A/N: This should be a long chapter, mostly because I only wanted this story to be a two-shot. YES this is the last chapter. YES this is the lemon chapter. I'll separate lemons out with this symbol OoOoO and you will know where they start and end with minimal author interference. REMINDER! THIS FIC IS RATED MATURE AND IS NOT INTENDED FOR THOSE UNDER AGE. Enjoy. (Do not own Naruto by the way, but I do own this piece of candy...!)

The two hadn't even realized until morning that they had both fallen asleep under the stars, not until the bright rays of sunshine woke them abruptly, the light suddenly shooting over the crest of the tall cliff. Ino rolled over, the bright light too much for her eyes so early, but she opened her eyes when she bumped into something soft and warm. His eyes opened slowly and he gazed back at her, smiling slightly before sitting up. As soon as she sat up as well, he rubbed his eyes. "Odd... I didn't mean to stay out here so long..."

She stretched quickly, back cracking in protest. "Ugh never let me do that again... those stupid rocks hurt like crazy." With one last yawn, she took out her vials of antidote from her pack, making sure that they had set well overnight. "Hey, looks like the antidote already settled! I thought this would be a multiple-day process, but I guess these flowers have unusual properties."

He checked his own stash of poisons and nodded in her direction. "Mine have settled too. With any luck, these samples should last a long time, long enough to replicate it when I return home."

Glancing up at the sky and leaning back on her hands, she couldn't help but ask more questions. "So if you left the land of wind, where's home for you now?"

His lips thinned slightly, but to her surprise he actually answered her. "I suppose you could say I live in the land of rain, though I don't spend much time there. Most of my time is spent all across the wilderness, wherever the missions might lead."

She puzzled over this for a short time, wondering what he might mean. It sounded like he had a base he went to regularly, but when the mission was ordered, he went wherever he might need to. But who was giving him the missions? Unless... "You're from Akatsuki, aren't you?"

His eyes widened at that, but he kept his composure. "Yes... You figure things out rather quickly."

With a sigh she leaned back, eyes closed as she thought her position over. "I suppose I should be angry, but I'm not. I know that Akatsuki is looking for Naruto, I know they will do anything to get him. This thing between us... it can't last. Even though I know that, I can't help but think that this was meant to happen. I know I already said that, but it gets stranger every time I think about it."

"Temporary things slip so fast from our fingers, there is never enough warning to hold on tight. I said that to my partner once, and you know what he said to me? He said that it was like holding on to water. It would slip away, but you would forever hold the memory of what it felt like to have it run through your hands. I think I understand what he meant, but I just don't know how that feels. I'm beginning to. Even now I can feel the hours slipping past."

She looked to the sky, nodding agreement. "Yes. You are Akatsuki, I am Konoha, but on this mission, I suppose we are simply... two people looking for an escape, even brief."

"Perhaps. I seek my own escape, in my own ways. I build, I create, I learn, study, research. I suppose in a way I put off the inevitable, put off coming to terms with what I have done in life."

Her hands withdrew the vial of poison he had given her, contemplating it blankly. "I have my purpose, and you have yours, that's all we have in this life." With a reflective smile, she withdrew a scroll from her pack, used for identifying compounds in a substance. It was typical medic nin gear, though it took one with high intelligence to analyze it completely. She saw him watching over her shoulder but focused on the scroll again, her full attention on the technique. Within every poison there were certain gaps she would need to fill, along with several formulas she would need to solve. Algorithms were always such a pain, but it compensated where the formulas might fail. The process itself was time consuming, taking breaks only to delve into her pack for food. Only when the sun lay low in the sky had she made any progress.

Damn... She noticed that there were several gaps in her formula, only fillable by a certain flower that she had no chance of getting here. "I can't fill this formula out until I get a specific flower, so I'll have to let it be. Darn it though, I had it down to one flower! This is going to bother me all the way home!"

He couldn't help but chuckle at her tirade. "You did an excellent job, considering how complicated I made the formula. It didn't take you very long." True, they had been out here for quite some time while she figured out the math, but watching her had helped to pass the time. "Don't think about it anymore, we both still have the rest of the month."

"Yeah, it can wait. Still... this will be a very hard formula to fill, it requires an extremely rare flower found in only a couple areas. Even if I can somehow find it, it will still be hard to make an antidote."

"In a way, that's helpful. If I'm on an assassination mission, it will guarantee that even if someone does find the victim, it would be nearly impossible to help."

"That's a bit morbid... but that's how shinobi live, after all. We all have to kill at some point, whether we want to or not. It's a tough existence, but you know... I'm glad to be a shinobi, to protect my friends and people I care about."

He nodded, looking up to the sky contemplatively. "It's something all shinobi live for, even missing nin. They often leave because they were somehow forced to do something that was against their beliefs. I was turned away for my views on art, for things that I did to practice it. I never believed it was wrong to practice my art. It doesn't matter. Akatsuki's goals mean nothing to me, all I want to do is keep up my art. It is the same for my partner. We don't do this just to kill people."

"Even if your art is wrong, it is still art in your eyes, and that's what makes it special. You see it as art, your own unique feelings make it so."

"And what is it you find beautiful?"

