Hey there, folks! So I'm going to be updating irregularly. I don't know if I can find time to squeeze this fanfic in or if I can find the inspiration to finish it. But your reviews have been so inspiring lately so I just had to do this for you. I swear, if I didn't have classes, I would be updating weekly or every three days.

Anyway, here's the 4th chapter. A bit DeiSaku-ish in this chapter. I just had to. They're both so cute. :)

Reviews are highly appreciated. I'm only going to say it once in every fanfic. So yeah. Enjoy, my people.

Chapter IV
The Almost Betrayed and The Betrayed

He didn't mind at all that there was a young woman sleeping in his bedroom but it was half-past 12 when he'd taken a shower to refresh himself after finishing half of the composition his professor had asked of him. His clothes had just been thrown into the hamper and now he was wearing nothing but a towel in the living room.

I could retrieve my pants from the hamper, he thought. But that would just make me seem uncivilized, wouldn't it? He didn't know how to get a new change of clothes in his own bedroom. Sakura had locked the door earlier when she was reviewing her notes from her mentor and fell asleep. It was a bad week to choose to have his clothes dry-cleaned rather than to have washed them himself. He didn't have a choice, did he?

"Where is my pencil?" He wondered to no one in particular as he snatched his instrument from the couch. Soon, he had found his pencil, sat back down and worked into the remaining hours of the night, shivering time after time because of the window he'd left open the earlier evening and found to troublesome to close. He drafted. And drafted. And drafted. But there was not one draft that was good enough to put in his final composition.

He had started one, in fact, about a year ago. However, he never got the chance to finish his symphony because of the gang wars. He ran. He hid. He moved from one apartment to another. There was just too much going on last year, thus resulting in his frequent absences and failure in his class.

Cup after cup, he continued playing with notes in the living room, trying hard to ignore his heavy eyes and the fact that the sun was about to rise. Finally giving up on the project, he stood up and stretched his arms over his head, feeling they had grown sore and numb from holding up his instrument for hours.

The door opened and Sakura walked out of the bedroom, almost stumbling. It looked like she had a real hangover but Itachi doubted it. She could still be really tired from studying last night. He would know. He felt like that sometimes when he'd take college seriously.

When she'd caught a glimpse of Itachi's toned torso, she dropped her head in shame and quickly walked backwards and back into the room and shut the door. Itachi would have given her a chuckle if he didn't feel so stressed and tired. With her petite and high built, you would think she was all woman but somehow, Itachi saw a child in her and he wondered if Sasuke found that side of her adorable like he did deep inside or if his brother just dealt with it.

He approached the bedroom door and rapped at the door. "Anything you might like for breakfast, Haruno?"

There was a long silence before Itachi heard the doorknob turn. Sakura looked up at him, avoiding anything below his shoulders. "The leftover cakes from last night would be nice," she said, almost barely over a whisper. "If that's okay with you, I mean. I can cook for you, if you want. You look a bit—"

"I'm good," he interrupted. "There will be no need to cook anything. There are still plenty of cakes left. And since you volunteered to cook, may I ask you prepare breakfast? As you can see, a lot of cleaning is needed in the living room." Without even listening to was she had to say, he turned away and started cleaning up.

When Sakura took a few steps to the kitchen and saw the mess he had created. "You write music?" She knelt down and begun helping him pick up the pieces of paper he had thrown away from the coffee table whenever he wrote something wrong.

"Haruno, I asked you to prepare breakfast. We are able to save more time if we work on different tasks rather concentrating on the same one," he said sternly as he swiped the music sheet from her. "The cakes are in the refrigerator. Feel free to drink anything you wish. I've kept a bottle of juice further back."

Quietly, Sakura backed away and trotted in the kitchen to prepare the meal. She'd heard a silent closing of a door and when she peeped into the living room, Itachi was gone. Tiptoeing towards the hamper, she found Itachi's clothes from last night thrown carelessly in. Faint coughs echoed from inside the bedroom.

Worry subtly washed over her so she started for the bedroom door slowly but before her fingertips touched the knob, the door swung open and a fully clothed Itachi ran for the bathroom with a hand covering his mouth as he coughed. Sakura swore she heard him wheeze as he breathed in.

