THE BEST STORY EVER EVER EVERRRRR!

This is an absolute masterpiece. I cried so much because of this story. Very well written!

Communicated alright?! I FREAKING CRIED, YOU DID A SUPERB JOB AT GETTING HER FEELINGS THROUGH!

So, I recently decided to give SasoSaku a try, and when I went hunting around for a completed fanfiction, this one came up. This hit me in the heart. Like, I had moments when I actually cried. I'm sorry that there's no spin-off (so I hope you write one, if you're still interested!), but this really pleasantly surprised me. I liked that it presented the possibility of shifting alliances and then let Sakura change while at the same time keeping her Sakura, unable to let go of past ties. That aspect of Sakura really drives the tragic aspects of the story, and I love how it plays out to a natural tragic ending rather than forcing a happier one or one where all the pieces are known. (I couldn't help laughing at how this plays out to the yearly re-destruction of the Sakura tree, that was so them. Just like how I felt my heart breaking when they said their good-byes, because you KNEW that, even though they were S-Class Akatsuki, the comradic era was over with the final fight.)

I confess, I wasn't impressed when I began. I thought the intro was too drawn out (and I still wonder if the first few chapters can't be tightened a little for concision, although some of that might have been my own impatience to reach the scene in the summary mixed with the concern that we would rehash scenes from the series unnecessarily in order to set the stage), but I came to realize over the course of the story that often when I banged my head over something, a good explanation was waiting a few chapters down. For example:

"What's the deal with the lotion? Did she just keep an antidote to herself?" Oh, shoot, she just wore poison like a perfume and lured out Sasori...

"Did they seriously just kidnap her and not sense ANY chance of her being a spy?" Haha, they knew all the time...

"Itachi and Sasori are being rather calm and chatty about everything..." Darn, these guys are ALWAYS scheming...

"Why did Sakura have to run into EVERYONE going into the Hokage tower?" [pre-final battle] Oh, snap...

So, yeah, I'd have to sit with this longer in order to give some better constructive criticism than my off-the-cuff impressions (like, there were scattered spelling/word errors, some spots I thought might have been transitioned a little more, or else I thought some characterization was a little stilted, perhaps some overly dramatic spots, although I'm having difficulty formulating examples for all these areas since I just got sucked in for the past couple of days and am blinking around dazedly, like Sakura in the morning, haha), but overall, now that I've shared my required (sort of) concrit (that I could try to expand on if you really wanted, despite how long ago you wrote and posted this), I'll return to other things.

I've already shared that you succeeded in making me cry. Again, I'm concerned that some drama might have been a little forced. But I liked the symbolism going on in the background, like the Sakura tree being brightest after blood and Sakura hating the transient symbol of the blossoms (that yet becomes her in turn, too). As I said earlier, I love the yearly re-destruction of the tree. Also, I really, really loved the comradery of Sakura and the Akatsuki boys. The banter felt very natural between them, and I loved the dormitory feel and all the domesticity that resulted in a home with people (rather than a dank cave, haha). I can't express how much I loved Sakura marveling over the fact that they shower and use shampoo, lol. Sasori would have shampoo that smelled of sandalwood, and leave it to Deidara to find shampoo that smelled of warm embers! (I do think that a scene over how the laundry gets done would have been equally funny and complementary to the shower epiphany, though. "...You all do laundry?!") Sakura gets them to go to the festival and to help with the spring cleaning, and she takes over the cooking, giving them home-cooked meals. Kisame never having had a home-cooked meal hit me in the feels. It gave them good bonding moments and characterization opportunities, like Kisame complaining when Sasori and Sakura bring home groceries instead of take-out. ("You had one job, Sasori! One job!") I can't help wanting Sakura to have had a heart-to-heart with Deidara, too, but maybe that was part of their friendship, that they didn't need one to bond. And leave it to Sasori to have a failed date with Sakura before trimming her hair and modeling his newest poison's color romantically after her eyes. (Although I am surprised that he doesn't consider her having given away the poison during/before the final battle, unless that was what she was apologizing for before Ino arrived. Hm...) Ah, so many little things that I can't get them in, like how some secrets reached the grave.

