Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

A/N: School has started, so it will be a while between updates. On top of that, I might be changing my email address, so I'll see how that goes. That shouldn't be for a couple months, though. Enjoy!

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Sakura had decided on her answer. Later that evening, she invited Deidara onto her bed. After curling up next to a smirking Deidara, Sakura stated, "You're only here because I wanted to continue the conversation from earlier."

"And what is your decision, un?"

"I will help you break out of here on the condition that we leave without destroying Konoha."

"Aww, but-" "It's either that or I confess everything to the council and you are either put under maximum security in a boring, never-changing cell or become a dead lab rat."

"Fine, but there's one thing you need to do before we are able to leave."

Sakura looked questioningly at him. Deidara couldn't believe that she had forgotten.

"Unblock my chakra channels, un." "Oh, he he. That's right. So when do we leave?"

"We blow this coop asap, un." Deidara replied as Sakura ran her chakra over his arms, letting his chakra flow normally again. Tired, Sakura decided that she would pack what she needed tomorrow. She fell asleep lying against his chest with his arms entwined with hers.

The next day as they were rushing around while appearing to be cleaning, Deidara asked her, "Any reason why you decided to join me?"

"Tsunade doesn't put any trust in me," "I wonder why," Deidara mumbled under his breath. "And all my friends are somewhere out there without me."

"You're not going to burst into song, are you?" "No." "Good, un."

A few minutes of silence passed before Sakura asked, "What will we do out there?"

"What do you mean?" "Well, we have to do something if we want to earn a living, even if it is just stealing. Are we going to start the Kurebakuha explosion company?"

"Don't be ridiculous. It would be 'artists for hire', un." Deidara smirked at her. Sakura smiled back, grateful for a slight lightening of the mood.

Before she knew it, it was time to leave. Deidara reached into one of the bags of clay they had collected. Three… two… one…

BOOM! During the shockwave of the blast when all the debris were still clouding the air, they both jumped onto the back of the second bird that Deidara had formed and quickly expanded. They were off.

Sakura was now a missing-nin. It felt strange leaving almost everything that she knew behind, venturing out into an unknown world. A world in which she could truly be herself.

She felt bad leaving behind her friends, but knew that the ones that would understand were out there waiting for her to catch up.