I do not own Naruto because if I did Deidara would still be alive.

Congratulations

Chapter One: Stolen Moments

"I thought I told you you're prettier without bangs, yeah?"

With his mouth pressed against her ear roughly, the man continued to whisper to the young girl who would have fallen to the ground already if it were not for his body weight pressing her to the tree as the desire dripping from his words hypnotized her, melting away all her senses.

The rope, which bound her wrists together behind the tree, was inflexible and tight, digging into her skin.

She was sure it was painful, but she felt nothing.

She could only hear him.

Think of him.

Feel him.

Want him.

Nothing else existed to her at that moment.

The snow was falling delicately around the pair, but not even the powder that landed on her body, the freezing ice that should have been chilling her to the bone, mattered.

She was surrounded by snow but was not cold.

He was dominating.

His presence overtook everything, leaving nothing unconquered and heated the world around her.

Managing all the strength she had, the girl tried to shake her head in disagreement but was stopped by a firm hand gripping underneath her chin and restricting her face from movement.

Pulling his face away from hers slightly so she could meet his piercing gaze the girls eyes widened dramatically.

"Deidara?"

The man leaned back forward slowly, making sure to take his time as he felt the girl trembling underneath his body. His lips, now formed into a smirk, teasingly just barely touched against the girls own as he continued on smoothly.

"I guess I'll just have to cut them off again Sakura."

Sakura, in confusion, sat up in her bed while breathing unevenly as she stared blankly down at her blankets. Her hand, shaking, reached up and felt her forehead expecting her bangs to be gone but to her relief she felt the silky hair resting against her skin.

She hadn't had a dream of the man for months and while she wanted to continue to stare and ponder why he had suddenly returned to her thoughts now a deafening banging accompanied by yelling began outside her door.

"Sakura! Tsunade needs to see us right now, of all the days for you to sleep in forehead girl!"

The banging of a fist against her door continued and not wanting to have to replace another door Sakura hurriedly rushed around her room in a attempt to get dressed and look at least half presentable in the presence of her former teacher, which in turn left no time for her to assess her dream any further.

Her room was nothing special. It was standard issue for most ninjas with one bed, a dresser with a mirror resting on top of it which was placed against the wall parallel to where she slept, and despite the room being covered with mostly grays and well more grays, the girl did not mind. After all, she was hardly home to really care anyways. If anything, she would often muse to herself, she should spend time working on the decor of her sleeping bag since it was more of a home to her than the apartment.

"Three minutes Ino! I'll catch up with you, I swear." Sakura called back as she tossed her night clothes onto the floor carelessly and rushed over to the dresser.

"I'm responsible for you being there, get out here right now!"

More banging ensued and Sakura knitted her brows together in agitation while nearly ripping the drawer with her clothes open..

Pulling on a deep red dress, that was short in length, but with a high collar around her neck that slightly dipped down into a v shape in the front, Sakura quickly examined herself in the mirror while combing her hair at the same time. Setting the comb down, she fixed her tousled bangs in a rushed manner using her fingers. Stopping to look at her bangs in the mirror she felt thoughts of her dream resurface but as quickly as they crossed her mind she pushed them aside.

Her usual garb had still not come back from the shop where she normally got sewing repairs done after missions so this would have to do. She turned to the right revealing the one side of the dress to the mirror where the thigh was almost completely bare and nodded to herself slightly in approval before rushing out the door to meet her impatient friend.

The two girls walked hurriedly towards the Hokage tower together but in complete opposite demeanor.

The blonde haired girl looked nervous, nearly radiating anxiety and continually tried to get the more brightly colored girl with pink hair to walk faster, tugging on Sakura's arm every so often despite how futile the efforts were.

Sakura who was still weary and wanting to catch up on rest, since she had just returned from a mission the night before, yawned frequently, tilting her head up towards the sky and let the suns warmth softly beat against her closed eyelids.

It was only morning and the air was crisp and cool with autumn leaves tumbling down the streets of Konoha in the light breeze and wispy, spread thin, clouds seemed to move slowly overhead.

Other citizens of the village passed by, most of them students ready to begin a new day at the Ninja Academy, the leaves crunched under their steps as they laughed and smiled together.

Things were peaceful. Sakura knew there was no denying that.

