A/N: Hi! Here is the lovely second chapter of Forgotten Places. It takes place before Sasori and Deidara join Akatsuki. Sapphire is 16, Chi is 19, Zero is 18. The Konoha peeps are around 12. Sasuke hasn't defected yet. I think i'm planning a time skip to Shippuden sometime near. R&R please!

Chapter 2: The Story Gets Better

It had been three hours since Zero had left. Chi was pacing, and Sapphire was meditating.

"What if he's in trouble?" Chi asked suddenly, bring Sapphire back to reality.

"Then he would've buzzed us. Stop worrying so much." Sapphire muttered, taking a deep breath.

Just as Sapphire said that, both their intercoms buzzed. Sapphire jumped up, and Chi pulled a kunai from her pocket.

"Let's roll."

Both girls crept forward, staying close to the rock walls if the cave. They came to a huge cavern, with a pool of water at the bottom. The cave they had be walking in stopped when it opened up to the cavern. Jumping down, Sapphire ran her fingers against the walls, checking if any chakra signals were present. There was Zero's prominent one, and two others, presumably the target's.

"Feel anyone?" Chi asked, observing all possible ambush sites.

"Zero and two others." Sapphire replied. She continued touching the wall fleetingly, only making contact with the rock every now and then. Then she confirmed what she had said earlier. She nodded. Chi hummed, as if she was planning their next move.

"Could you zero in on Zero's signature?" She asked, tapping the wall.

"Trying" Sapphire muttered, as if she was concentrating on something great.

"Got it. Down that passage, then a right. He should be in that chamber." Sapphire concluded.

"Stay together. Only advice I got." Chi said, moving towards the hallway.

The girls crept forward, again, being extremely careful. Sapphire seemed calm and collected, and even though Chi seemed to not get along with Zero, she was worried about him. She was jumping at every sound. Finally, Sapphire had had enough of Chi's behavior.

"Quit it. It's annoying." Sapphire drawled, poking Chi.

"You're right. I need to act clam and- oh, just screw it. I'm scared as hell." Chi exclaimed, and Sapphire clamped her hand over Chi's mouth.

"You idiot! They've probably heard us now! There goes all chance of stealth!" Sapphire growled, obviously irritated. It seemed as if the thin barrier over Sapphire's annoyance and idiotic tolerator had broken. She was ticked off. She wouldn't take anymore.

"Oh. Whoops..." Chi nervously giggled, absolutely terrified now.

"Sorry. Doesn't. Cut. It." Sapphire ground out. Her pupils were a shade of purple, and they scared the crap out of anyone who saw them. Chi and Zero had decided it was a sort of Kekkai Genkai, one the only existed oversea. Sapphire had never denied nor confirmed their thoughts. She was in what Zero and Chi called 'I'll murder anyone in my path' mode, where she was extremely pissed, and really wanted to get whatever annoyed her finished. She grabbed Chi's collar, dragging her along.

"If you don't pull your self together right NOW, I will demand that Zero take your place." She growled, shoving Chi against the wall.

"Ow! Sapphire, stop! I didn't mean to! I was just worried!" She whispered, hoping Sapphire would calm down. And she did.

"Fine. Just put yourself together so we can get this damn mission over with." She muttered, letting go of Chi.

"Thank you."

"I don't want your thanks." Sapphire growled, whipping around.

"Okay!" Chi said, backing up with her hands in front of her body.

"Now, who do we have here?" A voice asked. The girls whipped around in the direction of the voice, only to find no one there.

"What the hell? Show yourself, you coward!" Chi shouted, slowly turning in a circle.

"Shh. Chi, you go find Zero. I'll handle this bastard." Sapphire said, pushing Chi in the direction of the chamber Zero was said to be in. Chi immediately began running, only turning back once. When she turned back around, towards the chamber, she felt all hell break loose.

It wasn't hard for Sapphire to locate the enemy. It wasn't hard to completely obliterate the surrounding area with one punch. Sapphire used a technique similar to Tsunade and Sakura, where she charged her punches with chakra. She and her opponent went flying, but Sapphire recovered quickly. She landed on a wall, sticking to the vertical surface by lacing her feet with chakra. She then pushed out of her frog-like crouch, which sent her directly towards her opponent.

Her opponent could be said to be handsome, with his flaming red hair. Sapphire had identified the male as Akasuna no Sasori, also known as Sasori of the Red Sand. He was Suna's puppet prodigy, a master of the trade. That's why Sapphire had sent Chi to get Zero. It would've been Chi's demise. All her puppets were ones that Sasori had made. She had always liked his style of making the puppets, so she had raided the room where they were kept. That meant Sasori knew the puppets inside and out, all the techniques, and such. Chi would've been crushed.

Sasori felt Sapphire coming, and he readied his puppets. Sapphire felt his chakra stings attempt to latch onto her, but she brushed them off easily. One of Sasori's puppets sent a round of shuriken towards Sapphire, and she barely was able to dodge them. She was busy with one puppet already, two puppets would be a handful. She needed help.

Chi immediately felt two chakra signatures flare up, signaling the beginning of a battle. She quickened her pace, reaching the chamber faster than she anticipated. Zero was in fact inside, having a silent stare-off with a blonde male. His hair was awfully feminine, pulled into a ponytail in back of his head. Chi knew exactly who it was. He was all over the bingo book, and her memories.

"Deidara. Fancy seeing you here, 'brother'." Chi growled, pouncing on the male. He rolled out of the way, and Chi flipped in midair to avoid falling on the ground.

"Now, now, Chi-chan, you know I never meant to stay." The blonde chastised, wagging his finger.

Zero was awfully confused. What was the connection between the two? Were they really related? Was it just a big joke?

"Wait! Are you two really related?" Zero asked, stepping next to Chi.

"No." Deidara responded, not wanting to elaborate.

"In that case, then I can kick your ass without feeling too bad!" Zero shouted, engaging the blonde.

Zero flipped, twirled, ducked, sidestepped, dodged everything and anything that came his way. Dederia was getting frustrated. His actions were becoming reckless. Suddenly, he flung a clay bomb at Zero, totally unexpected. Zero had no where to go. He was trapped.

Just as the bomb was going to hit him, Chi dove in it's path. She grabbed it, and landed in a roll.

Then the bomb exploded.