A/N: This took way too long to update and I'm extremely sorry. All I can say is life got in the way along with writers block, but I've never went a day without thinking of my readers and this story. I promised before that I would finish this story and I will... eventually. I had the worst writer's block on this chapter, but now I think I've got my inspiration back. I hope you all enjoy :) And once again I'm terribly sorry about the wait.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or the song Pareidolia by Elena Siegman.

Chapter 14: Pareidolia

The dry air was absolutely suffocating to run through, and soon all three ninjas were gasping for breath as they tried to gain some distance between them and the hastily approaching rogues. They were like a pack of famished hyenas hunting down their prey, relentless and mocking their attempts to flee.

A sudden curse from Sasori broke Sakura's intense concentration on healing her ankle as she ran, and the minty green chakra vanished in an instant. Up ahead, Deidara looked back at the puppeteer in confusion until he too noticed what Sasori had sensed, and both quickened their pace. Without hesitating, Sakura followed their lead trying to ignore the sharp pain emanating from her sore ankle.

Nearly thirty seconds passed before she sensed it too, and the icy claws of fear traveled down Sakura's spine as she also began to detect the many chakra signatures trailing behind her. It was almost five times the amount of what they thought they were going to fight.

It had just begun to dawn on her how little chakra both she and Sasori had; however, between the two of them, Sasori had got the worst of it. Sakura's ankle was almost back to normal now so she was only suffering from chakra depletion, but Sasori had used up nearly all of his chakra during his fight with Orochimaru and still had fresh wounds that had yet to be healed by her.

Their original plan of facing the rogues head on would be suicidal if they continued through with it. There had to be at least twenty five Jounin level ninja coming after them from what she could sense so far. Why did Deidara have to piss off someone with enough people for them to be a small army? They were going to be killed at the rate this was going!

Shifting her gaze from the ground disappearing beneath her feet, Sakura examined the grim looks of the two Akatsuki members in front of her. The weight of this situation was weighing down on all of their thoughts, it seemed. If they stayed and fought, Sasori and Sakura would be ripped apart like defenseless genin, and Deidara would have to choose between fight or flight, most likely the later of the two. Also Ryu wasn't an option for escaping either because it would be all too easy to track a giant clay dragon in the sky or the dinosaur like footprints in the ground.

Unable to take the heavy silence any longer Sakura asked with concern laced throughout her voice. "What are we going to do?"

"Just stay focused on running a little longer," Sasori ordered, his calculating eyes fixated on the horizon. "There's a forest up ahead that will help us prepare for an ambush on those pests. I don't want to waste anymore of my time on them when I can be killing someone else."

"You do realize that an ambush isn't going to win us the fight, right? We can only take out so many shinobi before they regain their senses and start fighting back and-"

"Relax Pinky, we do happen to be Akatsuki members for a reason, remember, yeah?"

The kunoichi's worried frown deepened at Deidara's half joking words. Images of the battle with Sasori flashed across her mind for a brief moment before she responded back flatly with. "I know that... but even you two are human and have your limitations. Don't you realize that we're going to-"

"Die?"

Emerald eyes widened in surprise as Sasori turned back to give her an almost bored look. "It's pointless to fear something such as death, and besides, I technically should have died a week ago anyways." Sakura could sense that Sasori wanted to say more, but had refrained himself from doing so. The crimson haired ninja turned away from Sakura looking slightly troubled about something for a heartbeat before his emotionless mask shifted back into place.

Sakura was about to open her mouth to ask what was wrong when Deidara came to an abrupt halt in front of them on top of a steep rocky hill. "Found it, yeah."

When they caught up to him, emerald eyes widened in shock at the sea of trees before them. The forest was enormous, and was a sharp contrast against the dry, desert like terrain they'd been journeying across for the past few days. Foliage was everywhere, and the inside looked dark and compact, reminding Sakura of the forest of death at her first chunin exam. It was normally the sort of place you would want to avoid at all costs, but to them it meant safety and was their only hope if they wanted to survive.

Taking in a nervous breath, Sakura rushed forward with Sasori and Deidara right behind her. She only hoped that they would all get out of this nightmarish place alive and intact.

