'thoughts'

"talking"

'inner Ryuu talking'

When Itachi and Sakura came back to the river they saw Deidara waiting patiently.

'They look like a married couple.' Deidara mused in his head but quickly pushed those thoughts aside and walked up to them.

"Do you have the scroll, yeah?" He asked.

Sakura let go of Itachi's arm and reached into her kimono sleeve and took out the scroll and gave it to Deidara.

"Good work, yeah!" Deidara said smiling slightly as he put the scroll inside his cloak. Sakura gave a small smile of her own before she released the jutsu and now stood there in her Akatsuki cloak and her old clothes. (A/N: She has the same clothes as in the previous chappie when she was fighting Koichi.)

"We have to leave now. There are two ninjas on their way here." Itachi said, standing beside Sakura in his cloak, having also released the jutsu. Sakura and Deidara nodded and they sped off towards the boarder of Rain.

After two hour's of non-stop running they crossed the boarder of Rain.

"The mission took less time than expected to complete so we'll be able to rest for the night before heading back to the HQ." Itachi said in a monotone voice. They all immediately started to look for a suitable place to camp at in the dense forest.

"There's a clearing a couple of feet ahead. We could rest there." Sakura informed.

When they reached the clearing they started dividing up the chores; Sakura would make a fire, Deidara get some water and Itachi find some food.

It didn't take long for them all to be seated around the fire, sipping some fresh water and cooking the three small rabbit's by the fire that Itachi had caught.

"When do we leave tomorrow?" Sakura asked, breaking the silence.

"Six am." Itachi replayed calmly, taking a sip from his water bottle, staring off into the dark forest surrounding them. Sakura nodded and looked up at the star covered sky and gave a heavy sigh.

'Being in Akatsuki isn't as bad as I thought it'd be.' Sakura's face saddened a bit.

'But I still miss my friends although they probably don't want anything to do with me.'

'If the circumstances would've been different when we fused would you have denied your powers?' Ryuu asked; his dark blue eyes showing no emotion. Sakura thought it over for a while before she shook her head mentally.

'No, no I don't think I would. Despite all that has happened since I accepted my powers and although some of it has been very painful if I got a new chance I would still fuse with you.' Sakura said, no hesitation in her voice.

'What about you? Would you still fuse with me, if you got to do this all again?' Sakura asked.

'It isn't my decision to make, but…' Ryuu smiled slightly.

…if I got to decide then I would fuse with you. I've enjoyed watching the young woman I met two years ago grow into a beautiful, strong and wise woman that I've become to care for as my own child. I'm very proud of you and I'm considering it an honour to share a soul with you.' Sakura felt tears gather in her eyes.

'Arigato Ryuu.' Sakura said, giving him a small smile of gratitude and caring.

"Sakura, yeah?"

Sakura opened her eyes when she heard Deidara calling her name. She looked at him questionably.

"Hai Deidara?"

"The meat is ready, yeah." He said holding a rabbit in front of her. Sakura noticed Deidara holding one of the rabbits in his other hand while Itachi was already eating his.

"Oh, arigato." She said taking the cooked rabbit.

'I'm starving!' She took a bite, it was quite good.

"What were you thinking about, yeah?" Deidara wondered, biting into his own rabbit. Sakura swallowed before answering:

"I was just talking to Ryuu."

"I see."

Itachi saw Sakura chatting with Deidara and laughing occasionally from the corner of his eye.

'I wonder what they talked about. She seems much more cheerful.' He shrugged it off and continued eating.

When they had eaten it was time to deicide who would take what shift.

"I'll take the first shift from 12 am to 2 am." Itachi volunteered.

"I'll take the next shift from 2 am to 4 am, yeah." Deidara said.

"I guess that leaves the last shift from 4 to 6 am to me." Sakura said.

She laughed a little to herself when she remembered how difficult it had always been to decide the shifts when she was on missions with team seven; no one ever wanted to take the middle shift cause they had to get up in the middle of the night only to stay awake for a couple of hours before they got to go back to sleep again, the problem was that by then you weren't tired anymore and so you tossed and turned the last couple of hour's and you were extremely cranky the next morning because you got like three hour's rest

The memory brought a bittersweet smile to her lips as she sat down by the base of a tree and closed her eyes, Deidara beside her and Itachi sitting on a tree branch above them.

