Chapter Nine: Found At Last

I DON'T OWN NARUTO!

Ita/Saku/Dei

Characters introduced: Uzumaki Naruto, Hyuuga Hinata, Hyuuga Neji, Inuzuka Kiba, Akamaru, Tenten (all mentioned except Naruto)

R&R!

This fic is nearly done. Thank you for sticking with me. There will probably be one or two more chapters before I end it so that Freedom can continue.


Deidara looked up from his book when he felt several chakra signatures headed their way. "Sakura-chan! We have visitors!" He called. The pinkette came out of the kitchen with a smudge of flour on her nose and a smile while Itachi headed to the bathroom to shower the jelly off. "What the hell happened?" Deidara asked. Sakura laughed. "Itachi and I were making jelly buns. Itachi accidentally blew up the jelly jar." She replied. Deidara snorted and Sakura smiled. "You and Itachi stay inside ok? It's not that I don't want them to see you it's just that they won't understand." She said. "Ok." Deidara replied. "Thank you." Sakura kissed the blond before heading outside to meet up with the incoming shinobi.

Sakura sighed when Deidara and Itachi caught up to her a few minutes after she left. "I told you to stay at the house." She said softly. "You stayed with us when we fought for our freedom against the Akatsuki. We're not going to let you face your village alone. That's not how we do things in this relationship. We're all equals." Deidara replied. Itachi nodded. "You are ours as we are yours. To not support you as you have supported us is selfish and wrong. We will stand with you. No matter what happens." He agreed. Sakura's eyes welled up with tears and she drew them both to her in a hug. "Thank you. Thank you for everything." She said softly.

Sakura, Itachi, and Deidara faced down Uzumaki Naruto and his team when they finally arrived. "Sakura-chan we've been looking for you for a long time now. When you didn't show up from your mission a month ago, Tsunade-baa sent us out to find you." He said. "I've been well-taken care of here Naruto. I'm finally needed again. I found what I was missing in the village." Sakura replied softly. Naruto frowned. "But Sakura-chan the village needs you." He protested. "Not really. They need me more." Sakura replied gently. Naruto shook his head.

"They're dangerous Sakura-chan! Why don't you come back to Konoha with me and let Anbu take care of them?" Naruto cried desperately. Sakura smiled serenely from between Itachi and Deidara before moving over to the blond. "They're not evil Naruto. They're lost. I can find them and bring them back. I can do it. Please just trust in me like I trust in you. They'll never bother Konoha. And I can finally get the peace I wanted for so long but could never find in the village I love. You are the brother of my heart and soul Naruto and when you become Hokage, we will be there to witness your coronation. If you have ever loved me at all Naruto, please let me have my peace. I'll take care of them and they'll take care of me too. This won't be the last you'll see of us. I promise." She replied gently, earnestly.

Naruto hugged the pinkette hard and nodded. "Ok Sakura-chan. I'll give you what you want because you are the sister of my heart and soul. You'd better keep your word or I'll drag you back to Konoha kicking and screaming if I have to and they will die." He replied. Sakura laughed lightly and nodded. "Agreed. You know me Naruto. I never break a promise." She said. Sakura gave Naruto a scroll before she disengaged from him fully and moved back to Itachi and Deidara. "Read that when you get home to Konoha. Read it with Tsunade-sama, Kakashi-sensei, and the Rookie Nine, Team Gai, and the Sand Siblings. That scroll will tell you everything about why I'm doing this and hopefully if we need it, Konoha will welcome all of us with open arms." She said softly. "I will. Take care of yourself and of them." Naruto replied.

The three shinobi disappeared and Naruto turned to his Anbu team comprising of Inuzuka Kiba and Akamaru, Hyuuga Neji, TenTen, and Hyuuga Hinata. "Let's go home guys. They're no threat to the village." He ordered. The five man team moved out and headed back to the village to do as Sakura told them to do.

"Well that went well." Deidara said cheerfully as he relaxed from his defensive stance and dropped the clay back into his pouch. Sakura smiled. "Naruto was afraid I'd be like Sasuke but I reassured him that wasn't the case. He's behind us one hundred percent now. And when they get back to the village and read the scroll I sent with them, so will Konoha and Suna. They will help us if we need it." She replied. "Let's go home." Itachi said warmly. Sakura beamed. "Yeah. Home. Besides we need to check the jelly buns." She replied.

Unknown to the happy trio, a pair of bright eyes watched them and fumed. 'Soon you will be where you belong. At my side. And they will pay for trespassing on my territory.' The owner of the eyes thought malevolently. Sakura shivered and Deidara wrapped an arm around her. "What's wrong?" He asked. "I had a bad feeling is all. I must be tired." Sakura replied. "Don't ignore your instincts Sakura." Itachi said as he too got a bad feeling. "I can't figure out what's wrong. I'm hoping it's nothing." Sakura replied. "As am I but I don't think it's nothing." Itachi said. Sakura sighed. She was tired of fighting. This is why she came with them. Because they were the peace she needed. And she was the humanity they needed.


Chapter Nine is here. The events leading up to Freedom are nearly complete.