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Rainflakes

''Because sometimes, life can change in ways you least expect...''

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Aching head, heavy limbs, dehydration... I've exhausted my chakra. On what?

Sakura slowly prised open her sticky eyes and winced as a bright light shone in through them. Where was she? She didn't remember anything before she and Orochimaru had left the hideout. Slowly, she pushed herself up so she was upright, wincing as stretched muscles pulled in her arms. She lifted an arm, raising it to shield her eyes from the light so she could observe her surroundings. A comfortable bed laid beneath her and the room she occupied was familiar. She gasped. She was back at the Akatsuki hideout! She had never been so happy to be back into the place she had once been prisoner.

Movement to her right alerted her and she turned quickly. A look of surprise crossed her face. Itachi was kneeling on the floor with his arms leaning on the bed, his head gently resting on them. He was fast asleep.

As quietly as she could, she left the bed and hurried into the bathroom. She had noticed the disgusting state she was in, covered in Orochimaru's blood and some of her own. To think she had slept with it on her... she shuddered. She quickly peeled the clothes from her, jumping into the shower and sighing in utter relief as the water hit her with force.

Itachi had fallen asleep beside her. Was he worried about her? Of course he would be. She had worried about him, and he wasn't the one that had been held captive by Orochimaru! After her long, luxurious shower, she jumped out to observe the bruises on her face. To her surprise, there was none. Had someone healed her?

She sent out healing chakra to her strained muscles all the same, sighing in relief as they relaxed and the pain disappeared. Shivering suddenly with the cold chill after having emerged from the shower, she scanned the white bathroom for a towel. She spotted one and wrapped it around her pale body, hoping Itachi was still asleep when she returned to the bedroom, so she could grab a t-shirt and change into it.

As quietly as she could, she opened the door and sent a cautious glance to the side of the bed, where Itachi had been sleeping. Crap. He wasn't there. She frowned, walking into the bedroom and closing the bathroom door behind her. Where was he?

Shrugging, she headed over to the drawers to grab a t-shirt. She found one and put it on, blushing after realising that it barely came half-way down her thighs. Oh well, she thought, raising a hand to close the drawer. But her eye caught on the black and red cloak that laid in it. They had been replaced – after Itachi and her had brutally chopped their last one up – and she had done nothing but ignore it. But now... she had nothing else to lose. It was only a scrap of clothing, after all.

She grasped the silky material, surprised at the high quality in the fabric. Slowly, she stretched her arm through one of the holes, almost sighing at the amazing feel it had on her skin. She could see why the Akatsuki never liked taking their cloaks off.

Once she had placed it on her, she headed over to the full-length mirror to observe her appearance. She almost choked at the sight.

The cloak fitted her perfectly. It looked faultless. Like it was supposed to belong on her. And that scared Sakura. That scared her a lot.

The door opened with a click and she turned to it, alarmed. Her heart began to strangely beat erratically at the person who opened it. Itachi was standing in the doorway. And he was wearing a cloak too.

Sakura snorted and smiled slightly at him. "Guess I couldn't help myself." She whispered, stroking her arm down her stomach as though to straighten the cloak out. Itachi followed her movement and his lips twitched in amusement. Then he brought his eyes back up to Sakura's and the smile faded.

The two stared at each other. Sakura bit her lip, attempting to hide back the huge grin that was threatening to emerge, but she couldn't. Her emotions were just about ready to explode.

She ran forwards and threw her arms around Itachi's neck, crying happy tears and burying her face into his neck. Itachi held her back tightly, lifting her up so she could be pressed even firmer to his chest. His eyes were closed and he relished in the embrace he had been waiting for.

"Thank you." Sakura sniffed and tightened her hold. Itachi tucked his nose into the crook of her neck, inhaling the scent he never thought he would be able to smell again. She was alive. She was breathing. She was by his side.

"No, Sakura. Thank you."

~*~

The stares Sakura got when she entered the dining room was embarrassing. Although most of the Akatsuki had departed to their rooms, Kisame, Hidan and Deidara still remained. And they were scanning every inch of her body, looking between her and Itachi almost curiously.

Hidan whistled. "You make a damn hot Akats-" He was interrupted after receiving a harsh slap to the back of the head from the blonde next to him, who had not taken his eyes off of Sakura for one moment. She smiled abashedly at him, before taking a seat.

"Wow. I'd never thought I'd see you wearing that." Deidara swallowed, still staring at Sakura. She shrugged one shoulder, throwing a stern glance in his direction.

