Did you know I love you?
Disclaimer: Even though I am in love with Deidara and the whole plot line of Naruto, Masashi Kishimoto has all the credit.
Chapter One-It Shouldn't Be Like This
Deidara watched, amused, as his pink-haired companion paced the small forest area in between Akatsuki's newest evil hideout and her home, Konoha. She was so stressed out by the current situation that she hadn't even bothered to nag him about his dirty Akatsuki cloak, or pull the end of his long blonde hair, or even kiss him like she usually would have done by now. She had good reason for her anxiety, but the emotional pressure couldn't be good for her.
Sakura and Deidara, though obvious enemies, had been seeing each other for the past year and a half. She had come to confront him about Akatsuki's interest in Jinchuuriki and their ever elusive Uchiha member, but had found herself more interested in the captivating blonde than anything else. They'd started out as enemies who hadn't happened to kill each other yet, and then moved on to form a delicate friendship, before finally going all the way to where they were now; best friends who could tell each other anything, but at the same time passionate lovers who weren't afraid to show their emotions (well Sakura wasn't, but Deidara was still having some trouble). Their relationship was comfortable and they loved each other.
The members of Akatsuki strongly disapproved of their being together except Tobi who thought the forbidden romance incredibly cool (Deidara had whacked him many times when he'd voiced this out loud while Sakura blushed scarlet) and approved one-hundred percent. Normally Akatsuki's reaction would have torn them apart, but Pein had told them to leave the two lovebirds alone and let them make their mistakes. He seemed to think they'd work it out of their systems before anything got too serious and he knew that trying to stop them would only make them more determined to carry on with their treasured relationship. Once they 'worked it out of their systems' things could go back to normal. Or so he thought.
Unfortunately for him, Deidara and Sakura had only become closer, despite their inability to see each other on a regular basis. Infatuation had turned into love sometime in between the sleepless nights they spent, each worrying about the other and the joyous reunions they shared as often as they could. And there was nothing anyone could do about it. Not even Itachi, with his almighty Sharingan, could pull them apart.
But the inevitable had finally happened. They were suspected. Sakura's former Sensei, Kakashi, the copy-nin, had noticed Sakura's already common disappearances becoming steadily more frequent and knew something was up. Deidara had seen him in the Hokage's office trying to get him to put an ANBU squad on Sakura's tail and had informed her at once so that they could brainstorm before such a thing happened. They had come up with two solutions.
One: they stop seeing each other. Have the ANBU trail Sakura, find nothing and go on with their lives as if they'd never met. The only way Sakura would agree to this was if Deidara promised to come back after the ANBU stopped stalking her and things were safer. Deidara shook his head when she suggested this, explaining that it would be suspicious enough when she suddenly went back to normal and Kakashi would be on his guard if she strayed too far from the village after the ANBU had informed him nothing was wrong.
Neither really liked option one. It was already irksome that they could only see one another when Deidara was in the area or when Sakura snuck away, under the guise of an extended mission out of Leaf territory. Not seeing each other ever again would rip them to pieces and their lives would probably end in suicide.
Option two didn't appeal too well either; Deidara had felt like a fool just bringing it up. The only other way to throw the legendary copy Nin off their trail was to fake Sakura's death and have her trained to join Akatsuki. They would let the ANBU find Deidara and before they could take him into custody, he would blow up the area, scatter some of Sakura's blood and a few pink hairs and lead them to the wrong conclusion. Then present Sakura to Pein and have him decide what she needed to do to deem herself worthy of S-rank criminal material. Then they would be together forever, no separation or separation anxiety. Simply love without the constant fear of having it crash and burn at their feet.
Deidara didn't like that idea because he was hell-bent against Sakura becoming a criminal. She was too naïve. Too innocent and vulnerable. The path that she would have to go down would harden her to the point that not even her own best friend would recognize her. Not to mention the continuous danger she would be in. He would never be able to forgive himself if she were to be killed on a mission because of his inability to be parted from her even if it was for her own good. That would be a nightmare.
Sakura didn't like the idea because she was loyal to her village albeit her romantic connection with the newly proclaimed sixth Hokage, Naruto's, sworn enemy. She couldn't bear the thought of potentially betraying them. She couldn't bear to think of what they would say if they knew she was even considering the bizarre notion of leaving them. On top of that, she had sworn to herself that she would not become Sasuke. Not become a Missing Nin even if it was for different reasons than the avenger himself. His death could have been easily avoided had he just stayed where he belonged. She didn't want her life to end like his had. He wouldn't have wanted her life to end like his had either. She was sure of that.
Other reasons, just as good, but not primarily important, also littered her mind. Like her morals, homesickness, the fact that she would never be able to see the people she had grown up with ever again unless it was in the heart of battle. The crushing prospect that she would only succeed in breaking a few hearts if she left and for what? Her own personal gain. She didn't do well with guilt. And she was already guilty enough for participating in a relationship that went against the morals of her village…her home.
But saying goodbye to Deidara…to never see him smile at her with that goofy look in his eyes, to never wake up with his mouth-hands licking her face, to never tease him about his obsessively long hair, to never hear his voice as he muttered that annoying 'yeah' after every sentence, to never feel his breath caress the back of her neck as he spoke seductively in her ear, to never experience any of these things again was…..too painful to even consider.
"I can't do it!" Sakura yelled, flopping down on the ground of the forest in a huff. "I can't bear to leave you, but that's my home!"
"I'm sorry you have to choose yeah," Deidara sat down beside her and half pulled her into his lap. "We shouldn't have to deal with this bull shit, yeah! Why can't they just accept that we're good together? That we belong together yeah!" His grip on Sakura's upper shoulders tightened as his voice got louder with anger and passion. "It shouldn't be like this dammit!" he got up suddenly, pushed Sakura away and set a tree on fire with a bird-like clay bomb.
Sakura followed his lead, getting to her feet and knocking over several small trees with a Chakra-enhanced punch. Deidara was right-it shouldn't be like this. Life wasn't fair. She knew that. She had known that all her life. She had known that when kids teased her about her forehead. She had known that when she got stuck on a team with Naruto, who, at the time, had been the most annoying person she knew. She had known that when her many date invitations had been rejected. She had known that when Sasuke left her, unconscious and heartbroken, on that cold unforgiving bench, knowing that she could potentially be raped or worse. She had known that when she found out Naruto was a Jinchuuriki. She had known that when she had been pouring Chakra into Sasuke's lifeless body even though it was a wasted effort. She had known that when she watched countless people walk up to place a white flower on the coffin of her first love. She had know that when she began dating Deidara. And she knew that now as she stared up at the starry sky, looking desperately for a way to make everyone happy. Another thing that wasn't possible. Another thing that made life unfair.
Deidara watched her sink to her knees and begin to sob. He would have gone over to comfort her of he hadn't felt so much like sinking to his knees and sobbing himself. He couldn't let his bitter emotions get the better of him in this situation. Not in front of her.
He had been traveling all day and it was catching up to him. His eyelids drooped dangerously and the figure that was Sakura was becoming more and more blurred. The world of dreams had taken over his mind and his conscious thoughts were snuffed out, shoving him into a place where all his fantasies sheltered him from the cold reality.
A/N-Hey everyone!!!! This is my first Deidara/Sakura story and I'm really excited to hear how it turned out. Feel free to review; flames welcomed, but if you're just going to bitch about the pairing, don't bother. This story is meant to be a two-shot, so the next chapter should be up in the next week. Hope you enjoyed!