'So much like when I was in team seven.' Sakura thought and closed her eyes.

'But still so different.'

The sound of the wind blowing through the trees soon lulled Sakura to a peaceful slumber.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

Two hour's since Sakura fell asleep she was awakened by an uneasy feeling of being watched.

'Probably just imagining things.' Sakura thought shrugging it off and closing her eyes again, trying to get some rest. She tossed and turned she just couldn't shake the feeling of someone watching her and thereby preventing her from sleeping. Sakura stood up from her comfortable position by the tree and headed into the forest.

"Where are you going?" She heard Itachi ask from his position in the tree.

"To the river." She replayed, not even turning around.

Itachi watched Sakura disappear into the forest; the Akatsuki cloak slightly swishing in the wind, before he closed his eyes again and continued to sense for anything strange in the surrounding area.

∞With Sakura∞

After a couple of minutes of walking Sakura found the small river they had passed by earlier today. Kneeling down by the river she cupped some of the cool water in her hands and splashed it onto her face.

She looked down into the river.

'I wonder how Naruto is doing? Has he and Hinata finally hooked up?' She smiled.

'I hope so. They look so cute together.'

Sakura was pulled from her musing when her ninja senses kicked in and she jumped to the other side of the river, affectively avoiding a wave of kunai and shuriken. A sudden pain shot through her. She clutched her right shoulder where the pain was the strongest.

'What's happening?' Sakura thought, falling down onto one knee, still clutching her shoulder. Realisation dawned on Sakura.

'Shit! The Tsukikage seal activated.'

A low chuckle came from the other side of the river. She looked up and saw…

"Sasuke…" Sakura said through clenched teeth. He was dressed in a white haori (Japanese traditional men's upper kimono) that showed his well-toned chest and a pair of dark blue hakama's (Japanese traditional trousers) and his sword, Kusanagi, strapped to his hip. He smirked when he heard Sakura say his name.

"Sakura… it's been a while. You led me on quite a chase."

"I see you've betrayed Konoha again." Sakura said, ignoring his previous statement.

"Well I only came back to Konoha in the first place to retrieve you, but since you escaped I had no reason to stay, so I returned to Sound and took over." He replayed calmly, resting his hand on the hilt of Kusanagi.

"You've joined Akatsuki." Sasuke stated, his eyes trailing over the pattern of the cloak.

"How'd you find me?" Sakura asked slowly, still in great pain. He moved his gaze back at Sakura's face.

"I saw you at the tea-house, impressive performance." His face darkened.

"I almost killed those drooling filth's that were looking at what belongs to me." He said in a low voice while he had a disgusted and angry look on his face.

"I'm not yours." Sakura spat in the most hateful tone she could muster. Sasuke narrowed his eyes at her and jumped over the river, closing the distance between them. He crouched down in front of her and gripped her chin firmly before speaking slowly in a low voice, so that she would mark every word he spoke.

"You are mine and mine alone and no one else can have you." His crimson eyes bored into her emerald ones. Then he roughly pushed his cold lips onto her warm, full ones.

'I can't move and Ryuu can't help me due to the seal; I'm screwed!'

Sasuke started kissing down her jaw and down her neck, pushing the collar of the Akatsuki cloak further down as he went so he could get better access. He stopped when he reached her right shoulder where the Tsukikage seal was.

"So my aniki placed the Tsukikage seal on you? This will slightly change my plans…" He whispered mostly to himself.

"What plans?" Sakura asked, feeling really uncomfortable by the closenessbetween them.

"Nothing for you to be bother with cherry blossom." He said stroking her cheek lightly, a devilish smirk playing on his face. He moved his mouth to the place where her shoulder and neck met and bit down, drawing blood. Sakura gasped in surprise. Sasuke started to pour some chakra into the wound.

He removed his teeth from her shoulder after a while and moved his mouth to her ear.

