Snowbows

''A weed is no more than a flower in disguise''

A loud groan echoed around the wooded area. A villager that strolled down the gravely pathway to enter the small town that rested a little further down the lane stared into the tree's suspiciously, blushing slightly at the implication the groan could mean.

"Itachi!" A girl's voice called out loudly. The villager hurried onwards, his walking a lot more speedier then before.

"You would not have to be dealing with this if you had just been watching where you were stepping." A quieter voice said. Sakura groaned again, sending an infinite amount of chakra to her hands but to no avail. She was dried out – the little she had left was keeping her walking. Well... limping.

She had stumbled on a tree branch, sending herself crashing to the ground and landing rather painfully on her back. After having sent chakra to her feet to ease the aching for the entire journey, she found herself dried completely out. Healing Itachi's eyes regularly was beginning to drain away her chakra. The worrying about it was also distracting her, hence the accident. It was lucky they had reached their destination only half an hour afterwards, but she had had to endure unendurable embarrassment by being carried by Itachi.

She hadn't asked him why it was only his Sharingan that was hurting his eyes. Only once had she had to deal with Kakashi's eye and that was after the use of Mangekyou. But she could see there was too much going on in Itachi's mind and her bringing it up would only make his temper worse.

He was currently poking and probing her foot in order to test for breakages. She watched his face frowning in concentration and noticed that they seemed to be furrowed in annoyance also. Sighing, she pulled her aching foot away.

"It doesn't matter. There's going to have to be some sort of medical equipment in the village up ahead. I've passed through it quite a few times before."

Itachi nodded and rose to his feet, holding out a hand. Surprised, she took it and ignored how the warmth spread through her entire arm instead of her hand.

Making contact with him seemed very difficult since the time they had almost been found. Every touch, every intense stare, every light breath caught on her skin made her jumpy and frightened. Faked make-out sessions were a well-used technique in the shinobi world that worked more often than not. She had heard stories about how teammates had sometimes used it as a last resort and have therefore completed the mission because of it. Making out with a teammate in pretence that you are doing something else was enough to put off any security guards.

That didn't mean she couldn't enjoy it. His hands were deliciously soft and warm, and his breath was also hot and enticing.

He shortened the chain between them and tightened the grip on her hand, pulling her more into him in order to allow the weight to lift from her foot. She smiled up at him in thanks and they strolled along the path, the gates of the village a dot in the distance.

They walked in a comfortable silence, both too exhausted to worry about bringing up conversation. Although there were so many things that Sakura wished to talk about, she was tired and her head wouldn't be able to take anymore. After telling her that it was his cousin who had done the bidding, she was speechless. Itachi didn't explain anymore then that, infuriatingly.

She wasn't surprised though. Shisui had groped her one too many times in the hospital, cornered her too many times and was all in all a disgusting pig. But he looked like a god, with his innocent face and glowing eyes.

In Sakura's opinion, that was just another reason to be wary of him. She had hated him from day one. Now, however, she was absolutely livid with hatred.

Itachi stopped walking. Sakura looked up from where she was staring at her feet and grimaced as Itachi's hold on her hand tightened, becoming almost painful. No words were spoken and for a moment, they stared in shock at the two figures in the distance.

A gust of wind blew between the two pairs of shinobi. Sakura watched as the black cloak ridden with red clouds blew in the wind and the straw hats that hid their faces rose. Blonde hair. Orange mask.

All three men were silent, staring hard ahead of them as they leaped through trees. The dynamics was wrong. They were like an unbalanced scale without their pink-haired nin to keep them in check. There was no banter between Sasuke and Naruto. No laughter from their sensei, no perverted comments.

Just silence. Agonising silence.

"We're approaching the village that indicates the border between Grass and the Land of Wind. We'll stop for supplies, a break, and then we'll continue." Kakashi's dead-pan voice caused Naruto and Sasuke to flinch. Naruto was in pain, Sasuke was bothered, but Kakashi seemed to be in anguish. They nodded anyway and slowed down to a halt, approaching the village slowly.

"Don't move." Itachi ordered to Sakura, who had begun fidgeting. She frowned furiously up at him, attempting to drag him away but to no avail.

