Naruto 1. Chapter 1

**Chapter One:**

The sun stood high in the sky, shining brightly over the village Konoha in the fire country. Konoha's Hokage, Tsunade, stood face to face with the village's population, holding an open scroll up in the air. Kanji letters filled the long page, barely leaving enough space for two people to sign their names at the very end.

A raven haired boy stood a few feet away from the Hokage with a pink haired girl by his side. He signed his name quickly before handing the brush over to his friend who copied his action. A smile graced her lips as she handed the brush back to the boy.

Tsunade held the scroll up higher and spoke loudly so everyone present would hear.

"I now pronounce you two husband and wife." She threw the scroll up in the air and made a couple of hand seals; making the scroll explode in a rain of Sakura blossoms. "You may kiss the bride," She added with a smile as the pink flowers slowly made their way onto the ground.

The raven haired boy turned his face towards the pink haired girl and softly pressed his lips against hers – hearing the crowd behind clapping their hands and cheering at his actions.

* * *

Two dark figures stood on a hill a little bit away from the crowd – watching the scene in front of them silently. The tallest one of the two turned to face his comrade, a smirk playing on his lightly blue-tinted lips as he spoke; "When are we going?"

The other figure stayed quiet. His eyes were fixed on the raven haired boy.

"Itachi-san?" The taller one asked. He was used to his friend being quiet, but whenever he were about to fight, he just couldn't keep his calm.

'_Foolish little brother. You were to seek power, not commit yourself to a woman,'_ Itachi thought, his crimson eyes never leaving the newlywed boy. _'You're still weak,'_ his thoughts continued as a blonde haired kid appeared next to his brother. _'Feelings make you weak.'_

Kisame, the taller man, sighed and sat down on the grass a few feet away from his partner. "Are we still getting the Kyuubi or what?"

'_You were to detest me, hate me, seek power and fight me.'_ Itachi's gaze was back on his brother. _'Foolish little brother.'_ He clenched his fists tightly inside the wide sleeves of his Akatsuki cloak.

"Wake me up when you're done then," Kisame mumbled and closed his eyes.

Itachi's eyes fell on the pink haired girl clinging onto his brother's arm. A smirk tugged at his lips as his genius mind created a new plan.

"Kisame," He started. His smooth voice brought his comrade back to his senses. "We've got a new plan."

* * *

"Sakura-chan," Naruto winked and placed his hands behind his head. "Congratulations." His eyes closed tightly as a huge grin spread across his lips.

"Arigatou Naruto," She replied while squeezing her husband, Sasuke's arm tightly.

Sasuke gave a soft "Hn," and slowly undid her arms from around his. He'd never really been good at showing affection to anyone. Why did he marry her? Did he love her? No. But he needed somebody to help him rebuild his clan and Sakura was the first one he'd thought about when finally deciding to do something about it.

"Sasuke-kun," Sakura sighed and wrapped her arms around his neck, kissing his cheek softly.

He was starting to regret his decision already. Sure, he did think she would act somewhat like this, but he never knew it would bug him as much as it did.

"Well," Tsunade said loudly from behind the couple. "I guess it's time to move to the party,"

Naruto opened his eyes again as his stomach gave away a loud groan. Sakura gazed at him before giggling quietly. "What?" He asked, looking shyly down at his feet.

"Naruto, you baka," Sakura giggled and playfully smacked his head.

Soon, everybody headed for the Hokage tower. Around 50 long tables with food were waiting for attention at the normally empty spot outside the building. Sakura and Sasuke made their way and sat down, tightly followed by their friends and families and other townies that felt like celebrating today's event.

Jirayia, a tall white haired man, picked up his glass and made a toast for the two lovebirds before digging in on the delicious food in front of him. Tsunade sat next to him, chitchatting with her friend and helper, Shizune.

Suddenly one of the village's guards appeared behind the Hokage with a worried expression on his face.

"Tsunade-sama," He started. "Akatsuki has been seen nearby."

Sasuke clenched his fists around the glass he was holding, shattering the thin material with his bare hand. Crimson liquid ran down his wrist before dripping onto the dry asphalt.

"Sasuke-kun?" Sakura asked quietly, not quite liking the look he gave her. She gently grabbed his hand and quietly worked her chakra into his flesh, healing the cuts almost immediately.

"Send our top Jounin's to keep them from entering and tell everybody else to stay inside until further notice. Naruto, Sasuke," She turned to face the two. "I want you to stick together. Sakura, go home, you've been lazy on the training lately and should keep out of trouble."

"But Tsunade-sama," Sakura cut in.

"No buts. I might need your help in the hospital later. Go home."

"H-hai," Sakura stuttered and let her gaze drop onto her hands which lay folded on her lap. Sasuke turned to face his bride and placed one of his hands on top of hers.

"Don't worry. I'll meet you back home." He muttered silently before getting off his chair, motioning for Naruto to get ready as well.

"Bring them to my office if you can. I want them alive." Tsunade said before letting everybody go.

"Sasuke, be careful," Sakura whispered and watched as he took off with Naruto close behind.

* * *

Kisame stared blankly out over the village, watching as almost everybody made their ways inside their houses while ninjas, like himself, split up in groups and left the place as well.

"Guess they know were here," He mumbled and shifted the large sword he had on his back.

"Hn," Itachi mumbled. His eyes never leaving the pink haired girl his brother left behind.

"We'll meet you outside around midnight then," The blue-tinted man added before disappearing in a cloud of smoke. If this didn't teach Sasuke a lesson, Itachi didn't know what else to do. He took a step backwards before disappearing in a cloud of smoke as well.

* * *

"Sasuke, wait up!" Naruto shouted from behind. Whenever Akatsuki or his brother's name was mentioned; Sasuke somehow seemed to gain more power than usual. "Sasuke!" Naruto shouted again and molded more chakra into his feet to get more speed. He jumped from one tree branch to another – finally catching up with his former team-mate.

Sasuke stopped to catch his breath, allowing Naruto to do the same. "I can sense him," He panted and clutched his fists together; making his knuckles turn white. "He's near," He added before taking off again.

"Damn it," Naruto groaned and ran after him once again.

* * *

Sakura sighed as she plopped down on the large bed she and Sasuke would share from now on. "Typical," She mumbled to herself as she let her head fall onto the soft mattress. "When I finally get what I've wanted for so long, something like this happens,"

She sighed again and sat up slowly. Her small hands moved to her lap where they softly touched the silky fabric of her bright pink wedding dress. He hadn't even commented her dress today. Not even saying she looked beautiful or that he couldn't wait to have her alone. _'I guess I should have known,' _she sighed. _'An Uchiha never share their feelings.'_

She slowly made her way over the woodened floor of their bedroom and quietly opened the door to the attached bathroom. Her bare feet moved almost soundlessly over the surprisingly cold floor towards the bathtub. She leaned over it and turned the water on, just watching the clear liquid start to fill the bottom of the large porcelain tub. Her hands found their way to the back of her dress where she carefully undid the hidden buttons along her spine. The soft fabric fell onto the floor with a thud and she slipped into the tub almost immediately.

Another sigh escaped her silky smooth lips as the warm water warmed her tense body. Who knew weddings could be so, so wonderful, yet stressful?

"Sasuke-kun, please come home soon," She whispered and closed her eyes.

* * *

Sasuke stopped abruptly, almost causing Naruto to run straight into his back. A dark figure had their back leaning onto the trunk of a tree not far from them; watching the two teenagers with blazing red eyes.

"Itachi," Sasuke wheezed and quickly made his way from the tree-branch he was standing on to the ground.

Itachi stared at his little brother, his face as emotionless as ever.

"I shall kill you," Sasuke muttered, venom dripping from his every word, before making himself ready to attack his enemy.

"Try," Itachi replied monotonously and made himself ready to fight.

* * *

A loud thump brought Sakura back to her senses where she was lying in the bath. "Sasuke-kun is that you?" She asked loud enough for him to hear outside of the thick bathroom door.

She sat up straight and made her way out of the tub, grabbing a white fluffy towel to dry herself off with. She threw the towel onto the toilet-seat and slipped on a creamy white nightgown along with a white pair of panties before opening the bathroom door silently.

"Sasuke-kun?" She asked again and heard heavy footsteps entering the bedroom. "Sasuke?"

A tall fish-like man appeared in front of her with a large sword hanging on his back.

Sakura's green eyes opened up widely as she froze on the spot.

"Hello love,"


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Sorry for the shortness of this chapter. Will try to make the next one longer. I wanna thank everyone who reviewed the previous one and I hope I'm not disappointing anyone with this chapter.  
Reviews makes me happy, so feel free to leave them.**

******//Challa**

**************Chapter two:**

Sasuke sprinted forward. A sparkling blue light shone from his right hand as he prepared himself to hit his brother with the power of his _Chidori_. Itachi made some quick hand-seals before saying a quick "_Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu_," and let a large ball of flames escape his lips; aiming for his brother.

Sasuke let out a loud growl as he avoided his brother's attack and continued to run straight for the older Uchiha. Sasuke's _Chidori_ connected with the trunk of the tree his brother had been leaning on a few moments earlier.

"Shit," Sasuke muttered and turned around quickly, dodging the kick Itachi aimed at him, and pulled out three kunai's – throwing them at the black figure who disappeared before the kunai's even had the time to hit him.

"You're too slow," He heard Itachi's deep voice say from above before two shuriken's were thrown in his direction.

Sasuke took a quick step to the left, but were however too slow to dodge the third shuriken which were hidden behind one of the others. It went straight towards his arm and gently scraped his white skin, causing it to break slightly.

Itachi jumped off the branch lazily and landed a couple of feet in front of Sasuke who tried to stop the constant bleeding from his arm.

Naruto growled loudly and ran towards the two Uchiha's, getting ready to attack the intruder.

"Naruto, stop!" Sasuke shouted as Naruto was about to throw his fist in Itachi's face.

A smirk plastered Itachi's lips as Naruto stopped half a foot from him with a death glare in his eyes. Silence fell over the three as they stared at each other. Itachi's face was as blank as ever, completely void of all emotions. His crimson eyes glistered in the sunlight.

Sasuke took a step back. "Why are you here?"

Itachi's gaze wandered to his brother. Not a sound escaped his lips.

"Why did you come back?" Sasuke asked and straightened his back. His left hand covered the cut on his arm.

"Hn," Itachi muttered and glanced at Naruto who furrowed his eyebrows and got ready to attack him if he did as much as lift a finger. Itachi's red eyes snapped back onto his brother. "You lack hatred," He stated monotonously. "You're _weak_."

Sasuke clenched his fists tightly together. He had fought hard to get strong enough to kill his brother and he still had the guts to call him weak. _'I'll show him,'_ He thought and started to make some hand-seals when Itachi spoke up.

"Foolish little brother. You still think you can beat me?"

"I am stronger," Sasuke stated, anger dripping from his every word. "Watch me."

"There's no use," Itachi mumbled and lazily leaned his back onto the half-broken three behind him. "I didn't come here to fight you."

Naruto looked from Itachi to Sasuke and then back to Itachi again.

"Then why are you here?" Sasuke asked. His Sharingan eyes pierced through his brother's identical ones.

Itachi closed his eyes for a moment before saying; "You've got something I want."

Naruto's eyes snapped open at those words. "There's no way I'm going with you,"

"Ah, Naruto, it's not the Kyuubi I'm after,"

The two teenagers stared at the older man, trying to put the pieces of his words together. If not the Kyuubi, then who was he after?

Suddenly Sasuke's jaw dropped. "Sakura," He whispered.

"Ne. Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked and scratched his head.

"Why?" Sasuke asked. "Why are you doing this?"

"Because," Itachi started and jumped back onto the branch he'd occupied earlier. "You lack hatred." And with that he disappeared.

"Shit!" Sasuke growled and started running back to the village. "Shit, shit, shit!"

A confused Naruto ran after the raven-haired boy. _'Why does he want Sakura-chan?'_

* * *

A cold shiver ran through Sakura's body as she stared at the tall blue man in front of her. "Kisame," She whispered and sought the door handle with one of her hands. 

Kisame placed his large hand on the bathroom door, making it impossible for her to close it.

"Why so scared, love?" He asked her with a grin on his lips.

Her eyes darted to the half open window in the bedroom. Would she make it out in time? Kisame's eyes followed her gaze and landed on the window as well. "Don't even try it,"

"W-why are you here?" Her voice was barely audible. "Where's Sasuke-kun?"

"Itachi-san ordered me to get you," That name caused her head to snap up. "I wouldn't worry too much about your beloved Sasuke though. Itachi's with him."

"W-what?!" She nearly yelled. "Why is… Why does…" She trailed off and gave Kisame a cold look.

He laughed darkly and let go of the bathroom door and grabbed the handle of his sword instead.

"Shall we go then?" He asked.

Sakura furrowed her eyebrows. "There's no way I'm going with you," She muttered and ran towards the window the fastest she could. Kisame was however faster than her and appeared in front of her with a smug grin playing on his lips.

"Wouldn't want to disappoint Itachi-san now, would we?"

Sakura clenched her fists tightly together, frustration bubbling up inside of her. "Get out!" She yelled. "Get out of my house!"

Another laugh was heard from the blue man as he removed the sword from his back and held it over one of his broad shoulders.

"You see," He started and took a step closer to the pink haired girl. "If you won't go with me willingly," he paused and took another step towards the girl. "Samehada here will suck you dry from chakra and I will drag you all the way to Itachi."

Sakura's eyes hardened at those words. "Fine!" She growled through clenched teeth.

"I take it as you go willingly then?" He asked her.

"Hai," She replied quietly and turned around to leave the bedroom with Kisame tightly following.

As soon as she neared the front door; she gathered most of her chakra to her feet and made a run for the door. Before she even reached it, she felt a heavy push against her back and fell to the floor with a loud thump.

"So troublesome," She heard her enemy say from behind before one strong arm lifted her up and threw her over his shoulder.

"Let me go!" She yelled. "I can walk by myself!"

Kisame ignored her shouting and opened the door quickly before taking off to his and Itachi's hideout with an angry Sakura hitting his back.

* * *

**************___Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu_ - "Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu"**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three: **

Sasuke ran the fastest he could towards his and Sakura's home. He knew Itachi never came alone. He had a team-mate… a dangerous one. Knowing the state Sakura had been in lately, he knew she didn't stand a chance against the blue-tinted shark, even though she had been trained by none other than the medic Sannin, Tsunade.

"Damn it, Sakura," He growled as he neared his home. If they hadn't gotten married, Itachi wouldn't have found an interest in her. If they hadn't gotten married, Sakura would have been in top shape like she always was. If they hadn't gotten married, he wouldn't have had to blame everything on his own selfish needs.

He pushed the slightly opened front door to the side and ran inside the pitch black house.

"Sakura!" He shouted as he made his way to the bedroom. "Sakura!"

Naruto came up behind him with a worried expression on his face. He watched his former team-mate throw the covers off of the bed before running into the bathroom only to come out a few seconds later with Sakura's wedding dress in his hands.

"She's not here. He took her. That bastard took…" He trailed off as his knees collided with the woodened floor.

Naruto raised his eyebrows and scratched his head. "We'll get her back,"

"No!" Sasuke yelled. "We won't get her back."

Naruto furrowed his eyebrows as he watched his raven-haired friend clutch the white fabric of Sakura's dress in his hands.

"He'll destroy her. He'll kill her. He'll make her pay for my foolishness," Sasuke wheezed. His normally midnight-blue eyes turned blood-red as he stroke his fingers softly over the silky smooth dress.

He got up on his feet every so slowly and let the dress slip through his fingers. Naruto took a sharp intake of air as Sasuke's eyes stared wickedly into his sky-blue ones. A smirk crossed the newlywed teenager's lips as he whispered silent words to himself.

"Heh, Sasuke?" Naruto asked nervously and took a step backwards.

"Hn,"

"Y-you are…"

Sasuke tilted his head to one side and raised one of his eyebrows while keeping his eyes locked on Naruto's.

"What?" He asked. The usual soft voice he used was replaced with a dark and hard one.

"M-maybe yo-you shou-"

"I **am** stronger," Sasuke added before taking off faster than ever, leaving a stunned Naruto behind.

"Sasuke!" Naruto's voice echoed through the empty house.

* * *

Itachi leaned his head onto the cold stone-wall behind him where he sat in a dark cave a couple of miles outside of Konoha. It was getting dark outside and rather cold too. He tugged the oversized cloak closer to his muscular body and closed his eyes for a moment; letting the day's events sink in as he went through what had happened.

First he'd witnessed his little brother getting married, which was something he never thought he would, nor wanted to see.

Second, he'd been half a foot away from what had caused him to go to Konoha in the first place... the Kyuubi container, Naruto. And instead of sticking to the original plan his leader had come up with, he was stupid enough to 'kidnap' his brother's _wife_ instead of taking Naruto with him.

He mentally slapped himself for letting his anger towards his brother's actions affect him, and opened his eyes. What was he going to do with her anyway? She was, after all, just a girl and a stupid weakness to his brother.

