Author's Note

Hey everyone! This is my very first story! I have always loved Deidara as a character and I wish there was more Fanfiction about him. This is a little something I've had in my head for a while now and I decided to post the first chapter and see what you all thought. I'm not making any promises about continuing the story, it is all dependent upon my school work and if I can figure out how to make this story work out (though I have started a second chapter). If it does become something, it will be a romance between Deidara and Sakura with an M rating to be safe.

Constructive comments are appreciated! This is canon until chapter 277 and partway through episode 30, I have posted an additional note within the story where canon ends. I do not own Naruto or any of its characters and no Copyright infringement is intended.

Enjoy!

Rogue

CHAPTER 1

"Shit." That's what Deidara thought as he turned around after noticing the team of ninjas forming a loose semi circle around him.

He had been watching the Jinjuriki, Naruto, from his hiding place among the bushes after using the replacement jutsu to escape the blonde ninja's attack. If that had hit, he would certainly be dead by now. Already Deidara could feel the excruciating pain from his body; he was cut in several places, both arms hung uselessly by his body as they had been broken in several places from earlier fights with both the Shikaku and Copy Cat ninja, and he was certain several ribs were broken after being slammed into the ground just before the Naruto had tried to attack with the Rasengan.

After moving away from the attack and hiding, Deidara witnessed the strange sight of orange chakra enveloping the jinjuriki. Two "tails" had formed behind the ninja and violent chakra had permeated the space around him. With a vicious growl, the jinjuriki looked wildly around him, obviously searching for Deidara. Just as it seemed like the he would loose total control, the copy-cat ninja, Kakashi, pulled out a seal and attached it to the jinjuriki's forehead. Immediately, the orange chakra retreated Naruto became placid.

A few moments later, much to Deidara's surprise, the pink haired kunoichi and old woman appeared; both appeared haggard and worn, but very much alive. That could only mean that Sasori-senpai had been defeated and most likely killed, and that in turn meant that Deidara was now completely on his own. Luring out the Jinjuriki with the Kazekage's body had been a good idea, but the fact that the copy-cat ninja had followed ruined Deidara's chance at a swift capture of the jinjuriki. Realizing the severity of the situation, Deidara backed out of the bushes after deciding now was the time to slip away; he couldn't fight much longer and any attempt at combat would end badly for him.

...Which is how he found himself faced with a group of four ninjas that were obviously the jinjuriki's allies.

"Good work, Neji."

The one who spoke was older than the other three and wore a green track suit, while the other three, two boys and a girl, stood behind. All were poised in attack positions.

Looking at them cautiously, and finally focusing on the one with white eyes, Deidara said, "I see. That must be the Byakugan; the eyes that are passed down in Konoha alongside the Sharingan. You used their power to find my blind spot and sneak up on me. I'd love to see how they differ from Itachi's Sharingan, but right now I need to make my escape."

Boldly, Gai declared, "With Konoha's strongest platoon, Team Gai, on your tail, there is no escape!"

Jumping away from each other, the chase began. As he jumped, Deidara leaned forward and brought his hidden kuni that had been tucked in his leg wraps to his mouth. With both arms useless, it was all he could do.

Two members of Team Gai darted forward to engage Deidara; he parried their attack off with the kuni and was pushed backward while the other two members launched forward to attack and were again blocked by Deidara's kuni. Ten-Ten threw several shuriken towards her opponent but they were blocked by the kuni. While Deidara was distracted, Lee jumped forward and aimed a kick at Deidara's head; leaping backward to dodge, Deidara used the trees behind him to kick off and start his retreat. Ten-Ten summoned a large shuriken and threw it towards Deidara; as it approached, it turned into four medium sized shuriken and each became lodged in the tree mere seconds behind their target. Suddenly, Gai appeared and kicked over the tree Deidara had been scaling. Leaping quickly away, Deidara thought, "I can't outrun them all!"

Lee landed in Deidara's path and used his Taijutsu to throw punches and kicks in Deidara's direction. Dodging all, Deidara moved backwards in a quick retreat only to fall backwards into Neji's Hakke Kuushou. The force of the attack threw Deidara into a nearby tree. On impact, he grunted in pain and fell to the ground. However, at the sound of Ten-Ten's scroll unraveling, he looked up in time to see several shuriken coming towards him and he jumped to a tree and scaled it quickly, using the opportunity to move through the branches and continue his retreat. Gai and Neji pursued, followed closely by Lee and Ten-Ten.

[This is cannon until chapter 277, cannon ends here]

Deidara wasn't sure how much longer he could go on and just as he was contemplating how he could best outrun Team Gai, a flash of pink leaped up from below him and with a chakra enhanced fist, hit the branch he was standing on. The branch exploded upward, dislodging Deidara and throwing him to the ground. As he landed on his back, a yelp of pain was wrenched from his lips; his left leg had been broken by the hit. He tried to stand but his body refused to listen while his mind screamed for him to get up and run but despite he efforts, Deidara was not able to move from where he had landed.