"Are you kidding? They'll kill us both! In case you haven't noticed, my foot is sprained, I have no chakra and there are enough splinters in my back to start an entire forest." She hissed in a low voice to him. He ignored her and kept his eyes focused on the approaching clouded figures, who didn't appear to be running towards them to engage combat.

"It seems they don't wish to fight," Itachi murmured to her, loosening the hold on her hand and then squeezing it again reassuringly. Her heart skipped – she decided because she was frightened, not because of his gesture – and she swallowed loudly, watching as they slowly came into vision.

"Well, this is certainly interesting, yeah." The blonde-haired criminal grinned and took off his hat, throwing it carelessly to the floor in the ditch. His teammate did the same. When his intense blue eyes fixed on her, staring her down, a shot of fear ran through her. She'd seen him before.

"Ah, now this is a surprise. I thought it was you, Haruno."

Itachi flinched in surprise, only just managing to hold it in. How was it that an S-rank criminal from Akatsuki knew who she was? She didn't meet his eyes, just stared equally back at Deidara, glaring through him.

"Deidara." She said through clenched teeth. He grinned in reply and untucked his hands from his pockets to spread them out his side.

"Come on! We're buddies right? What's with that tone, yeah?" His grin was patronising. The orange-masked member from beside him perked up, looking at Deidara in surprise.

"But Deidei, she killed Sasi! How can you-"

"Can it, Tobi." Deidara muttered under his breath venomously. Despite the situation, Sakura found herself filling with a tiny bit of amusement at the childish nicknames and tone that Tobi had. Was he really a member of the Akatsuki? Deidara returned his eyes to her.

"So, what's a pretty girl like you doing out here?" His eyes drifted to her forehead, "without a headband," his eyes drifted to Itachi's face, "with a Uchiha, yeah." He looked down at their intertwined hands and scrunched up his nose, but said nothing. Sakura pulled her hand from Itachi's grip.

"That's none of your business. In fact, if you're not planning to fight, then we'll leave now." Sakura took a step forwards, forgetting about the situation with her foot. Her leg crippled forwards and she held back a groan as she stepped on her bad foot. Bad move, Sakura, she thought as she began to fall to the ground.

Cloaked arms came around to catch her waist. She looked up and found Deidara staring down at her appraisingly, grinning like a complete idiot.

"Careful, yeah. Wouldn't want to hurt that sweet face of yours," Sakura shoved his hands away from her waist and glared at him, before hobbling past and taking Itachi with her. Deidara noticed the chain and his eyes widened, but he said nothing.

"Is that it? You healed me and you won't even let me say thanks, yeah?"

Itachi stopped walking, pulling Sakura to a halt. She stared hard at the ground, her expression one of intense shock. He had said it. The stupid blonde had brought it up.

"Sakura?" Itachi's voice was frightening and rather angry. She didn't look at him, turning her head so she was facing the wood on the other side of the pathway. Deidara watched the scene in amusement, holding up a hand in Tobi's face when he protested at the information he had revealed.

"It was an accident," Sakura whispered. "He was lying on the floor, no headband, no cloak. I thought he was just a normal shinobi." She turned to her side and glared at Deidara in the distance. He waved back cheerily.

"I was a chuunin, split up on the way back from my first A-rank mission. I didn't know his face, Tsunade hadn't given me the file about the Akatsuki then. I didn't know-" She cursed and looked at Itachi. His eyes were shut and he let out a deep sigh.

"It's alright, Sakura. It seems they are not planning to attack us, so we may proceed to the village. There is nothing we can do."

Sakura nodded, swallowing. She felt like an idiot. It was true – she had once mistaken him for a normal shinobi. She had gotten along well with him in the three days and he had helped to point her back in the right direction to Konoha.

It was after she had killed Sasori when she finally realised his true identity.

Sasuke and Itachi had been away on a ANBU camp for a year-long course. They only heard of the details when they had returned.

"Don't think you're going anywhere," Sakura jumped, turning around quickly when she noticed Deidara standing barely a few feet away. Tobi was standing beside him, looking between her and Deidara. Itachi's eyes narrowed.

"We do not wish to fight you. You can see she's in no condition-"

"All the more reason to do it, right?" Deidara stepped forwards, a sadistic grin on his face. "She killed my teammate, yeah." Deidara took one more step forwards and took a strand of Sakura's hair. She would have taken a step backwards, but her foot remained on the ground, twisted in a painful angle. Deidara brought the strand of her hair to his lips, then blew along it before finally dropping it back so it framed her face.