He suppressed a sigh and straightened his back. It was getting close to midnight. Kisame should be getting here soon, **with** the girl. If she turned out to be a nuisance, he swore he'd kill her. He couldn't help but feel quite curious though. Knowing his brother; she must have been something special since he actually asked her to be his.

Itachi shook his head and got off the ground; ignoring the nagging feeling of curiosity within him. She was just a girl. Nothing more - nothing less.

* * *

"Let me go you big boned fish man!" Sakura yelled for the umpteenth time that hour. She'd been dangling over his shoulder since they left her house and she was everything but happy about it. "I have two legs to use, you know."

"Well, love," Kisame started, and continued to jump from branch to branch in a fast pace. "**If** you wouldn't have tried to escape back there, I might have actually let you walk."

She rolled her eyes and let out a yelp as a twig clashed against her bare thighs. Kisame chuckled slightly and grasped her leg tighter, earning a hard dash against his back.

"Will you _please_ let me walk?" She pleaded before letting out another yelp as a second twig collided with her creamy flesh. "Please? I'll be a good girl," She added, using the sweetest voice she had.

He stopped for a second, obviously trying to decide what to do with her.

"Itachi will kill me if I let you go," He said and tightened the grip around her leg as he jumped from the branch onto the ground. "But I guess I could let you down for just a second," He added and let go of her leg.

She fell to the ground with a thud.

"Couldn't you have let me down a little more careful?" She wheezed as her hands touched the back of her sore thighs. She sighed dramatically and got up on her feet.

Kisame looked her over from head to toe with a grin playing on his lips. "Do you always wear that kind of clothing?" He asked as he ended up resting his eyes on her mid-thighs where the nightgown ended.

Sakura's jaw dropped. She clenched her fists tightly together and scoffed. "Pervert!"

"I'm a man," He reasoned while shrugging his shoulders.

"A man trapped in a fish's body?" She questioned and let her hands go to the back of her thighs again where she healed the broken skin slowly.

Kisame ignored her comment and tilted his head slightly backwards; taking a good look at the full moon above them.

"It's almost midnight. Come." He ordered and started walking. Sakura unwillingly followed him on her bare feet. The ground was cold and hard and the wind was getting colder as well. She took a quick look at the sky, whispering a silent; "Sasuke, where are you?"

* * *

Naruto jumped as Tsunade slammed her fist onto her desk, causing it to break in two.

"I should have seen it coming." She groaned. "Sasuke is in a vulnerable spot right now. I'm sure Itachi's little visit didn't make it any better." Her eyes fell on Naruto as she sighed and leaned back in her chair. "Form a team and take him back. We'll deal with Sakura later."

"But, Tsunade-baachan?" Naruto started. "Shouldn't we get Sakura-chan back as well?"

"Naruto, most of our Jounins are already looking for the Akatsuki members. I can not let more people out of this village right now. Sakura is a strong kunoichi. She'll be alright. I taught her well."

Naruto bit his lip as he watched the Hokage looking out of the window.

"Sasuke is our first priority. Just get him back."

"Hai!" The blonde haired teenager said before running out from the Hokage's office.

"Where's my sake?" Tsunade groaned.

* * *

Sakura sunk down onto the ground with a loud groan. Her feet were killing her.

"Get up," Kisame mumbled and poked her with one of his feet. "We're already late as it is."

"I can't walk anymore." She whimpered and pulled her knees up to her chin while wrapping her thin arms around her legs.

She heard him sigh before two strong arms lifted her up, and she once again found herself dangling over his shoulder.

"How do you like the view?" He asked her.

"What?"

He laughed softly as he spanked her ass lightly. "I sure as hell enjoy mine," He heard her growl angrily before a simple "Pervert," escaped her lips.

Suddenly a shadow appeared in front of the tall Akatsuki member. Sakura felt him tense up slightly. _'What's going on?'_


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four:**

"Geez, Itachi." Kisame growled as he let the pink-haired kunoichi fall off his shoulder again. "Don't do that,"

The other Akatsuki member stepped out of the darkness - his face as emotionless as ever. "You're late,"

"Yeah, well," Kisame started and tilted his head towards the half naked girl behind him. "She was more troublesome than I expected."

Itachi took a quick look at the girl, his crimson eyes glistering in the moonlight. _'So this is the girl my brother loves… How foolish,' _

Sakura felt his eyes upon her and hugged her knees closer to her body. She'd grown up to hate that man. He hurt her Sasuke-kun more times than one, which also meant he'd hurt her.

"The others are waiting," Itachi murmured before taking off into the shadows.

Kisame sighed and turned around to face Sakura. "Sorry bout that love, he hid his chakra. I wasn't sure of whom he was at first."

Sakura kept her gaze locked on the muddy ground she was sitting on. She was tired, and hanging over Kisame's shoulder a couple of more hours wasn't exactly tempting. She felt his cold breath against her bare shoulder as his large hands snaked around her waist.

"Come on then," He said softly as he picked her up in his arms. She waited for him to toss her back to her place over his shoulder, but it never happened. Instead she found herself locked in his death grip as he sprinted after Itachi.

----------

Rain poured viciously down over the two Akatsuki members and their 'hostage'. They'd already gotten to Rain country where they would rest for a day before taking off towards Earth.

Kisame hummed some random song while Sakura slept soundlessly in his arms. He was starting to wonder if she'd ever wake up. Itachi had stayed silent since they teamed up somewhere close to the Rain border. He was never a talkative person, but the constant ignoring from his side started to annoy Kisame.

"What are you going to say to Leader?"

"Hn?"

"About the girl. We were supposed to bring the Kyuubi…"

"Hn,"

Kisame sighed and resisted the urge to throw the sleeping girl over his shoulder just so he could rest his cramping arms if only for a minute. Feeling the rain dripping from his soaked hair onto his face wasn't making him any happier about the situation he was in.

"Itachi," He started and got a quick "No," as a reply from the black-haired man a few feet in front of him.

"No?" Kisame asked, surprise lingering in his voice.

"I will not carry her."

"Can't you jus-"

"I do not like to repeat myself, Kisame."

Another sigh escaped his blue lips as he let the girl down onto the wet grass. "Then I suggest we rest for a bit." The sleeping girl moaned softly as the cold grass collided with her warm skin.

"We're being followed," Itachi replied as he shot Kisame a dangerous look. The shark man knew he'd crossed the line already, but didn't show any kind of attempt to follow the older Uchiha's unspoken rules.

Itachi clenched his fists inside the sleeves of his Akatsuki cloak as he watched his partner continue to walk further into the Rain country. The girl was, however, still on the ground. Her eyes fluttered open as he scooped her up in his arms unwillingly.

"Sasuke-kun?" She whimpered softly as her sea-foam green eyes stared into the Uchiha's blood-red ones. A small smile played across her lightly trembling lips as she closed her eyes again, letting one hand softly caress his cheek while she nuzzled her face in the crook of his neck.

He felt a strange feeling twitch inside the depths of his darkened heart as her breath softly swept over his neck.

Shrugging the feeling off, he took off after Kisame. He might have won this round, but there was no way it would ever happen again.

* * *

Sasuke ran through mud and rain. His feet were clad in layers of dirt, but he didn't care. All his mind was focusing on was getting his Sakura back. 

Pushing through a bush, he ended up falling down a hill – ending up outside the gates to Amegakure. He quickly got up on his feet and knocked hysterically on the large woodened doors.

A young man peeked through a square opening in one of the doors.

"Can I help you?"

"Have you seen two people in black cloaks with a pink haired girl entering this town tonight?" Sasuke asked hurriedly.

The man on the other side of the door closed one eye as he pondered on the question. "No, don't think so,"

"Damn it,"

"Um, would you – would you like to rest for the night? We have a really nice youth hostel in the-"

Sasuke ran off again, leaving the man a bit confused behind. He didn't have time to rest. He needed to find his messed up brother before it was too late.

* * *

Long slender fingers ran through her pink locks as she was softly placed on a bed. A smile tugged at her pink lips as she licked them slowly. Her eyes were closed and relaxed. The bed shifted as somebody lay down beside her, never stopping to caress her hair. She sighed contentedly as she felt the hand slowly make its way down her flushed cheek. She found herself leaning into the hand, carefully kissing the thumb which swept across her slightly parted lips. 

Warmth radiated from his lips, hitting hers like a warm summer-breeze as he leaned in closer to her. His thumb trailed from her cheek down to her chin before continuing its exploration of her silky smooth skin.

"Sakura," He whispered as her small hands stroke his bare back teasingly slow. He closed the gap between them. His lips gently touching hers as his hand rested on her shoulder.

Sakura gave away a silent moan as his tongue ran over her bottom lip; asking for entrance while her hands found their way to his hair.

Long hair…

She opened her eyes lazily, her lips answering to his touches of their own will. Onyx eyes were locked on hers, staring into the depths of her heart.

She smiled into the kiss, and pulled him closer to her naked form.

"Sasuke-kun," She whispered into his lips as her eyes closed again. "Make love to me,"

He kissed his way down to her neck where he carefully ran his tongue over her over sensitive skin.

"Sakura," He whispered again. "I'm not Sasuke."

* * *

**A/N: Sorry for the shortness of this chapter. I had no clue of what to write. **

**I wanna thank all of you who have reviewed this story so far. Your feedback is what keeps me going. **

**Please ignore the spelling mistakes and lack of grammar if you find any errors... English isn't my native language and I actually failed the class when I was still in school. heh :-/ **

**Until next time... **

**-Challa**


	5. Chapter 5

* * *

**A****/N:** Surprise! I wasnt planning on updating before I reached 40 reviews, but I felt like being nice and decided to add the fifth chapter anyway. Don't really know what to say about it. Reviews **are** very much appreciated, just so you know. hint hint

Enjoy!

* * *

**Chapter Five: **

**  
**

Sasuke fell to the ground as exhaustion took over. He couldn't continue. Not with the small amount of chakra he had left. He slowly crawled over to a nearby tree where he hoped to get some shelter from the constant pouring of rain. His back rested against the surprisingly warm tree trunk behind him as he resisted the urge to close his eyes. Even though he was tired – his ninja senses told him to stay sharp.

'Just a quick nap,' He thought to himself as his eyelids threatened to close. 'Just a little…'

* * *

Sakura snapped her eyes open but quickly shut them again as the bright sunlight stung her newly awoken eyes.

"Enjoying yourself?" She heard Kisame's dark voice ask from behind her. She groaned as she sat up and slowly made another attempt to open her eyes. He chuckled darkly as he watched her push a strand of hair away from her face before shooting him a death glare.

"You know," He started. "If I'm not mistaking, it sounded like you were having quite the entertaining dream there,"

A dark blush crept over her pale cheeks as she eyed him angrily. "It was a nightmare," she simply stated.

He chuckled again and raised one of his eyebrows. "Oh? It sounded like you were enjoying it very much."

She scoffed and placed her hands on the ground in front of her and pushed herself up on two feet. A sudden movement from her left; made her quickly turn her head. Her blush deepened as she found herself staring into the eyes of Itachi.

"Hn," He grunted as he looked up at her from the ground.

'_So much like Sasuke,'_ she thought as she nodded discreetly before saying a silent "Good morning,"

The raven haired man handed her a paper cup with steamy hot tea in it. She hesitated before accepting it and glanced quizzically at the blue man to her right. Kisame held his own cup up a little.

"Cheers," He mumbled before bringing the cup to his lips.

Sakura looked down at her own cup, before stealing a glance of Itachi. Why did she have a dream like **that** about **him**? She didn't even know him. Except for the stuff he'd done when Sasuke was younger when he killed their clan.

His black hair was tied back in the regular ponytail he always had, while a few strands of hair hung loosely over his face. She looked him over, quietly comparing his features with his brother's. They were so much alike, yet so different from one another.

She was brought back to her senses when she heard Kisame ask; "Was I in it?"

She blinked twice, gasping slightly as she realized she'd been staring at the older Uchiha for quite some time. If he was annoyed, he didn't show it.

"I-I… What?!" She ended up yelling.

Kisame laughed at the angry kunoichi. She sure was amusing. He watched her roll her eyes before slumping down on the ground. Her legs tucked underneath her butt.

"Or maybe it was about… Weasel-boy over there…?" He smirked.

Itachi choked on his tea and quickly whipped the liquid that escaped his lips off with the sleeve of his cloak. He had heard her moan in her sleep, that was a fact. But he highly doubted he was the one she dreamt of… until he saw her reaction that is.

Sakura felt her cheeks heating up even more than before as she crushed the paper cup with her hand. The warm tea slid over her hand, burning the frail skin before dripping onto her thighs and ending up on the ground.

"I… DO… NOT… Want to have this discussion with you!" She growled through gritted teeth, causing Kisame to laugh even harder.

"Don't worry love, your secret stays with me," He winked and quick glanced at Itachi who stared back at him with something that looked like curiosity hidden in his eyes. _'So the weasel has an interest in his brother's wife… How interesting,'_ He mused to himself.

* * *

Naruto ran through the forest outside of Konoha with his friends; Shikamaru, Neji and Kiba, whom like always, had his dog Akamaru running by his side. Tsunade had sent them off to find Sasuke and bring him back to Konoha before she'd send another team after Akatsuki and Sakura. Somehow she'd found Sasuke to be more of a threat than his childhood friend, considering the fact that he actually abandoned the village once before to seek power from Orochimaru. Naruto had formed the same team when he went to get Sasuke back the first time, so they all had a pretty good idea of he would react when he saw them. Naruto might not be the sharpest tool in the drawer, but he sure knew how to pick his team-mates.

Shikamaru and Neji had recently become members of Konoha's ANBU squad, which made the two of them the highest ranked ninjas of the four. Neji had taken the lead, using his Byakugan ability in hope to find Sasuke quicker. Kiba, now a jounin, used his nose as well as Akamaru's; discretely making the others follow the small trail of Sasuke's chakra he'd obliviously left behind.

The rain had finally stopped pouring down and was instead falling lightly from the darkened sky. If the weather didn't get any better – they'd probably lose Sasuke's trail in a second. So far it seemed like he'd gone towards Rain, which was where they were headed at the moment.

"Why would Akatsuki want Sakura?" Kiba suddenly asked as he fell in step behind Naruto. "I mean, she's got this super human strength and know all that healing stuff, but what good would that do them?"

"Sakura-san is a smart kunoichi," Neji spoke up. "She could be good use for them if they got into combat. They'll become more or less immortal with her on their side."

"There are other medical-nins out there. Why her…?" Kiba asked, obviously not satisfied with the answer Neji gave him.

"She was trained by the legendary Tsunade," Neji shrugged and sped up a little.

"Itachi's punishing Sasuke," Naruto murmured as he ran past Shikamaru who'd stayed quiet since they left Konoha.

Neji looked at the younger ninja, but stayed quiet as he saw the pain written across the blonde's face. He decided to change the subject.

"We'll speed up some more and take a break once we reach the Rain border," He ordered and heard a sigh followed by a "How troublesome," from Shikamaru while Kiba quickly threw a food pill to his dog who barked happily before increasing its speed.

* * *

"We should continue," Itachi said lazily as he got up on his feet. "You keep an eye on our 'guest,'" He added and shot Kisame a glare.

"Come on love,"

Sakura crossed her arms across her chest. "I'm not going,"

Kisame sighed and placed his sword on his back, giving the girl a 'don't push it' look.

"You can't force me to go with you. I'm not your property."

"You **will** go with us. Willingly or not," The shark-man growled and took a step towards the girl; grabbing a fist full of her hair and pulling her off the ground. The playful mood he had been in the entire morning was gone with the wind, and she suddenly realized she was among two S-class criminals who could kill her in a heartbeat. "Now love, will you go with us willingly or do I have to drag you all the way to-"

"Kisame," The sharingan user said sternly. "I believe it's for our guest's best interest if our destination stays unknown,"

The shark-man gave a slight nod and let go of the girl, watching as she landed on the ground before him. She shot him an angry look and stood up, brushed the dust off her knees and stomped after the other Akatsuki member. She turned around quickly – pointing an accusing finger in Kisame's direction.

"If you look at my butt, I swear, I'll kick you where it hurts,"

A blue eyebrow arched behind the forehead-protector Kisame was wearing as he amusedly threw his hands up in defeat. He watched her turn her back towards him again and said a silent "I never knew you liked it rough,"

"I heard that," Her voice echoed through the trees.

The black-haired Akatsuki member closed his eyes slightly as he hid a smirk. That was a comment he didn't need to hear. No matter how tempting the images of the feisty pink-haired girl being 'bad' were. Even though he tried to hide it, he couldn't deny the fact that he found Sakura's company much more amusing than his partner's. His brother sure knew how to pick his women, and maybe, if he played his cards right, he could get **her** too.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Sorry to those of you who read this chapter already. I added some more at the end, the rest is, however, untouched, so if you did read the previous "version" just scroll down to the end or so. **

**Sorry again. **

* * *

**  
**

**Chapter Six:**

Naruto lay sprawled across the green grass, watching the dark grey clouds slowly make their way across the darkening sky. They had finally gotten to the Rain border and were currently taking a break.