She knocked on the bathroom door. "Itachi," she called out hesitantly. "Are you okay?"

He stopped coughing for a moment and seconds later, she heard the water running and then stopped a couple more seconds later. "Do not mind me," he answered. "Continue preparing breakfast. Please."

Without any more questions, Sakura went back to the kitchen and done as she was told although, in the back of her mind, she was wondering about what was going on behind the bathroom door when she heard him start coughing again.

He'd taken a bath in the middle of the night, obviously. And because she'd fallen asleep with the door locked, he was unable to get a new change of clothes and when she'd turned to her right, she found that the kitchen window had been left open and she knew that it was the wind that caused his coughing fit.

The minute Itachi left the bathroom, looking calm and like nothing happened, she approached him and said quietly. "Breakfast is ready." Funny how just last night, he'd said she was a guest and he was supposed to serve her. He was a bit off this morning.

Both of them entered the kitchen and both took a seat on the table. In the middle of the quiet meal, she spoke in the politest manner, trying hard not to offend Itachi. "After dinner, if you'd let me, I think I want to run a check-up on you. You know? If it's fine with you. I'm a little worried. No ordinary person coughs like you do and—"

"If you feel like you are ought to worry about me because I allowed you to stay here temporarily, you are incorrect." Sakura looked back at her plate and began shoving bigger slices of cake in her mouth. Itachi noticed how nervous he'd made her. "Excuse me for my inappropriate behavior. However, I am not your responsibility and you have no need to diagnose my condition. I am already aware of my condition."

"Condition?"

Itachi finished his plate of cakes and stood up. "Excuse me. I shall return to my previous task. When you finish, you may clean up and shower. This composition must be finished before this afternoon and as soon as I take you to the hospital, I will lock up and continue working."

She nodded and in a split second, Itachi had gone back into the living room.

"I swear," she said laughing. "This is the most fun I've ever had! I'm learning so much and—"

"Typical," Narutosaidover the phone, cutting her sentence short. "Haruno Sakura is having so much fun learning."

She laughed again. "It's fun to learn, Naruto."

"It's fun to learn… How can I say it to make it sound not absurd?"

Sakura kept on telling him stories about her experiences so far. Why Naruto? Because Sasuke was studying for when school begins again. "By the way, how's Sasuke?" She asked, pretending that she had not called him only minutes before she dialed Naruto's phone.

"Still the same," he said. "But I think there is something you should know, Sakura-chan."

Her heart nearly stopped at the sentence. She thought about everything Sasuke could possibly do wrong. However, he may not be the perfect boyfriend but she could just not see him doing something that would break her heart. The distance was testing her faith and trust in her boyfriend, she thought.

"Naruto," she interrupted, not wanting to hear any more. "I still have to eat my lunch. I only get half an hour for my break and I only have 10 minutes left to buy food from across the hospital."

"Oh, okay then. Well, I have to talk to you about Sasuke some other time because he's—"

Before he could even finish, Sakura heard a door open from his side of the line. "Dumbass, I thought you were taking me over to—"

"Sasuke?"

The other line hung up, preventing Sakura from hearing the rest of the conversation. She knew that tone of voice. She knew that voice. He used the same nickname her boyfriend had for Naruto… It was Sasuke.

"Sakura, Tsunade and I have an emergency operation she needs to attend to," Shizune said from the doorway. "You're done for the day. Thank you, Sakura. When you graduate high school, be sure to come back here and we can recommend you a scholarship in any college you want."

"Thank you, Shizune-san."

She packed her bags, got the cap and stuffed her hair in the cap before she left the hospital. Where to eat, she wondered.

Chouji always found her homemade sandwiches divine. Although, it always depended on the bread. He always liked his sandwich bread freshly baked and she agreed with him. An idea popped into mind. It was time she visited the grocery.

()

A knock on the front door broke his concentration. He dropped his pen angrily on the table and got up to open the door.

"Itachi-kun," the masked man greeted, leaning against the frame of the door. "May I come in?" He asked, letting himself in before Itachi could even say he was busy. When he slumped on the couch, he took a paper in his hand and laughed maniacally. "You're still after that college degree, Uchiha? I told you to go into college to blend in and cover our tracks. You didn't have to take it seriously."