Since Konan's name got dropped, and there were the mentions of Hidan and Kakuzu, I kept expecting the other Akatsuki members to show up, if only to test/meet/greet the new recruit. I haven't decided how realistic was their lack of curiosity (or even lack of query following the failed arrival of Hidan and Kakuzu, despite the secretive nature of the organization), but it allowed the focus to remain on their team as a unit and their defection to freedom, although I wonder still if Akatsuki would have hunted them down in turn if they knew that they had survived the battle, and why that possibility hadn't been brought up (unless I forgot, which is possible).

Anyway, long review short, I really enjoyed this tragic SasoSaku. It had a lot of good twists and turns. Thanks for a wonderful read. If the inspiration strikes you to write more, I'll enjoy reading them in the future. Kudos~!

I am continuously impressed by your impeccable sense of humour. especially how well you portray the differences in each characters humour.
the jokes and witty comments are so good and fit each personality extremely well. I haven't laughed this hard in a while.
I could literally hear sakura's voice changing during the string of 'indeed's too.
I'm curious to know if it all just comes to you or not, but either way I'm thoroughly impressed. not to mention everything else about your story is amazing so thank you.

My heart aches and I’m in love. This is still my favorite story of the pair and I just HAD to leave it behind. I’m an emotional wreck. T-T this story was too damn good. I do think cosmos flowers would’ve been better than the stupid Sakura tree. It still baffles me that her old team never knew. But eh, that’s kind of expected. Either way, thank you for this wonderful journey. I thoroughly enjoyed every second of it.

MASTERPIECE, YOU KNOCKED ME TO TEARS, it's the first freaking time that a fanfic makes me feel this way holy cow, all my respect for you autor-ni, and my tearsxD

Aaaaaahhhhh!
I know this was posted years ago but I just found it, and omg you sure make me cry aahahshshha I don't know what else to say but you really are a great great writer, this was one of the best fics I have ever read and, although the ending is so heartbreaking I still love your story so much,still I don't like the pairing of shikamaru with ino but I will let it go as a sign that I really love your story. Thanks for sharing !

You really broke my heart with this story. I never cry, but this one made me.
I really liked the way Sakura developed. Finally a story where her decisions made sense.
The way her old teammates saw herI guess they never really knew her. So her time with Akatsuki was probably the best of her life.

The way you mixed the 'funny' chapters with missionskilling chapters kind of confused me. I like both kinds, but something felt weird about it. I don't have an advice hot to make it better, tho.

The sudden happening of SasoxSaku also surprised me. I felt more like KisaxSaku was going to happen. Or ItaxSaku. Sasori really seemed like the last one to like her. So I guess I missed some more interaction between the two before their kiss.

Overall I really like this fanfic.

...Umm, I dislike the SakuraxSasori pairing a LOT. Sooo I won't be reading any more of this for a while. *shrugs* I might skim through it later on though, since it's still a really good story & deserves credit. Ja ne!

*hugs Sakura*

... ... ... HOLY FREAKIN' SHTICK! Poor Asuma's dead an' Sakura chose to stay an' Akasuki knows about her mission from Tsunade (like an idiot, I didn't see that last one coming any more than I saw the other two even though it's effing common sense as Akatsuki isn't stupid).

*frowns* Err, I reeeally dislike Sakura using the suffix "-sama" for Sasori (unless that was meant as a sign of respect rather than of subservience?) & her words about him protecting her downright pissed me off. Aaand now I feel guilty coz it feels like I'm being mean. Uhh, sorry?
Other than those 2 miniscule nitpicks, this is a pretty cool Chapter! *grins*

*hugs Ino & Genma* YOU TWO ARE THE BEST!
*punches Sasuke in the face. ...Repeatedly!*
*gleefully cheers Sakura on*

Eh, this awesome Chapter doesn't feel awkward to me. *shrugs while grinning Obito-style*