Accordingly to Kiba, it seemed like Sasuke had stopped moving. The scent he'd discreetly made them follow had gotten stronger the closer they had gotten to the boarder, so if his nose was correct, like it usually was, they'd probably reach him within an hour or two.

"Yosh! Shall we keep going?" Naruto's cheerful voice asked as he picked himself off the ground and turned to face his team-mates. "The faster we catch Sasuke, the quicker we can save Sakura," He added more to himself than to anyone else.

Neji shot him a knowing look before agreeing. If they paused for too long, Sasuke would probably be out of reach in a little while. They could rest properly when they'd caught up with him.

Shikamaru sighed dramatically before taking his place next to Naruto. Kiba and Akamaru came running from a nearby bush.

"Sorry, had to wet some flowers," The dog-boy grinned.

Neji raised his eyebrows disapprovingly before jumping up on a tree branch. "We'll go north for now. I have a feeling Sasuke is pretty close, but I could be mistaking. Let's go."

And with that the four, well five if you count the furry team-member, took off.

* * *

Sasuke opened his eyes up slowly. Groaning, he sat up and rubbed the sleep from his eyes. He gazed up at the sky, guessing it was around noon, before getting up on his feet quickly. If it was around noon; he'd slept for way too long. He didn't have time for sleep. Not until he'd found Sakura. She was, however, not the main reason for why he left. Sure, he wished his brother had never taken her in the first place, but a part of him was glad he had. He could finally get his revenge.

He brushed the dirt off of his butt and continued his journey through the wet Rain country, completely unaware of the Konoha ninja's which were chasing him.

* * *

_'Ow, ow, oww,'_ Sakura whined inwardly with every limping step she took. Her feet were sore, bruised and tired from all the walking and jumping among the treetops. She was thirsty, cold and dirty all over her skinny form. Her normally soft, pink hair hung in muddy lumps around her pale face, and she hated the fact that the nightgown she was wearing was torn pretty much everywhere; revealing way too much skin to her liking.

She gazed ahead through tear-filled eyes, watching Itachi's cloak sway before her. Kisame was right behind her, keeping a watchful eye on her so she wouldn't escape. She wondered for a second how she ended up in this situation. If Itachi had taken her to piss Sasuke off, he could have done it in a different way. Just by showing up would have done the trick. She figured it must have been something else behind the kidnapping, and she yet had to figure it out.

What did she have that they needed? She was a medic-nin, but by judging from their status, she figured they rarely got hurt, and even if they did – they probably had somebody who healed them already.

A painful groan escaped her dry lips as she felt the sharp edge of a rock pierce through the already bruised skin underneath her foot. She limped over to a bigger rock and sat down before placing the hurt foot over her knee to explore the wound. She felt Itachi's piercing gaze resting upon her, but didn't do anything to acknowledge him.

"Let's go," His soft voice sounded.

She lifted her head a little to look at him before saying a quiet; "Can't we take a five minute break?"

She watched him shift from one foot to the other. "No."

She narrowed her eyes at him and went back to work on her foot. Her healing chakra went to her fingertips before she let them softly travel over the bloody wound. She winched in pain as she touched the sensitive skin, but continued the procedure none the less.

Suddenly a large hand was squeezing her throat tightly and she found herself with her back up against a tree. Surprised green eyes stared into blood-red ones. _'How did he-?' _

"I do not like to repeat myself," He stated calmly as he stared into her innocent emerald eyes. "We will continue to walk until we reach our destination **or** until **I** say we're taking a break."

He let go of her throat and watched her slide off the tree and onto the grass. She coughed slightly as her small hands moved up to her neck where they rubbed her sore throat. She gained her courage and tilted her head upwards to stare him in the eyes while sending more healing chakra to her fingertips. Her hands moved back to the bloody foot and started healing it again. She knew she shouldn't provoke him like that, but right now she didn't care. She saw his red eyes flicker with anger before she found herself being pinned against the tree again.

He tried to keep his cool where he stood only inches away from her face. Her eyes stared into his and he was surprised there wasn't any fear in them.

"You're not afraid of me." He stated cooly. His warm breath caressed her lips as he spoke. "Why?"

She just stared at him. Unable to speak due to the tight grip he held around her throat. She felt her pulse throbbing underneath his hand, screeching for oxygen, but she found none.

"I could kill you if I wanted,"

Her eyes closed at those words but opened up to look into his a second later.

"W-w… Wh-why don't y-you?" She asked slowly.

She swore she saw him smirk. It was barely there, but she believed she saw it. He leaned in closer to her ear, softly brushing his lips against the sensitive skin of her cheek in the process.

She heard him take a slow intake of air before whispering a soft; "You're not worth it." And after that her whole world turned black as she fell limp in his grip.

-------------------------

"Was that really necessary?" Kisame asked annoyingly from behind and watched Itachi pick the girl up before turning around.

"Hn," The raven haired man grunted.

Kisame knew that was the most he'd get out of him for the moment being and decided to let it slide.

"How far till we're there?"

"Another two hours." The Sharingan user replied and started to walk again with his blue friend following tightly behind. He gazed down at the girl in his arms, surprised she hadn't feared him like he expected her to. He couldn't remember the last time somebody had the guts to go against **his** will and still be alive. Normally people wished they were dead the second he laid his eyes on them. But she, this frail girl, was still breathing, and he found himself questioning why he let her live.

From the way she'd tried to heal herself, he figured she must be or had been a medic-nin back in Konoha. That intrigued him. She looked so frail and, weak, and yet she held the power to heal people.

_'Unafraid and with abilities to heal,'_ he thought and once again praised his brother for finding such an interesting girl.

Maybe she could fill more purposes for him than just bait for the Kyuubi.

* * *

She felt herself being dumped onto something soft. Warmth radiated from nearby, engulfing her in a warm embrace. She opened her eyes up slowly, seeing nothing but two onyx eyes before her. A soft groan escaped her lips and she closed her eyes again, trying to ignore the throbbing pain inside her skull.

"Stay here," A soft voice told her before the bed shifted and somebody walked out of the room.

-------------------------

"Sakura," The same voice from before whispered. "I need you to sit up,"

Emerald eyes stared once again into onyx ones. _'When did he get here? Did I fall asleep?'_

"Sakura," He whispered again and watched as her eyes trying to focus on his dark ones. Warm hands pulled her carefully up into a sitting position. "Raise your arms,"

She looked at him for a mere second before shaking her head no. Her eyelids covered her sight again.

"Sakura?" He sighed impatiently. "I'm just going to…" He trailed off as he felt her soft skin underneath his fingertips as they made their way underneath the nightgown. In an instant, her hands were there; pushing his hands away.

"I won't look." He promised and searched her face for a reaction.

A minute of silence passed before she slowly brought her arms up over her head, allowing him to take the torn piece of clothing off. He grabbed the hem of the silky fabric and slid it over her chest, head and hands before tossing it to floor. He felt her eyes resting upon him, and to her surprise he actually held his word and didn't look.

"I'll be back,"

She lay back down and fought to stay awake, but the warmth in the room and the softness of the mattress soon brought her back into dreamland.

-------------------------

The bed shifted again as somebody sat down next to her. She heard the sound of water hitting water before a warm, wet cloth was placed upon her forehead.

"Itachi," Her voice was just above a whisper. "What are you-"

He hushed her and carefully slid another warm cloth over one of her bruised arms, carefully cleaning the cuts and drying off the dirt she'd gotten on her way there. He rinsed the cloth in a white porcelain bowl he'd placed next to the bed and started to work on her leg.

Inch by inch of her naked body he cleaned. A blanket was draped over her chest, tummy and thighs. He thought she might want to take care of those parts herself in the morning. His eyes travelled from her legs up her tummy and chest until they reached her neck before ending up on her face. She was watching him. Confusion reflected in her eyes.

"Why?" She asked. Her mouth felt awfully dry.

"Ssh," He voiced and slid onto the floor. He honestly didn't know why he was taking care of her. It just felt… right.

He lazily moved one of his hands up her arm and shoulder until it got to her chin. He felt her tremble by his touch, which almost made him want to smile. She was so pure. Her big innocent eyes looked at him. Confusion was replaced by curiosity.

-------------------------

She felt his thumb run across her bottom lip. What was he doing?

"Itachi?"

She felt his fingers trail over her cheek before he shifted on the floor. He got up on his feet and did the one thing Sakura never thought he would do.

He pressed his lips softly on hers. Just for a second.

"Sleep," He told her as he made his way towards the door.

She watched him close the door behind him and unconsciously brought her fingers up to her lips where his had lingered a few moments ago.

_'Did he just kiss me?' _


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter Seven:**

Itachi leaned against the door to the kunoichi's current bedroom, wondering what the hell was happening to him. He could feel the tiny amount of chakra she had through the door, signalling she was asleep again. He closed his eyes for a second, still feeling the softness of her lips lingering on his own. A feeling he had never felt before ran through his darkened heart, squeezing the muscle tightly, almost painfully. A sigh escaped his slightly parted lips as he let his head drop.

'_What's happening to me?' _He found himself asking_. 'Why is… why… why her?' _

'_You know why,' _a second voice in his head replied._ 'She belongs to your brother and you can't take that.' _

'_That still doesn't make any sense,' _He reasoned.

'_Since when did things make any sense in your life?' _The second voice asked almost mockingly._ 'Kill her and get it over with.' _

Another sigh escaped as he found himself answering; "That's easier said than done,"

"Did you say something?" Kisame asked as he entered the dark hallway. A smirk crossed his lips as he noticed Itachi hadn't sensed him.

A dark glare was sent in the shark-man's direction. "Why are you still up?"

"Just thought I'd check on our 'guest'"

"Hn,"

"She asleep?" He asked as he appeared next to the Uchiha.

"Hn," Itachi mumbled and pushed himself off of the door he'd been leaning on. "Don't wake her," He added before leaving the kunoichi in his partner's hands.

Kisame shook his head and let an amused grin paint his lips. _'He's got it bad,' _

* * *

"Damn it!" Sasuke growled as his fist connected with a tree. "Damn, stupid, bastard!" He growled as his fist sunk into the wood again. Blood trickled down his almost broken knuckles, painting his clenched fist in a deep red colour. He slumped down onto the grass and let out a frustrated scream.

He had been searching for a trail to follow all day and had ended up only a few miles away from where he woke up that morning.

He cursed himself, his brother, his wife, his life – hating what he'd been through so far. Relationships cause nothing but trouble, he reasoned. Since he first started going out with Sakura on a more _friendly_ level, things had gone nowhere else but down. He screwed up missions, got hurt more often, lost his concentration and nearly stopped training after he proposed to her.

His brother was right. He wasn't strong enough.

"Damn it," He sighed before lying down on the grass. He had no idea where his brother had taken her and he cursed himself once again for marrying that girl.

----------------------------

"Sasuke!" Naruto's voice called from nearby, causing the raven-haired boy to sit up quickly – scanning the area around him.

"Naruto," The younger Uchiha purred angrily as he saw his former team-mate closing in on him.

"Oi! Sasuke!" The blond haired boy shouted again. A happy smile graced his lips. "Yo! We finally caught up with you. Were you lost or something? You kept running in circles all day,"

A fist was thrown in the blonde's face – causing him to tumble over.

"Geez! What crawled up your ass and died?!" A surprised Naruto asked from where he was lying on the ground a few feet away.

"Hn," Sasuke muttered and whipped the blood from his hand onto the shirt he was wearing.

Suddenly three other figures appeared in front of him, making Sasuke sigh again. _'They just keep showing up,' _

* * *

Sakura shifted in her sleep as the door slowly creaked open. Soft footsteps shuffled over the woodened floor and a few seconds later a semi-warm breeze entered the room through the half open window.

Footsteps moved over to the bed before the mattress softly sunk further down as somebody took their place next to her sleeping form.

"Sasuke-kun," The pink haired girl whispered in her sleep as she turned towards the warm body, longing for somebody to hold her.

Soft fingers touched her bare shoulder as this person carefully pulled the blanket down – revealing her creamy-white arms. A gasp was heard as the blanket no longer hid her chest and the bed shifted once again.

Something soft tickled her cheek as she felt a hot breath caressing her face. Slowly, she opened her eyes and was met with a robotic-looking one.

A high-pitched scream echoed throughout the Akatsuki base that morning, tightly followed by a manlier one.

----------------------------

Itachi woke up to the sound of his 'guest' screaming and quickly made his way out of his room. He ran into Kisame in the cold corridor, who seemed pissed off to have gotten woken up so early.

"What happened?" Itachi asked hurriedly.

The shark-man merely shrugged his shoulders and made his way towards the room where he'd last seen the kunoichi, with Itachi following him tightly behind.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?!" Sakura's voice shouted angrily before she sent the blonde intruder flowing through the wall. He groaned as he fell to the floor in the corridor and brought one hand up to his chin, flinching as he touched the now broken jaw.

Three figures appeared next to him; one with an indifferent look on his face, and two slightly surprised ninjas.

"How **dare** you?" The woman growled angrily as she stepped closer to him. The blanket was wrapped securely around her tiny body.

Itachi blinked twice. His eyes went from the girl to his 'friend' and back to the girl again. Splintered pieces of wood laid sprawled out in front of his 'friend'. _'Did she just send him through the wall?'_

"What happened?" A red-haired man asked as he knelt down beside the blonde man.

"He," she started with a low voice. "He… What the hell were you doing in **my** room, in **my** bed?" She yelled while pointing an accusing finger at him.

"I think the question is; what were **you** doing in **my** room, yeah?" He growled as he stared angrily, yet surprised, at the petite teenager before him.

Sakura raised her eyebrows. '_His room?'_ She furrowed them again. "What were you doing pulling my blankets off then?"

The blonde pushed the redhead away and replied with a simple; "I thought you were a present."

Anger rose up in the pink haired kunoichi at those words. "Present? PRESENT?! I'll give you a fucking present!" She screamed as she threw herself at the helpless man on the floor, only to be pulled off and thrown back into the bedroom by a pair of strong arms.

She landed on the floor with a thud. Her green eyes stared angrily into crimson ones. "Calm down," Itachi's velvety voice told her.

"Fuck you!" She snapped before getting thrown into one of the non-broken walls. Itachi's hand was holding her up by the neck.

"Don't use such foul language. It doesn't suit you." He said softly while having his eyes locked on hers.

She tried to push him off, which resulted in the grip on her neck to tighten.

"That's Deidara over there." He muttered to the angry kunoichi before turning his head to an equally angry Deidara. "Deidara, this is Sakura." He turned towards the kunoichi again. "Is it safe to put you down now?"

She continued to glare into his red eyes, refusing to answer. Her throat started throbbing again, signalling she needed oxygen. He let her down and took a step back; keeping his gaze fixed on her – ready to hold her if she was to attack the blonde again.

Her eyes travelled to the 'Deidara' guy as anger rose up inside of her again. She made a quick attempt to attack him, but found herself being pinned against the wall once again by no-one else but Itachi.

The blanket she had worn fell to the floor, leaving her completely naked before him. His naked chest pressed against hers as he kept her in place. She felt his breath hitting her flushed cheeks. Strands of his long hair tickled the overly-sensitive skin of her shoulders. And something, she never thought she would feel, poked her thigh through his black sweatpants.


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Gosh, this chapter was hard to write. I actually finished it last night but wasnt satisfied with it which resulted in another sleepless night 'sighs' I changed it this morning and um, I guess its better now than before. (I kinda avoided the 'itasaku' situation the first time) :P **

**Anyways. I just wanna say a big thank you to everyone who have reviewed this story so far. Reviews make me super happy so please keep 'em coming ;) **

**Aaight. On with the story... **

* * *

**Chapter Eight:**

Sakura shifted uncomfortably where she was trapped between the wall and the older Uchiha. A dark blush appeared on her cheeks as she felt his member twitch by her sudden movement. Biting her lip; she shyly looked up – searching his face for any kind of answer.

Warmth radiated from his crotch – causing a pleasurable shiver to run through her body. This was wrong. This was Itachi, Sasuke's brother and her brother in law. But that only seemed to turn her on more.

Her body suddenly acted on its own. Her breasts pressed hard against his chest as she arched her back to get more body contact. A gasp was heard from the man in front of her as a silent whimper escaped the kunoichi's lips.

Teeth sunk into his bottom lip – preventing him from saying or doing something that might cause something else to happen with the girl pressed against his body. _'Control yourself,'_ He repeated in his head.

The girl in front of him was silently looking him in the eyes. Innocence shone through those big green seas of purity which made him twitch again. _'Naked Kisame, naked Kisame, naked Kisame. Fuck!'_

-------------------------------_  
_

Kisame, Deidara and the redhead was still standing in the corridor; obviously arguing about what had taken place a few moments ago.

"She can have the room, yeah," Deidara said angrily. "What do I need a room with only **three** walls for?"

"If you would have left her alone in the first place, it would still have been four," Kisame's dark voice replied. "Why are you here anyway? I thought your mission ended tomorrow."

"It was easier than we thought," The red head muttered before turning to leave. "Breakfast in half an hour," He added knowing Kisame was shooing him with his large hand like he always was.