Itachi, who still had not let go of the door knob, tried his best not to rip the door off its hinges. "Tobi," he started. "It is not your business what I do in college. I did as you told me. I do not need further instruction. Why are you here."

The long haired man knew that underneath the mask, Tobi smiled. He heard it in his voice. "I'm here to talk. There's a man I must get rid of and I need your help."

"I do not wish to be involved in such a situation," he answered sternly, trying to bury his decision into Tobi's head. It was hard to do so half of the time. Tobi never liked not being listened to. "You permitted me to collect intel instead of killing. If it weren't for Konan and I, you never would have found half of the people Akatsuki has killed."

"You're being stubborn, Itachi," he snapped. "I don't like stubborn. Don't forget that I'm the reason you're still alive."

"One cannot easily forget when his relative pulled him out while the rest of the family gasped for air," he snapped back. "This will be the last time you hear this from me; I am not putting myself into any more danger than I already am, Tobi. Not anymore. I'm tired of this life. Kindly leave the way you entered. I still have a lot to do for later."

Tobi heavily got to his feet and dragged himself across the room to the front door, purposely bumping Itachi's shoulder on his way. "You'll regret this, Itachi. I don't know how I'll make you regret, but you will. Life's funny like that. Ciao."

()

The door chime made a soothing sound when she'd opened the door of the bakery with a grocery bag full of ham, sliced cheese, tomatoes, mayonnaise and drinks against her chest. Deidara rushed out of the kitchen and was greeted by the sight of a very familiar lady in front of him.

"You know," he said as he removed his apron. "I was just kidding about you coming back here." Sakura raised an eyebrow, not seeming amused. "I'm kidding. What do you have there?" He walked to her and leaned over the bag just close enough for his long hair to touch her shoulder. His head was against the tip of the cap and if he moved any closer, he'd knock off her disguise.

She took a step back. "I brought ingredients for a ham and cheese sandwich," she said with a smile. "I didn't have lunch yet so I thought I could have lunch with you."

"Okay then," he said, a bit taken aback by her sudden invitation. "You do know you need bread to make a sandwich, right?"

"I came to a bakery, didn't I?"

He shook his head and chuckled. "Fair enough. Wait here."

While he rummaged around in the kitchen, Sakura took her seat on the table where they sat the first time. One by one, she took out the ingredients onto the table and patiently waited for Deidara who emerged from the kitchen with a plate of a new baked loaf of bread in one hand and a pair of knives in the other hand.

"It's a good thing I hadn't had lunch yet." He walked over to the table and began slicing the loaf neatly. As he worked, Sakura watched him intently. "Now that I think of it, I didn't catch your name the first time you came, did I? I'm Deidara, by the way."

She felt her pulse stop for a moment. "My n-name," she started. "I'm Ha… Haru."

"What? No last name?" Deidara teased. Sakura shook her head with a cocky expression on her face. "So are you one of those girls who like to stay mysterious to get the guy hooked even more? Or are you the type would rather have no one attached to her because she's living a secret agent life?"

Even though what he'd said was not as hilarious as it would coming from someone else, his accent had her hooked and the way he looked at her as he spoke could nearly drive her mad.

"I'm closer to the second," she laughed, helping Deidara prepare the slices of bread.

The two of them worked for half an hour or so and cooked the ham in the kitchen. Sakura realized that Deidara was actually easy to get along with if you knew the right words to say to him and if you knew how to avoid hitting a nerve. She'd only been with him twice and she already knew him well. Or did she?

He was in a gang with Itachi, after all. The man she was staying with at the moment had a lot of secrets to hide despite them sleeping under the same roof. What more regarding the man beside her now? What was he like outside of the bakery? If he knew who she was, would he still act the way he was acting right now? It was pretty obvious he liked her. He was making it obvious with every look and every time their hands met by accident. He would let his hand touch hers seconds longer than it should. He would look at her more affectionately than any normal acquaintance would.

When she looked at him more closely, she realized he was actually just a year or two older than she was.

"I don't mean to strike a nerve here but you're part of the same gang as Itachi's, right?"