"I'm wearing it for comfort, nothing more. It's the only damn clothes you'll give us, so I have to make do with it. It's this, or half-naked," She raised a finger in warning as Deidara's mouth opened. "And no, that is most definitely not going to happen."

Deidara closed his mouth and smiled genuinely at her. She smiled back and leant forward, pulling him into a tight hug.

"Thank you so much, idiot." She whispered to him. He played with her hair while they hugged and he pulled her closer.

"It was nothing, yeah." A wolf-whistle from Kisame made the two pull apart and Deidara sent a cautious look over to the Uchiha, who had been watching them. Surprisingly, he received no evil glare in response to the fondling of 'the Uchiha's girl'.

"I hear you caused a lot of trouble after the sedate wore off. Something about asking for Tobi's hand in marri-" Sakura grinned as Deidara's hand clamped over her mouth, his eyebrow twitching violently.

"Don't say another word, blossom." He pulled his hand away, revealing Sakura's wide grin. Hidan snickered from across the table, sending her a secretive look.

She sighed happily, leaning back in her chair and observing the Akatsuki around her. She enjoyed their company. A lot. More than she should, really, but she didn't care. Looking down at her wrist, a gut-wrenching feeling in her stomach made her smiling face droop. There was no chakra bracelet anymore – she had forgotten that. There was nothing to keep her and Itachi tied down. They could battle against the remaining members with full power and almost definitely win.

"You'll be leaving soon."

Sakura looked up at Deidara, who was staring sadly down at her wrist too. She swallowed and nodded, not quite able to trust her voice. She didn't know how many weeks she had been with the Akatsuki, but they had certainly made her life a lot more excitable. This dread in the pit of her stomach – the same feeling she got when she was dragged away from Itachi – she was feeling it now. She knew it was.

She didn't want to leave. She didn't want to go back to the village she had grown up in. Sure; she had friends. Naruto, Sasuke and Kakashi were her team and she grew up with them. But, she felt like she was needed in the Akatsuki. They had saved a worthless medic-nin from Orochimaru – who may have been strong enough to kill one of them. After only being with them for three weeks, she had come to realise that they were more of a family to her than anyone had ever been. Naruto and Sasuke were like brothers and Tsunade was like a mother, but they didn't fill the void like the Akatsuki did.

Her parents had died at the hands of Orochimaru and their deaths had been avenged by the Akatsuki. Would they be proud? Would they be proud of Sakura if she left the village they had sworn to protect, just so she could join what everyone thought to be a S-rank criminal gang?

A single tear fell down her cheek. No; they wouldn't be proud. And she knew that if she stayed any longer, it would just make it harder to leave.

"It's time to go, Sakura." Itachi had leant over behind her and whispered the one thing she was dreading to hear. She raised the back of her wrist to her eye so she could wipe away the tears that had formed there. The whole room had gone silent and she knew that all the eyes were on her and Itachi. She knew avoiding their eye contact would just make her feel bad, so she stood from her chair and looked at each of them in turn. Kisame; she hadn't known him long, but yet the downturn at the edges of his mouth were showing he wasn't exactly happy. Hidan; he looked utterly miserable and seemed to be cussing under his breath a lot, but she knew it was because he would miss Itachi as a partner. Deidara... he looked miserable. Worse than miserable – he looked absolutely shattered. Just the look on his face made yet another tear fall down her face.

"Blossom..." He choked. She couldn't believe it; Deidara - ferocious, arrogant, big-headed Deidara – had choked on his words. He didn't bother saying anything else. He just pulled her into a tight hug.

"Don't you ever – EVER – forget me, yeah?" He whispered into her ear as he brushed the back of her hair down, his voice quivering. Sakura screwed her eyes shut tighter, causing the unshed tears to fall down her face.

"I won't, idiot. I promise you, I won't." She gripped the back of his cloak tighter, resting the bridge of her nose against his shoulder.

Sakura moved to pull away, but Deidara pulled her back into him. He placed a soft kiss on her cheek.

"Beauty is fleeting." He grinned sadly at her after he drew back and Sakura let out a small laugh, her eyes beginning to swell from her tears. Deidara brushed one away, his smile fading from his face and the hurt returning. He moved his hand away from her face and dragged his eyes away from her, indicating for them to leave. Sakura kept her stare on him until she had no choice but to move through the dining room door, following Itachi.

They walked in silence towards the exit.

