Title: For I Can Touch The Sky
Author: ZukoKrazy (me!)
Rating: T maybe M later on
Summary: Taken by the Akatsuki in order to lure Naruto to them, Sakura is forced to cope with some of the most dangerous men in the world. She must learn to fend for her safety and she must learn to close the door to her heart…and throw away the key. Akatsuki x Sakura. You decide whom she ends up with.
A/N: Whoa. LOTS of reviews! Thank you guys so so so so so so so so so so so so so much! Ok, I decided the pairing.
Deidara: 18 votes
Itachi: 9 votes
Love triangle between Itachi, Sakura, and Deidara: 5 votes
Tobi: 1 vote
Kisame: Heh. Guess he'll just have to go make love with Samehada.
AND THE WINNER IS: DeiSaku with hints of one-sided ItaSaku because I like the pairing .
OK, here we go. Listening to Enya, one of my favorite artists, I hope this chapter will be good! I kind of made Itachi a bad guy D: Sorry guys, but he kind of has to be in order to lust after Sakura.
----
Sakura woke up, again. She was in the same bed as before, and she was still tied down.
Sakura sighed; this was going to be a long day.
"Are you calm, kunoichi?" Kisame asked her from a place outside of her line of vision.
"If calm means scared because she is in a place full of Akatsuki members, unhappy because she has to go to the bathroom, homesick because she was taken from her village to be brought here, worried for Sasuke-kun's health, and annoyed because she is tied down once again, then, yes, I am a calm as can be," came the reply.
Kisame chuckled and released her from her bind. Sakura sat up slowly; making sure it wasn't a trap.
"Well, go." Kisame stated.
Sakura grinned and ran towards the door to the way out.
"Not there," he said suddenly. Sakura stopped and turned around.
"Wha-?" she started, confused.
"You said you had to go to the bathroom. So go," he said as though it were the simplest thing in the world.
Sakura nodded numbly and walked towards the bathroom. As she started to turn the knob, Kisame remembered something. Deidara was in there.
"Sakura, stop!" he shouted. Said kunoichi froze. One because he shouted and two because he said her name.
"Why?" she asked, taking her hand off the knob.
"Deidara's in there," Kisame said.
Sakura sighed. Then she remembered. She was at the Akatsuki's headquarters! She screamed and reached for a kunai. A kunai that wasn't there. Damn! She thought. Quickly she assumed a fighting position. Kisame saw this and hesitated. Then he grinned. Did she really think she could fight him?
"Where's the way out?" she asked the ex-mist shinobi slowly.
Kisame stood up and walked over to the door.
"Dying," he said as we walked away, closing the door behind him.
Sakura sat down on the bed, thinking about what he had just said.
Ten minutes later, she realized that he had opened the door without a trouble. She ran to it and pulled and pushed on the knob, but nothing happened. She growled and kicked the door. To her surprise, it flew open. She drew in a quick breath and stuck her head out. Nothing happened.
She looked up and down the hallway. Deserted. In the bathroom she heard a shower start up, so she knew that Deidara probably wouldn't be able to see her leave. She bolted out the door, gathering chakra in her feet to go faster.
Suddenly she ran into somebody. She fell down and looked into the face of the person she ran into. She screamed. At first glance he was a plant. But Sakura noticed a face inside the plant. It was half black, half white. Sakura scrambled away from him and raced away, heading in the opposite direction.
She rounded a corner to run into another man. He had black on, but it was not an Akatsuki cloak. He had a black mask with a weird design on it. Sakura grew frustrated.
"What do you guys do, lurk at corners waiting for someone to run into you?" she shouted in anger.
She got up and kicked him in the balls and ran away quickly. When she heard him gasp and double over, she grinned. Then she saw the exit. A door.
Suddenly, two arms shot out of the darkness and caught hold of her. She started to scream, but the hand clamped over her mouth.
She looked around fearfully, seeing her captor. When her green eyes met red, she immediately thought of Sasuke. But then she saw the man's face. He had the red eyes, yes, but instead of the black bangs Sasuke had, his head was covered in red hair.