"I'll come for you and take you to Sound where I'll make you mine body, mind and soul…" He whispered. He nibbled slightly at her earlobe before he moved his mouth to her ear and gave her one last rough kiss before he disappeared without a trace. Sakura felt angry tears well up in her eyes but refused to let them fall.

'Why can't he just leave me alone? Why?'

∞With Itachi back at camp∞

'It shouldn't take this long.' Itachi thought. Sakura had been gone for at least half an hour and there was still no sign of her. He suddenly felt a strange feeling shot through him.

'Could it be?' Itachi jumped down from the branch he was seated on and woke Deidara up.

"Deidara. Your shift starts now." Itachi said looking at the slumbering blond. Deidara sleepily opened her eyes and sat up, yawning slightly. He looked to his right and noticed that Sakura wasn't there.

"Where's Sakura, yeah?" Deidara asked looking around.

"She left towards the river 30 minutes ago and hasn't returned since."

"But the way to the river takes approximately three to five minutes, yeah." Deidara said, concern evident in his voice.

"I know. I'll go look for her, watch the camp in the mean time." Itachi said walking towards the river. Deidara remained silent. He was truly worried. Although he had known Sakura only for a short amount of time, he had still come to care for her like a sister.

'I hope she's ok…' Deidara thought.

∞With Itachi∞

Itachi was jumping through the trees at a high velocity. It took less than two minutes for him to reach the river. When he arrived he saw Sakura on the opposite side of the river, on her knees and chakra almost completely gone.

'So my assumptions were correct; the seal activated.' He thought as he jumped down from the tree where he had stood. He noticed the small holes in the grounds.

'Those are made from shuriken and kunai. Someone attacked her while she was here.' He went over to her and sat down beside her. He quickly performed some seals.

'Hinodi (sunrise) no jutsu.' He opened her cloak with his right hand, his other hand was glowing a golden colour. He placed his glowing hand over the seal.

Sakura had felt Itachi arrive but had been too tired to do anything. She felt him sit down beside her and then place his hand over the seal. She could feel the pain subside until it was completely gone. She opened her eyes tiredly and saw Itachi remove his hand from her shoulder and look at her.

"Arigato." Sakura said silently.

'Ryuu?'

'Hai? Are you alright? Everything just suddenly went black and I couldn't contact you anymore.'

'The Tsukikage seal activated and….Sasuke came.'

'What'd he do to you?' Ryuu asked in a voice full of suppressed anger.

'He marked me and then he said he'd come for me.' Sakura said a little sadness in her voice. Oh boy was Ryuu pissed now.

'Damn brat! He has hurt you one time to many!' Ryuu's said, his blue chakra swirling.

'Ryuu, please calm down! He's not here now so we can't do anything right now.' Ryuu knew she was speaking the truth and calmed down, but was still pissed as hell.

Gomenasai Sakura. I let my anger over take me.' Sakura gave a reassuring smile.

'It's ok. Could you give me some chakra? The seal drained almost all of mine.'

'Of course.'

Sakura could feel her chakra reserves re-fill, but her body was still weak.

'Arigato. Let's talk about Sasuke a little later, ok?' Sakura asked. Ryuu nodded and Sakura opened her eyes and turned to look at Itachi who had his gaze fixed on her shoulder. Sakura followed his gaze and noticed the bite mark. She quickly closed her cloak, but Itachi had already seen the mark. Itachi looked at her, sharingan blazing.

"Who marked you?" He asked in a low voice, indicating he was fuming with anger. He couldn't stand the thought of someone else touching her or claiming her than him.

"No one. Ryuu gave it to me when we fused." Sakura lied. She knew that if she told him it was Sasuke Itachi would immediately seek him up and kill him; she could care less about Sasuke but what concerned her was that Sasuke had gotten a lot stronger during the years and blinded by anger Itachi would probably get killed and Sakura didn't want that. Although she'd never admit it, she had developed strong feelings for Itachi.

Sakura stood up from her seated position and made a move to leave, but was stopped when Itachi appeared I front of her and crushed her to his chest, preventing her from escaping. He looked her deeply in the eyes.