"She's fixing the wall, yeah," The blonde started. "I want it done by tonight, yeah." And then he took off as well.

Kisame sighed and took a quick glance at the two pressed against the wall. "He's gone now,"

"Hn,"

"Aren't you gonna let her down?"

"Hn,"

The shark-man continued to watch them with a smirk gracing his blue-tinted lips. "Don't do anything I wouldn't," He winked before leaving the two of them alone.

-------------------------------

Itachi's grip on Sakura softened when they were finally alone. He took a step back and ran a hand through his long hair. Sakura looked down on her bare feet, refusing to look him in the eye. The blush on her normally pale cheeks deepened as she found herself comparing the older Uchiha's member with the younger's one.

"You smell." His voice said – bringing her out of her thoughts.

"W-what?" She asked quietly and raised her head a little. Sea-green eyes locked on crimson ones. _'What a nice way to ruin the moment,'_

"You smell." He said again. "There's a bathroom down the hall… second door to the right. Breakfast is in about 30 minutes. I'll send Kisame to get you." He added and turned to leave.

She glanced at his naked back. His long black hair covered almost half of it. She took a quick look at the now ruined wall a few feet away from her and spoke up; "I-I'm sorry about the wall,"

He stopped by the sound of her voice but didn't turn around. "Hn," he muttered before disappearing, leaving her alone in the room.

The pink haired girl sighed and let her head drop once more before gathering enough courage to go to the bathroom like Itachi had instructed her to do. She knew she smelled and it was partly his fault. He didn't have to spit it out like he had though. Sighing again, she pushed the bathroom door open and entered the sunlit room. A smile graced her lips as she noted the water already filling the tub up.

"Guess he's not so bad after all,"

-------------------------------

A knock on the door was heard and Sakura quickly covered herself up where she was in the tub.

"Can I come in?" She heard Kisame's voice ask from the other side of the door.

"How about no…?" She tried and watched as the door flew open anyway.

"Breakfast's almost done. Itachi sent me to get you." The blue man said and placed a heap of something black on the floor along with a towel. "He said to wear that," He added while pointing at the things he'd just placed on the floor.

"Ok, now leave." She shooed him, waving a hand in the air.

"I'd rather stay here," He winked and watched her cheeks turn a bright pink colour.

"That's nice, but no thanks. Could you…?" she tried again.

"Fine," He muttered and went towards the door. "I'll be right outside. Just call my name if you need someone to dry you off,"

The bar of soap she'd been cleaning herself with flew through the room – hitting the large Akatsuki member in the back of his head.

"I'm going, I'm going." He muttered under his breath and closed the door behind him.

Sakura rinsed her hair once more in the warm water before getting out of the tub. Her wet feet clashed against the cold bathroom floor, leaving wet footprints on the bright stone floor as she walked over to where Kisame had left the towel and the clothes. She dried herself off quickly and wrapped the fluffy towel around her head while she took a glance at the other items.

Black sweatpants, probably Itachi's were pulled over her legs. A dark grey mesh shirt, also which she believed had belonged to Itachi, covered the upper part of her body. She eyed the black cloak with red clouds which lay before her on the floor. _'I'm not wearing that,'_ she told herself and quickly towel dried her pink locks before walking over to the door. She opened it slowly – revealing a bored looking Kisame standing there waiting for her.

"The cloak," He hinted.

She shot him an angry glare and folded her arms across her chest. "I'm not wearing it."

"The cloak," He stated and copied her 'folding-arms-across-chest' action. She rolled her eyes discretely before disappearing into the bathroom again, only to come out a few seconds later with the Akatsuki cloak covering up everything but her head.

"Come on love," Kisame said softly and placed a hand on her shoulder – leading her through the corridor to the kitchen where Itachi, Deidara and the red-head sat; quietly waiting for the other two.

-------------------------------

Deidara shot the pink-haired girl an angry look as he saw her being lead through the doorway by the larger Akatsuki member. He rose from his seat and left the room. Kisame led her to the table and pulled a chair out for her - taking a seat where Deidara had currently been sitting, next to the red-head. Sakura's eyes rested on him for a few seconds until he spoke up.

"Sasori," He introduced himself.

"Sakura," She answered him with a nod.

"You must be hungry… dig in,"

"Thank you," She bowed and reached for a slice of bread.

Itachi sat on the opposite side of the table from her, watching her every move. He sipped his tea quietly and cursed himself for not having enough self-control to make his hard-on disappear. Kisame was giving him quite the amused look which made him wonder if he somehow knew about the _intruder_. Luckily for him though, the cloak he was now wearing covered it up nicely.

* * *

"So, Sakura," Sasori started. "Where are you from?"

"Konoha," Kisame answered for her and received a glare from the girl.

Sasori nodded and sipped his tea. "Like Itachi then." He muttered for himself and shot the Uchiha a discreet look. "Do you know why you've been taken hostage?"

Sakura shook her head no and glanced at the raven-haired man in front of her – gasping as she noted the intense stare he had fixed on her. She quickly looked away and folded her hands on her lap; nervously fiddling with the wedding ring Sasuke had given her. Somehow she had completely forgotten about it and she was a bit surprised to see that it was still there on her finger.

"Neither do I," The red-head shrugged before turning completely to face Itachi. "Weren't you supposed to bring the _thing_?"

"She was better," Itachi's low voice replied.

"For you or for us…?" Kisame's dark voice asked quietly as he rose from his seat. He turned towards Sakura and gave her a toothy grin before leaving her alone with the other two.

Sakura furrowed her eyebrows in confusion at that last comment but decided to let it slide. She figured she probably didn't want to know the answer to that question anyway.

"Sakura…" Sasori said quietly as if he was trying to solve a puzzle. "As in Haruno Sakura, medic-nin and trained by the legendary Tsunade?"

"H-hai," She replied softly.

"Uchiha Sakura," Itachi cut in and received a confused look from the redhead. "She married my brother," He added before Sasori had the time to ask.

"Ah," Sasori mused with a knowing smile playing on his lips. _'So that's why they brought her and not the Kyuubi. From the looks of it – he didn't even know she was trained by **her**.'_ "Well, Sakura-san, please excuse me. I have to go check on my partner," He rose from his seat, bowed slightly and left the room as well.

-------------------------------

Sakura felt a blush taint her cheeks again as she realized she was alone with Itachi. Silence crept up on them. Itachi took another sip of his tea before speaking;

"You will wear that cloak while you're here."

She looked up at him with a disapproving look in her eyes. As she was about to protest; he spoke again.

"You're not allowed outside of these walls unless Kisame or I am with you. You will obey us and heal us when needed. Deidara's room can be left as it is; he'll take your room instead, which means you will be sleeping in mine."

Her jaw dropped at those words. Anger flashed quickly in her green eyes as she clenched her fist. "I will not sleep in your room," She spat.

Before she even had the time to react; she found herself pinned against the wall. Itachi's eyes flashed dangerously in front of her.

"You will do as I say," He growled.

"F-fuck you!" She wheezed through clenched teeth and felt a hand squeeze her throat tightly.

"I think I recall telling you not to use such foul language." He whispered and felt her little hand tug at his wrist. He let go of her throat and let her slide down onto the floor. Her ragged breath was the only thing he heard in the quiet room as she filled her lunges with air once again. He turned to leave but stopped before he reached the door and turned to face her. Her innocent yet angry eyes stared into his crimson once as he slowly said; "You're pathetic,"

Sakura bit her trembling lip when she was finally alone again. _'Sasuke-kun where are you?'_


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter nine: **

Naruto and his team headed back to Konoha with an unconscious Sasuke as their extra baggage. After a deadly fight between the five ninjas, Neji had finally gotten a chance to put Sasuke out by hitting one of his pressure points. They were on their way back to Tsunade to hear what to do next. She was, after all, the Hokage and the one who laid the mission-rules.

"We'll stop once we get to the Rain border, spend the night there and then continue back home first thing in the morning," Neji informed from his position at the front.

"Hai!" The other team-members agreed and continued to jump from tree to tree.

Shikamaru, the shadow user, muttered a silent "This is so troublesome," where he carried Sasuke on his back.

Naruto turned to face him, "Want me to take Sasuke-bastard for a while?"

Shikamaru shook his head no and sprinted past the blond teenager. "I can handle it,"

The pink-haired kunoichi sighed deeply where she was walking through the nearly pitch black hallway in the Akatsuki hideout. She hadn't seen anyone since Itachi left her alone in the kitchen and it was getting on her nerves.

'_How can they just disappear like that?'_ She asked herself and pushed open an already half-open door to her right. She stepped into the room and nearly jumped out of her skin when she spotted the half naked blonde, also known as Deidara, on the only bed in the room.

"I-I'm sorry," She stuttered and turned to leave the room when the medic in her suddenly kicked in. He was hurt and it was after all, her job to heal people. Glancing shyly at him, she slowly made her way over the stone-floor.

Deidara stared at her quizzically as she got closer to him. Was she still pissed off because he tried to steal a glance at her womanly forms and had decided to hurt him again? He didn't know, and he didn't want to find out either.

Sliding closer to the wall; he looked accusingly at the pink haired kunoichi before him.

"Why are you here, yeah?" He asked quietly before winching heavily as pain shot through his jaw.

"Let me take a look," She stated more than asked and reached her hand towards his flawless face. "I won't hurt you," She added quietly with a concerned look in her eyes.

----------------------

Feather light fingers traced the blonde's jaw line. Cool chakra escaped the fingertips, gently soothing the soreness and pain.

"This might hurt," Sakura spoke softly and took a firm grip around Deidara's chin. One blue eye stared frightened at her green ones before a loud snap was heard – followed by a loud scream.

She placed her fingers just below his ears and massaged his jaw gently. "Better?"

A tear-filled eye stared back at her before a weak "Yeah," was spoken. The medic-nin withdrew her hands and gave a soft smile before saying; "Sorry about that,"

"No worries, yeah," The blond replied and opened and closed his mouth like a fish. "Thanks,"

A content smile appeared on the kunoichi's lips as she looked at the man before her. "How's your back?" She asked and watched him turn to his left, then right.

"Ok," A small smile played on his lips. "I'm sorry about this morning, yeah"

A blush crept over the pink haired girls cheeks. "I'm sorry."

"No, I shouldn't have tried to… to…" He glanced down at his hands.

"It's ok." She spoke after a while.

Sakura's emerald eyes studied the half naked body in front of her curiously. A hairless chest, lightly tanned and muscular rose and fell as the male breathed. Resisting the urge to touch, she let her eyes wander upwards instead – resting on the slightly feminine features of the blond Akatsuki member's face. One blue eye sparkled with amusement as the kunoichi sighed softly. Blushing at the sudden twitch on the male's lips, she quickly looked away.

"I see you're getting friendly," Kisame's dark voice cooed from the doorway. Sakura quickly turned around; not missing the amused twinkle in the shark man's eyes.

"I was just,"

"She just healed me, yeah," Deidara cut in. Sakura gave him a thankful smile which he returned with a smile of his own.

"Uh-huh," The blue man winked before turning serious again. "We're off to see Leader. I believe Itachi spoke to Sasori about some rules regarding the kunoichi," He added, ignoring the annoyed look Sakura shot him at the 'kunoichi' comment. She had a name and it wasn't _kunoichi_. "She's to stay in his room for the night. We'll be back tomorrow."

Deidara nodded slightly and watched as the large man made his way towards the girl.

"Be a good hostage now, or I might have to punish you when I get back," Kisame whispered seductively in her ear and received a slap in the back of his head from her.

"Pervert," She growled and rolled her eyes.

"You know you like it, love," He winked before leaving the room.

Sakura sighed and gave the blonde a helpless look with an added pout on her lips. Deidara only laughed softly before getting off the bed and leading her out of the room. "Don't pull me into whatever you have going on with him, yeah," He teased and laughed as another growl escaped the medic's lips.

* * *

Two onyx eyes fluttered open and was met with leaves and branches along with a bun of dark hair. Sasuke inwardly growled as he realized they'd won the fight with him earlier on and was now taking him to a place he didn't want to see just yet.

Hatred flashed through his dark eyes as they quickly switched to red. Strong hands gripped the throat attached to the messy bun and a strangled gasp was heard from the person as they both fell to the ground.

Sasuke quickly got up on his feet once he'd made contact with the grassy surface and sprinted hurriedly the opposite direction away from the ninjas he had once befriended. They were annoying and were currently ruining his mission.

Taking one quick glance at the lifeless body he'd left behind, he welcomed the darkness that embraced his empty heart. His mission was clear now. The girl meant nothing. All he wanted was his revenge and with the sudden power he felt rising up within him he knew he wouldn't fail. Not this time.

* * *

**A/N: Sorry it's so short. I'm kinda experiencing a writers block right now. I have a few scenes I'm gonna use in the end of the story, but the process of getting there is - well, the problem. **

**Anyways. I wanna say thanks again to everyone who have reviewed this story so far. And I will try to make the next chapter longer. **

**Thanks for reading :) **

**//Challa**


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter ten: **

Sasori sat silently outside of the Akatsuki hideout, painting one of his newly made puppets when Deidara came out and joined him. The red-head gave a simple nod and watched the blonde sit down on the grass a few feet from him before he went back to his puppet. Deidara's previously naked chest was now covered in a black cloak with red clouds, which seemed to be the Akatsuki's signature dress code.

A comfortable silence stretched out between the two team-mates. They'd been working together for a few years now, and got along well with one another even though they had their differences.

Sasori created puppets as an art **and** secret weapon, while Deidara had specialised himself with clay; exploding clay. Their point of views on what **art** and **beauty** was was different, and they had spent countless nights arguing about who was right and who was wrong.

Breaking the silence; Sasori suddenly spoke up, "Where's the girl?"

Deidara lay down on the grass – enjoying the warm caress the sun gave his face. "I think she's in the kitchen, yeah," Sasori nodded.

"Itachi and Kisame went to see Leader,"

"Kisame told us. He said Itachi had laid down some rules, yeah?"

"Us?" The puppet-master asked.

"Yeah, the kunoichi and me," The blonde replied with a playful smile on his lips.

"You should stay out of the way," Sasori warned his team-mate. "Itachi seems to be fond of the girl and you know what he does when things get in his way,"

A confused eye opened up as the blonde shifted and held himself up with one hand. "What do you mean, yeah?"

"Just try not to get too attached to the girl," Sasori sighed and silently cursed. His conversation with Deidara had made him loose his concentration which had caused him to paint a thick black stripe across the face of the previously perfectly painted puppet in his lap.

Deidara eyed the puppet for a few seconds. "Is moustaches the new signature, yeah?" He asked with a hint of amusement in his voice.

"Deidara…!" Sasori muttered dangerously low.

In a heartbeat the blond was up on his feet – running in through the kitchen door and almost knocking the pink haired hostage onto the floor. She lost her balance and fell to the ground, unconsciously taking a hold around Deidara's wrist and pulling him with her as well.

Groaning she opened her eyes up slowly. A blush appeared on her cheeks as she stared directly into the eyes of the clay-user whose face was merely an inch away from hers.

"Deidara!" Sasori growled and pulled his team-member off of the girl. "What did I just say?"

"It was an accident, yeah," Deidara replied and gave Sasori a childish grin before he reached his hand towards Sakura who accepted it and found herself on her own feet in a second. "Sorry Sakura, yeah" He apologized with a slight bow and left her alone with Sasori.

A confused kunoichi raised her eyebrows as she smiled uncertainly towards the red-head. He sighed quietly before closing the door behind him.

"I'm sorry Sakura-san, he…" He trailed off and motioned for her to walk with him. They left the kitchen and made their way through the still dark hallway. "Itachi said you couldn't go outside unless he or Kisame was with you, so I'm locking the doors in a bit. Also, you are to sleep in his room while you're here," He opened a door and led her through another corridor. "His room is here," He added and opened a door to his left – leading her into a dark room. "There's a bathroom there," he pointed to her right, "And Deidara or I will bring you food until he's back."

"You're locking me in?" She asked uncertainly.

"Well, yes," The puppet master replied and walked over to the door. "I'm sorry Sakura-san, but it's for your own safety." He added before leaving and locking the door behind him.

A sigh escaped Sakura's lips as she threw herself onto the large bed in the middle of the room. _'Great, just great,'_ she rolled over onto her stomach and placed her head on top of her hands. Her feet dangled over the edge of the mattress as another sigh was heard. She rolled over a third time, feeling boredom sinking in on her.

"I hate you, Itachi," She muttered before closing her eyes and falling asleep.

* * *

"Itachi, Kisame," Leader's inhumanly voice spoke. "You failed to bring the Kyuubi, how come?"

The two men looked at the silhouette of their leader who was surrounded by darkness. A light glow shone from behind him, but it still didn't give the two team-mates any clue of what he looked like.

Kisame glanced at his comrade. It was Itachi's idea to bring the girl, which, accordingly to Kisame, meant he should be the one to explain their actions. However, Itachi stayed quiet like always; either not being in the mood to reply or waiting for Kisame to explain the situation.

"Itachi," Leader spoke sternly.

"We figured it would be better if the Kyuubi came to us, so we took a hostage instead," Itachi's soft voice replied.