Also unlike Sasuke's emotionless, if not cold, expression, this man had a sad look on his face. Almost as if he was sad he was alive.
He picked her up effortlessly and carried her back to Deidara's room. She squirmed, but the red-haired man just tightened his grip on her. Pretty soon, Sakura's face was pressed up against the man's chest.
She noticed, unlike Itachi or any other the other chests she had rammed into, this chest was not moving up and down as the person breathed. It stayed still.
Sakura pressed her ear up against the chest and was surprised to find that there was no heartbeat. Quickly she wondered if the man was a zombie.
Finally she cried out, "What are you?"
The man stopped and looked down at her. The same sad expression was shown.
He said nothing, only looked. After a half a minute, he looked up and continued walking.
"Who are you?" she tried.
And she got nothing in response.
When they arrived back at the room, the man entered without knocking. Deidara looked up from buttoning his cloak.
"Sasori?" the confused blind asked, raising an eyebrow at his partner holding the pink-haired girl against his chest.
He ignored the blond and dumped Sakura on the bed again. Once free, she tried running out again. She made it to the door before the red-haired man stopped her.
Sasori picked Sakura up again and tied her against the leg of the bed where she struggled and swore.
Sasori looked down at her while Deidara stood up and walked into the hallway. He returned with Kisame a minute later.
With hushed voices, the three discussed what to do with the kunoichi.
Kisame suggested just killing her when Sasori reminded him why they took her in the first place. While they talked about it, Sakura wondered what was happening in Konoha…
----
"For the last time Naruto, no!" Tsunade shouted at Naruto.
"But Tsunade-baa-chan!" Naruto protested.
"Naruto, I understand how you feel," Tsunade said, sighing.
"But why can't I go look for her?" Naruto cried.
"Naruto, look at it logically. Sakura was taken by Akatsuki, right? Their ultimate goal is to obtain the Kyuubi, which is held inside of you. If you go there alone, they will get you. They are S-ranked criminals capable of destroying even a big a place as Konoha," Tsunade said calmly.
"But what about Sakura?" Naruto said so softly it was almost like a whisper.
"Listen, Naruto. You can't go alone, as I already said. But if you recruit the most skilled shinobi that you can find in this village, I will allow a rescue mission," Tsunade said, sighing.
Naruto instantly brightened. His blue eyes shot up, sparkling. On his face grew a smile so big it took up half of said face. Even his hair seemed to stand straighter.
"Thank you Tsunade-baa-chan!" Naruto shouted, running out of the office.
Half an hour later, Naruto returned with Kakashi, Shikamaru, Neji, Kiba and Akamaru, Lee, Gai, and Tenten.
All of who, along with Naruto and Kakashi, were ANBU. Most of them had just finished recovering from a mission, but a couple had been training and relaxing. How Naruto had convinced Kakashi to come was beyond Tsunade. She knew that he had once been an ANBU squad leader, but she also knew that he had quit.
Everyone, including Kakashi and Naruto, arrived in their ANBU masks and uniforms.
Tsunade briefly explained what was going on. She decided Kakashi to be the leader because of his experience in leading ANBU squads.
They all nodded and disappeared.
Please, be careful. And find Sakura, Tsunade hoped with all her heart. She sighed again and took out a bottle of sake.
"Tsunade-sama!" came the cry of Shizune.
Tsunade sighed for the third of fourth time and walked out of her office, grumbling about how she never should have accepted this stupid job.
----
"No. No way," Kisame argued. "She is not staying with me. There is no way."
"Well, she definitely isn't staying with me," Sasori said calmly. "I have the smallest room as it is!"
They both turned to Deidara in that freakingly slow way that scares people. A clap of thunder and a streak of lightning shook the room.
In the hallway, Tobi froze. "I didn't know it is raining outside. I better go tell Zetsu-san. Maybe I can join!" With renewed enthusiasm, the masked boy raced down the hall.
"What?" he asked, oblivious.
"It's decided. The kunoichi stays under Deidara's care," Kisame said.