While she had her doubts about the peace lasting for too long, the truce between the different villages and the Akatsuki was continuing without a hitch. She wouldn't completely ignore the fact however that herself, like many other villagers, felt uneasy with Konoha's current predicament.

The predicament being that since Konoha had convinced the other nations to give the truce with the Akatsuki a chance, they were now being held responsible for the group. Of course Tsunade wasn't going to let an organization of S-Class former villains run around and do as they pleased, so for the time being it was said that they were being held somewhere in Konoha.

Sakura couldn't help but tilt her head at the idea of the Akatsuki making a transition into daily Konoha life, but then again it had been at least four months since the truce and she had never seen even one member around the village. There was a rumor here and there about appearances but Sakura doubted their authenticity.

"Hey Ino," Sakura started out trying to sound as disinterested in the actual subject as possible, head still focused in the direction of the sky as she was dragged along by the other girl, "do you think the Akatsuki are really just roaming around the village freely?"

Raising an eyebrow Ino stopped walking for a second and looked back at Sakura before shrugging in an uncaring fashion. Directing her attention forward, Ino returned to walking in silence at a brisk pace.

The silence didn't last long however.

"You don't need to be scared of them anymore Sakura, they won't come after you and Tsunade won't let them hurt anyone. Just go about things normally and I'm sure you'll never have to see them again." Ino said nonchalantly.

Ino's response was to be predicted as it was the common answer Sakura was given when she tried to bring up the subject of the organization to anyone. That wasn't what Sakura was thinking about though, she wasn't frightened of the Akatsuki. A mental image of an icy blue eye from her dream flashed in Sakura's mind as Ino mentioned never seeing them again.

Sakura shook the thought from her head and mentally slapped herself for feeling her heart sink as she had thought about never seeing the man anymore.

It had been nearly a year since her last encounter with the Akatsuki member and she tried to remind herself that what was in the past, was in the past. Water under the bridge as some would say.

Sakura was startled when she noticed her friend was looking back at her grinning from ear to ear.

"What?"

"I'm sure Sasuke would protect you forehead girl if anything were to happen though." Into teased coolly, winking at her friend when she caught sight of Sakura's cheeks flushing as the girls made their way higher up the stairs.

Their footsteps echoed off the stone walls leading to the Hokage's main office as they continued the rest of the climb without further talk.

Chewing on her lip Sakura felt a wave of guilt wash over herself. She was Sasuke's girlfriend, how could she have had dreams about another man? Let alone a member of the organization Sasuke hated.

Sakura held back a frustrated groan before taking a deep breath to calm down whilst reminding herself that she could not control her dreams and that she loved Sasuke. He was all she ever wanted, he had been her dream since she was little, not Deidara and with that Sakura tried to push thoughts of other man out of her consciousness.

Sasuke was there for her and cared, to the Akatsuki member she was just a toy.

Ino strained herself trying to open the door to the Hokage's office which amused Sakura to no end and she had to glance to the side to stifle a laugh. The door nearly took up the entire entrance to the room and was made of extremely heavy dark wood. A faded symbol of Konoha was painted in bright red and centered in the middle of the door, the emblem splitting in half as Ino swung open the entryway finally, a bead of sweat trailing down the side of her face.

Sakura watched as Ino advanced into the office having recomposed herself and took a step forward to follow in suit but found herself cut short.

"Sakura could you wait outside please? I need to have a word with Ino first." The familiar voice of her teacher sounded weary so while perplexed by this statement, Sakura nodded her head even though the Hokage could not see her and took a step backwards into the hall with no questions asked, the door closing loudly behind her.

She leaned her back against the smooth stone of the stairwell, a shiver running down her body as the cold pressed itself against her skin through the thin material of the dress.

Sakura let her eyelids fall, the darkness overtaking her vision, as she wouldn't doubt that this was probably just another mission that would leave her exhausted. Her fingertips traced against the stone in anticipation, finding it odd that Tsunade was doing a briefing of members of the same team separately.

Losing track of time Sakura slumped down onto one of the stairs, her head leaning lazily against the wall as she continued to wait. Each minute became more painstaking than the last with anxiety that the pink haired ninja began to tap her fingers against the floor, her patience wearing thin.

A trait that seemed to have passed down from her late teacher.

She had never been forced to wait this long for a briefing and began to wonder if Ino was making a fuss about the mission or giving Tsunade a hard time.