"She'd make a great piece of art, yeah." He grinned at her and stepped away, proud of the fearful, yet mesmerised expression that was on her face. Itachi noticed it and frowned, stepping forwards to put an arm protectively in front of Sakura. Deidara took another step back and raised his hands up.

"Hey, I don't mean no trouble, yeah. I just wanted to talk." He gestured to the grassy patch and waited for them to move. They watched him cautiously before moving. Itachi placed a protective hand on Sakura's back as she walked, keeping an eyes on the blonde-haired criminal. Deidara quirked his lip upwards into a humourless, almost challenging smirk and kept his eyes focused on Itachi's hand.

Sakura was confused. What was with Itachi's unnecessary contact? He'd never touch her voluntarily unless he had no other choice. When they had sat themselves as far away from the two cloaked shinobi as possible, Deidara finally began to talk.

"Leader said something about you two and some vicious attack in Grass, yeah." He threw them a grin. "Leader was pretty pissed. He had some good men in there."

Sakura remained silent, as did Itachi. All they had to do was avoid talking and wait for Deidara to finish with them before they could leave. Staring up at Itachi's crimson eyes, she blanched. It was her fault they weren't already free – she had told him to restrict the use of the Mangekyou until necessary.

Deidara picked at the grass beneath his feet and Tobi decided that he would cut in.

"Leader said you were a missing-nin now, Sakura-chan. Is that true?"

Sakura stared at the orange-masked member in surprise. He used a honorific? And 'chan' no less. What was it with him? Deidara sighed and closed his eyes throwing out his left arm so it punched Tobi directly in the face, sending him backwards into the road. The blonde opened his eyes and his original confidence returned.

"If you are missing-nin, we'll more than happy to invite you to join our forces, yeah." He said to Sakura. She choked, staring at him in surprise.

"Are you JOKING?" She yelled, clutching at the grass beneath her so hard that her fingers began to dig deep into the ground. "Hell will freeze over before I do something like that!"

Deidara sighed, as though he had predicted her response. He sunk his head down, but raised his eyes to hers. "You'll change your mind, 'Sakura-chan'." He mimicked. He began to get up from his feet, ignoring the glare he was receiving from her.

But Deidara didn't move after he had stepped onto the road. Tobi had sat up and was staring in the same direction Deidara was focused on. Sakura rose slowly to her feet, wondering what had made the two freeze up. Akatsuki never froze up. It worried her even more when a sly grin spread across Deidara's face.

She stumbled quickly onto the road with Itachi following behind her.

And there, standing a couple of metres away, was her old teammates.

"Well, this is getting interesting, yeah."

Naruto, Sasuke and Kakashi walked through the village, venturing out onto the long, stretchy pathway that would lead them to their destination.

But they halted the moment they left the gate. Something was off. Figures in the trees, really far off in the distance. No one said anything as they studied the figures. Were they really badly hidden shinobi, awaiting their team to pass by?

Suddenly, a cloaked man flew from the alcove and tumbled into the centre of the gravelly pathway, his orange mask sending a shiver of dread down Kakashi. Judging by the cloak, the childish manner in which the figure was holding his head and the covered face, the person who all their eyes were upon was Tobi.

Meaning the other person in the alcove would be Deidara, the explosives specialist. Kakashi clenched his fists together. He wasn't in the mood for this. Not another encounter with the hot-headed blonde. He needed to find Sakura.

He watched as the orange-masked Akatsuki looked their way. There was no use hiding the fact they were standing there – nothing would have hidden them. They all glared at the shinobi, hoping that at least the daggers would affect them. Then the blonde appeared from the side, curiously looking around at Tobi's point of interest. When he looked their way, a sly grin came over his face.

That's when she appeared. Kakashi's heart fell through his stomach, then sucked right back up again into his head. Sakura was staring at them in horror. Slowly, Team 7 began to move forwards until they were within conversational distance of Sakura.

"Kakashi..." Sakura muttered. Kakashi heard her, even though their distance was still lengthy. Just hearing her say his name sent another wave of anguish through him and he frowned, breaking eye contact with her.

"Don't, Sakura." He said back, his voice catching in the back of his throat. Even without looking at her, he could tell that his comment had stung her.