"You didn't have that mark when I placed the Tsukikage seal on you…" He stated.

'Busted!'

"… so I'll ask again; who has made a claim on you?"

Sakura bit her lower lip. She knew that she couldn't talk her way out of this. She lowered her gaze to his chest.

"Sasuke." She whispered in and almost inaudibly, but Itachi heard her. His jaw tightened in anger. He let go of her and turned around to go look for Sasuke and kill him but stopped when he felt a pair of arms encircle him from behind.

"Please don't go. You're blinded by anger; he'll kill you." Sakura whispered against his back. Itachi was shocked to say the least but didn't give up jet.

"Why would it matter to you?" Itachi asked.

"I've lost so many important people to me, please don't leave me too." Images of the rooky nine, Tsunade, Kakashi and her parents flashed in her mind, bringing back old memories. She never wanted to loose anyone again. A small sob escaped her lips and Itachi could feel his cloak getting soaked by tears. He stood there silent for a while, taken aback by her words.

'How can she care for a killer like me?' he thought. Silent, light rain started to fall over the forest.

"I-I'll do anything! Just p-please don't leave me." Sakura cried. Itachi slowly felt his anger subside. He slowly turned around and wrapped his arms around her. He placed one arm around her and with the other he cupped her face, whipping away the tears that fell down her cheeks with his thumb and looking into her tear-filled jaded eyes with his deep black ones.

"I'll never leave you." He whispered. Sakura buried her face in his cloak and cried silently. After a while the sobs became rarer and rarer until they stopped completely.

"We should better go back; Deidara's probably very worried." Sakura whispered.

Itachi nodded and wordlessly picked her up bridal-style.

"W-What're you doing?" Sakura asked surprised.

"Your body's still weak and you're in no condition to walk."

Sakura opened her mouth, about to protest, but was silenced by one look from Itachi that told her that there was no arguing about it. So Sakura closed her mouth and relaxed in his hold. She leaned her head against his chest and felt him stiffen at first before he relaxed. She could hear the steady beating of his heart.

'He acts all cold and cruel but deep down he's kind and gentle.'

Sakura felt her eyelids grow heavy and soon she was fast asleep, gripping Itachi's cloak.

Deidara was nervously pacing back and forth.

'Where are they' He wondered. Just then Itachi emerged from the forest with a limp Sakura in his arms. Deidara immediately rushed to their side.

"Is she hurt? Where was she? What happened?..."

"Deidara calm down. She's just sleeping." Itachi said in his usual emotionless tone. Itachi jumped up to the branch he had rested on and sat down, Sakura still in his arms. He closed his eyes to get some rest, when he felt Sakura bury her nose in his chest and shiver slightly. He opened his eyes and looked down at her.

'She look's a little pale…' He noticed.

There were no blankets or anything that could keep her warm so he opened his cloak and brought her close so that she would warm up. Sakura shifted in her sleep so that her arms were now around his torso. Itachi wrapped his arms around her.

'What are you doing to me?' He thought as he buried his nose in her hair and soon fell into a meditation like state.

He was a demon of darkness, she an angel of light. She filled the void in his heart and brought light to his darkness. She made him complete.

Silently under the star-filled sky that night he vowed never to let his angel go.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

A/N: CHAPTER 10 IS UP!!! I'm so sorry (x1000000000000) for not updating sooner. I hope you'll like this chappie and I promise that'll I TRY to update chappie 11 as soon as possible!!

Much has happened since the last time I updated for example:

I'VE RECIVED 18 REVIEWS ON CAHPPIE 9 AND 114 WONDERFUL REVIEWS IN ALL FROM ALL YOU WONDERFUL REVIEWERS AND I'M SOOOO HAPPYYY!!!!! xD It's so fun to read all your reviews and all your encouraging words mean a lot to me :)

9 ppl have me on their alert list

9 have me on their favourite author's list and 49 ppl!!! Have 'Strength from within' on their alert list and 27 have it on their favourite stories list and

2 have added my story to their C2 communities….

I WANT TO THANK YOU ALL!!!! –smoothers you all with hugs- I LOVE YOU!!! 3

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-Wounded angel