The pink haired kunoichi found that it was quite easy to mask your chakra when you had barely anything left to begin with. She guessed that even a big disadvantage like that had to have some sort of advantage to go along with it. Now all she had to do was wait patiently inside a tree in a tight compact space with Sasori who was obviously displeased at this turn of events.

While Deidara had decided to hide up higher where it would be easier to mask his chakra, Sasori thought it would be better if he and Sakura stayed a reasonable distance from the ground just in case all hell broke loose and they would need to scurry away before they got massacred. Plus Sasori and Deidara were much more experienced at detecting chakra, so one of them had to stay with her to keep her informed about where the rogues were. Unfortunately, the place they were hiding in was a hollowed out part of a tree about seventeen feet off the ground, and it was so small inside that their legs had to be tangled together in order to fit. Neither of them dared to move or say a thing, but it was easy to tell that the tension was building between them by each passing second.

Yet to Sakura's further embarrassment, her body started to break down under the stress by trembling in response. At first it wasn't noticeable, but after a while her trembling fits happened more and more frequently and had begun to attract Sasori's unwanted attention. Luckily he didn't say anything about it; however, Ryu couldn't ignore Sakura's signs of distress. He quickly darted out from her ninja weapon bag and curled up against her neck while his eagle like talons grasped at the material of her shirt on her shoulder. A soft purr sounded by her ear, but the completely zoned out kunoichi hadn't expected it and flinched in surprise.

Ryu let out a concerned cooing noise and lapped at the exposed skin on the bubblegum haired girl's neck trying to sooth her, and it worked for a little while until Sasori's quiet whisper filled the space between them.

"Sakura, as much as I find this pointless to ask, what's wrong?"

Blinking in shock, Sakura stammered out. "N-nothing's wrong, w-why would you think s-something's wrong."

Chocolate eyes narrowed at the lie that had just spilled out between her lips, and Sasori nearly hissed the next words that came out of his mouth. "Because you have been holding my hand in a near death grip for the past few minutes!"

I've been holding his-? Sakura's train of thought crashed as she froze in terror at the sight of her hand squeezing Sasori's pale one, and judging by the loss of circulation in it, he must have been telling the truth about her holding it like that for the past few minutes. Retrieving her evil hand and placing it in her lap, she avoided Sasori's questioning gaze like the plague. A whole new wave of embarrassment rushed through her as she meekly apologized to him. "Sorry, I didn't realize-"

"I don't care about the hand," Sasori stated, although she could see right through his obvious lie as he placed his abused hand in his lap, far away from her. "I just want to know what's upsetting you because if you keep this up you'll be nothing but a burden in this upcoming fight."

"…A burden?" Sakura said out loud seemingly shocked at his words. Immediately the young kunoichi slouched and her emerald orbs dulled at the word that had been her inspiration to become stronger. If only she hadn't been a burden back then and relied too much on Naruto, Sasuke, and Kakashi. If only she'd figured out sooner that she had to grow up and learn how to fight her own battles, not only to protect herself, but to protect the ones closest to her. She loathed with a passion the very thought of herself being useless.

Glancing up timidly at Sasori, Sakura noticed that the puppeteer was giving her an odd look, but from this close up she could once again see the garnet flecks swirling around in Sasori's tired looking eyes. She could also make out the slightest showings of a frown starting to form. Then it hit her like a random brick sailing through the air and smacking her straight in forehead. He was worried about her! Her stampeding thoughts rushed onwards, unable to believe that the Akatsuki member in front of her could care at all for a failure like her.

All this time she had been working her butt off to impress those around her, to prove to them that she was formidable shinobi. Every single day in the village she always had to keep up a strong facade that had slowly worked its way onto her like a mask, but she still didn't truly believe in her powers and abilities until she began traveling with Sasori and Deidara. Not once up until now did either one of them call her weak... annoying yes, but definitely not weak, which she found to be strange considering they were both one of the strongest ninjas in the world. Sure Naruto and Kakashi never directly told her that she was a pathetic excuse for a ninja that should just sit on the sidelines where she'd be safe, but she ended up doing just that ninety-five percent of the time during missions...

