In Konoha, Shikamaru was currently searching for Naruto and Sakura. They were the next two on his list to tell that Kruno were alive. He sighed heavily, placing his hands in the pockets. 'Now, where in the hell is Naruto...' Shikamaru asked himself, just as a blonde headed ran around the corner. Shikamaru gave a slight chuckle as he walked towards Naruto.

"Naruto!" He screamed out, and Naruto turned towards him with his head tilted to the side slightly.

"What, Shikamaru?" Naruto asked as he ran over to the spiky haired boy, who gave him a small sigh.

"I've got news, but we better find Sakura first. It'll be better to tell both of you at the same time." Shika said, and Naruto have him a confused look but nodded his head and they continued to walk around the village together, looking for the pink haired female.

It was about an hour later when they stumbled upon her, and they were all now heading to the BBQ place that Kruno had loved when she was here. They all sat down at a booth, Naruto and Sakura sitting on the same side as each other, and Shikamaru sitting across from them.

"So what did you want to talk about, Shikamaru?" Sakura asked after they ordered, and were waiting on their drinks. Shikamaru was nervously tapping his fingers along the table, before he let out a long sigh.

"It's.. It's about Kruno." He said finally, and Naruto's eyes widened, but Sakura just glanced off to the side.

"What about her?!" Naruto said, looking at Shikamaru with large bug eyes, but Sakura refused to meet Shikamaru's gaze.

"She's... She's alive Naruto." Shikamaru said, and Naruto stood up in the booth, thrusting his arm up into the air, screaming 'Hell yeah!' at the top of his lungs, causing everyone in the room to turn and look at them. Naruto shrugged them off, but sat back down and looked over at Sakura who had yet to say anything.

"Sakura, aren't you excited?! Kruno's alive!" Naruto said happily, but Sakura just looked at him sadly, before looking at Shikamaru. She sighed heavily, before inverting her eyes to the table.

"I already knew." She said so quietly that both of them barely heard her.

"What? I couldn't hear you, Sakura!" Naruto shouted again, and Sakura sighed once again before speaking up slightly.

"I already knew she think was alive."

The entire atmosphere of the room changed, and Shikamaru stared at Sakura with nothing but pure anger in his eyes.

"You knew... You knew and you didn't tell me?! I've thought she was dead for three fucking years now, Sakura!" Shikamaru said, but kept from screaming because a lot of people knew about his lost love one.

"I only recently found out myself, because she was going to kill me." Sakura said plainly, and Naruto's eyes widened quickly.

"Kruno doesn't like kill people, are you sure it was her and not just someone who looks like her, Sakura?" Naruto said, and Shikamaru shook his head, sighing.

"The Kruno we knew hated killing. The new Kruno loves it. When she fights she gets this crazy look of..." Shikamaru trailed off for a minute before both him and Sakura spoke together.

"Bloodlust."

"She says that she is dead. She is so broken that the only way she can feel anything is killing people. She was going to kill me." Shikamaru said, gesturing towards himself. "She was ready to let me die in front of her when she first started to fight with me, but I had to talk to her while she was trapped in my Shadow Possession Jutsu, and that's when she told her teammates that they were leaving."

"Wait, teammates?" Naruto said, and Sakura nodded her head.

"Kruno joined the Akatsuki. You remember the girl who was standing behind Gaara when we recused him? The one who was taunting us, and telling them things we couldn't hear? The girl who showed up when we were fighting Itachi? That was Kruno." Sakura said, and Naruto stared off into space, his thoughts consuming him.

How could Kruno have done that? Gaara had always talked about how they were closer than most people Gaara knew. Temari and Kankuro both thought that she was dead, and they blamed themselves for it... But in reality, Kruno was responsible for the death of Gaara even if she wasn't the one who took his life. She was there. She didn't stop them... But Kruno was Naruto's friend. He believe in Kruno, and he believed that she could be helped. And so be it, he would die if it meant getting her back.

Naruto turned to Shikamaru, before throwing his thumb up towards Shikamaru, a large smile on his lips. "I promise that no matter what, I will bring Kruno back and reunite you guys, even if it kills me!" Naruto said, and Shikamaru knew that he meant ever word of his promise.

The heart broken boy nodded his head slightly, and they all ate in silence for a little bit, until Shikamaru broke it. "You cannot tell anyone about Kruno being alive. They will mark her as an S-Rank Criminal, and they will send ANBU out after her. We can't have that. We are going to go out as the original people of her graduating class and go after her once we have a better plan, but until then, you have to keep quiet. Do you understand?" He said, and both of them nodded. Shikamaru was about to get up and leave, but Sakura grabbed his arm and looked up at him.

"Kakashi already knows, so maybe he can help us. Don't worry, Shikamaru. We'll get her back." She said, and Shikamaru nodded before walking out of the shop, and towards the cemetery. He couldn't let his normal routine be broken, or people would begin to notice.

He arrived at the cemetery, and nodded his head slightly as he saw Kakashi standing in front of Rin's head stone. Shikamaru gave a sigh as he crouched down in front of Kruno's stone, and was about to start talking to it, but Kakashi cut him off.

"I know you know, Shikamaru." He said, and Shika looked over at him with a sad expression.

