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Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto... or any of the other stories I may or may not have stolen archetypes from.
"Itachi?" Sakura asked, angling her head to the side. Her emerald eyes were wide with disbelief at what lay before her.
"I see it..." Even his voice showed a speck of skepticism.
"How could you miss it? It's absolutely huge..." said Sakura quietly. She rubbed her eyes, making sure she wasn't going crazy. Could it be a genjutsu? She doubted it, usually she would have picked up on the change of chakra intensity around them.
"I could have sworn we were going the right way, Sakura. This doesn't add up, unless there's a cave around here somewhere..." Itachi slid the bag off of Sakura's shoulders, searching around for a map of some sort.
Sakura sighed, and crossed her arms, miffed. "I really don't see how we could get there in half a day. Not if we have to climb over a mountain." Yes, the obstacle that lay before them was a steep, rocky mountain. It would take days to climb over it.
Itachi grunted, spreading out a large topography map. Pointing to their location he shook his head. "I'm sorry... It seems I thought we were traveling a bit more North than we are."
Peering up the steep cliffside, Sakura felt a cold draft brush across her bare shoulders. She shivered, glaring at Itachi for having his cloak. Itachi rolled the map up and put it away in the worn bag, glancing up and noticing Sakura's discomfort.
"Are you cold? You can have my cloak if you'd like," he pulled it off his shoulders, until Sakura stopped him.
"No, you 'll need it. Tell me, are these the mountains bordering the Rain Country?" Itachi nodded.
"Yes, but I wouldn't call them mountains. They're not quite that high," he corrected, oblivious to the increasingly cold winds.
Sakura figured as much. When the warm winds from the Fire Country swept into the Rain Country, they became colder, and eventually return back over the mountains to begin the cycle again. If her calculations were correct, they could expect it to rain very soon.
"Itachi, you don't happen to have another cloak in there, do you?" Sakura asked hopefully, knowing the predicament she'd be in if they didn't. Unfortunately, they didn't. Itachi didn't have a lot of knowledge of the area, so he had no clue the kind of cold they would be running into.
"I told you, you can use my cloak if you want," he repeated, concerned. Sakura knew she couldn't take it from him, if she did, they'd both end up freezing overnight.
"No, no... Come on, let's keep moving, maybe we'll find a path to get us through," she said quickly. She knew they wouldn't, they'd most likely have to travel along the cliffs until they found the pass.
Itachi followed after her, tossing the bag over his shoulder. The forest they had just exited started to dwindle away, save for a few bushes and shrubs. Bending down, Itachi ran his fingers along the ground. It was no longer the grass it was earlier, it was rocky dirt. Since they were so close to the Rain Country, the ground shouldn't be so dry.
"Sakura, do you know anything about this region? Why is it so dry along here?" Itachi inquired, letting the dirt fall from his palm. Sakura glanced back, shrugging her shoulders.
'The less he knows, the less he'll worry..." she thought wearily. "Let's just find some shelter for when the cold and rain comes."
They walked in silence. Sakura made sure to walk right along the cliff face, so that a small portion of the winds blowing off of them missed her. Itachi couldn't feel the cold thorough his clothing and raised his eyebrows at her odd behavior, but didn't ask.
Sakura winced as a particularly penetrating breeze ran along her arms, chilling her to the bone. She had always cursed her intolerance to the cold. She thought she could just tough it out, but it was getting ridiculous. Dropping back, she wrapped herself around Itachi's arm, clinging to him for warmth.
The obtuse Uchiha finally clued in. "You are cold, stop trying to be tougher than you are. You're going to get sick." He stalled for a moment, a quizzical look on his face. Making a trek down his jawbone was a single drop of water.
"There's some bad weather coming in, Itachi..." Sakura admitted, knowing he'd want to try to help her in some way, she couldn't let that happen.
"The rain..." Itachi whispered, wiping his face. "We should find a shelter, immediately. I've heard of the storms this place gets, and judging by the humidity in the air, one of them is coming."
Sakura just nodded, her teeth beginning to chatter. They began moving quicker along the path, ignoring the increasing number of droplets soaking into their clothing. They weren't going to find shelter without getting very, very wet.
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Tobi shuffled his feet nervously, feeling the electricity in the air. "Deidara-senpai... It's going to rain! Tobi doesn't want to get wet..." Deidara, who was still sitting in the shelter of the bushes by the cliff pass, glared.
"Just relax, Tobi! They should be here any minute, un..." he said uncertainly. He thought they would have arrived near a day ago, to avoid the rain. One of them should have noticed the change in humidity... if they weren't preoccupied.
Deidara shuddered nasty thoughts from his mind. Although, lately all of his thoughts have been revolving around the relationship between Itachi and Sakura. It irked him to no end when he thought about how close he had been to having her heart. He could not forget that one exemplary kiss...
"The rain is here! Tobi is leaving, senpai!" Tobi called out, dashing away as the first drops of water fell from the sky. Deidara sighed, checking to make sure all of his clay was safely stored out of the rain. It would be useless if it got wet and he could be here a while.
Another hour passed by and still no sign of them. The rain was coming down much harder now, turning the dusty ground into muddy slop. Most people would be freezing by this time, sitting out in the rain, but not Deidara. Due to the explosive nature of his two types of chakra (Fire and Earth), it radiated a certain amount of heat that protected him against the elements. He never really took note of this, he usually stayed in warmer climates, but now was incredibly grateful.
So in that bush, Deidara sat. By this time, he didn't even know why. It wasn't like he would be able to talk to Sakura, well at least not without Itachi beating him to a pulp. But for some reason, he felt like she was worth it. He would sit out there for another three days if he had too, just to see her face again.