"I agree," Sasori said quickly.
"Let's go clear it with the leader," Kisame said, also fast.
Both disappeared before Deidara could protest. The blond sighed and looked at the kunoichi, who appeared to be sleeping.
He crouched in front of her and looked her face. He smiled weakly. She looks a little like Rini.
Sakura stirred and opened her eyes. She found herself looking into the face of Deidara. She jerked awake and tried breaking away again.
"Let me go," she demanded almost quietly.
"Ok," he said, untying her. She stood up, free. She was so happy that she failed to notice the rope on her neck, attached to her collar-thing.
She raced towards the door, but was suddenly yanked back. She fell on her butt, confused. She looked around at Deidara who grinned and pointed to the bed leg where Sakura had been tied up a minute ago.
It took said girl a second to realize that she was still tied up. She groaned and threw herself on the ground, her back facing Deidara, who was laughing.
----
"Deidara-san, let me go."
"Nope, yeah…."
"Yeah? Awesome!"
Deidara sighed, "No Sakura-san. I can't let you go, yeah."
Sakura sighed and lay on her back.
Even though he was an S-class criminal, Sakura had taken an immediate liking to Deidara, unless, of course, you count the many times she had sworn at him and demanded he let her go and the numerous times she had tried to escape by kicking him in the balls.
Pretty soon Deidara and everyone else started wearing protectors. (A/N: Thus idea thanks to XUchihaSakuraX)
Sakura thought Deidara was pretty fun to be around, always cracking jokes and making Sakura smile, despite the fact that she was a prisoner. Sometimes Sakura even mistook him for Naruto.
"So what do you guys do around here when there aren't any missions and you can't train because of the rain?" Sakura asked.
"Well, sometimes we play Truth or Dare and do each other's hair!" Sasori fake-giggled in a high-pitched voice, appearing in a puff of smoke.
Sakura chuckled and Deidara laughed.
Having been here for about two weeks or so, Sakura had grown close to Deidara and Sasori. She even shared a laugh with Kisame once in awhile.
Because Akatsuki usually killed their targets, they didn't have any cells or even any rooms for prisoners. So the leader had decided to put Sakura with Deidara because he had the biggest room and because Sasori and Kisame had recommended it, Deidara being the girly-est.
One night after a home-cooked dinner, Zetsu commented on Sakura.
"It's actually kind of nice to have a girl around the headquarters," he said, leaning back in his chair.
Over at the sink, washing the dishes, Sakura smiled.
"Hn," Itachi replied with the famous Uchiha poker face. Although he didn't say anything or give off any signs of doing it, he was secretly eyeballing Sakura. She was a pretty girl, after all.
He wouldn't mind her in his bed at night.
Because Sakura had calmed down a bit, the leader had deemed it safe for her to wander around headquarters, as long a she didn't escape.
Akatsuki didn't have a female around, so Sakura took it as her job to help out; she cooked, she cleaned, she washed, she sewed patches, and she treated wounds.
Sasori had even once mentioned this to the leader, asking him if it was ok for her to join Akatsuki, but he laughed and said that it wasn't that easy, and that he Sasori should know this. She Sakura would have to undergo challenges, but the leader had also said he would consider it.
Things were pretty peaceful because of Sakura's arrival.
----
One day, Sakura was doing some yoga outside, under the watchful eye of Kisame, when she heard a noise in the underbrush.
She sprang to her feet, and in a flash, Kisame was standing in front of her, facing the bush and brandishing Samehada.
Sakura was surprised that he was willing to protect her.
Sakura heard a noise from the bush and into the light stepped a jet-black horse.
Sakura inhaled and stepped around Kisame.
The horse snorted and walked up to Sakura. She held put her hand and the horse sniffed it, and, deeming it safe, nudged it as if asking for carrots.
Sakura smiled and pat the horse.
He seemed to be a thoroughbred, a strong racing breed. On his legs were white marking that ended at his knee (also known as stockings). Otherwise, he was completely black.