"Sasori... I-"Sakura began only to end up biting her tongue as Sasori's hand smacked down onto her mouth, effectively silencing her. Doe-eyed and frightened at his actions, Sakura quickly followed his line of sight and stilled at the sight of a lone ninja in the clearing below them. However it wasn't the sight of him that made Sakura's insides tremble in fear. It was the dark crimson stains marring his gray robe and the dark, menacing chakra that fluctuated off from him in waves.

The mysterious ninja didn't move in the slightest, call out to them, or do anything for that matter except continue to let of an alarming amount of chakra, showing off his power. She was so intent on the figure below, Sakura cringed reflexively when a bird screeched nearby and a flutter of wings traveled over their heads. She heard Sasori let out a soft sigh at her alarmed and on edge state, and gave her a hard look before focusing on the beginning phase of their ambush.

Sasori removed his hand from off of Sakura's mouth, and in seconds the smallest threads of sky blue chakra strings started forming at the tips of his fingers. They were nearly invisible even in the darkened part of the tree they were hiding out in, and with careful precision, Sasori guided them to their targets that were spread across the clearing. Now all they had to do was wait for Deidara's signal.

They were like coiled up springs waiting anxiously to be released into action at any moment. Sakura already had a sharpened kunai at the ready; her grip tightening at every passing second that flickered by. It was almost too nerve racking, and Sakura briefly wondered how predators in the wild could do this for a living. They must have to live a life filled with adrenaline racing through their veins at each moment, wondering constantly which hunt would be their last.

Then the rogue moved, pulling his hood down and finally exposing his middle-aged face. The kunoichi could have sworn she felt Sasori tense beside her after he did this, and she turned towards him worriedly wondering what the problem could be this time when she clearly saw a trace of shock on Sasori's face. Judging by the way his jaw was clenched and the death glare he was sending toward the rogue, she could tell that he was going to be trouble for them.

The man had scars scattered all across his face, making him look more like a murderer straight out of a horror movie. His posture was relaxed, but he was obviously still alert and waiting for any indicator of where they were hiding. His muscles rippled beneath his tan skin as he slowly scanned his surroundings.

This was definitely not the average rogue who they can smack down with a single jutsu and never see again. Sakura concentrated on trying to figure out who this bizarre person could be, but the only thing she could identify him with was a bounty hunter; however, if that was the case, then they were as good as dead.

"I know you're out there," The man proclaimed to the vacant clearing, shark eyes shifting back and forth in an effort to locate them.

A branch snapped behind him, and before Sakura knew it he'd vanished before her only to appear on the other side of the clearing. There was a strangled cry for about a half a second before the hunter like ninja flung a corpse of a rogue ninja into the clearing. Apathetic eyes examined the body before he told it, "You should know better than to interrupt me when I'm on the hunt." With that he scoffed, kicked some dirt at the broken body at his feet, and left in an instant with not so much of a trace of him left behind.

"Sakura?" The kunoichi turned slowly towards Sasori, her body still frozen in fear. "We're going to have to split up now. There's no way we can fight and have any hope of survival."

Panic swept through her and she had to fight off the temptation to scream in protest. So instead she choked out a hoarse, "No... Please... I don't... I can't..." Sakura had no chakra to defend herself with; she couldn't use it to run, and she couldn't use it to numb the leftover pain in her previously injured ankle. There was no way she would live if she encountered that monster in the forest by herself!

"Listen we're wasting precious time. We need to run now before he comes back. Deidara and I will take separate paths nearest to where the bounty hunter went while you take the one in the opposite direction. We can meet up somewhere on the other side and come up with another plan." Sasori explained hurriedly trying to calm and yet urge Sakura to just run for it.

"So that was a bounty hunter?" Sakura said more to herself than as a question.

"Yes and he's extremely dangerous. I don't know who Deidara managed to piss off this time, but the guy obviously has some great connections to be able to hire him." Chocolate eyes resumed their focus on the kunoichi who was trembling once again, and with a wary sigh, Sasori reached out and gently picked up her closest hand and leaned in to tower over her, smirking as her emerald orbs widened in disbelief. "Tell me Sakura, how does a bird learn to fly?"

"..." Not even daring to move, Sakura's breath hitched as the puppeteer came even closer until their faces were nearly five inches apart. His free hand that she'd nearly squeezed to death earlier was placed behind her next to the side of her head, trapping her and efficiently holding her still.