"A hostage?"

"Hn, the Kyuubi's best friend," Kisame nodded to that.

"And the Kyuubi knows about the abduction?" Leader asked, not entirely satisfied with the stunt the two of his favourite members had pulled.

"Hn,"

The silhouette stayed quiet for a couple of minutes, going over the information Itachi had given him. Kisame switched rather bored from foot to foot, awaiting some kind of comment on what they had recently told their leader. Samehada grew heavier on his back as he resisted the urge to sigh.

"Very well," Leader said suddenly. "You will keep the hostage for two weeks. If the Kyuubi hasn't shown up by then, somebody's bound to get hurt,"

Kisame winched slightly. He knew what leader had done to those who had failed missions in the past, and he did not want to go through the same pain and horror they had.

"Hn," Itachi muttered. His face was calm like it always was. No emotions showed through; not even his voice gave the slightest hint of what he was feeling nor thinking.

Silence stretched out between the three. They were bound to stay until he dismissed them. "Who is the hostage?"

Itachi had hoped that question would have stayed un-asked. He did not want his leader to get suspicious.

"Uchiha Sakura," Kisame replied. There was no use lying to un-named person. He would eventually stumble over the truth anyway.

"Uchiha?" He echoed with a hint of curiosity in his normally robotic voice. If shadows hadn't hidden his face, they both would have seen a very unpleasant mischievous grin playing on his lips. "You're dismissed," He finally said and watched as they bowed before him before leaving.

Once they were out of his place, he turned towards the shadows. "Find out what you know about this Uchiha Sakura,"

"Hai, Leader-sama," A purring voice replied.

"Uchiha Sakura," Leader repeated once he was alone. "I'm on to you Itachi," He added with a devilish laugh.

* * *

Rain poured down over the two Akatsuki members as they escaped their leader's hideout. Itachi was keeping his eyes hard on the forest before them; anger crawled through his system with an urge to kill. Kisame gazed up at the sky, cursing the weather for shifting too often for his liking. It had been sunny and warm when they got there, and now the sky was nearly black. Sighing he pumped his chakra to his feet and jumped onto a nearby tree-branch. Itachi followed him lazily.

"Seems like we're getting home earlier," The larger one of the two spoke. "You think she's been good?" He added – referring to the kunoichi.

Itachi stayed quiet. Talking wasn't his thing. Besides, the mentioning of Sakura made his heart twitch. Was he really going to let **her** get him hurt if the Kyuubi didn't show up?

'_Killing her would be easier,'_ a voice in his head murmured. _'You should have taken the Kyuubi when you had the chance,'_ it added with a hint of mockery.

Squeezing his eyes shut – he pushed his thoughts away. He was tired and pissed off. As he opened his eyes again he noticed Kisame was watching him with a concerned look on his face. Kisame stayed quiet though, which he was grateful for.

Supressing a sigh, he allowed his thoughts to take over his mind again. They weren't mocking him now and weren't as aggressive as they had been earlier. No. Now they focused on the girl at their hideout; whose mood swings and split personality kept him on edge. He wasn't used to that, but he liked it. She was dangerous, dangerous to him.

* * *

Sakura pushed the now empty plate across the floor. Sasori had woken her up and given her dinner. It wasn't anything fancy but still eatable. A ball of rice and some chicken plus an apple she decided to save until she got hungry again. She reached for the glass of water he'd brought her and gulped it down all at once, before getting off the bed and placing the glass on top of the plate.

She walked over to the small window and sighed as she looked out of it. Rain was pouring down heavily outside. She liked the rain, but preferred sunshine. Rain was soothing and made her calm, but it also made her depressed.

Letting out a yawn she decided it was time for bed. She had no idea when Itachi would be back, but decided that **if** he would get back earlier than expected; she wanted to be asleep.

As she removed the cloak from her body she heard a soft knock on the door.

"Sakura, yeah, I just wanted to say good night, yeah" Deidara said from the other side of the door.

A smile tugged at her lips as she replied with content; "Good night Deidara-san,"

After stripping off the rest of her clothing, she finally slinked under the covers. An annoyed growl escaped her lips as she threw the pillows onto the floor before making herself comfortable again. Itachi smelling pillows was nothing she wanted near her right now.

A few minutes later she sat up straight, got off the bed and picked the two pillows up. Burrowing her nose into the soft material, she breathed in deeply.

'_Might as well use them while I have the chance,'_ she mused to herself and went back to the bed; falling asleep almost immediately with one pillow underneath her head and the other one pressed tightly against her chest.

----------------------

A few hours later, the door opened up and in came a soaking wet Itachi. Stripping off his clothes he walked over to the bed and sat down. His one hand searched for his pillow, but it was no where to be found. Using his Sharingan he saw the kunoichi sleeping soundlessly with her arms tightly wrapped around it. He snatched it away from her and laid down – covering up his form with the black silky covers. He heard Sakura mumble something in her sleep and then felt one tiny arm wrap itself around his waist as her body pressed tightly into his back. He ignored the tingling feeling he felt in his chest and closed his eyes, falling asleep almost immediately.

If he thought sleep would keep the kunoichi away from him – he was wrong. Because he had a dream, a disturbingly romantic dream of a certain girl named Sakura and a man named Itachi.

* * *

**A/N: You guys love me, dont you:P **

**I dont know where this came from. I was out having a cig and went back inside when I was done and just started writing. I think this is my longest chapter so far. **

**Thanks again for all the reviews you've left me. I love reading them. They make me happy and give me inspiration in a way. so thanks :)**

**Hope you like this chapter. I know I do. ;P  
**

**Until next time... **

**//Challa **


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: WARNING! This chapter contains smut or lemon.. Whatever you call it. Is there a difference between the two? **

**I could have made this chapter longer, but it's taken me all day and I'm a bit tired right now. **

**Anyways... Enjoy! **

* * *

**  
**

**Chapter eleven: **

_The scent of roses filled his nostrils as the pink haired girl made her way towards him where he was lying half naked on the bed. The feather light fabric of a white silk robe slid off the girl's soft creamy white skin and landed on the floor behind her. Placing her small hands on his naked chest; she pushed him lightly onto his back – straddling his hips in the process. Her pink locks caressed his heated cheeks as she leant down closer to his face – softly pressing her lips onto his. _

_His hands moved lazily over her naked back; his fingertips tracing her spine softly, making her moan quietly onto his lips. _

_Small hands slid through his long black hair, lightly pulling his head to his left. Plump lips sucked the revealed skin on his neck, forcing a surprised gasp to escape his lips. _

"_Sakura," He whispered barely audible as his hands found their way to her neck. Pulling her closer to his face he kissed her hungrily on the lips. The tip of his tongue pushed lightly on her lower lip – asking for entrance which she gave him with a content sigh. _

_Grinding her sex over his crotch, she heard him moan excitedly. His hands moved down her shoulders to the small of her back where they held her in place as he thrust his hips upwards, letting her feel the hard and waiting flesh in between his legs. _

_He pushed her off of him onto the bed and found himself placed in between her welcoming thighs. His member twitched with excitement as his eyes took in the naked body underneath him. Her big emerald eyes twinkled like the diamonds they were as they looked up into his onyx coloured ones. Her pink lips pouted slightly as she waited for him to kiss her again. Her petite hands slid up his muscular arms until they reached his shoulders where strands of his hair awaited her touch. _

_She ran her fingers through his hair, surprised over the silky feeling it had. She pulled him closer and felt his hot breath hitting her clamp skin, making her arch her back in need of more body contact. _

_His lips found hers again. His teeth nibbled softly on the plump flesh as she moaned. Sliding his tongue down her chin and neck; her paused to look at her angelic face before continuing the exploration of her body. _

_One hard nipple got sucked into his warm mouth. He slid his tongue over the rosy bud, earning another moan from the girl beneath him. Two fingers pinched the other one and as he gave butterfly kisses in between the girl's breasts, down her flat stomach until he reached her private place. Glancing up at the girl, he ran his tongue over the sensitive bundle of nerves. _

_A satisfied gasp escaped Sakura's lips as she felt Itachi's smooth tongue massaging the most private and sensitive part of her body. She felt his hands slide over her legs and thighs before they pushed them further apart to give him more access. He dipped his tongue into her waiting hole and flicked it around rather fast – making Sakura throw her head back onto the mattress while she dug her fingers into the soft sheets. _

"_It-Itachi," She gasped as he went back to her clit. He kissed it softly before kissing his way up her stomach and chest until he reached her face. _

_Panting, she pulled him closer and kissed his lips hungrily while she felt him positioning himself by her opening. _

_He pulled away from her hungry lips and took a firm, yet gentle grip of her hips and slowly thrust his member into her waiting body. The moan which escaped her lips made him almost loose control. He loved it. He loved hearing her moan his name. He loved the way her body felt around his throbbing length. He loved watching as her face switched from surprised and excited to one full of pleasure. He loved… making love… to _her

_Leaning over her sweaty body, he pressed his lips onto hers again and felt her tug painfully hard on his hair. Increasing his speed, he felt her nails dig hard into his shoulders as she moaned his name. Her eyes rolled to the back of her head as she muttered a silent; "Get off," _

_Furrowing his brows in confusion he looked down at her and heard a crash coming from his side. He turned his head towards the sound and saw no-other than… _

----------------------

"Deidara?"

"Sorry Itachi-san, I didn't know you were back already. I see you're busy, sorry I disturbed, yeah?" The blonde said hurriedly as he quickly gathered the shattered pieces of a plate along with a broken glass and a spoon and placed them on a tray before leaving the room in a rush.

Itachi blinked twice. _'That was odd,'_ He thought and were about to lay down when he suddenly got a fist in his face.

"Will you get off now you pervert!?"

Gazing down he saw the pink haired kunoichi lying beneath him. Her emerald eyes shone with anger as she stared up into his almost black ones. Blinking again he rolled off of her, noticing to his horror that he was hard. Painfully hard. And he had tried to…

"What the hell were you doing?" She yelled. "You, you, you…" She ended that sentence with a growl and were about to hit him again, but he grabbed her wrist and pinned her to the mattress instead.

"Get off!"

"Calm down," He said in a low voice, surprised at what he had dreamt during the night. He hadn't had a dream like that in a long time. Hell, he couldn't remember if he had **ever** had a dream like that. It had seemed so…

"Let go," She commanded sourly and tried to break free from his grip.

Suppressing a sigh, he let go of her and rolled onto his side of the bed again.

"I hate you," He heard her mutter before she got off the bed and headed for the bathroom. Seconds later he heard the shower running. Glancing down at his erect member, he decided he should take a shower too and maybe get rid of some tension.

* * *

Deidara entered the kitchen with the broken porcelain and placed it on the table. Sasori looked at him quizzically.

"What happened?" The puppet-master asked and watched as a deep blush crept over the blonde's cheeks.

"Nothing, yeah,"

Raising an eyebrow he said a simple; "Oh?"

Deidara ignored the curious stares from his team-mate and grabbed a new cup – pouring some tea in it and sat down by the table. Sasori shrugged it off and continued to fix the puppet Deidara had 'ruined' the day before.

Kisame entered the kitchen a few minutes later. He placed Samehada against the wall and waved a good morning to his comrades before taking a seat by the table as well.

"You're back early," Sasori muttered and received another wave from the shark-man. Glancing at Deidara he thought back on the expression he'd worn when he entered he kitchen. _'Guess he ruined something earlier,'_ He thought amusedly.


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: 'gasps' Two chapters in one day again?! Gosh:P **

**Since most of you were unsatisfied with the previous chapter I thought I should make it up to you by posting a longer one. So here it is.. **

* * *

**Chapter twelve: **

Sakura stepped out of the foggy bathroom and glanced around the room to see if Itachi was still there. She couldn't see him, so she made her way over to the bed, knelt down beside it and let the towel drop to the floor as she picked up her clothes.

She pulled on the same pants she'd worn the day before and was just about to pull the top over her head when the door opened up, revealing an almost naked Itachi.

"Can't you knock?" She asked sourly and turned around so he wouldn't see her naked chest. Pulling the top on she turned around again and gave the Sharingan user a glare before putting on the cloak he'd given her.

Itachi didn't reply. Instead he walked over to a dresser Sakura hadn't seen before, and pulled out a new outfit for the day, which looked exactly like the one he'd worn the day before. He let the towel he'd wrapped around his waist fall to the floor and smirked as he saw Sakura blush and turn her back towards him.

Sakura heard him walk across the room and turned around – coming face to face with the elder Uchiha. He leaned closer to her face; the scent of musk filled her nostrils. "This is my room, kunoichi," He said and leaned in even closer.

Sakura's heart felt as if it was about to jump out of her chest. A wave of fear ran through her body. She was merely inches away from a killer. A psychopathic murdered who could kill her before she even knew it had happened.

Taking a step backwards, her breath caught in her throat as she saw him following. Walking slowly, she finally ended up with her back against the wall; Itachi hovering above her.

"You know," He started and twisted a strand of her pink hair around one finger. He leaned closer to her ear and tucked some of her hair behind it before whispering quietly, "You're cute when you're scared,"

In a quick moment, she felt her heart stop. _'Cute?'_

A second later she found herself alone in the room. Itachi was nowhere to be seen. Sakura took a deep breath and slowly made her way to the door. A strange feeling lit up in the pit of her stomach. _'Cute…He thinks I'm cute,' _She thought and quickly wiped the smile away from her lips. _'Who care's if he thinks I'm cute? I hate him!'_

'_Sure you do,'_ her inner self mused.

"Go away," Sakura groaned and pulled the cloak closer to her body as she headed for the kitchen.

* * *

Neji stared at the lifeless form of Shikamaru. He hadn't thought Sasuke would wake up so soon from the hit he'd given him. If he'd known he would have kept an eye on him. The Byakugan user hovered over his team-mate's body and closed his eyes.

"Naruto," He called and saw the blonde teenager jump down from a branch, landing next to him. "I want you to go after Sasuke. Kiba and I will take Shikamaru back to Konoha and inform Tsunade about the situation."

"Hai!" The blonde replied with a nod.

"Sasuke is dangerous, so be careful."

"Don't worry Neji, Sasuke-bastard is going down this time," Naruto replied with a fire burning in his eyes.

The Byakugan user smirked slightly and gave a light nod to his comrade, signalling he could leave. It was obvious the nine-tales inside of the hyperactive teenager gave him power to continue the mission and Neji watched rather proud as the blonde disappeared among the treetops.

Turning towards Kiba, he gave a sorry smile before picking Shikamaru's body up.

"Let's go," He commanded and they continued their journey back home.

----------------------

Naruto sped through the forest as fast as he could. Sasuke was fast and had probably gotten pretty far already, but Naruto knew that if he kept up his pace he'd reach up to his friend sooner or later. He hoped it would be sooner than later though. If Sasuke had killed Shikamaru without hesitation, he wasn't sure what would happen to Sakura if he reached her first. His friend had obviously lost it and would kill whoever stood in his way.

"Sasuke, you idiot," Naruto growled with a hint of frustration in his normally calm voice.

Sasuke's hair laid smothered against his skull as rain kept pouring down on him. He was halfway through Rain country – heading towards stone. He had been running for hours, but couldn't tell. His chakra didn't seem to be able to run empty today.

He needed to find Itachi and kill him. He had decided he didn't care about Sakura. She was just a girl he had wanted to use for his own selfish needs. If Itachi had killed her, he wouldn't care. She was, after all, nothing more than an annoying and clingy weak girl to him.

He knew Akatsuki had many hideouts. He didn't know where they were, but the headquarters were in Stone. Orochimaru had told him that when he was there to get power. Orochimaru had, however, fooled the young Sasuke back then. To get power he would have to be Orochimaru's new container, which meant Orochimaru would just take Sasuke's body, and in that way "Sasuke" would get more power.

Shrugging the memories off, he increased his speed. If he kept going he'd probably reach Stone in a day or two. And that meant he would be closer to Itachi and to his revenge.

* * *

"I hate the rain, yeah" Deidara groaned and leaned back in his seat.

"I like the rain," Sakura replied with a smile. The two had been sitting in the kitchen for an hour, talking about stuff they liked and disliked.

Rain was still pouring down outside, and it was getting on Deidara's nerves. He would rather be outside, lying on the grass and bathe in the warmth from the sun, but the God's seemed to punish him at the moment, and he hated it.

"Why do you hate the rain?" Sakura asked and walked over to the oven, preparing a kettle with water. "Tea?" She added before he had the time to answer her previous question.

He nodded his head yes as his reply and answered the first question with a, "It makes my hair curly, yeah,"

Sakura burst out laughing at that and looked at the blonde with her eyebrows raised. "You're more of a girl than I am," She giggled and watched a blush paint Deidara's cheeks.

Kisame entered the kitchen at that moment. "Good afternoon love," He winked at her – ignoring the other male in the room.

Sakura playfully stuck her tongue out at the large man, and felt herself getting thrown over his shoulder.

"Kisame, let me down!" She yelled and started hitting his back. "Kisame, I swear if you don't let me down I'll… I'll…"

"Kiss me," He finished with a laugh and let her down onto the floor again. She hit his chest with her fist and walked over to where Deidara was sitting, taking a seat by his side.

