor one bit.

"Just letting you know Kakashi wants us all at his room by nine," the onyx stated, as if this wasn't out of the ordinary. Hell, when Karin and Suigetsu are put in the same cell, one could get very used to a lot of violent and strange things. "Carry on." With a quick movement, Sasuke disappeared behind the door as it shut with a click.

There was a brief pause between the blonde and pinkette, as both pondered on what to do now. Sakura realized her hands were still on his throat, and she quickly let go. Realizing he was free from her demon grip, Deidara pushed her off and stood up, brushing away false dirt from his shirt. As the kunoichi laid on the carpeted ground, shooting death glares form her jade orbs, she noticed that the blonde's long hair wasn't in its usual ponytail. Her eyes also spotted some tangles, but so did he. Grumbling in annoyance, Deidara began to rake his fingers through his locks.

"No, don't do that!" Sakura exclaimed, jumping to her feet. "You'll pull your hair out."

"Like hell would I care about that-" Deidara was cut off as the girl pushed him onto one of the beds. Dashing to her backpack, she rummaged around for something until her face lit up, indicating that she found her treasure. His blue eyes only watched as she came closer, climbing to sit behind him on the bed. "What're you doing?" the Akatsuki member questioned, as he felt sharp pulls from behind.

"Brushing your hair. I've always wanted to do this, ever since I saw you sitting on Gaara," Sakura admitted, like this was a casual thing to be talking about. Though, it was true. During girls nights out, a popular subject between the four kunoichi were some of the Akatsuki member's hair and the products they used. The pinkette would go on and on, complaining how jealous she was of Deidara's hair. Ino would always laugh at that, saying how she basically had that same hair. But it wasn't the same. Not only was Ino's hair lighter, but it just wasn't Deidara's. Sakura never would of thought she'd get this chance to brush his glorious, golden locks.

Deidara, on the other hand, didn't find this amusing. ".. Right." Ten short minutes later, she was done. His fingers ran through his hair, in search of a tangle. Not a single one was found. The bomber was impressed. "Good job, I guess. My hair's never been brushed so nicely before, yeah," he admitted quietly, standing up, still fussing over his hair.

Sakura waved a hand, dismissively. "No problem. Now, you should really get out. We have to be ready at Kakashi's soon, remember?"

"Oh.. Yeah," Deidara's legs carried him over to the door, but before he stepped out, his eyes glanced back to meet a pair of waiting jades. "Okay, well. See you later, yeah." Door clicking shut, a sigh escaped his lips. That was an awkward farewell. On the other side, Sakura thought so, too, but she was giggling over it. Deidara was such a dork, it was hilarious.

"So," Kisame's voice started, booming through the otherwise silent hospital room. "Are you ready to go and rescue Blonde-y?" he questioned, resting a blue hand on his hip.

A pair of dull, brown eyes shifted up to meet the shark man's beady eyes. There was a nod of his head.

"Well, lets get going. Itachi's waiting for us, and I know how you don't like to keep people waiting." The taller man turned away, exiting the room. The cloaked figure waited for a few more seconds to pass by, before standing up on its own. Good.. Its legs still seemed to be in working order. Hopefully, it was the same case for the weapons inside it. The figure soon left the room, following after Kisame to reunite with Itachi outside.

A/N; woot woot, updates are fun. Especially when there's inspiration. This chapter was sort of a filler, just to build anticipation for the events I have in store. c; I had a lot of fun writing this one, too. Cute fluffy stuff is my thing. So long for now!