His smirk widened and a playful gleam shined brightly in his eyes as he came closer still until his mouth was right next to her ear. "They learn that they need to spread their own wings and fend for themselves for a change. So get a move on in that direction," Sasori pointed to the right of Sakura, "It would be a shame for you to have come so far for your teammate only to fail when you were so close."

Too stunned to move or function properly as Sasori disentangled himself from her and exited their hiding place, the crimson haired ninja glanced back one last time and whispered to her one last thing. "And Sakura, remember, I absolutely disdain the idea of having to wait, so make sure you run."

There was a slight breeze as he took off into the dark, ominous forest, and then Sakura was completely and utterly alone.

Chills spread across her arms and legs as Sakura sprinted as fast as she could through the endless amounts of foliage blocking her escape path. She was gasping for breath as her arms flailed to shove branches out of the way to protect her face from any harm. It was difficult to see. Sometimes it was downright impossible, and she would have to force her shaking body to slow down and feel her way forward when it became difficult to see anything at all.

Ever since Sasori left, she had been feeling a set of eyes on her, but there was no way she'd be able to tell for sure. She was completely vulnerable in this situation because to sense another ninja would mean using her own chakra which she was saving just in case she ran into trouble.

Moving as stealthily as she could, Sakura paused on top of what she assumed to be a giant log, and waited to catch her breath for a moment. She also wanted to be certain that she wasn't actually being followed, that way she could calm her nerves down which were currently still in panic mode. It was a good thing she had Ryu with her or else she might have cried. She was so far away from home, friends, and family, and the thought of her failing and being killed by a psychopath who was currently in the forest with them now had her terrified that she might never see any of them again.

Using only her instincts, Sakura listened hard while breathing deeply and without moving an inch, only there were no signs of life around her at all besides the gnarly trees that efficiently blocked out all sunlight.

Of course. Sunlight!

Why didn't she think of that sooner? Using the kunai still in her hand, she aimed diagonally upwards and in front of her towards the tree tops. Satisfied at the tiny hole she'd created, she caused a tiny beam of sunlight to shine down and highlight a dark, cloaked figure standing only ten feet away.

Letting out a choked cry of alarm, Sakura quickly wheeled around and fled into the darker part of the forest. Please, this can't be happening to me! Oh my god! Oh my god! Gonna die... I'm going to die! She thought hysterically, hearing the person this time following her as they let themselves be heard. When a slight dip in the ground caught her by surprise, she stumbled and fell, but the ground became steeper and steeper. Clawing desperately at the ground, grabbing onto only dead leaves and debris, Sakura slid and fell about eight feet, landing hard on her already wounded ankle, once again injuring it.

Tears of pain, fear, and despair streamed down her face as she began to crawl on all fours as a last ditch effort, but when her fingers brushed against a rubbery material she halted in her tracks. The unknown person was standing right in front of her. Speechless and unable to do anything, Sakura stayed where she was, knowing that this was the end for her when a familiar irritating laugh broke the silence.

"Well now, what happened to you Sakura? You looked just fine the other day when we met up with each other."

Sakura's face contorted with rage as she growled out his name. "Kabuto."

Grinning madly at her furious features, Kabuto shook his head in mock disbelief before telling her, "You know, I thought you would have been more of a challenge considering you were trained by Tsunade. What a worthless waste of time."

"What do you mean?" Sakura demanded getting angrier by the second. "And why are you even here in the first place? If you were smart you would leave immediately because there's a hunter ninja around here-"

"What, do you think I'm a fool? Of course I know that, I'm the one who hired him. In fact I'm the one who's been ordering around all the ninjas that have been trying to assassinate you guys for the past week."

Sakura's body turned numb as she began to connect the dots. Of course it wasn't Deidara these guys were after this whole time. It was Sasori. Orochimaru and Sasori hated each other and would do anything in order to be rid of the other. However, Orochimaru probably wasn't sure though if Sasori would be in his true form or be hiding inside Hiruko, so he'd most likely told Kabuto to order the rogues to find the blond bomber instead.