Sakura noticed the bridle on the horse's head and the saddle on his back. In the saddle was a corpse. Sakura screamed and scrambled away from the dead man.
Kisame strode up to the corpse and removed him from the brown saddle.
He quickly searched the man but found nothing. Growling, he threw the corpse aside. Kisame looked in the saddlebags and found one piece of paper.
He quickly scanned it and his face turned pale.
Kisame grabbed Sakura's wrist and pulled her inside.
He walked briskly towards the room where the leader stayed, Sakura in tow.
"Leader!" Kisame called out.
"What is it, Kisame?" came a voice from the shadows.
"A horse came into the clearing with a dead man in the saddle. In the saddle-bags was this message," Kisame stated quickly.
"Well, what is it?" the leader asked sharply.
"I'll read it. Hokage Tsunade,
As you are well aware, Akatsuki is on the move. We fear it is becoming too powerful, so we plan to stop it. We are sending most of our shinobi to where we suspect their lair is. I am requesting the presence of many of your own shinobi. Please reply as soon as you get this.
Signed,
Kazekage Gaara."
Silence.
"Send the kunoichi away and call the other members. Have Tobi watch her or something," the leader commanded.
Kisame nodded and grabbed Sakura again.
After he did what he was told, Kisame called Tobi.
"Watch over the girl," Kisame commanded before disappearing.
Tobi looked at Sakura and Sakura looked at Tobi.
After about a minute of this, Sakura started outside. Tobi walked after her.
Stepping into the bright sunshine, Sakura walked over to the grazing horse. He looked up, whinnied, and trotted over.
"You seem to have a way with him," Tobi said quietly.
"He's a beautiful horse," Sakura sighed in reply. Then she turned to Tobi. "Will you give me a boost up?"
Tobi nodded and helped Sakura on the horse. Once in the saddle and high off the ground, Sakura finally felt alive. Then she came up with a plan. A plan that would probably get her killed, but she would have to try it anyway.
Then her hope was popped like a balloon by a fork.
"If you run away, I'm afraid I will have to slay the horse under you," Tobi stated quietly.
Sakura sighed and moved the horse into a walk.
FlashbackSakura sat high upon a white pony. She was only six, so she thought that Buttons was the biggest thing in the world. After the pony ride in the carnival, Sakura had ridden horses many more times, loving the feeling.
End FlashbackSakura clicked to the horse and it responded with a lively trot.
Sakura laughed out loud, she was having so much fun.
Clicking once more, the horse moved up into a smooth canter. She cantered around the clearing, loving the feeling of the breeze in her hair.
She slowed down when she saw Sasori running towards her.
"What are you doing?" Sasori cried, worry etched in his voice.
"If I didn't know better, I'd say that you were worried about me, Sasori," Sakura teased.
Sasori frowned and told her that the leader wanted to see her.
Sakura dismounted and handed the reins to Tobi. "Take care of him," she asked of him as she left.
As she walked along the cool hallways of the lair, she wondered what the leader could possibly want with her.
As she entered the cool room, she heard the leader's voice, "So you know how to ride a horse."
Sakura nodded. "Can I keep him?" she asked quietly.
"The horse could be useful…I guess so. But if you try to escape on him, I will kill him," the leader threatened.
Sakura nodded and left the room.
She rushed outside and hugged the horse.
"Daybreak. Your name shall be Daybreak," she whispered into the horse's ear.
"Sakura-san!" Sakura heard Deidara call out frantically.
"Deidara-san, I know how to ride, don't worry," Sakura replied, swinging up on Daybreak.
"You don't understand, Sakura-san. Suna ninja are attacking!"
----
A/N: What's gonna happen? Will they all die? Will Sakura escape? Why am I asking so many questions?
I guess your all wondering about the horse. Well, it's part of the story. I am making this a DeiSaku fic with hints of one-sided ItaSaku. I hope all the DeiSaku fans are satisfied and the ItaSaku fans are at least a bit happy.
I'd like to especially thank sakura5584 who helped me out sooooooooo much: she is the best ever.
Please review!
Love always,
ZukoKrazy