"It's not fair." Sakura whispered. Itachi continued to walk beside her. She looked up at him, her brow furrowed and tears still shining in her eyes.

"Politics, war, fighting, poverty. It's all because of us shinobi, you know? And amongst all that, Akatsuki have been given a wrong impression. We could clear their name! We could-"

"I don't want you doing that."

Pain emerged from the dark entrance of the hideout. Itachi stiffened, obviously preparing in case Pain engaged an attack. The orange-haired ninja just smiled slightly.

"I don't plan to attack you. I could defeat you both, but that's not why I captured you. The Akatsuki still need you, so if you ever reconsider..." Pain observed them intensely. "If not, I am trusting that you will not reveal the whereabouts of where this hideout is. I'm afraid that if it is discovered, you will be the first two I will order the members to eliminate and that is one thing I know neither of you wish to see." Sakura winced, trying to imagine Deidara attempting to kill her. She knew that he was more loyal to the group than he would probably be to her, so it was an image that she knew would come true.

"We don't wish to reveal the location of your hideout. However, if we do not leave swiftly, our chakra signatures will reveal where we are and that will result in a catastrophic situation."

Sakura looked up in surprise at Itachi. So THAT was why he had wanted them to leave so suddenly. They couldn't hide their chakra signatures as – just like her and Itachi – they were so attuned to each other that they could detect the chakra, even when suppressed. Naruto or Sasuke would find them in minutes.

Pain nodded, moving aside for them and gesturing toward the door, his face as solemn as ever.

"You have been a great help to the Akatsuki, even if I did not get as much use out of you as I had originally planned." His gaze switched to Sakura's. "But I understand that sacrifices are needed in order to protect ones close to you."

Before Sakura could respond in surprise to this, Pain vanished into the darkness. Had Pain just personally told her that HE had also been prepared to save her, despite what the others may have thought? She shook her head as she and Itachi left the building. A few weeks it had taken to get to know the Akatsuki and just thinking about how different their motives were to what everyone thought – it was enough to make her head scream in agony.

"We are not far from the Leaf Village – it should be a day and a half's trip at the most." Itachi explained, looking down at Sakura. He knew they were still in the Akatsuki cloaks, but there was really no other option but to wear them. Tearing them apart and infusing them with chakra would waste their energy that they needed for the trip.

"We're going to get killed for wearing these." Sakura said, a little less life in her voice than usual. Itachi stared at her for a few moments, before replying.

"You are more than welcome to take yours off. However, I think it may be difficult to fend off the men that will undoubtedly attempt to kidnap you from me." He smirked slightly at her and her light laughter was like music to his ears. She tightened the string around her waist and looked up Itachi, smiling at the attempt he had made to cheer her up.

"I think it'll be better if I keep it on."

~*~

It was twenty minutes into their trip that they heard it. An explosion, from way far behind them.

"What was that?" Sakura asked cautiously, turning around to observe the sky behind them. Smoke came up from the distance. Itachi turned too and narrowed his eyes, activating his Sharingan into the depths of the woods behind him. Sakura looked at him in surprise when he cursed under his breath. It was something Itachi did rarely.

Suddenly, he started running. Running as fast as he could, back the way they had just walked from. Sakura stared after him in shock, before chasing after him.

"ITACHI! What is it? What the hell is wrong?" She asked as they ran. Itachi shook his head, indicating that there was no time to explain. Sakura's chest had clenched itself around her heart. Why were they running back to the Akatsuki? Her eyes widened as she spotted something in the distance. And why was there a huge wave that looked almost completely identical to the Water Release: Water Shark Missile technique that she had once seen Kakashi demonstrate for them, now looming just over where the Akatsuki headquarters used to be?

She swallowed and turned her head back to Itachi, knowing from the direction his eyes were in that he was looking at exactly the same thing.

"There's trouble, isn't there?" She asked him, her throat tightening. He looked at her once and nodded, before turning his head back to face the front. Sakura swallowed again, keeping down the lump that had emerged in her throat. Either the Akatsuki were in trouble, or they were fighting amongst themselves. Konoha shinobi couldn't be fighting with them, could they? She would have been able to feel their chakra signatures!

She almost stumbled. Come to think of it, she couldn't feel anyone's chakra signatures. Not even Itachi's and he was the one she was most attuned to. This would have made her blush, if she hadn't been so scared at the possible situations that awaited her.

There was another explosion. This time, it was so close that the ground beneath Sakura shook and she knew, that just through the cloud of dust and smoke that had arisen just metres in front of her, the questions she was asking herself would be answered.