If the orders were to kill any that were with him as well then Sasori would be eliminated and Orochimaru would have one less thing to worry about. Also, by setting everyone's focus on Deidara, no one would suspect that it was really just Kabuto and Orochimaru behind the scenes, but there was still one problem. Why did Kabuto seek Sakura out specifically when it was Sasori he was really after?

"Why?" She asked in a faint whisper as she stopped attempting to stand up. What good would it do her anyways when she couldn't put any weight on her ankle? Her fate rested quite literally in Kabuto's hands now, as much as she hated to admit it to herself.

"What? Are you confused about why I've been trying to kill you guys this last week?"

"No," She took a deep shuttering breath to calm her nerves before meeting the eyes of the monster in human form in front of her. "Why do you need me? This whole time you've been trying to capture me while attempting to eliminate two members of the Akatsuki. I just don't understand why I'm of any value to you."

A deep chuckle startled her, and she couldn't help but flinch as he crouched down to her level and studied her up close. He studied the way her arms trembled in exhaustion from swinging wildly at tree branches for the past half an hour, how her breaths came in short gasps of air, the way she was fixated on his every move, and how her eyes glittered like emerald flames in the barely lit forest. Her pure determination to live was astonishing in itself, but it was enough for Kabuto to realize that she was the one he'd been searching for, not Tsunade.

That same determination could be turned against her, and he had just the person who could do it.

Reaching into a spare pocket within his cloak, Kabuto pulled out a needle and came forward, ready to sedate the kunoichi who began stumbling away from him in a last ditch effort. "Foolish girl, you think you can escape me in the condition that you're in?"

Sakura cringed before she hit the ground for the fifth time, wincing and accidently letting out an inaudible pained whimper as she twisted her foot on a fallen branch. With her senses on high alert she could hear Kabuto's soft footsteps close behind her, nearing the spot where she'd fallen.

"Don't! Just leave me alone!" Sakura pleaded, too exhausted to move any further. She'd quite literally used up all the energy she had and was now running on empty. There was no way she could escape by herself now, and even if Kabuto did in fact leave her alone, which was very unlikely, she probably wouldn't be alive by tomorrow morning.

A cold hand clamped down on her upper arm, and yanked it into a certain position that had Sakura protesting in an instant. She tried to kick, punch, and scratch any part of Kabuto that she could reach at this awkward angle, feebly attempting to free her bruised arm from the monster who seemed to be trying to pull it off of her body. There was a sharp pained sensation which her dulling mind identified as a shot, but the effects of the drug assisted her tired body by forcing Sakura to sleep and leaving her at the complete mercy of the enemy.

Upon leaving the pitch dark forest, Sasori found himself having to squint in pain against the harsh sunlight. The wispy clouds overhead had no effect at all in blocking out the sun, and the puppeteer found himself mentally cursing as he jumped down from the tree he was in and walked a short distance away so that he could sit down in the tall grass surrounding the area. He disliked the way it tickled up and down his exposed skin which was mainly his arms, but he endured it silently while he waited for the familiar chakra signatures of the others. If they didn't come soon he was going to have to leave without them and find some form of shelter to hide in tonight.

Letting out a sigh of frustration as he wondered how long it was going to take for the others to get here, he leaned back on his arms with his legs crossed in front of him while he watched the sunset. A bloody red was smeared across the afternoon sky overhead complimenting the orange that filled up the rest of the sky, and behind him the impossibly bright sun flared casting shadows all around the crimson haired ninja. It would only be another hour before it became nightfall if Sasori's calculations were correct.

Ripping a strand of a tall piece of grass out of the ground, Sasori fiddled around with it out of boredom, all the while his eyes scanning the wall of trees before him for any signs of movement.

Another thirty minutes later, Sasori was nearly at a breaking point after waiting for so long. He was about to get ready to leave when a loud bang sounded nearby, making him once again interested and alert. It was either going to be Sakura, Deidara, the hunter ninja, or the twenty or so rogues, but if there was fighting going on, then Sakura or Deidara were sure to be involved.

As patiently as he could, Sasori waited a little while longer until a familiar blond darted out of the forest, heading in his direction about two hundred yards away. Some of the worry that had been building up in Sasori went away at the sight of him unharmed, but Sakura was still out there and it would only get harder for her once the sun disappeared over the horizon in the next half an hour.