"Aww," Kisame cooed. "Seems like I have some competition,"

Deidara's blush deepened while Sakura scoffed and rolled her eyes.

"It's not like that, yeah," Deidara started to explain and got a playful smile from Kisame, letting him know he was joking.

A screeching sound came from the kettle as it let the people in the kitchen know the tea was ready. Kisame walked over to it and poured the warm liquid into three cups before putting them down on the table in front of the other two. He took a seat across from Sakura and sipped his tea quietly.

The pink haired girl tucked a strand of hair away from her eyes and smiled softly to Deidara before she took a sip of her own tea. Itachi entered the kitchen then. His eyes darted towards the blonde who was sitting only inches away from the kunoichi, and a flash of what could be mistaken as jealousy appeared in his eyes for a second before it disappeared and was replaced with the same indifferent look he always wore.

"Sasori's looking for you," His deep voice sounded as he nodded towards Deidara.

The blonde excused himself and left the room in a rush. His partner was a patient man, but the aura Deidara had felt coming from Itachi the second he entered the kitchen made his warning bells go off. Itachi was mad, and Deidara wanted to be far away from him when he snapped.

----------------------

"Why aren't you in the room?" The elder Uchiha asked – referring to his bedroom. Sakura gave him an indifferent look and ignored the question. She was not in the mood to play his stupid _cat and mouse_ games right now. He kept his gaze hard on her. "I asked you a question,"

"And I chose to ignore it," She replied, venom dripping from her words.

Kisame glanced at the girl in front of him, amazed she dared to talk back to his team-mate. If somebody else, including him, would have done it they'd be dead by now.

"Kunoichi," Itachi said sternly and got an angry glare from the girl.

"My name is Sakura, not Kunoichi,"

She found herself pinned against the wall after that.

"Kisame, leave," Itachi said in a low voice.

"I'd rather…" Kisame started but left as soon as he saw the dangerous look Itachi shot him.

Itachi stared at the girl. She avoided his eyes, which was a smart move from her side. He watched her for a while, having her hands pressed against the wall above her head. Her bottom lip trembled slightly with fear as she looked down on the floor.

"Look at me," He commanded. She shook her head no. If she looked, she was sure he would kill her. "Sakura, look at me,"

'_Sakura?' _Both of them thought at the same time.

She lifted her head a little, but continued to avoid his eyes. Some of her pink hair fell into her eyes, shielding the view of him.

'_Why are you doing this to me?'_ He questioned as he continued to take in her features. _'What is so special about you that makes me lose control whenever you're near?'_ He loosened his grip on her wrists and leaned his forehead against hers. _'Why do I feel this way around you?'_

Sakura was afraid to move. Afraid he might try to hurt her if she tried to get away. Glancing up at his eyes, she nearly gasped at the sight. His eyes weren't red. They were gray, dark gray and almost black. They held so much feelings; confusion, hate, pain, and… love?

His breath tickled her lips and his hands found their way through her hair.

'_What is he doing? Has he lost it?'_ She asked as she fought to stay focused. Sasuke had never touched her like Itachi was doing right now. Sasuke had never placed his forehead against hers and just simply looked into her eyes. She bit her lip uncertainly and felt him sigh before he removed his hands from the wall and stepped away from her. He turned around and left the room quietly, leaving Sakura confused and with the same burning feeling she'd felt earlier that morning.

'_What's happening__ to me?' _


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: Sorry for the lack of updates lately. Weekends are a bit busy for me and doesnt give me enough time to write. Sorry. I've spent pretty much all day working on this chapter. I didnt know what to write at all, and I'm honestly not satisfied with it. I know I could have made it better. **

**Special thanks to everybody who has reviewed this story so far. Feel free to come with ideas and such, I could need it right now. It's ok if you dont too. :) **

**Anyways. Enjoy and sorry once again for the lack of updates. **

* * *

**Chapter Thirteen: **

Hours passed by in the Akatsuki hideout. Sakura had stayed in the kitchen ever since the odd encounter with Itachi earlier on. She had only left the room to use the bathroom and then found herself by the kitchen table again and again. She gazed out the window, watching the heavy raindrops collide with the dirty window. Following the strange patterns the rain created with her fingertips seemed to keep her calm.

"Sakura-san," A deep voice said from behind her. Startled, she turned her head towards the voice and gave a small nod to the man whom it belonged to.

"Sasori-san," She replied weakly and watched as he sat down across the table from her.

"Nice weather, huh," He said with a hint of amusement hidden in his voice.

A small smile spread across the kunoichi's lips as she whispered a quiet, "Yeah," and turned with a deep sigh towards the window again, continuing to lazily follow the patterns of the rain.

The puppet master watched her for a while, curiosity barely visible in his eyes. How could such a frail girl hold so much power? He had heard about the young kunoichi. She had gotten quite the reputation outside the grass country. Her medic skills were out of the ordinary; same thing with her superhuman strength. Her training with the legendary Tsunade had placed the young girl high on every list in the world making her wanted by many.

Sasori looked at her as a lost treasure - a diamond in the rough; somebody who deserved to be treated with respect. She was too good for the Akatsuki; too pure to enter their murderous world. But at the same time, he knew she would be perfect for them.

He found himself questioning Itachi's motives behind the kidnapping. Kisame had told him she was bait for the Kyuubi. Instead of going after the kid, they wanted him to come to them. Sasori wondered if there wasn't anything else behind the whole thing though. Itachi was a smart man – a genius as some liked to call him. So there just **had to be** another reason for why he chose her and Sasori wouldn't rest until he'd found out.

----------------------

A few minutes of silence passed before Deidara and Kisame burst through the backdoor. Soaking the floor, they each placed a plastic bag on the table in front of Sasori.

"Did you get everything?" Sasori asked and peeked in one of the bags.

"Yeah," Deidara muttered a bit annoyed and threw the soaking wet cloak he was wearing onto the floor. Brushing off some raindrops from his forehead he noticed the kunoichi eyeing him curiously.

Kisame made his way toward Sakura and started unbuttoning his cloak.

"Please tell me you're wearing something underneath," the girl pleaded. Her emerald eyes looked up into Kisame's shark like ones with a hint of amusement and curiosity hidden in them.

"Don't worry love," he cooed and pulled out a package he'd hidden in the cloak. "Hope it fits," He added as he handed it to her.

Sakura blinked and gazed at the blue Akatsuki member and then turned her head to the blonde one. She opened the wrapped carefully, and found herself holding a paper-box. From what she'd experienced earlier in life, these kind of boxes usually contained clothes. But why would they go out shopping for clothes for her?

Looking quizzically at the two men, she finally opened it completely. Her fingertips came in contact with a thin silky like material. Taking out the piece of clothing, her jaw dropped. In her hands was a simple black dress with tiny pink flowers here and there. The straps were thin and ended up getting crossed over the open back.

"It's beautiful," She exclaimed and hugged it close to her chest, carefully running her fingers over the material.

"There's uh, more in the box, yeah," Deidara said. A bright blush painted his cheeks as he spoke.

Sakura gently placed the dress on the table, noticing Sasori had taken the other bags and was currently lining up different boxes of food on the counter. She snuck her hand in the box and pulled out two pieces of lingerie in the same material as the dress.

Her eyebrows rose high as she held them up before her while looking back and forth between Deidara and Kisame.

"See, we didn't know if you preferred _panties_ or _thongs_, so we got one of each," Kisame grinned while Deidara pointed an accusing finger in Kisame's direction.

"It was his idea, yeah,"

A small smile played on the kunoichi's lips as she placed the underwear on top of the dress and rose from her seat. She slowly made her way towards the two males and stopped right in front of them. A moment passed before a happy squeal pierced the room.

"Thank you," She exclaimed and threw her arms around both males. Kisame burst out laughing as the little girl nearly made him fall over.

A content smile graced Deidara's lips as he found the girl's arm around his neck. "You're welcome, yeah," he said quietly and felt a pair of soft lips press against his cheek.

"You like it?" Kisame asked once she'd let go of them.

"I love it," She replied enthusiastically and held the dress up before herself again.

"You should wear it, yeah,"

Sakura turned to the blonde man and nodded a yes while pressing the dress against her chest once again. She grabbed the underwear and made a dash for the door, hearing Sasori shouting dinner would be served in five minutes.

----------------------

She ran straight to Itachi's room, eager to get out of Itachi's old clothes. A gasp escaped her lips as she ran straight into said man. Fear flashed in her eyes as she found herself locked in his death grasp.

"I-Itachi,"

He looked down at the pink haired girl in his arms. Blood red eyes locked themselves on her emerald ones. "What's the rush?" He asked with a low voice.

"I… I…" She stuttered embarrassedly and looked to the side. A warm feeling rose within the rose-haired kunoichi; warmth she'd never experienced before. Not even with Sasuke. "I was just…" She trailed off as she felt the arms around her body loosen slightly.

"Hn," The elder Uchiha muttered and let go of her completely. "I believe it's time for dinner."

"Hai," She replied quietly and looked down at the dress she'd gotten from the two males.

"What's that?" Itachi asked - his eyes fixed on the black floral material in Sakura's arms.

"It's… I…" She started and bit her lip shamefully. Would he take it in a bad way if she told him his comrades had bought her clothes? "It's nothing…"

Itachi noticed the uncertainty in Sakura's eyes and immediately knew she was hiding something. "Who gave it to you?"

She gave him a weak look and pressed the dress tighter to her chest. Would he hurt them if she told him? Inner Sakura decided to show through just then, surprising both Itachi and the _other_ Sakura.

"Why would you care?" She asked, sounding slightly annoyed. "Can't a girl get presents from her 'friends'?"

Suddenly she felt the wall pressing against her back, and Itachi's hand squeezing her throat dangerously hard.

"Do not use that tone with me," He growled through gritted teeth, seeing Sakura's eyes open up wider by the tone in his voice. He dragged her over to his bedroom, opened the door and threw her inside.

"What are you doing?!" She yelled angrily and was about to rise from the floor when he slammed the door shut and locked it from the outside. "Asshole! Let me out of here!" She yelled and started banging on the door only to realize it was being protected by a lair of chakra. Scoffing she walked over to the bed and threw herself onto the mattress. "I hate you!"

* * *

In a dark cave, miles away from the Akatsuki hideout in Stone, Leader waited for one of his members to inform him about the girl called Uchiha Sakura. Two days had passed since he'd let one of his spies go to gather information, and he knew said spy would arrive soon.

Stretching his legs out onto the table in front of him, he took a sip of wine as the door flew open.

"Leader-sama," The person started. "I have gathered the information as you requested,"

Placing the glass onto the table, Leader motioned for his spy to go on.

"Uchiha Sakura was formerly known as Haruno Sakura." The spy started. "She was on the same genin team as Uchiha Sasuke and Uzumaki Naruto, trained by Copy-Ninja Hatake Kakashi."

Leader nodded his head knowingly. This sounded familiar.

"Sakura was trained by the Legendary Tsunade and has accordingly to rumours surpassed the slug Sannin. She has great knowledge in the medic-parts and as Tsunade, a superhuman strength."

Leader reached for his wine again and took another sip as his spy continued to drown him in information he already knew. A few moments passed before the 'master' spoke up.

"Sakura-san could be a useful piece for us. Bring her here,"

"What about the others? I'm sure Itachi won't let her go that easily." The spy stated.

"Then he shall die,"

Silence stretched out between the two before the spy finally said "Hai, Leader-sama," and disappeared.

Taking another sip, Leader closed his eyes. "I'm on to you Itachi,"


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: Gosh! I've spent two days typing this chapter. It's about twice as long as my usual ones. If you people want the chapters to be longer, then let me know, also have in mind that it's gonna take longer for me to put them up. I liked this chapter. It was kinda fun to write. I had some issues with Itachi's charcter though, but like how he turned out. **

** I'm going to Sweden tomorrow and will be gone all weekend, so there wont be any updates in a couple of days. I have to go to this stupid funeral and shit 'sighs'. **

**Anyway, hope you like the chapter. Reviews are still very much appreciated. Thanks again to everyone who has reviewed this story so far. You guys keep me going. **

**I guess that's all for now. **

**On with the chappy: **

* * *

**  
**

**Chapter Fourteen: **

After staring up at the ceiling for almost half an hour, Sakura finally decided to try on the dress. She wondered what had made the two S-class criminals buy it. Maybe she should ask them later on… if Itachi ever let her out of the room again. She sighed and rolled out of bed before making her way over to where she'd dropped the dress when Itachi had pushed her. She discarded her cloak and quickly stripped out of her clothes, hoping no one would enter the room in a while.

The dress hung perfectly over her slim form, making her almost non-existent curves more visible. It almost reached all the way down to the floor, so she grasped parts of the dress and lifted it a little as she made her way to the bathroom to see what it looked like on her.

A gasp escaped her lips as she saw herself in the mirror. She looked gorgeous, almost angelic. As she turned around to take a look at the back of the dress, she heard the door to the room open and then close with a loud bang.

"Shit," She whispered and quickly shut the bathroom door. "Please don't let it be him, please, please, plea-"

"Sakura," Itachi's deep voice cut her off. "What are you doing in there?" he asked as he knocked on the bathroom door.

"I, I'm just taking a shower," He heard her call through the door.

"Hn," He grunted and made his way over to the bed. Seconds later he heard the shower running. Glancing around the room, he noticed Sakura's clothes lying in a messy heap on the floor. Raising an eyebrow, he went to pick them up, accidentally letting a black floral thong fall to the floor. Sharingan eyes stared at the object on the floor. "Sakura," Itachi started and picked the thong up while letting the other clothes fall to the floor. "Where'd you get this?"

Sakura paced around in the bathroom, trying to figure out a way to escape the angry Uchiha on the other side of the door. He had obviously seen something he shouldn't have and she cursed herself for not thinking about that issue earlier.

"Sakura," His voice sounded through the door as his fists banged non-stop on the only thing in between them. "Where did you get these? I know you can hear me."

"I don't know what you're talking about," She replied nervously and looked through the shelves and closets in hope to find something she could use to defend herself with IF he would get through the door.

"Open the door, kunoichi," His voice was dangerously low and sent unpleasant shivers up her spine.

"The name's Sakura," She growled and quickly slapped her hands over her mouth. Itachi was already angry and her provoking him was not making it any better.

"Open the door," He said again.

"No," She replied and folded her arms across her chest to make her point, not caring that he couldn't see her.

Sighing, Itachi went to the bed again and threw himself down onto it. He tossed the thong to the side and placed his hands underneath his head.

"If you wanted the door gone, you could have easily broken in already," He heard her shout from the bathroom.

"I have no intention in opening the door, kunoichi. If you'd rather stay in there that's fine with me." Smirking, he closed his eyes. _'Let's see how long it will take before she decides to come out,' _

* * *

Sakura turned the hot water off and sat down on the toilet. This wasn't how she'd thought this evening would end. Itachi was seriously having issues and she hated that he was always trying to control her.

She had lived all of her life in other people's shadows. Sasuke and Naruto had always protected her when they were on missions. Kakashi was always keeping an eye on her and treated her more like a girl than a ninja. She wanted to be able to be herself and to grow as a person as well as a kunoichi, but it was hard since people never gave her the chance.

Sakura's chakra control was great. Kakashi had said so when she first joined Team 7. Tsunade, her second sensei, had taught her how to put chakra into her hits and kicks and in that way get the infamous super-strength. The slug sannin had also taught her a lot about medicine which probably was Sakura's biggest interest and top priority at the moment. She wanted to learn new things, heal people and help them.

Sighing, she got off the toilet and walked over to the mirror. Her hand whipped the fog away before she looked herself over once more. Things had to change. She wasn't that 12 year old girl anymore. She was growing up and now was the time to let people know.

Turning around, she brushed her hands over the silky smooth material of the dress before placing her hand on the door handle.

It was now or never. She unlocked the door and slowly pushed it open, thinking; _'Let it sink or swim.' _

* * *

Quick feet clashed soundlessly against the tree-branches as a shadow made its way through the thick forest. With a mission to capture a certain pink haired kunoichi, they increased their speed. Leader would be so proud when they returned that they might even get a taste of this special cherry blossom. Smirking devilishly they jumped onto the ground. Nothing could stop them. Not the rain, nor the dangerous storm which seemed to come closer. Missions like this were their speciality. They had never once screwed anything up. This time it was bound to get harder though, since the Uchiha prodigy was the one whom kept a watchful eye on the kunoichi. They didn't fear him though. They knew all about the Uchiha's attacks and weaknesses and they knew they would eventually get what they wanted.

* * *

The bedroom was nearly pitch-black when Sakura had finally turned off the lights in the bathroom and closed the door behind her. The only light came from a nearly burned out candle on the bedside table on Itachi's side. She narrowed her eyes as she took in his candle-lit features; cursing herself for actually finding him more attractive than her husband.