Clenching her fist, Sakura forced herself to her feet and made her way back to the door wincing slightly as she felt her sore leg muscles come into use and having no trouble at all she lifted one hand to the door and entered in a way that could be comparable to storming into a room.

Everyone had their limits regarding patience.

It just turned out that Sakura's was about forty minutes long.

There in the room the Hokage was sitting at her desk as she was often found with a deadpan expression towards her student and shook her head, placing her hand against her forward and looking down. The stress was evident on her features and suddenly Sakura felt terrible for interrupting, feeling as though she had just magnified whatever source of stress the Hokage was dealing with.

"I thought I told you to wait outside Sakura." Tsunade said tiredly as Sakura's attention shifted to Ino who was standing before the Hokage and seemed obviously bothered by something. She was fidgeting more than usual with her clothes and hair, yet her eyes seemed to indicate that she was lost in a distant train of thought not even paying any mind to Sakura's entrance.

"I'm sorr-" Sakura began.

"It's been a long time Sakura, yeah?" A voice interrupted casually.

Turning towards the sound of the voice, Sakura wheeled around to where her back used to be facing only to find a man with long blonde hair, part of it in a pony tail and the other part forming a long bang across one side of his face sitting in a chair that was positioned near the wall by the door.

The icy blue eye from her memories was looking straight at her and while she should have been in complete shock she nearly found herself entranced by his presence alone.

He was the same as she had always recalled his features in her thoughts. A muscular body hidden by a familiar robe adorned with red clouds that were outlined in thick white, hair that was blonde but far more vibrant in color than Ino's, a smile that could only belong to a criminal, and only one eye visible but she knew he was able to hold a gaze more powerful than any other being she had come across.

His chin was supported by his hand, the trademark mouths which could found on his palms were closed, as his elbow was propped on the chairs armrest. His eyes were mischievous yet seemed to be pondering something serious at the same time.

Then, in what seemed to be an attempt to torture the young girl, the man stood up, taking a moment to straighten the creases from his cloak and spoke in a purely business like tone, as though he and Sakura had nothing between them ever in the past, words that left Sakura wondering if she was still dreaming.

"It's nice to finally meet with you on a personal level Sakura, I will be marrying Ino Yamanaka in an attempt to ensure that the transition for Akatsuki members into the village move forward peacefully, yeah. While we were unsure about the thought of forced marriage, Ino has graciously accepted the idea."

Sakura couldn't take her eyes away from the man.

Thoughts raced, tumbling in a vicious cycle around in her head as the words chimed into her ears.

Ino was marrying Deidara.

Sakura felt a weight fall upon her chest.

Deidara was in front of her. After months of hearing nothing, wondering if he was even alive, here he was.

She wanted to speak but no words could find their way into her mouth.

The man who stole so many precious moments from her, as if it were effortless.

A devious smile found its way onto Deidara's face, an expression only Sakura seemed to take notice of as her vision began to blur.

The words being said swirled around her as the talking began to fade, sounding further and further away each second, yet, Sakura tried to keep her footing. She could hear Deidara's steady voice talking about wedding plans but could not understand anything being said.

It was as though the entire world had just changed languages.

"Sakura? Are you listening?"

Ino worriedly stared at her friend whose eyes seemed to be fading in color, Sakura's face bleaching as though the life was draining quickly from her body.

Sakura heard her name being called faintly and opened her mouth to respond but as she did the room began to unhinge itself, freely moving in a twirling dance across her eyes as the dizziness and confusion took over.

Losing all grip on controlling her body she fell forward unable to brace herself for the fall but just like in her dream she felt no pain.

Rather than pain, her world was filled with darkness, a warm yet almost sufficating embrace and a comforting voice murmuring into her ear so softly as her consciousness drifted away that Sakura was sure she was the only one who could hear.

"I look forward to working on this wedding with you Sakura and has anyone ever told you," The voice trailed off as she felt a pair of hands reach underneath her knees and lift her gently into what felt like flying but as the voice continued she could feel the mocking tone blend in with what would sound as a harmless suggestion to anyone else. "That you would look prettier without bangs, yeah?"

I hope you enjoyed this first chapter and will continue to read =D

Reviews are extremely appreciated and always welcome.

Thanks for reading!