Standing up and stretching a bit after crouching for so long, every muscle ached slightly in relief as they were put back into a more comfortable position. Now all Sasori had to do was figure out a plan with Deidara to get Sakura out of the forest, and then they could start searching for Orochimaru's hideout once again.

Refocusing his gaze on Deidara, his chocolate eyes narrowed suspiciously as the blond continued towards him at full speed, yelling something out to him that he couldn't quite make out. He sounded winded like he'd been running the whole time they'd been separated, and as he came closer, Sasori could clearly see the panic on his face. "Ru... so... un... they... omin!"

Rolling his eyes, Sasori was about ready to yell out that he couldn't understand him when the ground began to rumble beneath his feet. His mouth actually fell open in shock as nearly thirty shinobi burst out of forest armed with weapons in hand, and among them in the front was the hunter ninja leading the group.

"Run! Don't just stand there! Run Sasori, yeah!" Deidara shouted as he ran past his stunned partner who was thinking a multitude of curses at that moment.

Whirling around to start fleeing the sight, Sasori yelled furiously at his partner. "You fool! I told you to make sure you weren't being followed! Now look what you've done!"

Cerulean eyes looked over innocently at the puppeteer who was now shaking in rage. "It wasn't my fault, un! I tried killing that hunter ninja, but he dodged my attack like it was nothing and started diffusing my bombs with his earth style moves! I tried to get away, and that's when he called for reinforcements, yeah!"

"Is it even possible for you to not make a complete mess of something?" Sasori seethed realizing that they were going to have a major fight on their hands once the group behind them caught up, which wouldn't take long, sadly.

"I thought that even you would realize at this point, Sasori, that I don't exactly follow a set plan. I just kind of go with the flow, yeah."

"I'm about two seconds away from strangling you."

Deidara smirked at the threat, but before the puppeteer could do anything harmful to him, he quickly intervened by saying. "Well at least Pinky is going to be okay now. She'll probably rent a room at an inn tonight while we're stuck out here fighting our asses off, un. Why does Pinky always get all the luck?"

The musky smell of her new environment woke Sakura up from her heavy drug induced sleep, but it still took a few minutes before she could even begin to move properly. She pushed herself up into a sitting position, taking note that she was on a small, single bed which seemed to be the only furniture in the tiny room besides the nightstand that had a lit candle on top. From what she could sense, there were barrier jutsu's placed on the walls, floor, ceiling, and the door, which would effectively keep her trapped inside until someone came to her.

Her instincts told her she was underground in some sort of base, but where specifically, she had no idea. Her foggy mind still needed time to clear itself as she tiredly tried to assess her injuries. However, she was mildly surprised when she didn't feel even an ounce of pain or something out of place; even her ankle felt like normal as she moved it around to test it out. Still, she didn't feel any negative reaction from doing so, but dwelling over it wasn't going to help her right now. So instead she stood up on unsteady legs, letting the cold chill of the floor ghost across her bare feet as she padded over to where her traveling boots were lying on the ground at the base of her bed, and quickly slid them on just as the door behind her opened.

Turning around sharply in alarm, the kunoichi almost fell, if it wasn't for the bed that she used to quickly right herself and stand back up. Sakura only glanced at the silver haired ninja before her temper flared as she slowly began to recall what had just happened recently. "Why did you bring me here, Kabuto! I thought you would at least have the guts to kill me!" She snapped as her emerald eyes burned with rage.

"My, my, you're a feisty one aren't you?" Kabuto said with a hint of mockery in his voice. "The reason why I brought you here was to heal someone of great importance to me and to do something extra afterwards. After you do that, I'll let you go."

"And you think I'm naive enough to trust your word?" Sakura growled, her fists clenching and unclenching as she imagined herself pummeling the backstabber before her into the stone floor beneath him.

"Here's the deal, if you heal Lord Orochimaru's arms, I'll take you to see Sasuke as a reward."

A/N: I have a poll on my profile where you guys can vote on what day you'd like me to update on. I'm going to try to update as quick as I can as long as my school work or life in general doesn't get in the way now that I don't have that awful writer's block anymore.

Also thank you so much for the people who've reviewed, favorited, etc., in my absence. It made me so happy and encouraged me to get back to writing this story again.