He finished his sandwich before answering to her. "Yeah. We're on the same gang. We're not that close but I know everything I need to know about him."

The two talked about Itachi for quite a while but Sakura didn't discover anything that she didn't already know. She a bit disappointed because the reason she'd thrown Itachi's name into the conversation was because she'd hoped Deidara could slip in some new information for about him. But this was probably for the best.

When she checked her watch for the last time, she rose and bid Deidara goodbye.

"I'll be back tomorrow just in case you'll miss me," she chuckled jokingly as she started for the door.

Immediately, Deidara got off of his seat and went after Sakura, catching her hand in his and spinning her around. "How did you know I was going to miss you, hm?"

Taken by surprise—and moreover by the butterflies he'd sent into her stomach—she could only look at him for a long moment. His eyes were on hers and it felt like they were piercing through her pupils. He was smirking and she didn't know what it was about that smug smile that made the butterflies in her stomach go wild. And then she realized he wasn't really smirking… That was his usual smile which resembled an arrogant expression and she liked it even more.

He moved in closer and she was tempted to do the same if it weren't for the door chime that sounded behind her.

Her senses were cleared and for the first time since Deidara caught her by the hand, she finally thought, This isn't right. She pulled her hand away and ran for the door. Looking back, she saw Deidara pouting.

I'm sorry, she mouthed.

The evening of the day Sakura and Deidara nearly kissed in the bakery, Sakura rushed back to the hospital to wait for Itachi because she knew he was going to lose it again if he went to the hospital and she wasn't around again.

That night, she went to bed without dinner and without a word to Itachi. She knew that he'd noticed something was wrong and that whenever she'd shut the door behind him or when she turned around, he would simply shake his head at her. The first two nights, she was unable to sleep properly and was only lulled into slumber by the sound of Itachi playing his melody outside. She never bothered to go out and bother him mostly because she was too exhausted.

Ever since, Sakura would only pass by the bakery and look at him and smile from the other side of the window. She had not heard his voice in several days nor had she seen his smirk-like smile either. Moreover, she didn't want to talk to Naruto and chat with him that long anymore nor has she spoken to Sasuke… Not that he ever called. He did text to ask how she was once. To be honest, she didn't think Sasuke even cared and he was just reminded by something or someone that he had a girlfriend he should be caring for.

Deidara was a good friend, wasn't he? He'd made her laugh in one day more than Sasuke ever could and ever will. He was charming and sweet and kind and everything that Sasuke wasn't.

Finally, realizing that this was bothering her way more than it should, she planned to visit the bakery for the last time today after the end Tsunade's speech in this seminar… Which was close. How did she know? Tsunade had been practicing all morning and she'd memorized almost half of the speech.

When her mentor begun her last sentence, she snapped her cap on, pushing in all her hair carelessly into it and gesturing her mentor from the crowd that she was going to leave earlier. Tsunade winked at her subtly and she was off.

There was a sign on the door of the bakery. Closed.

He wasn't around, was he? Not when she was finally fed up of the feeling. She sighed and put a palm on her face letting her other hand on the closed door to brace herself from the light-headedness she was expecting to feel.

Only the door wasn't closed, she realized, when she almost fell face first on the floor of the bakery. In a split second, she was up on her feet, calling for Deidara. But there was no answer. She looked in the kitchen and in the bathroom but there was no one there. Where could he have gone to? And why did he leave the door unlocked?

"I take it you can't read, Haru," he said sternly. "We're closed. Come back another time." The coldness in his voice was not subtle. But then again, he had this thing about making his feelings about someone obvious. Very obvious. When he sensed that he wasn't going to leave anytime soon, he spoke again. "What do you want?"

She stepped closer but he didn't move. "I'm sorry for running off like that. I'm even sorrier for being such a coward and not facing this for the last few days," she said, her voice threatening to shake. "What I want is forgiveness."

"Why couldn't you just tell me if you didn't like me or anything," he replied, avoiding meeting her wide and apologetic eyes. "Besides, I know you have a boyfriend back home. I shouldn't have played with you like that. That's my mistake. I just couldn't believe that you didn't come back just because of that day."