She fiddled nervously with the wedding ring on her finger. Was he asleep? She eyed him curiously; her stern look got replaced with a softer one as she drank in his handsome features. His soft hair had fallen messily around his face. His eyes were closed, making him look more relaxed and a bit younger. The lines on each side of his nose had softened a bit. They weren't as hard as they usually were which also made her question his age. She knew he was older than her, but by how much?

Pushing the thoughts away, she gazed down at the floor to where she'd left her clothes earlier on. They were still there. She quickly picked them up before making her way over to her side of the bed where she noticed the thong lying messily on her pillow. Scoffing, she snatched it up and placed it on top of the other clothes before putting them down on the floor. She sat down on the bed, placed her elbows on her knees and muttered a quiet; "Bastard,"

The bed shifted after that. A warm hand gently stroked her bare back before a finger slipped under one of the crossed straps.

"What are you doing?!" She snapped and turned around quickly. Itachi lay before her. One hand held his head up as the other one rested near her thigh. His onyx eyes looked into her emerald ones. "Hm?" She added angrily and felt his hand move ever so softly over her clothed leg. "Stop it!" She growled and pushed his hand away. "I hate you,"

He closed his eyes as a smirk formed on his lips. He knew something had changed since she came out of the bathroom. The way she held herself made it obvious she wanted respect. She wanted a saying in things. She wanted to be included, not held outside of things. He opened his eyes again. Her innocent eyes flashed with anger. Her breathing was rough. He found himself wondering how far he could push her, and before his mind had registered it; his hand was once again on her thigh, drawing lazy patterns on the silky fabric of her dress.

Sakura slapped his hand away and got off the bed, crossing her arms above her chest in the process. She stared at him with her lips shut tightly together.

"Hn," He grunted and plopped down on the bed again.

"Will you stop that?!" She yelled and threw her hands in the air.

"What?" He questioned and rolled over to look at her.

"Stop your hn-ing. I have never met anyone with a lousier vocabulary than you Uchiha's."

"I would watch my tongue if I were you," He told her. "You know you're-"

"Oh shut up!" She yelled. "I'm tired of this. I'm tired of always having you keeping an eye on me. I'm tired of always being told what I can and can not do. I want freedom, Itachi. I want to have a saying in things. I want to…"

She stopped as she realized she had somehow ended up on the other side of the room with her back against the wall. Itachi stood in front of her. His onyx eyes travelled over her face before resting on her now slightly parted lips.

"What do you want?" He asked quietly. His hands stroke her bare arms softly.

"Itachi, what are you…-"

"Ssh," He whispered and moved in closer. "Just tell me what you want," His voice was low and husky.

"Itachi, I…"

"Tell me," He demanded and squeezed her arms hard, hearing her yelp at the sudden pressure he gave her. He loosened the grip a little and went back to stroking her arms.

"I want to go home," She said quietly. "I want… I want Sasuke,"

"Sasuke doesn't care for you Sakura,"

She let her head drop and took in a shaky breath. As much as those words hurt, she knew he was right. Sasuke had only chosen her to help her revive his clan.

"Sasuke loves me," She said weakly and tried to keep her tears from falling. She knew it was a lie, but it felt good to say it. She wanted to believe that he did love her.

Itachi placed his hand underneath the kunoichi's chin and gently tilted her head up, making her look at him. When seeing the pain written in her eyes, he felt his heart twitch. How could his brother be so foolish? How could he play with this special girl's heart the way he had done? Itachi may be a heartless murderer, but this girl before him, had somehow gotten past the walls he'd built around his darkened heart.

"Sakura," He spoke softly and whipped one of her tears away with his thumb. "You know he doesn't love you, so why do you keep telling yourself he does?"

She fought the urge to slap him. He was hurting her.

"Sasuke is like me in a lot of ways," Itachi continued and placed his chin on top of her head. "We don't let ourselves be controlled by feelings."

"Please…" she begged. "Stop,"

"Get over him Sakura." He told her. "You deserve someone better. Someone who can give you what you need." His hands made their way over her arms to her shoulders. "Get over him."

She shook her head no, whispering; "I love him."

Itachi grasped her shoulders and looked her straight in the eye. "Do you really?"

Sobbing loudly she tried to get away from him. Stomping back to the bathroom, she found herself being pulled the other direction.

"Itachi, stop it." She cried. Her tears stained her lightly flushed cheeks. "Just, stop…"

He drank in her features. Never in his life had he seen somebody as beautiful as her. The light glow from the candle gave her an almost angelic aura. Her normally pink hair was now more of a soft purple glow. Her eyes glittered by her unshed tears, making them look like diamonds. He felt his heart contract as he looked at her. She didn't deserve to feel like she did.

"Itachi," She whispered and locked eyes with him. "Itachi, please…"

Panicking by her pleading voice, he did the only thing he thought would shut her up. He kissed her.

* * *

"What are they doing?" Deidara whispered.

"I don't know," Kisame replied in the same quiet voice. "They aren't saying anything,"

"Let me hear,"

Kisame stepped away from the door to Itachi's bedroom and watched as his blonde friend pressed his ear against it. "You hear anything?"

"No," Deidara whispered and pressed his ear harder to the cold wood. "Wait, yes I hear…-"He quickly stepped away from the door as the edge of a kunai pierced through it a few inches away from where he'd just been. Kisame burst out laughing as he noticed the shocked expression Deidara wore. It quickly disappeared as the blonde joined the blue man with fits of giggles as they both walked away from Itachi's room.

* * *

Itachi led the sobbing girl towards his bed. He had no intention in taking advantage of her when she was in this condition. However, he wouldn't deny her anything if she wanted it, whatever it may be.

He placed her softly on the edge of the bed. His lips still locked on hers. He felt her small hands fiddle with the hem of his shirt, contemplating whether to take things to a different level or not. Deciding to take things in his own hands, he stepped away from her, leaving her breathless before him.

"I'm sorry," She whispered and folded her hands on her lap while biting her lip uncertainly. "I didn't…"

"Sakura," His voice made her look him in the eye again. "It's ok."

She looked down at her lap again, rolling the wedding ring Sasuke had given her in between her thumb and index finger. She had just kissed her husband's brother… why wasn't she feeling the slightest bit guilty about it?

She sighed and got off the bed, walked straight up to Itachi and pressed her lips hard onto his while her arms snuck around his waist.

Itachi blinked a couple of times before pushing her lightly off of him. "Sa-Sakura…?"

"You asked me what I wanted," She started and stepped closer to him. "And… I want you." She added with more certainty he'd ever heard her use before.

"Are you sure?" He asked quietly and watched her lick her lips as she came up only inches away from his face.

She tossed the wedding ring to the floor and closed the tiny gap between herself and the elder Uchiha. "I'm sure."


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N: I am so sorry for the lack of updates. As you might remember from the last a/n, I had to go to Sweden over a few days. Those days turned to almost one and a half week 'sighs'. Anyway, I've been working on this chapter all night. (It's 3:16am right now and I'm sooooo sleepy. There might be some errors here and there, and I'm too tired to look it over, so please just ignore them if you find any. **

**I am going to Sweden tomorrow again. (well, today actually.. Saturday) Mom is forcing me, so blah. Will be back sometime next week. I hope I get the chance to write a few chapters while I'm gone, and I hope you can forgive me for being slow at the moment. **

**Thanks for all the reviews I have gotten so far. They make me happy, so please keep them coming. :) **

**Alright, off to the chapter. (Sorry it's so short. I'll make the next one longer. I promise)  
**

* * *

**WARNING: Lemon!**

* * *

**Chapter fifteen: **

Itachi pushed the younger girl onto the bed. His lips never left hers. The soft moans coming from her slightly parted lips made him almost lose control. He crawled onto the bed, ending up sitting on his knees in between her legs. Strong hands lifted frail arms further up on the mattress where they pinned them down as he hovered over her some more. He pulled away from her lips for a moment, studying her features. Her emerald eyes glowed from the soft light of the candle, almost twinkling with emotions as they looked into his onyx ones. He felt his heart twitch once again. Why was she having that effect over him?

She lifted her head a few inches and attacked his lips again. Her tongue slipped through her swollen lips, softly tickling his sensitive bottom lip. Sighing, he bent down again – biting her smooth tongue softly before sucking it into his mouth where they battled for dominance.

Itachi removed his hands from her wrists. Lazy fingers caressed her arms and made their way down her neck where he gracefully pulled off the dress' straps down her shoulders. His lips were there in a second, kissing and nibbling softly on the exposed flesh while she arched her back – grinding her chest into his. He pulled the soft fabric further down her chest; his lips never losing its contact with her skin. Two pink nipples appeared a few inches from his chin. Moving further down, he ran his tongue over them, earning a surprised yet satisfied gasp from Sakura.

Her fingers fiddled with his hair, gently pulling it from the red hair-band he used to keep it in place with. Once it was gone, his hair came falling over his shoulders where the tips of it caressed her naked milky white chest. He moved back up to her face – pressing his lips onto hers once again while he pulled the rest of her dress off of her in one swift motion.

Sakura let her hands wander from his hair to his shoulders. Deciding to return what he had been doing to her, she quickly sent some chakra to her hands and used it to push him onto his back next to her, where she straddled his hips. Raising an eyebrow, he looked at her a bit amused. He was surprised over her actions but didn't show it.

Her small hands tugged at the hem of his shirt. He leaned up a little – allowing her to pull it off before lying down again. She took a shaky breath before running her hands lightly over his tummy up to his chest. Leaning down over him, she kissed him hungrily while adding more pressure on his chest. She kissed her way down his chest like he had done to her and placed herself in between his legs while continuing to explore his body with her lips.

As she reached his pant-line, she decided to try something different and allowed her tongue to taste his toned skin. A loud moan escaped his lips as she dragged her tongue softly back and forth just below his navel. Two small hands undid the knot which held his pants in place before they pulled them down over his thighs and knees along with his underwear. The sight before her made her gasp. He was huge.

An amused smirk played on the elder Uchiha's lips as he watched the pink haired kunoichi eyeing his erect member. It was obvious she had done things like this before, but with whom? Sasuke? Frowning at the images of _his_ Sakura playing adult games with his brother, he used his left leg to push her to the side so he could be on top again. If Sasuke had been with her before, Itachi needed to prove he was better, manlier and more experienced than him. So instead of just enjoying the moment, he made a silent promise to himself to do everything he could to please _her_.

* * *

"You and I are awesome!" Kisame laughed as he poured some Sake into a cup before lifting it up to his lips and swallowing the content all at once. 

Deidara shook his head with a smile on his lips. "He has to thank us, yeah, for actually giving him a birthday present this time,"

"I wouldn't mind getting her as my birthday present either," Kisame mumbled and poured some more Sake into his cup. "I'd bang her all night. She wouldn't be able to move for at least a week,"

A fine blonde eyebrow rose as Deidara watched his comrade humping the air from the chair he sat on while grunting loudly. Kisame had obviously had too much Sake. "She's probably more into the romantic stuff, yeah, like candles, roses, soft touches…"

Kisame cut him off, "Only gay people do stuff like that. Chicks like it rough, hard, animalistic…"

"The last part definitely suits you, yeah,"

Scoffing, Kisame brought the Sake bottle to his lips, taking a sip of it. "I am a man, just like you," He growled. "Second thought, I'm probably more of a man than you, _girl_."

Raising an eyebrow again, Deidara leaned back in his seat. Why were they always questioning his sex?

"No comeback. Guess its true then," Kisame grinned.

"You wish, yeah,"

* * *

Sakura pulled him down over her, feeling his arms on each side of her where he steadied himself so he wouldn't put too much body weight on her. She felt his erection poking the inside of her thigh as he leaned over her face and gave her a quick kiss before he thrust his hips up a little; positioning himself at her entrance. 

Deciding to start slow he brought one hand down in between them and slowly pushed the head of his member into her awaiting womanhood. He watched her squeeze her eyes shut tightly. Her lips parted slightly, letting out a moan with a hint of both pain and pleasure as he went deeper into her warm folds. He stopped for a moment to let her adjust to his size. The walls around his member contracted almost painfully hard around him. If she didn't stop doing that soon, everything would go down the drain. He didn't know how much more he could take.

She opened her eyes slowly. A small smile appeared on her lips. That was her way of letting him know she was ok. Taking a deep breath he placed his hand by her side again and started moving in and out of her frail body. He went slow; almost too slow for her liking, but he sped up a few seconds later which resulted in her moaning loudly.

She dug her fingernails hard into his bare shoulders. Her senses were on fire. Every touch from him, every thrust, every sound he made were enough to driver her wild. She wanted more. More contact, more touches, more kisses from him. He plunged into her easily, going harder and harder with every new thrust. Her juices were everywhere. Covering his length, dripping from her sex… She was so close, yet so far away from climax.

She wasn't a virgin. Sasuke had taken that part from her. And as she laid underneath his brother; she couldn't help comparing the younger Uchiha to the elder one. They were so different. Sasuke was fast. No foreplay, no sweet caresses nor sweet words, just off with the clothes and onto the action. Itachi, on the other hand, took his time. He focused on her. He made sure she was ok. His eyes twinkled when she moaned and he actually seemed to enjoy when she touched him.

----------------------

Suddenly, warmth spread through her body. A new sensation formed in the pit of her stomach. A sensation she hadn't experienced before. Moaning again, she arched her back and felt Itachi's strong arms sneak behind her. He pulled her closer. His lips met hers again in a desperate search for attention. He somehow managed to pull her onto his lap, never slipping out of her body, and continued to thrust into her. She wrapped her arms around his neck and moved her hips in sync with his. She was so close now. She could feel Itachi's member throbbing inside of her, and she knew he wouldn't last very long either.

"Say my name, Sakura," He breathed. His eyes never left hers. He wanted to watch her, hear her, feel her when she reached her peak. "Say it,"

"I-Itachi," She whispered almost out of breath.

"Louder,"

"Itachi," She moaned and threw her head back.

"Louder!" He demanded and wrapped his arms around her waist before slamming her down over his cock.

Closing her eyes, she fought to stay focused, but failed miserably. "Oh God, oh gosh, oh…yes!"

Making one final hard thrust he finally heard her screaming his name as her body shook violently in his lap. Her eyes were closed, her swollen lips slightly parted and her normally pale cheeks were painted a deep shade of pink. That brought him over the edge as well. "Fuck… Sakura," He growled while shooting his seed into her.

He pulled her closer before collapsing on top of her on the bed. With his eyes closed he rolled off of her only to pull her into his body where he wrapped one arm around her waist while the other one supported her head. The candle by their side had long ago burned out, which left a rather romantic smell in the dark bedroom mixed with the smell of sex.

Sakura nuzzled her face into his chest and pressed her lips softly onto his skin before drifting off to sleep. A shaky breath escaped Itachi's lips as he glanced over at the sleeping form next to him. Caressing her bare skin with his thumb, he whispered softly; "You belong to me now," before falling asleep as well.

* * *

Not far away, a shadow gracefully landed on the soiled ground. The rain had finally stopped falling down and was instead replaced by a rather thick mist. Making their way out of the forest, they spotted the hideout which belonged to the Akatsuki. Smirking, they sprinted towards the darkened house with one single thought in their mind... Leader would be pleased when they returned. 


	16. Chapter 16

**A/N: I'm so sorry for the lack of updates lately. I've been busy and havent had the time to write. I wanted to make this chapter longer than the others, cause I know it makes it a whole lot more fun to read, but since you've all waited too long for me to update already, I decided to post this now and try to update again as soon as I can. **

**Sorry again and thanks for all the reviews I've gotten so far. **

**I would also like to ask one thing... Would anyone be willing to make a 'front cover' or something for this story? That would mean a lot to me since I cant draw for sh. Just pick a scene or so of your own choice and make me something beautiful...? It's ok if no one does, although it would make me happy. **

**Anyway, on with the chapter. **

* * *

**  
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**Chapter sixteen: **

Silence laid stretched out like a big fluffy cover over the dark Akatsuki hideout. Not a sound was heard from any of the occupied rooms. A nearly burned out fire warmed the passed out Kisame and Deidara in one room on the second floor. A red-head slept soundlessly in a room not far from the other two while Itachi and his hostage occupied one of the bedrooms on the first floor. It was sometime around four am. The sun was slowly waking up from its nightly sleep – getting ready to once again share its warmth with the world.

A shadow sprinted soundlessly through the thick mist outside before slowing down as they finally reached the house. With their chakra masked, they walked cautiously over the wet grass, carefully peeking into various rooms on the first floor in search for a pink-haired kunoichi. Their mission was to find her and bring her back to leader. Crouching underneath a window, they pushed their glasses further up their nose before peeking into yet another window. Somebody was sleeping not far from the window on a rather low bed. Squinting their eyes they could clearly see two figures occupying the soft piece of furniture; a male holding a pink haired girl in his arms. A grin appeared on the spy's lips as they pushed the glasses up again. This was bound to get easy.

* * *

Itachi woke up with a start; pulling Sakura's body closer in a protective manner while gazing around the room. Everything was as it had been when they went to bed. Closing his eyes again, he snuggled closer to the warm body sleeping in his arms. The scent of vanilla filled his nostrils as he buried his nose in her pink, messy hair. A few seconds passed before he opened his eyes again. Sitting up, he made sure not to wake the sleeping kunoichi by his side. His bare feet met the cold floor as he pushed himself off of the bed. Running a hand through his long hair, he gazed around the room again. Everything was still at their usual place, but why couldn't he get the nagging feeling of something being wrong out of his mind?