"Ah, Hatake, we was just having a little chat. You know, us fellow missing-nin-" The end of Deidara's sentence was cut off by Naruto, who had slammed Deidara to the floor with his arm and was currently choking him, his eyes red with anger.

"Don't you EVER put Sakura in the same category as you, you stupid bastard."

Deidara grinned, despite his windpipes being completely blocked. "You can't run from the truth forever, yeah."

Sasuke was the only one who hadn't spoken. It was then everyone turned to see how the Uchiha was reacting to the sight of his brother.

Nothing. It was like staring at a brick wall. Both brothers were calm and composed, not spitting, not shouting. Sasuke's eyes drifted from his brothers face, down to his wrist. The chain glistened in the sunlight, now very noticeable to the three shinobi who had just arrived. Deidara used the opportunity to shove Naruto off of him, sending the kyuubi back onto his feet. He brushed off his cloak and stood up.

"Is she your hostage, brother?" He asked simply. Kakashi watched the Uchiha, avoiding Sakura's gaze that was stuck to him. Only the people close to Sasuke could see the clenched fists at his side. It took a lot for an Uchiha to keep composed.

"No." Itachi replied simply. Kakashi brought his eyes back to Sakura, whose eyes were filled with unshed tears. He knew they wouldn't spill – Sakura never cried.

"Kakashi, you have to understand," she croaked, taking a step towards him. He took a step back. The hands she reached out to him with had killed their allies – fellow shinobi. To protect the murderer standing next to her. Itachi watched the silver-haired copy-nin and with his Sharingan was activated, so he could analyse every move his enemy made. It was obvious – Hatake wished to reach out to Sakura. Itachi wasn't going to let him.

Stepping forwards, Itachi blocked Sakura from Kakashi's view. The ashen orbs drifted up towards his own crimson ones in confusion and hatred. Sakura peeked around Itachi's side, placing a hand onto his arm to look up at him.

"Itachi?" She questioned. Kakashi grimaced. Just hearing her say his name in that innocent tone made him want to disembowel the Uchiha in front of him.

Kakashi's eyes widened in surprise when Sakura pushed Itachi aside and stepped forwards. He noticed her limp but said nothing.

"Kakashi, you were always talking about how forgiveness was something shinobi only gave once?" She frowned and wiped her cheek, smudging a small patch of dirt on her face. "Now's the time to give me that forgiveness."

The copy-nin lifted up his headband. Everyone tensed – except Sakura – and watched him carefully. Her body movements were slow meaning she was drained of chakra and she seemed to be shaking. In emotional distress.

Deidara and Tobi had seated themselves on the floor to allow themselves a good view of the two sides. If popcorn were to be added to the scene, it would complete the look.

"This is way better then researching stuff about Konoha," Deidara whispered to Tobi. The orange-masked ninja nodded in agreement.

Sakura took one more wary step forwards. "I'm not his hostage and he's not the murderer-"

"Sakura," Itachi started. Sakura turned to glare at him, surprising the Uchiha and Team 7 with the anger that was in her eyes.

"You got me in this mess, you'll let me tell my team what I want."

For a moment, Itachi worried. Perhaps telling Sakura about his cousin was a bad idea? He had only mentioned his name and didn't want Sakura to reveal it. When he looked back at her eyes, it was as though she was mentally telling him that the name was safe with her. Strange.

She turned back to Kakashi, who was looking very confused. "Sakura, I don 't get-"

Sakura shook her head. "I don't get it either. I'm working on it," she sent her eyes into Itachi's direction, then looked back at her team, "those Grass-nin were attacking us. It was either die, or take down the shinobi that threatened us. Which option would you have preferred?" Sakura had begun to get her confidence back now. Kakashi grimaced. He wouldn't admit out loud that the choice she made was the right one.

Naruto stared at his best friend, his eyes searching and calm. They drifted down to the cuffs. As if Sakura could read his mind, she began to explain.

"The murderer clipped me to Itachi. I was in the wrong place at the wrong time and this is what I got for it. Apparently, he was pretty stupid or he would have chosen someone else to attach to Itachi." She lifted up her wrist, making the metal gleam in the sunlight. "They're enchanted. They can't be broken unless the person who attached them to us undoes them."