"I know… I'm sorry," whispered Sakura. "I want to tell you something and I just thought you should know. I hope you can still accept me after this…"

Deidara, finally meeting her emerald eyes and noting that her face was much closer than it should be, waited in silence.

She'd reached a hand on her cap and slowly pulled it, still hesitant about telling Deidara about this. "The thing is…"

"Stop," a voice said from behind Deidara. "She's mine."

When they both turned their attentions to the doorway, a dark figure was standing there, arms crossed. "Put your cap back on. Now." He'd said the word firmly, as if he were threatening her that he would do something bad to her.

"Itachi," Deidara said, barely over a whisper. "You're her… But she said she had a boyfriend back home."

The tallest of the three walked over to Sakura and grabbed her roughly by the arm. "Where do you assume might she have gotten such a cap exclusively sold in the Siren Central College?" He asked Deidara before shifting his gaze on Sakura. "I will not permit you to return here without my company."

And without another word, he dragged her out of the bakery faster than Deidara could register. Once again, he was left alone only this time, he was left alone with an explanation. A shocking one, that is. Sakura had almost fallen for him, he knew. He had his devious smile to thank. She was just as easy as all the other girls… But the thing was he had felt something different about her that made her different from the others and he hoped that it would fade away soon. If not, he'd be running a very gloomy bakery.

()

Itachi had taken Sakura out to dinner tonight. His place was left in quite a mess and he didn't feel like eating at home with such an environment. He would clean up the minute they got home. But then again, he had been saying that for days and every time, he would end up immersing himself with his project. His professor gave him another week to finish the composition and that would be the last extension he was giving Itachi.

Sakura, on the other hand, was playing with her phone and was tempted to text Naruto and tell him to call her because she was just about sure that she was going to hear it from her boyfriend's older brother who caught her with another man in her arms but she ended up not sending a word. She figured she deserved a good talking-to. It was just what she needed.

"Sakura," here it comes, she thought. "You have not touched the menu. Pick what you wish. I will be paying. I chose where to eat, after all."

She let the breath she'd unconsciously been holding out.

"I would not feel so relieved just yet, Sakura," he continued as his eyes scanned the selection of desserts this little restaurant had. "If you were not my younger brother's girlfriend and we were home, I would have slammed the door in your face and leave you with no other choice but to sleep outside tonight." Itachi saw the way Sakura's eyes threatened to shed a tear and sighed inwardly. "But we're not home, are we? And you're Sasuke's girlfriend after all. Pick whatever you like."

For over 10 times, Sakura flipped over the menu but found nothing she would like. When Itachi finally figured out her indecisive face, he called for a waiter and placed his order—a plate of grilled salmon and two glasses of cocktail juice.

"A plate of my order is too much for a person with a normal appetite to finish," he said. "And since you didn't know what to pick, I picked one for you."

In the 15 minutes they spent waiting for their order, none of the two talked. Sakura was too scared to say a word, afraid that he might find a way to change the topic back to what had happened in the bakery earlier. Itachi, on the other hand, did not feel like scolding on her in such a public place—not with the way she was looking at her phone with that adorable pout… Did he just think her pout was adorable?

It was. It really was.

"A plate of salmon with mashed potato and coleslaw, sir?" The waiter placed the oversized plate on the table without waiting for Itachi's confirmation (which he never intended to give anyway) and placed two tall glasses of cocktail juice on their table. After that, he was on his way to serve other tables.

"Please," Itachi said, handing her his fork. For the first time tonight, she saw that there was only a bread knife on her side of the table. "I shall ask for another. Go on ahead, Haruno."

She took the fork away from him, feeling their skin brush lightly against one another. She sliced a small piece and tasted the well-garnished salmon in front of her. It tasted just as good as it looked and it was begging to be eaten in the first place.

Several minutes passed before she realized she had already eaten 1/3 of what was on the plate… And that Itachi had not eaten yet.

"You don't have a fork yet," she said. Quickly, she wiped the fork with a napkin and handed it to Itachi. "I know you're just as hungry as I am, Itachi."

He didn't know what it was about the way she'd said his name that made him want to just watch her eat the whole night. But whatever it was, it wasn't as powerful as the energy in his stomach that was just dying to digest something. He accepted the fork and began eating as well.