Slowly and cautiously, Team Gai jumped from the trees and approached the fallen ninja. They formed a loose circle around him as they watched for any signs of attempted escape. Deidara had closed his eyes and, knowing he was caught, did not move.

"Don't move," said Gai. "I told you no one could escape Team Gai."

Deidara said nothing to this. His eyes were still closed and he was panting heavily at this point, his breathing labored by the pain consuming his senses.

Naruto, Kakashi, and Chiyo approached from where they had been standing, while Sakura walked towards them from where she had delivered the final blow. "What have I gotten myself into now?" Deidara thought. "I shouldn't have provoked them and escaped when I had the chance." Hearing them approach, Deidara cracked open his eyes and glanced around, observing the gathered ninja and finally locking eyes with the pink haired kunoichi. Sakura's eyes stared intensely at his for a moment until the pain overcame Deidara once more and he closed them.

No one spoke for a few moments, trying to conserve their strength and still wary of the blonde ninja that lay fallen before them. "What should we do with him?" inquired Ten-Ten.

Naruto snarled, "We should tear him apart for all he's done! I'll do it myself!" But before he could make a move, Kakashi held him back.

"What are you doing sensei? He...he killed Garra, attacked the Sand and tried to capture me!" Naruto looked over to where two of his clones were supporting the lifeless body of the Kazekage, one of his best friends, one of the only people who had known what Naruto himself had been through.

Kakashi replied, "Now hold on a minute, Naruto and think. We have a high ranking member of one of the world's most infamous rouge ninja groups; we can learn much from him, so lets not be hasty. I think we should bring him back to Konoha for interrogation."

Hearing this, Deidara opened his eyes once more. Being a proud ninja, he refused to show weakness in front of the enemy. Voice raspy, he said, "You won't get anything from me, may as well finish me now, yeah."

Naruto wrenched his arm from Kakashi's and before anyone could stop him, he violently kicked Deidara's side and sent him skidding several feet away. Biting back a cry of pain, Deidara glared at Naruto.

"Shut up!" growled Naruto. "You look half dead already and it wouldn't take much for me to end your miserable life." Turning around, Naruto moved towards the edge of the forest. "Do what you think is best sensei, but leave me out of it. I'm not sure I can restrain myself." With that, Naruto took off into the trees.

Sighing, Kakashi turned to Lee. "Will you go with him?"

"Of course," replied Lee who turned to follow Naruto. "I'll make sure he doesn't go too far."

Kakashi looked at Gai, "What do you think?"

Gai frowned and finally said, "I agree with you, this is too valuable an opportunity to pass up. We can restrain him and bring him in for questioning. Although in his state, I'm not sure he is fit to travel there."

Turning to Chiyo, Kakashi said, "Right, if you are okay with it Chiyo, I would like to request that Konoha be given full responsibility of the Akatsuki member."

Tiredly, Chiyo nodded. "I think that would be for the best. He would not be welcome in the Sand, even as a prisoner and honestly, I think he will be killed either by an assassination attempt or under torture before we could get any information out of him. He has simply done too much to warrant any other treatment by the Sand."

"Thank you. Sakura, do you think you can heal him enough to get him to Konoha?"

Speaking for the first time since she had dealt the final blow, Sakura replied, "I can heal him enough to move away from here and set up camp, but to get to Konoha, I will need to replenish my chakra supplies."

Kakashi nodded. "Very well."

Speaking up, Chiyo asked, "Can I see my grandson? There is something I would like to check." Without waiting for a reply, she moved to Garra's body and had the clones lay him on his back. Kneeling next to him, she watched him silently.

Sakura walked towards Deidara. "Okay, I need room to work. This may take a while. Please move away for a bit everyone, I don't think the Akatsuki is capable of doing any harm right now."

Nodding their assent, the rest of the squad moved off to the other end of the clearing to tend to their injuries, while keeping a close eye on the two. Kakashi pulled his pack off his back and after a few seconds of rummaging through it, pulled out a pair of chakra blocking hand cuffs. "Here Sakura, use these. As injured as he seems, we should not underestimate an S-rank missing ninja." He handed the cuffs to Sakura.

"Thank you sensei." Kakashi nodded and moved a little bit away, but remained close enough that should something happen, he would be there in moments.

Deidara was vaguely aware of the conversations going on around him, but was in too much pain to think coherently and thus remained silent. His breathing and pulse had both become more erratic and he grew close to loosing consciousness. He barely noticed the kunoichi that kneeled next to him and restrained him with the chakra binding cuffs.

Sakura carefully turned the wounded ninja on his back. She could tell he was in quite a bit of pain and before she even began a diagnostic check, she knew he had several broken bones. Carefully, she used her kuni to slice open the Akatsuki cloak he was wearing. She also removed the pouches of clay from his waist and moved them to the side. Once removed, Deidara remained in his mesh shirt and vest, pants and boots. Calling upon her chakra, Sakura moved her glowing hands over his body to see what injuries he had.

…..

So, what did you all think? Should I try to continue this story? Constructive comments are very welcome! Cheers!