A Better Tomorrow
Written by pandaholic.

Chapter 1 - Begin

Disclaimer: Naruto does not belong to me.
"No! Stop it! Please! Stop it!"

Screams.

Blood.

What was there left in life?

"Stop it! Don't kill Kaa-san and Tou-san! STOP! Please!"

Twisted smiles.

Glittering eyes.

What was there left in life?

"Wake up! Kaa-san! Tou-san! Don't leave me! Wake up!"

Tiny fingers caressing cold corpses drowned in blood.

Emerald eyes drowning in batches of tears...

What was there left in life?

"Stop! Don't pick me up! No! Go away! STOP IT!"

Mysterious voices.

Deep baritones.

Scary blood-red eyes.

And his cold hands slapping across the young face,

Temporarily silencing her as her eyes closed.

What was there left in life?

"Wake up, Sakura-chan, yeah."

Emerald eyes slowly opened to the new day, the sunlight nearly blinding her unused eyes. She slowly got up into a sitting position, rubbing her eyes as they adjusted to the sunlight.

"Good morning, Sakura-chan. It's a nice day, yeah."

A small smile played on her lips as she nodded happily, as if she were still a seven-year-old child. But alas, ten years have passed since her bitter memories of being taken away from her village. Ten years since she had last cried.

"Hai, Deidara-chan. It's a nice day."

"You should get in the shower soon, yeah. Itachi-sama may be looking for you."

"Hai, Deidara-chan. Has sensei given you new missions yet?"

"What did I tell you about calling me Deidara-chan, Sakura-chan? We don't know, we have a meeting with him, yeah. If we're all sent to the mission, Sensei will probably make you train, yeah. Have you been getting better, un?"

Sakura let a small giggle escape, and she nodded happily.

"I don't care, Deidara-chan! Even Saso-kun can't make me stop calling you Deidara-chan. But maybe Itachi-sama might. Itachi-sama scares me at times. But don't tell Itachi-sama that it annoys you, yeah?"

The man stifled his anger behind his long cloak, and waited patiently for the girl's next answer.

"But anyway, Deidara-chan, Maeda-sensei says I've been getting better."

Deidara nodded approvingly.

"I don't trust you with that Maeda woman, yeah. She used to be with that Orochimaru guy, yeah. She might betray us to that snake-man, yeah."

Sakura shrugged, getting up from her place on the bed. She slowly walked over to her bedroom mirror, where she brushed her bubblegum pink hair with care.

"Maeda-sensei says Orochimaru is too scared of Itachi-sama. She said even if she did betray us, Orochimaru would be unaffected by the information."

Deidara's eyes widened in interest and concern.

"Sakura-chan, don't be so stupid, yeah. Orochimaru's been part of many of our plots, you know. He would take any chance he gets to get revenge on Itachi-sama, yeah. Did you tell her anything?"

Sakura shrugged, jumping out of her place in front of her mirror and back onto the bed to continue her conversation with Deidara.

"What do you mean, 'you don't know'. What's that Maeda woman been teaching you, un?"

Sakura smiled at her best friend in the Akatsuki.

"Maeda-sensei says she's derived it from one of Orochimaru's former colleagues, Tsunade."

Deidara motioned her to continue.

"She says that because my chakra control is so precise, she was able to teach the techniques to me with no problem. I just channel all my chakra into my hands, and when I make contact with an object or person, I release my chakra, and it gives me inhuman strength. Maeda-sensei also taught me medical techniques. She said she stole it from Yakushi Kabuto, with most of the techniques also derived from this Tsunade woman."

"You may be of use to us soon, Sakura-chan, yeah. What has that woman said about your strength?"

Sakura smiled at this question, and she happily jumped up from her bed and walked in front of her colleague, and vixen-like grin playing on her rosy lips.

"She says that if I lived in Konoha, wherever that is, this Tsunade woman would have taken to me, and I'd be one of the strongest. Maybe we should spar sometime, Deidara-chan. I'll help you with taijutsu and you help me with longer-range attacks."

Deidara nodded approvingly.

"Yes, you will be of use to us soon. Now get in that shower, yeah. Itachi-sama might get mad at you if he summons us and you're still in your pajamas with that kind of hair, yeah."

Sakura giggled and nodded in reply. Before leaving, she gave Deidara a hug, intentionally angering him.

"Be serious, Sakura-chan! You're part of the Akatsuki, yeah! We always have to be serious, un."

Sakura nodded, the vixen-like smile returning onto her face as she ran to the bathroom and shut the door. Deidara shook his head disapprovingly, and gently closed her bedroom door behind him as he walked deeper into his home.

Hopefully, Sakura-chan, Itachi-sama won't send you back to where he took you, yeah. You may not know it, but you're worth more than a life to Itachi-sama, yeah.
"Tsunade-baa-chan! We can't find this girl that we've been looking for, ever since she was missing! What's her name, Haruno Sakura? She may be happy where she is! She has no family left here, anyway!" A blond yelled.

The blond's partner rolled his eyes in annoyance, his body stoically standing by the office window. His onyx eyes scanned the outside world carefully.

"Our efforts won't be wasted. You two are my top ANBU captains! You don't know how much I had to persuade the Council to let me have you two on the same team."

The blond continued to stare at the Hokage, his emotions bleeding out from his cerulean eyes.

"You don't get it, Tsunade-baa-chan! Why are we putting so much effort into finding a girl with no family here? She may be happy where she is!"

The Hokage stared at the ninja before her, her eyes scanning deeper and deeper into the blond and his raven-haired partner.

"Sources report that she's staying with Akatsuki. However, their definite location is still unknown. Now tell me, what kind of person would be happy with a band of S-ranked missing-nin criminals?"

The blond huffed in defeat.

"Hokage-sama," the raven-haired teen cut in, "who are these sources?"

Godaime Tsunade focused her attention to the sole survivor of the Uchiha massacre, a small smile creeping on her lips.

"An old, old apprentice of mine...Takashi Maeda."

TBC.
A/N: Thank you for reading the first chapter! I know I already added a few twists and turns, but it makes things more interesting, right? Also, this is NOT going to turn out to be a SakuxDeidara. It will remain solely ItaxSakuxSasu.

I know Sasori's supposed to be dead, but this is my fanfiction, so pretend he's alive, kay? (:

Thanks for reading!