He walked over to the window. The thick mist outside made it almost impossible to see more than two feet ahead. He leaned his elbows onto the windowsill and rested his head on top of his hands. His mind drifted to the sleeping beauty not far from where he was standing; his brother's wife - Uchiha Sakura. Never before had he found himself being drawn to the opposite sex the way he was being drawn to her. He had had his fair share of one night stands. He had experienced the sweet intoxicating feeling of having a woman near, but he had never felt the need to cherish the seconds he shared with a woman before.

Sakura was special, special to him in more ways than one. She was a smart, witty, cute and a sickeningly naïve girl; only a couple of years younger than himself. She was childish, stubborn and always seemed to refuse to do as he said. She believed in love which he didn't. She believed one became strong by sharing their feelings with someone they held close, he believed feelings made people weak. She believed in helping those who needed help. He believed in ending their lives, sparing them from bringing the stronger ones down. She lived in the light, while he kept himself hidden in the dark.

He turned his head to look at her sleeping form - noticing her body shivering from the lack of his warm one. A small smile tugged at his lips, but he refused to let it loose. His heart twitched painfully as he watched her. She didn't belong with him. She didn't belong with his brother either. She deserved someone better. Someone who could give her what she wanted - what she needed.

The sound of a twig snapping outside reached his ears and he quickly dismissed the thoughts of the pink-haired kunoichi and activated his Sharingan. His blood-red eyes scanned the misty surroundings outside of the window. So he was right after all. Something **was** wrong.

"Itachi-kun…" Sakura moaned quietly from the bed. He turned his head towards the sleeping girl. "Ah, Itachi…" she continued every so softly while her breathing became heavier.

Before he could question her dream, a kunai came piercing through the window in a fast speed; shattering the thin glass into million pieces. The knife passed half an inch from his face, lightly brushing against his loose hair. A thin strand of his hair fell to the floor before the kunai ended up clinking against the wall on the other side of the room.

A cold wind swept in through the window, making the hairs on his arms stand up. He narrowed his eyes and spotted a figure hiding behind a bush. Before he had time to confront the enemy; another kunai came flying through the air. Itachi sidestepped towards the bed and pulled the covers off of Sakura. Her eyes fluttered open as the warm blanket left her naked form.

"Get dressed now!" He commanded and hurriedly pulled his pants and shirt on before throwing the cloak over his shoulders.

"Itachi what-"

"Move," He growled and pushed her towards the door. They didn't have time for conversations right now.

Sakura slipped out into the hallway, tugging one of Itachi's old shirts over her head in the process. She felt his hand resting on the small of her back as he silently led her through the dark.

"What's going on?" She managed to ask. Her emerald orbs stared quizzically into Itachi's red ones.

"We're being ambushed,"

"What? By whom?"

"Hn,"

He pushed her through another door and motioned for her to go upstairs. "Tell them we're moving. Kisame knows where to. I'll catch up with you later."

"But-" Before she had the time to finish that sentence his lips were on top of hers – moving softly yet possessively against her rosy lips. A moment later, he pulled away and pushed her closer to the staircase behind her.

"Go!"

"H-hai," She stuttered and quickly turned around – running halfway up the stairs before turning back around. "Itachi?" She asked and lowered her gaze to where they had been only seconds before, but he was gone. Biting her lip she quickly made her way up the last steps and ended up in an equally dark hallway as downstairs.

"Kisame?!" She yelled as she opened a door to her side. "Kisame?!"

Another one opened up a few feet from where she was standing, revealing a tired looking Sasori. "Sakura-san, what's wrong?"

"We have to go," She started and saw both Kisame and Deidara emerging from another room fully clothed.

"What's wrong love?" Kisame asked worriedly and quickly made his way towards the younger girl.

"We're being ambushed,"

* * *

Itachi slammed the front door open and ran outside. Whoever was out there sure had some explaining to do and Itachi wouldn't rest until he'd gotten all the answers he was looking for. They had to be a very skilled ninja to make it through the genjutsu cast around the house along with the different traps Sasori had set up. With his Sharingan blazing, he took in his surroundings. Not a single inch was left unchecked. A rustling came from a tree nearby and he quickly turned to face it.

"I know you're there. Show yourself," Itachi's deep voice called into the forest. The sound of feet hitting the ground reached his ears and after a few passing seconds, a dark figure appeared near the forest - slowly making its way towards the Sharingan user.

"I'm impressed," the figure mused. "But then again, what else was there to expect from the _great_ Uchiha Itachi?" It added with sarcasm lingering in its voice.

"So you know my name. Now tell me yours," Itachi spoke.

The figure laughed and stopped a couple of feet away from the elder Uchiha. "I'm afraid that's not how we're going to do this. Tell me, where is the kunoichi?"

Itachi ignored the question. "Who sent you?"

The figure took another step forward with another deep laugh. "Leader," It said and raised its head. A slim male with gray hair and round glasses appeared in front of Itachi.

"Kabuto,"

* * *

"Where's Itachi?" Kisame asked as he and the two other Akatsuki members followed the girl down the stairs.

"He left and told me to tell you to leave. He'd come after us when he was done," Sakura replied and gazed up at the blue man who nodded before turning to face the two others.

"Deidara, you go-"

Deidara cut him off before he got the chance to finish. "Hai, hai, I know yeah. Clear the way and make sure no one follows, yeah,"

Kisame nodded and gave Sasori a quick look before shovelling the kunoichi towards him. "Keep her close. Itachi will kill me if anything happens to her."

Sakura stared wide-eyed at the shark man. "Where are you going?"

Kisame ignored her and gave the other two a quick nod before disappearing.

"Sakura-san, this way please," Sasori muttered and motioned for her to follow. Deidara had already left so she was alone with the puppet master. A shiver ran up her spine as she took one last look in the direction Kisame had left. What was going on?


	17. Chapter 17

**A/N: I am so sorry for the lack of updates lately. I've had some major issues with the fighting scene in this chapter, and even though it's taken me a week to write it - I'm still not satisfied with it. 'sighs' **

**You guys have waited long enough for me to update though, so here's the new chapter. **

**I know _somebody_ comes off as weak in this chapter, but I feel like I explained _why_ it turned out that way somehwere in it. **

**Thanks again for all the reviews, alerts and favorites. **

**Hope you guys enjoy the chapter. **

* * *

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**Chapter seventeen: **

"I see you know my name as well," Kabuto snickered and pushed his glasses further up his nose. The small light from the newly awoken sun pierced through the thick mist and ended up reflecting in his round glasses.

"Hn,"

"I have orders from leader to bring the kunoichi back. I suggest you take my advice when I tell you it'll be easier if you just let her go now."

Itachi narrowed his eyes. What did leader want with Sakura? "No,"

Kabuto spread his legs and bent down into a fighting position. One hand moved down his leg to his weapon pouch. "I guess this can't be avoided then," He said and quickly withdrew a kunai – throwing it mercilessly at Itachi who easily dodged the attack.

Kabuto ran forward, throwing different weapons at Itachi which he easily dodged before throwing a few of his own. The sound of metal hitting metal pierced through the silent morning. Only a few birds had woken up so far and were happily singing their good morning tunes far away in the distance.

The gray-haired man sprinted towards the Sharingan user in full speed. A kunai was held up in the air by one of his hands, while his other hand started glowing green. Itachi took a quick step to his right and made a hard dash with one of his kunai's at Kabuto's arm. The pointy knife sank through the enemy's flesh and the body suddenly disappeared in a puff of smoke. Itachi smirked and looked up into the air where Kabuto came flying down with a chakra covered fist first.

Itachi crossed his arms in front of his face to prevent Kabuto's hand from making any serious damage, only to receive hard dash on his right arm before a foot connected with his thigh. The elder Uchiha flew a couple of feet to the side from the hard hit, but before he landed on the ground he threw some chakra-covered shurikens in Kabuto's direction.

Kabuto snickered as he avoided the Uchiha-prodigy's weapons and filled chakra in his hand again. "You're strong, but not strong enough," He said in a low voice and sprinted towards Itachi once again.

Itachi watched the gray-haired man come closer and closer and decided it was time to end it all. As he was about to make some hand seals, he noted that his right arm refused to do as he wanted. Instead of moving – it hung completely limp by his side. He looked up just in time to see Kabuto's fist nearing his face in a fast speed and he quickly moved his body to the side - feeling the smooth skin of Kabuto's hand lightly brushing against his left temple. The elder Uchiha threw himself to the ground, steadied himself on his left hand and planted a hard kick straight onto Kabuto's lower back. A loud crack was heard as the spy fell forward before he landed on the ground with a loud thump. Groaning, the gray-haired man tried to get up, only to end up falling face first onto the ground again.

Itachi limped unsteadily towards the exhausted body before him. Crimson eyes studied the man's form as he wondered what this was all about. A sudden nausea rose through the Uchiha's body. His vision became blurred and a thundering ache appeared behind his eyes. Groaning, he fell to the ground and landed on his knees. A hand shot up to his left temple and gently started massaging the sore spot in hope to get the ache to disappear, but it only made it worse.

"W-what did you do?" He growled angrily as he searched for the enemy through his blurred vision.

Kabuto laughed weakly before replying with a quiet; "Ruined your eyesight. The more you use the Sharingan the more damage you'll cause yourself. It'll get worse the longer you try to fight it. My chakra is in your system. What ninja are you when your eyes are useless?" A cough came from him when he felt Itachi's hand press his face further down the dirty ground.

"Make it… go away," Itachi's pained voice demanded.

Another laugh escaped the spy's lips. "I can't and wouldn't even if I could."

Itachi removed his hand from the paralyzed body. Pain started forming where his thigh had gotten kicked. "Why… her? Why Sakura?"

Silence filled the air between them as Itachi waited for a reply. "Why?" He repeated when the answer never came.

A pained groan came from Kabuto as he tried to get up once again. "Great… power," He whispered hoarsely before another cough escaped and he fell down onto the dirty ground again.

Itachi gritted his teeth. The pain was getting unbearable. "I'll kill you for this," his normally velvety voice growled. "I'll rip your insides out-"

Kabuto laughed again and turned his head slowly to look at the elder Uchiha. Both his hands were glowing green as he brought them behind his back and pressed them onto his clothed body. "Where is the Kunoichi?"

Itachi opened his eyes. A blurry figure sat a couple of feet from him. The pain behind his eyes was getting worse by the second. If Kabuto's attacks only affected the Sharingan; his charcoal eyes would still have their normal eyesight, wouldn't they?

"Where is she?" Kabuto asked again and brushed the dirt from his clothes as he stood up.

"…"

"Very well," The gray-haired man muttered and took a step towards the Uchiha.

A large bandaged sword flew through the thick morning mist and landed in between the two males. "The Kunoichi stays with us," Another voice boomed.

Anger flashed through Itachi's eyes as he switched them back to his normal ones. His sight was still blurry but even though, he could still make out Kisame's Samehada dug into the ground a few feet from his face. He shakily pushed himself off of the ground and turned to face his team-mate who made himself visible by Itachi's side.

"Hn," The Sharingan user muttered sourly as his vision slowly came back to him.

Kisame held his hand out towards his sword and watched as it released itself from the ground and made its way to his hand. "Leave," He said and threw Samehada over his shoulder. "The Kunoichi's purpose for us hasn't been fulfilled yet. If Leader wants her, he'll have to wait."

Kabuto grinned darkly at the shark's statement. "You do know Leader always gets what he wants, don't you?"

The shark shot a pissed glare at the enemy before raising a fine eyebrow.

"This isn't over," Kabuto's voice hissed before he disappeared in a puff of smoke, leaving the two Akatsuki members alone.

----------------------

Itachi took a wobbling step forward, nearly falling over as his right leg gave in underneath his weight. Kisame reached a steady arm out to prevent the Uchiha from hitting the ground and received a sour look from the elder Uchiha as he slowly but determinatively rose to his full height.

"I'm fine," Itachi growled and pushed the shark's arm away before taking another step forward. Like before, his leg gave in again but this time, Kisame kept his arms to himself and watched silently as the Uchiha prodigy fell to the ground with a thump. Itachi was known for being an arrogant, self-centred bastard at times, and now was one of those times. So if he didn't want help, he sure wasn't getting it either.

Gritting his teeth together he pushed himself off of the ground with his good arm while throwing silent curses at Orochimaru's ex-helper. He didn't know much about Kabuto, mainly because he'd never actually thought of him as a threat before but also because he'd vanished when Sasuke had killed their common master. He needed to stop underestimate his enemies from now on.

Suppressing a sigh, he closed his eyes hard together before opening them and taking another step towards their hideout. He knew Kisame was watching him closely, but he refused to show any sign of weakness in front of his comrade. "Are they safe?"

"Hai," Kisame replied quietly. "They left some time ago. Deidara's keeping watch from the sky." He added with a smile gracing his lips. He knew very well that Itachi was more concerned of a certain pink-haired kunoichi's wellbeing than the other two Akatsuki members', but kept quiet about it.

"Hn," Itachi nodded. "Let's go."

* * *

Sakura jumped quietly behind the puppet master through the trees. Deidara was nowhere to be seen, but she knew he was somewhere in front of them, riding on one of his clay birds high up in the sky. She missed his company a bit. Compared to the redhead, Deidara was more talkative and shared more of his life than Sasori did. Sakura didn't know where she had him. He was mysterious and quiet and rarely spoke unless it was expected of him. She sighed loudly as she followed his boyish frame. She would have done anything if they could take a rest soon. She hadn't kept herself in shape since Sasuke had proposed and it was getting clearly visible as they raced through the forest in a fast pace.

Sasori turned his head to look at her and said a quiet, "We're stopping soon. There's a town a few miles up ahead. We will be staying there until the others show up."

"Hai," Sakura breathed and sent more chakra to her feet. She was exhausted but knew that the faster they got there - the faster she'd get to rest.

Her mind drifted off to Itachi. A blush tainted her already rosy cheeks as she thought back on the previous night's events. The images of his delicious face hovering inches above her own was still fresh in her memory and she couldn't help but wondering if he had enjoyed it as much as she had. From the way things had turned out, he had seemed to like it, but then again he was known for playing with peoples minds so maybe it had been nothing but an act from his side.

Another sigh escaped her parted lips. Why was she so attracted by the Uchiha's? Was it the darkness that surrounded them that made them so appealing to her? Was it the fact that they were secretive and dark that caught her attention, or was it that she was cursed – doomed – to fall head over heels over the most complicated people she'd ever get to meet? She had no clue at all.

Sasori stopped on top of the branch in front of her and motioned for her to do the same. "We're here," He said and jumped down onto the ground where Deidara was waiting for them. Sakura followed his example – landing not as gracefully as she'd intended next to the blonde.

"There's an inn waiting for us. We have a room till tomorrow." Deidara explained as they walked towards the town's entrance. "I figured we could share," He added and shot Sakura a glance. "She is to be kept under constant watch after all."

"Hai," Sasori mumbled and shot his comrade a quizzical look. How many warnings did his comrade actually need?

----------------------

Sakura threw herself down on the only bed in the small room they'd rented. Dust flew in every direction as her tired body collided with the yellow mattress, causing her to sneeze loudly when some of it tickled her nose.

"Bless you," Deidara grinned and opened the dirty window to let some fresh air into the room. Sasori sat down on the floor by the door and kept a watchful eye on the younger ninjas.

"Thanks," Sakura giggled and turned onto her tummy so she could see the blonde man. He gave her a small smile before walking over to the door.

"I thought I'd catch us some food. Can I get the lady anything special?" He winked.

Sakura pushed herself up on her elbow and gazed at the two Akatsuki members. "I'll take whatever you're having," She replied with a tired smile and watched the blonde give a slight nod before he lowered his eyes to look at his team-mate.

"The same," Sasori muttered before Deidara had the time to repeat the question.

"Hai, I'll be back… eventually," The blonde said before walking out the door.

Sakura made her way to the window once the door was closed and placed her elbows onto the windowsill and took a deep intake of air. Her green eyes scanned the surroundings outside, taking in every sad detail of the poor-looking town before her. Something near a house corner caught her eye and she nearly screamed out of happiness as her mind registered who it was she had spotted.

In a weak voice she said one simple name…

"Sasuke-kun,"


	18. Authors Note

I'm sorry for the lack of updates lately. I've been busy trying to find an appartment cause mom and dad wants me out of here, plus there has been a couple of birthdays this past month and such.

I have the beginning of chapter 18 ready, but still need to finish it up.

I will try to get it up before the end of this month. I know that's a long time until then, but still. If there's no new chapters up before then, feel free to send me hatemails or throw rotten tomatoes on me or whatever. I know I deserve it :P

I think that was all I wanted to say.

A super nice girl also made me a 'cover' for the story. So go check it out and tell her how much you love her work :)

her name on deviant art is **xtremebunny **I couldnt add a link :\ sorry.

Challa


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