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"What are we going to do?" Sakura screamed over the howl of the wind. The rain was coming down in endless torrents now, unrelenting and soaking through everything. She thought she heard Itachi say something, but it was lost to the elements. They were running as fast as they could along the cliff-side, but there was nothing in sight. They could take refuge back in the forest, but the water levels had turned it back into swamp.
They turned a sharp corner and, like it was sent from above, they saw shelter. It wasn't much, just a grove of sparse bush lying alone in the barren dirt... mud now, but it would do. Sakura pulled Itachi over to it and just as they were ready to take a flying leap into it, she felt something, or someone.
Digging her heels into the muck, she yanked Itachi back. All at once, he too noticed, but was too tired to care. Jabbing his foot into the sparse shrubbery, he cleared it of the intruder. Deidara flew a foot back, holding his stomach in pain.
Sakura couldn't believe her eyes. She was glad to see Deidara, but this could also be very problematic. Seeing him in pain from Itachi's explosive anger, she rushed over to him, getting close enough to speak with him. "What are you doing here?" She bellowed, placing a glowing green hand on his stomach, which had probably been pretty badly bruised by Itachi's wrath.
Deidara was in shock. All he had seen was a blur of black and pink, then felt pain as Itachi kicked him, then... he saw her. The second she touched him, all the pain went away, but not just because of her medical ninjutsu.
Sakura saw his dazed expression and sighed. "Oh, Deidara-kun..." He reached up to wipe the rain from her face, but his hand was stopped by a larger, firmer one.
Glaring up, Deidara saw the hand's owner, Itachi. "Let me go, Uchiha." Itachi was furious. He had been running through the rain for the last hour, now he had to deal with this jerk flirting with his fiancee.
"You stay away from her, Deidara. I'm warning you..." Itachi's eyes instantly became a fierce red. Deidara shrunk back, scowling. Sakura just sat, on the verge of angry tears at the fight that had broken out.
"Stop it you two! You're acting like children, let's just get out of the rain!" She grabbed both of their cloaks and headed for the foliage. Once crouching in the leaves, Sakura noted Itachi's sharingan and Deidara's scowl. Men could be so immature sometimes. Although, Itachi was making her much more upset. Deidara hadn't done anything wrong and Itachi was threatening him with his kekkei genkai. So Sakura decided she would join in the glaring.
The three of them just glared at one another, all for different reasons. The uncomfortable tension between all of them wasn't long-lasting, because before long, Sakura let out a harsh sneeze. Both of the men's attention was switched to her.
Itachi was the first to act and scooped her up quickly, holding her close for warmth. Deidara just shook his head. "You aren't doing her any good. Give her to me, I can give her heat," Deidara smirked at Itachi's expressionless stare, and continued, "not like that. My chakra gives off a certain amount of heat, enough to protect me from this weather. At least, when I want it too."
Sakura knew she was in trouble when she felt her muscles give out. Luckily, Itachi had her... He would always be there for her. Snuggling against his cold, wet chest, she allowed darkness to overtake her.
Itachi was not pleased with the idea of letting his rival hold his beloved, but just as Sakura let out another sneeze, and fall into unconsciousness, her chakra low from the trip, he knew it was the only way to keep her from getting pneumonia or hypothermia, if she hadn't already.
Reluctantly, he passed the girl to Deidara, but not without grabbing his collar roughly and threatening him. "If you even think the wrong way about her, your head is mine. Got that?" Deidara knew he had won the battle, so he nodded to the Uchiha, but not once did he take his eyes off of the gorgeous kunoichi.
Itachi pulled his cloak around himself tighter, trying to think of a way to heat himself up. There was no way he could use his fire jutsus, they would just die out instantly. But just sitting in the sparse leaves was killing him. Deidara was near him, turned away, with Sakura snuggled against his chest. Deactivating his sharingan, Itachi reached into his pack.
Since he had nothing to do but endure the torture, he contented himself by spinning a kunai on his index finger. Deidara eyed the weapon cautiously, knowing that if Itachi felt like it, he could impale him with it.
"How long is this storm going to last?" Itachi asked icily, staring straight into Deidara's eyes, attempting to bore a hole through his very soul. Deidara chuckled silently, running a concealed hand across Sakura's exposed arm.
"I believe it'll be over in an hour or so, then you may be on your way, un," Deidara answered, keeping his eyes fastened on the ground. He wouldn't put it past Itachi to use a genjutsu on him. But maybe, the genjutsu would fail...
Over the past three or so years, Deidara had been training his left eye to see through genjutsu. The sole purpose of this action was to kill the one who forced him into Akatsuki, Uchiha Itachi. If he hadn't been press-ganged into the organization, he could still be a freelance terrorist, only having to worry about himself.
Deidara glanced quickly at Itachi, who was still twirling the kunai. 'It would be a prime opportunity... just send an explosive spider, tick, beetle, anything! He would be dead before he could activate the sharingan, un!'Deidara thought ravenously. 'Then... the gorgeous, fantastic Sakura would be mine. She'd forget all about that crazy Uchiha, and come right into my outstretched arms...' The more Deidara thought about it, the more nervous he grew.
Itachi stopped spinning the kunai, grasping the handle quickly. Something was up, Deidara's changing demeanor was proof. "Deidara-san, you're sweating and your hands are trembling," Itachi pointed out. With a quick fluctuation of chakra, his sharingan was activated.
His deadly red eyes shot down any hope Deidara had of overbearing him. With a furrowed brow and a less-than-optimistic attitude, Deidara sighed. 'That's what I thought,' Itachi thought smugly.
Perhaps Itachi wouldn't be beaten then, but one day -Deidara vowed- he would kill him.
How was it?
Fallen: Next chapter Sasuke and Naruto try to find some clues to where Itachi could be. Sakura and Itachi will be on their way and perhaps finally get to see Pein.