Kakashi knew this. But where this supposed 'other murderer' got them from was a mystery. They had all been stored away, out of boundaries for years. Stepping forwards, he lifted a hand to scratch at the back of his head.

"Sakura, I don't-"

She nodded, her face showing a look of hurt once more. "I know, you can't believe me. Which is why I apologise in advance."

Kakashi frowned at her in confusion. Then his vision began to blur and he collapsed to the floor, a blanket of black thrown across his eyes and his mind no longer able to function.

Deidara looked at the three bodies in confusion.

"Eh?" He said, looking at the kunoichi who looked down at her Team, sadness and sourness spread across her face. She threw empty capsules onto the floor.

"Oh," the blonde nodded his head. Sleeping tablets. Apparently the four of them were unaffected by them. He wasn't going to ask for an explanation.

Itachi was surprised. He hadn't even noticed her taking the capsules out of her pockets and neither had her teammates. To think that even his little brother was distracted enough for her to do it was quite surprising. Sakura tore her eyes away from her sleeping teammates and yanked on the chain connecting her and Itachi.

"Let's go already." She muttered sadly to herself. Itachi stared after her, for once being the one pulled along instead of leading the way.

"Wait, girly. I'm not done with you-"

"Well, I'm done with you," she was going too far. Deidara could attack them any moment and she would be unable to defend herself. Her feeble limping was making her look pathetic enough.

Deidara watched the retreating girl, feeling a rare wave of sympathy. It was only slight, somewhere in the back of his gut, but he felt it.

She was limping, dragging her foot along the ground pathetically, her wrist that was wrapped in the cuff was chafed and red, her pink hair was limp and her shoulders were tense with emotion.

"Is Deidei feeling sorry for Sakura-chan?" Tobi whispered quietly to the blonde. Deidara lifted his fist up, punching Tobi in the face above his shoulder without moving his gaze off of the back of the stumbling kunoichi.

Sakura sniffed, her vision blurred. Sending the little chakra she had regained to her eyes, she scanned for any concussion that may have been obstructing her vision like it was. Why couldn't she see? What was disorientating her vision?

A splash of water dropped onto her arm. She looked down at it in surprise, then rose her head to the sky. There was no sign of rain, so she instead brought her hand to her face, her feet coming to a halt as she checked.

Her eyes were watering. She dabbed at her cheeks with her limp hand and looked at the water in amazement. Was she… crying?

Her shoulders began to shake violently and she crouched down to the floor, entwining her hands with her fringe and screwing her eyes shut, water cascading down her thin cheeks. Who was she kidding? She didn't want excitement.

She wanted to go home. She wanted to see Kakashi's eyes crinkle in happiness at her again, see Naruto bound towards her, see Sasuke's disapproving expression. To think she wanted excitement in her life when she already had her team… how stupid of her.

"Man, I thought you were stronger then this, yeah."

Sakura's eyes opened, but she remained in her position. Deidara's disapproving tone came from behind her, in nothing but a quiet murmur, but she had heard it. Silent tears still streamed down her face as she heard him slowly approaching.

Itachi watched Deidara carefully and kept a wary, surprised eye on Sakura. He hadn't expected her to show such a weakness – in front of an Akatsuki no less.

He watched small droplet's drop onto the ground beneath her face, causing the dirt to darken. He hated to admit it, but he had absolutely no idea how to react. Of all the training he had received in the ANBU camp, the one thing he had not learnt was how to console a kunoichi.

"Get up, yeah. You're embarrassing yourself." Deidara grumbled. He didn't seem to look very amused. Itachi noticed that there seemed to be a sense of sympathy behind his eyes, joint with guilt. He was behaving like an adult who had hurt a child.

Deidara bent down so he was the same level as Sakura's. Her eyes jolted over to connect with his.

"You should kill us," she hissed to him, her voice quiet. The blonde looked taken aback for a second and stared at her questioningly.

"You're an Akatsuki. We're one less shinobi for you to deal with. If it wasn't for my drawback, you know we probably would be engaged in combat right now," again, she was greeted with a puzzled look. Then Deidara broke her gaze and turned away, pouting like a kid.

"I don't like unnecessary killing, yeah. Not if it doesn't involve art." He looked back at her. "Now get up, yeah. You're starting to change my opinion of you."