She leaned over the table, placing both elbows on top and her chin at the back of her entwined hands. She looked over Itachi's shoulder as he ate in a proper posture, looking as formal as ever.

About ¾ of the customers were couples which made her a bit uncomfortable knowing that she was here with Itachi… Who was her boyfriend's older brother.

"Here," he said finally. He was wiping the fork with his own napkin when Sakura noticed him again.

She ate again, only this time, consciously. If Itachi somehow had some power in his eyes, he could have been burning a hole on her head right now. But that would just be preposterous, wouldn't it?

She felt a hand on her forehead and when she lifted her head, Itachi had risen a little from his seat, leaning over the table and reaching out to tuck a strand of hair back into the cap. His hand on her felt good. A little too good for her liking, in fact. She simply smiled at him and went back to eating. "We would not want anyone recognizing your eye-catching locks," he told her as he withdrew his hand from her.

After wiping the fork, she handed it back to him again. "I'm full," she said briefly and watched Itachi finish up the rest of the plate.

One last slice of salmon was left and she thought everything was over tonight and she could finally get some rest. But just as she was about to excuse herself to the restroom to fix up her hair, Itachi had the fork in front of her, just inches away from her lips.

"They say a meal is even more satisfying when you get the final bite," he said.

She looked at him for a moment and saw that his eyes were on the salmon… Or on her lips. She never could tell. Without thinking twice, she placed a hand over his and kept her gaze on their hands as she took the last bite of their dinner.

That was it. None of them moved. It was like everyone else in the restaurant, in the city and in the world had disappeared. This was the first time both of them have ever felt that they were all alone. Sakura never felt this whenever she was with Sasuke. It always felt like he was the one alone in his own little world. And Itachi always felt alone… Until she came along.

Itachi had placed the fork on the table but Sakura's eyes on him and hands on his never flinched. However, just when he was about to place his hand on hers, her phone rang.

Sakura took a quick glance at his other hand which was already nearing hers and snapped out of it. She was on her feet in a second and ran somewhere in the restaurant to talk to whoever was calling without even excusing herself from the table.

"Hello?"

"Sakura," a familiar voice said.

"Sasuke?"

"Naruto told me I should call to ask how you're doing," he said, sounding as passive as ever.

That's right. If it weren't for Naruto, he wouldn't call her at all.

She heard another voice in the background. A small, mute and feminine voice that she knew very well.

"Where are you?" She asked him, her tone suddenly changing.

"I'm at Hinata's with Naruto and they're bugging me," he answered. So Hinata was talking in the background. "I'll call again. Bye."

I'll call again. Yeah, right.

Before she pushed the phone back in her pocket, she sent Naruto a text, thanking him for telling Sasuke to call her… Even though it was pointless because Sasuke couldn't talk to her properly.

After texting, she walked back to their table and apologized to Itachi.

"Who was that, might I ask?" Asked the older of the two before he sipped on his cocktail. She noticed a smile somewhere on his face. It was unseen. But she knew it was still there. Could it be from what happened just moments ago?

She smiled and felt a bit awkward. Just minutes after having a 'moment' with Itachi, they were going to talk about Sasuke now.

"It was Sasuke," she answered quietly. Itachi remained silent. "He asked how I was doing... But I couldn't answer becau—"

Again, her phone rang but this time, it was a message. When she opened to read it, her heart dropped in her stomach in a painful way… But it wasn't as painful as she imagined it would be.

From: Naruto
Message: What do you mean? I never told Sasuke to call you. I'm not at Hinata's either. I haven't seen him since he visited Hinata last night.

She slammed the phone on the table and ran to the restroom. Itachi waited until he finished his juice before he reached out for the phone. When he read the message, a fire started within him. A wild one. And he didn't know how he, or anyone, could extinguish it. He was mad. He saw the tears in Sakura's eyes before she made a run for it. Even if it was just for a split second, he figured that her friend's text message must have been painful for her tears to well up in her eyes that fast.

He was mad at his little brother for making such a beautiful lady like Sakura run away in tears. She may have almost betrayed Sasuke but this was not what she deserved. In fact, knowing Sasuke, this was far from what she deserved.