A/N: Wow, I'm already to my seventh chapter of this and it's only taken me what? Over a year? Sorry for the long wait, the school year became very hectic and I got busy. Then I got grounded from the computer. Well anyways enjoy!

Chapter Seven: Unexpected Advances
Dei's POV I will do anything to get rid of this guilt of mine. That's what I think as I carry Tobi's body through the woods. I still need to find a sacrifice to bring him back. I do love him, but maybe I love Sasori more, hm.

Saso's POV I'm watching the poor child, xhe looks so mixed up, we need to find a sacrifice soon to end this constant maiming of hir heart. I love hir, but xhe loves him, we will never be together in the end. I changed myself so that I would not feel this kind of cruel punishment. So why do I feel like I have a knife slashing my innards?

Zetsu is still following us, he wants to see Dei-kun fail. We should be coming up on a village soon, there should be plenty of young children available to us. Dei should be excited to get his kimi* back; but he just looks anxious, as if he won't want to go through with it.

I can sense people nearby now. "Dei?" I say simply.

"Hm?" xhe murmurs. I hope that we can do this soon to end both of ours suffering.

"We need a way to trick someone into coming with us. We need them alive." I say emphasizing 'alive'. Zetsu looks somewhat disappointed as I look at him while saying this.

"There's a young girl nearby." Zetsu murmurs. He glances in the direction that he senses her in. "I can get her." He then sneers. As he goes off to get her before either of us can object I look over at Deidara.

Xhe and I had once wanted to have a little girl of our own. I remember talking to hir about it one night. I rememeber the look on hir face when I asked; a look of shock and interest and perhaps even longing. "Have you ever thought of trying to have a baby, again?" I ask hir now. I cringe as I realize I said this aloud.

As I glance over I see hir stop and look at me with a look that could make Hidan want to go comfort hir. "Yes, I have." xhe says softly. "Tobi, he wanted a son. I wasn't sure if I wanted to have his child, it wasn't like when I was with you. When you asked I knew I wanted to; but when he asked I felt doubt." xhe look at me with longing and guilt.

I feel bad just for asking hir. I open my mouth to say something but my mind draws a blank and Zetsu returns anyways. He has a young girl bound with vines trailing behind him. She's gotten leaves and sticks in her brown hair from being dragged in the dirt, scratches on her face from brairs and bushes and puncture marks from the vines. "Let me go!" she screams thrashing about in her bonds.

I glare at Zetsu. "You only said alive." he chuckles. "She did elude me for a while though."

"Let me go!" The girl screams again. I again glare at Zetsu who merely grins. "I know who you are!" The girl screams at us, this finally gets our true attention. We all look at her, she immediately stops thrashing around, her chest heaving from her efforts and her face red. She looks straight at me. "You must be the leader in this squad, correct?" She addresses me personally.

"That doesn't matter," I try to avoid growling this but I fail. "How do you know who we are? And who is it that we seem to be?" I ask more calmly now.

"You're Akatsuki." She says simply. "I know this because I am training to become a shinobi. You are S-ranked missing nin." She straightens herself so that she is sitting up.

"So who are you, hm?" Deidara asks the girl after a long silence.

"I am Leta; and I know where you can get a victim for whatever it is that you're doing." She carefully replies.

"Leta, hm?" Deidara states rather than asks. "That sounds oddly familiar, hm." Xhe thinks aloud. I look at Deidara thoughtfully and give hir a nudge. "Oh, hm. Right. We don't need a victim but a willing sacrifice." Deidara says in a rehearsed manner.

"A willing sacrifice?" Leta murmurs to herself. "I may know where a few of those are as well."

I glare at this girl; she glares right back at me with a piercing gaze of her pale blue eyes. "Either way you are going to die." I say to her in a cold tone. Behind her façade of bravery I can see the fear flash through her mind, her eyes betraying that quick glint of emotion.

"So be it; you're going to have an awfully hard time finding someone willing to die for criminals like you without me." She counters in an equally cold tone, but also with the preciseness of someone trying to bargain for their life.

Zetsu squeezes her again with his vines, the girl grunts from the pressure around her chest. "I can easily find a victim sacrifice. We don't need you." Zetsu says while continueing to tighten his grip on her. Soon we hear a cracking sound coming from her as her ribcage gives way to the pressure.

She screams from the pain, which only allows the vines to constrict her chest farther. The three of us just watch in mild disinterest, as her face begins to change colors with the onset of suffocation. We watch until she passes out and shortly afterwards dies, her body going limp. Dei-kun cringes as Zetsu devours the young girls body. "Can we get on with this now?" I ask Zetsu pointedly.

In reply Zetsu begins to walk forward and into the woods. I glance at Dei-kun, xhe begins walking as well. I take a deep breath and let it out in a long slow sigh. Once Dei is a few feet ahead of me I follow after, watching hir walk. Xhe had hir cloak wrapped around Tobi's body and hir clothes hugged hir slim frame.

My eyes trail over hir body. Hir golden blonde hair ever tied up on the top of hir head, swinging with hir every step, the soft gentle curves of hir body unnoticeable if you don't know where to look, the swing of those hips I once had right to caress, and then there is hir butt, xhe has the cutest little butt ever. I remember when I was able to pull hir body to mine, feel hir heat, hear hir heartbeat, and know it was I who made it beat so heavily.

The last time I held that precious body to mine was before Tobi stole hir from me. I remember sliding my arms around hir waist as I pulled hir ever closer. Hir heart raced in anticipation, we lay on my bed xhe on top of me. Xhe had hir arms around my neck, blushing like a young girl who has just confessed their feelings for their first love. Xhe leaned in as I leaned up, meeting me in the middle with a kiss. Xhe pushed me down against the bed, an enticing smile upon hir lips. Xhe sat on top of me, hir legs straddeling my middle, hir hands on my shoulders. My hands still lay on hir waist, one hand made its way up to hir hair and undid the band holding it in place.

Hir hair cascaded down to cover hir bare shoulders. Xhe giggled, pushing hirself to hir knees xhe leaned in and kissed me, hir hair covering both our faces and hir rear end in the air. My hands slid from hir waist to hir rear, I held hir with a gentle loving grip. As xhe begins to kiss my neck tenderly I let out a low moan, "Oh, Dei…"

"Yes, hm?" I hear and jolt back to the present, my face burning redder than my own hair, my chest heaving, my heart racing. "Danna? Are you okay, hm?" I halt, my face reddening further as I realize I spoke aloud. "Did you want something, hm?" Dei-kun asks slightly irritated now.

"Uh…it's getting dark, don't you think we should stop for the night?" I fumble with these words trying to save face. "To plan and assess our resources, it's not like I need to rest or anything." I rush out these last few words.

Dei-kun looks up, "Hm, I guess you're right. This is as good a place as any to stop." Xhe decides. The three of us set up camp for the night. Once we eat and start to settle down for the night, Dei and I curling up together, we hear a loud crashing coming off from the side.

"Dammit!" I growl inwardly.

A/N: Xhe is the gender neutral term for she/he and hir is the gender neutral for her/his. I need ideas for what is crashing towards them in the forest. Think any of you can help me? As usual thank you for all your kind words of encouragement, you are the reason I keep writing this and uploading!

Edit: Also this is my longest chapter so far! Yay!