She sniffed and rose to her feet, wiping the tears away on the back of her arm. It paused over her eyes in shock. Had Deidara just tried to... console her? She moved her head sideways, keeping her arm on her forehead. He was watching her with a serious expression on his face.

She dropped the arm and continued to stare. Deidara shuffled his feet, uncomfortable under her gaze.

"What, yeah?"

"If I tried to attack you now, would you kill me?" She asked bluntly. Her eyes widened in surprise.

It was just a second. A small flicker of emotion had crossed over Deidara's face but it was there; revulsion. The thought of killing her made him grimace. Interesting.

She turned away and limped towards Itachi, linking her arm in his without asking for his permission. Slightly amused, Itachi looked down at her and noticed her reddened face, bloodshot eyes and distorted hair. She needed a lodge, far away from Konoha. If just for a while, until she was strong enough to continue on to Konoha. But they wasn't going to get anywhere with her limping. Her chakra still hadn't fully replenished and he knew no medical jutsu that would heal it.

Sakura let out a yelp of surprise when she was swung around by Itachi. She opened her eyes that had screwed up upon reaction and found herself on Itachi's back, her arms thrown over his shoulders.

"What a rare sight, yeah. Uchiha showing compassion."

Sakura looked to her right and saw that Deidara had rejoined Tobi's side. They were both staring at her and Itachi, walking behind them. She frowned.

"Itachi, what-"

"You were slowing us down. We need to find another place to hide out until Konoha is off our trail." He said, clenching his teeth. The shorts she was wearing had ridden up her thighs, meaning his hands were holding onto pure, creamy skin. She didn't seem to have noticed. Deidara had.

"If you let the Uchiha cop a feel, girly, why not me, yeah?"

Sakura's hands gripped Itachi's shoulders and she flung her head around to glare at Deidara.

"You're Akatsuki. Haven't you got anything better to do other then follow us?" She spat. The blonde shrugged in reply and placed both hands behind his head, just like Naruto.

"Leader wanted me to find you, yeah. I found you. Now I just need to await further orders, yeah. I can't let you outta my sight."

"Tobi mustn't either, Sakura-chan. But I will take care of you, so that Deidei will not harm you in-" He was silenced by a threatening glare from Deidara.

Sakura frowned at the two, then turned back around to Itachi. Wrapping her arms around his neck, she leant forwards to whisper in his ear whilst trying to ignore how nice he smelt.

"What do we do about those two?" She whispered quietly. Itachi's ear twitched and he swallowed, keeping his eyes on the road that they had travelled down only an hour ago. He turned a sharp left at an intersection.

"Allow them to do as they please. It doesn't appear as though they are willing to hurt us any time soon." Itachi replied, turning his head slightly to face Sakura. Their faces were within inches of each other and he moved back quickly.

She was emotional. No need to take advantage of that.

"When my chakra's back, will we fight them?" She asked the question in a sad voice, as though it was something she didn't wish to happen. Itachi considered her question for a moment.

Not engaging into combat with the two Akatsuki could class as fraternising with the enemy. But fighting them would also mean that him and Sakura would possibly die. They just weren't good enough at fighting whilst linked together.

"No, I'm afraid we can't." He ignored her sigh of relief. "Our list of taboo's seem to be piling up," he quirked. She rested her head on his shoulder, the emotional distress finally catching up with her.

"Hey, Itachi, where we going?"

He smirked, knowing she couldn't see him. "I believe this time, it shall be a surprise."

A loud sigh interrupted the mood.

"Get a room, yeah."


A/N: Wow. Wow, I am so sorry. Really. Is there any other thing I could say to make up for how much of a terrible author I've been? So not only has my standards dropped, after I promised to update quicker, it also takes me almost a MONTH to keep to that promise.

God, I hope you're all reading this so I could say that I'm on my hands and knees here.

I lost the will to write the next chapter for this, really. Which is why this chapter is probably crap, forced, jam-packed with holes and events that I forgot to include and completely ridiculous.

If that's the case, I'm sorry... again. I've just found myself with a huge liking to NejiSaku now and Itachi really isn't doing anything for me. Neither is this crappy storyline filled with cliche's, fangirl bollocks and mood swings.

I'm updating quicker now - for real this time. I'm back at school, with no more business lessons, meaning more time to write the chapters. :D

Hope you enjoyed this piece of shit. -.-