"WE KNOW YOU HAVE THEM HERE, NOW GIVE THEM TO US OR I'LL-" As Sakura emerged from the shroud of dirt and dust, Itachi by her side, the little blonde boy's loud shouting halted. Sakura's eyes scanned the current situation.

Naruto and Sasuke. They were standing just centimeters away from her. Not only that, but the all of her old Genin teammates were with them, including Kakashi. Sasori, Deidara, Kisame, Tobi and Hidan were outside the HQ, in attack positions. They were staring at her too.

"Brother?" Sasuke was the first to speak. Sakura hurriedly looked up at Itachi and she noticed with surprise that not even a look of happiness spread across his face. In fact, he actually looked rather unpleased.

"Sakura? W-What are you wearing?" Naruto stuttered, turning his back on the Akatsuki to look at her. She glanced at the twelve pairs of eyes staring at her, finishing with Itachi. He was looking at her, speaking through his eyes. She knew what she had to do. She looked back at Naruto.

"Go home, Naruto."

The blonde's eyes' widened and he took a step forwards, placing his hands on her shoulders. She forced herself to go rigid and not meet his eyes. She knew the Akatsuki were strong – they were incredibly strong. But they had morals. They were not entitled to kill unless their association was put under jeopardy and the group of ex-genin standing outside their Headquarters was not putting it in jeopardy. She figured that was why Pain and Konan had decided to not join in with the fight. The shinobi who had obviously come to save her and Itachi were ruthless when it came to the S-rank criminals who were now facing opposite them.

Naruto tried to catch Sakura's eyes, but she didn't allow him to.

"Are you okay, Sakura? Have they placed you under a genjutsu? Have they tortured you? Do you remember who I am? Have you-"

"NARUTO." She yelled, snapping her eyes up to his. He jumped, alarmed at the anger in her voice. Sasuke's eyes had widened, as did the majority of the genin. Never – NEVER – had they seen her look so angry with her yellow-haired friend.

"Listen to me; the Akatsuki are not who you think they are. Killing them now wouldn't make the situation any different. Me and Itachi are free and that's all that matters. So go." Sakura – who wouldn't meet his eyes before – now kept her gaze strong and unwavering. Naruto frowned in confusion.

"They captured you Sakura. They're S-Rank criminals." Naruto lifted an arm to point at Deidara. "He said he ENJOYED your company Sakura! He said you were best FRIENDS! How could I let him get away with that? He was rubbing in my face that he'd captured you and I'll kill the bastard for-" He yelped as Sakura lunged forwards and punched him square across the jaw, sending him across the dusty ground. Hinata and Tenten rushed to his side, looking up at Sakura in shock. The surprising anger that she felt towards Naruto rushed through her and she stepped forwards, ready to hit him again. Kakashi was behind her in seconds, holding her arms behind her back roughly to prevent her from moving. She hissed and winced, struggling away.

"What is wrong with you, Sakura?" Kakashi's voice was laden with concern and confusion, but before she could reply he was thrown off of her back by Itachi, his Sharingan reactivated and staring furiously into Kakashi's surprised eye.

"Brother? What in the world is going on?" Sasuke stepped forwards and Itachi became almost predator like, protecting Sakura from anyone. Naruto was sitting up, rubbing at his face with the back of his hand and staring at Sakura like she was a completely different person.

Sakura didn't know what she felt. Her own ex-genin teammates seemed like the real enemies to her now and she hated herself for thinking that. Why had she reacted so harshly to Naruto after calling Deidara such a petty name? Why did she have the urge to run back to Deidara and cling to him, declaring she'd never leave his side again?

The life she had embraced in the last few weeks had taken its toll on her and she knew, now, that Akatsuki was a drug. And she was hooked.

To Be Continued...

A/N: Alright, there's probably quite a few mistakes in this. Just ignore them, because I'll proof this asap and correct them all. It's just, it's half 9 and I should be going to sleep now. I just felt like I needed to put this up first.

I'm not even going to talk about what I wrote this time. Just tell me if you think anyone was OOC, or whether there was any (breathe in) LOOPHOLES. LOLOL.

Hope you enjoyed the chapter. I know I said this wasn't coming close to an end, but my chapter plan went out the window a little, so I'm not sure how long there is to go.

If you're a DeiSaku fan, check out my newest one-shot for them: Skittles! I would appreciate it very, very much.

Review! It keeps me going, makes me update quicker and gives me the will to continue the story. :)