"Everything, Sasori. Don't you get it? Everything is beautiful. Whether it's here and gone in a minute or lasts for thousands of years, the fact that it exists at all is fascinating. We have no idea how our universe came into being, but it did, and we're here looking at it. Even the intense rivalry between Akatsuki and Konoha is beautiful, because it shows the human emotion in action. Akatsuki may claim to be without emotion, without feeling, but I know it's the exact opposite. It's emotions and feelings that drive your goals just as it drives Konoha. It's all art."

There wasn't much talk after that. The low orange and yellow light of the slowly setting sun glowed off the soft curve of her face, glinting golden in her eyes. Living art, temporary, futile, beautiful, right here before him. Now he understood. She was art, small things she did becoming little masterpieces all the while. He supposed that he was art himself, though in a different way. Everything had its own style. Could there be a kind of art that could only be created by both of them?

OoOoO

He leaned over, pushing her down on the grass gently, watching her open gaze calmly. She knew what he wanted the moment his eyes met hers, everything written plainly on his face. There would be no regrets later, she knew. It was only in this moment that something could finally be solved for both of them. Her hands went to his neck, pulling down in response to his unspoken question. Did she really want to do this with someone like him? Of course, it was as she said. As strange or wrong as it may be, it was meant to happen.

She was the first to act in the silence, pulling him down in a kiss, her hands ridding him of that ridiculously unfitting civilian shirt. For a moment the thought of him in his Akatsuki gear was much more intriguing, but she would take what she got. Maybe once everything was gone, he could be just himself, not Akatsuki, not pretending to be an ordinary person, none of that. He seemed to get the same idea, unzipping her own civilian jacket, hands delving beneath to find only heated skin and a scrap of fabric covering her chest. Wrappings... troublesome things. He muttered his disapproval, breaking the kiss to tug playfully at the bindings with his teeth.

When she only chuckled at his impeded progress, he pulled out a kunai, noting the amused expression on her face before cutting the bindings from bottom to top. He looked satisfied by his work and he leaned down again, brushing her bare skin with his fingers, kissing a trail up to her neck. She fell into his embrace so easily, so beautifully, it was almost art in itself. Even the way they subtly threw away the trappings of civilians and truly became themselves was an art form, the gentle touches and heated kisses strokes on a canvas. At long last there was nothing left but themselves, the pretenses and masks long gone. Even when she accidentally knocked her bag, her Konoha headband falling out, neither reacted, no longer caring who they were and where they were from. It was only them. It was only this moment in the silence.

He edged closer, looking into her eyes, one last question in his eyes. More? Her eyes closed briefly, a small smile on her lips. Of course. His own smile was small, though there was no doubting his meaning as he slowly entered her. She only took a quick breath, the sensation feeling so wrong and so right at the same time, though whatever it was, she knew there was significance in what they were doing. In a way they were trying to find art again, trying to make sense of it all. He had an unreadable gaze for only a moment before setting up a slow pace, drawing out every motion in a skillful manner.

It wasn't long before he had her grasping his shoulders, nails drawing blood as her quiet noises filled the air. He increased the pace, thinking in this brief moment that maybe this in itself was art, the connection of two people in spirit and body. No, it couldn't last. They might never see each other again. Even as she gripped harder, her climax shuddering through her body, he found this to be true art, his own climax soon blinding him to even his thoughts. What was this? There was only this one time, it was only a brief tryst, though not nearly so crude as a mere joining of the body. For a moment he thought there may have been something more in his emotions, the slight twinge of never knowing what it was lingering in his heart even as the erratic beating slowed.

OoOoO

She pulled him down on top of her, feeling the heat of his brow pressed against her shoulder, his heavy breaths drifting down. He was confused, she knew. Maybe she was too, since she had felt it there as well. There was something more, but it shouldn't be pursued. It would only lead to more pain and suffering, breaking now would be easier. Though she knew she shouldn't persist, she still took a moment to look at him. He only looked back, noticeably trying to make sense of it all.

"Beautiful. Ino... what... what is this?"

She reluctantly closed her eyes, shaking her head. "No, don't think about it. It will only make things more painful."

"No..." He agreed silently, not letting it get to him. "But it was true art."

Even so, she disagreed. "Maybe art, but true art is living your life to the fullest. Sasori..." She made sure she had his full attention. "Even if we never meet again, I want you to promise me something."

He smiled a bitter smile, though at the same time it was sweet. "What is it?"

Her eyes glittered, the stars above reflecting in her peaceful gaze. "Sasori... make something beautiful of your life."

That day seemed like such a long time ago. Ever since that day he had continued his transformation to puppet, pursuing his art like a madman. Now he and Deidara had captured the one-tailed demon host, leaving the jinchuuriki's brother behind, poisoned and waiting to die. As they left, heading for the base, Sasori couldn't help but wonder...

Would she be glad that he was so dedicated to his art?

Sakura studied the long formulas in her memory as she analyzed the poison working through Kankuro's body. Strange... where had she seen this before? Of course! This was the same poison that Ino had gotten halfway through. There was only one plant missing...

As Sakura and his grandmother stood before him, tired, stabbed, panting but whole, he suddenly knew. This one... a Konoha medical nin. So that was how she figured out his poison. His grandmother had left a large opening, but as he poised to strike, those last words echoed through his mind. Sasori... make something beautiful of your life. He made a promise. He would wait for her on the other side of heaven. A small smile formed on his face as the blades of his very first puppets sliced through his heart. Something beautiful...

A/N: Done. Sorry it took so long, but I wanted this to flow right, and it gave me a lot of trouble.