"I figured as much."

"You know as well as I do, that she won't come back unless she really wants to."

"I know, Kakashi. She's stubborn as hell, but that's something I love about her. Maybe, if I try hard enough, we can all convince her to come home, you know?" Shikamaru said, and Kakashi gave a small sigh as he nodded his head, standing up from his crouching position at Rin's headstone and moved over to Shika.

"I will help you attempt to get her back, but I cannot do much. But I will try." Kakashi said, nodding his head. "Because I know how much it sucks to lose the girl you love. Just tell me when you guys have a plan that you think will be work, and I will help you." He said, before standing up and walking away, leaving Shikamaru to his thoughts.

He stared at the headstone for a while, before a small smile formed over his lips. This was the first time that he looked at the this stone and smiled.

Because he knew she was alive.

//

"Kruno get your ass back here, un!"

"No!" She shouted, running around the base with a handful of clay that she had stolen out of Deidara's room while he was suppose to be on a mission. That was the last time she would trust Kakuzu on who was on a mission...

"Kruno, just give it back, un!" Deidara shouted before launching himself onto her, knocking both of them on the ground. Deidara was straddling her hips, and was staring down at her with an evil expression. "Give it back, or else."

Kruno eyes widen as Deidara spoke, and she began to shake her head fiercely. "You wouldn't." She said, confidently, but her confident was still broken down as Deidara began to run his fingers up and down her sides, tickling her.

Kruno threw her head back, laughing very loudly. She was squirming around underneath him, trying to shove his hands off of her. "Oh-h Please!" She shouted through her laughter. "Please stop-p!"

Deidara was laughing as well, as he continued to tickle the girl, loving the fact that she was laughing. "Are you going to give it back?" He asked, raising an eyebrow, and when Kruno shook her head no, Deidara started to tickle her even more.

"I-I will not give in!" She shouted, before bursting into another fit of laughter. From down the hallway, Itachi and Kisame were watching this scene take place, trying not to laugh at them.

"Just give it back and I'll stop!" He shouted, and she continued to shake her head.

"No!" She said. "Go fuck yourself!" Her laughter was cutting in and out of her speech, and she was squirming around under him so much that Itachi was slightly shocked that she had yet to knock him off of her. Kisame, on the other hand, knew just how ticklish that Kruno was and was aware that when she was being tickled, she was a dangerous animal waiting to attack, so he just waited for her to make her move.

Kruno looked up at Deidara that were screaming "When-I-get-out-of-this-you-are-so-fucked." but he continued to tickle her, that is until she rolled over completely, landing her stomach on the ground, and Deidara was now sitting on her back. She smirked and pushed herself up off the ground, throwing Deidara back onto the ground as she stood up.

She stood above him, and began to crack her knuckles as she looked down at Deidara, who was looking up at her with nothing but fear in his eyes. He glanced back at Kisame, before speaking. "I'm going to die, aren't I?"

"Yes, yes you are." Kisame said.

"When I die, make sure it's an explosion!" He shouted at Kisame as Kruno pounced on him, and began to punch him in random places, not hard enough to hurt him since she was just playing with him right now. Deidara was trying to wiggle out of her grasp, avoiding punches as best as he could.

They were both screaming at each other, and Deidara at some point had began to fight back, so right now they were both punching each other, kicking each other, and everything else they could do until they were lifted off the ground by the collars of their shirts, and held apart from each other.

When Kruno looked over at who had stopped their fight, she glared slightly at him. But Hidan just laughed and started to carry her back to her room, still dangling her off the ground by her shirt.

"You're an ass hat." Kruno a said, and Hidan nodded slightly.

"And mother fucking proud, you slut!" He said as they walked into her room, and Hidan shut the door behind them. He sat them down on her bed, and looked at her with a more serious face. "How are you feeling?" He asked, and Kruno sighed softly. Ever since they ran into Shikamaru, Hidan asked her every day how she is feeling, and makes sure that he is keeping a close eye on her do that she doesn't try to hurt anything.

"I guess I'm okay." She said quietly, and Hidan raised an eyebrow.

"Don't lie to me, Kruno." He said, and she glanced down at her hand.

"I just.. I don't know if I should believe him or not. It just seems so out of the world that a ninja would try to sabotage our relationship, and for what reason? It's not like we were some dynamic duo. But what was said that day, it wasn't like him. Not at all. He would have never said something like that to me. It's just. It's stressing me out and I don't know what to do." She said, her voice slowly getting softer as she went on, and she looked down, slumping her shoulder. She looked so vulnerable, and it made Hidan sad.

So he just wrapped his arms around her tightly, and pulled her close to him, rocking her slowly. When Shikamaru was brought up, Kruno let her tough, adult like exterior fall, and she shrunk back down to the kid she really was. And sometimes, all she really needed was a hug.

///

WOOOOOOOOOOOO
I have so much planned for this story wow.

I stared another new story, because I have no chill xD
so if you want, go check it out! It's called Kids In The Dark.^.^

question of the day;
Do you think Kruno will be happier with Shikamaru, or the Akatsuki?

I LOVE YOU GUYS.<3

don't forget to comment, vote, and follow.