A Lonely Blossom

by animeduchess14

The Akatsuki are well known in the Shinobi world. They were S-rank criminals who show no mercy. Until that fateful day...they attacked Konoha, planning to destroy the powerful hidden village. Many lives were lost, making the 5 year old pinkette, Sakura Haruno, an orphan. Because of the day, her life changed forever.

3. Chapter 3: Renewal

Chapter 3: Renewal

*Training Grounds*

Sasori and I have been training for four hours now. Surprisingly, I quickly mastered making a clone, which I was really happy about. Then I started to throw kunai. I totally failed at first. It didn't even make it to the tree! Before I did anything else, Sasori gave a huge speech about chakra control to me.

"Chakra takes time and a great deal of training to gradually build up. The key is not actually having chakra, but being able to sufficiently control and conserve it. Everyone has chakra, but only skilled ninja can correctly "mould" and "manipulate" it to its fullest extent." I thought his speech was totally boring, but I understood the jist of it.

I continued throwing kunai, taking short breaks to listen to Sasori's tips. He was a great sensei. We both agreed that I would wake up at 7 and train till 5 pm until I mastered tree climbing, water walking, and throwing kunai. The Akatsuki training grounds were beautiful, to me at least. It had a huge forest, a lake, dueling areas- everything a Shinobi would need to train.

*Next Week*

I couldn't believe it but Deidara actually agreed to train me today while Sasori was out on a mission. I've talked to him a couple of times, and it seems like once you get to know him he was actually really nice. I was really close to mastering the tree climbing technique, and I had a feeling today I was finally going to master it. "So what exactly were you and Sasori working on, un?" "Well the first day I mastered making a clone. The third day I mastered throwing kunai, and since then I've been working on tree climbing, which I'm really close to mastering." We were sitting on the ground, observing the marks that I had made on the tallest tree. "You're doing really good Sakura, un." he said with a smile. "You really think so?" "Sure! I didn't master throwing kunai in just two days! That's crazy, un!" I gave him a decent smile and told him I was going to continue climbing the tree until I made it to the top of the tree.

Before I continued climbing, I went over what Sasori had told me a couple of days ago. I had to make sure that the stream of chakra wasn't too weak, because I would fall off or too strong because I would be pushed away from the tree, causing me to fall again. I've done that so many times I can't even count. I wanted to prove to the Akatsuki that taking me in wasn't a mistake. I wanted Sasori t to be proud of me. 'With that ambition Outer, surely you will.' I smiled at Inner's comment.

*2 hours later*

"Oh my gosh, Deidara! I did it!" I looked over to see a sleeping blonde out cold on the ground. I couldn't blame him. S-ranked criminals helping a delusional 5 year old with basic chakra control must be boring. I decided to reward myself by taking a quick nap. 'Good job, Outer.' I leaned up against a tree, and an hour later I woke up, much more energized. It was only 10 am, and Deidara was still asleep. I quietly laughed, and decided to make a clone of myself so I could double my improvement of tree climbing. As I was making my way to the top of the tree, I heard someone yelling. Unsure of who it was, I flawlessly made my way down the tree, and quickly jumped down. "Deidara-sensei? Are you ok?" I walked over to where I last saw him, and luckily found him, but he was fighting with Sasori. "Sasori-sensei! Your back!" "Oh! Sakura-chan -oomph." I tackle hugged him, but I barely made him budge. "How was the mission?" I looked up at him, and quickly jumped back to my feet.

"Successful. How long has Deidara been asleep Sakura-chan?" I looked over at a pleading Deidara,"Not very long." Deidara mentally thanked me. "Oh, ok. Did you master the tree climbing technique yet?" "Yeah! You wanna see?" He nodded. I made a quick clone and quickly ran up the tallest tree with ease. When I reached the top, I waved down at Sasori and Deidara and made my way down the tree. Sasori smiled at me. "Great job Sakura-chan!" "Arigato!" I loved Sasori's praise. We had quickly connected, and I somehow felt like an adopted little sister of his. "I have to report back to Leader-sama. Want to come with?" "Hai!" We walked back to the base, Deidara waved goodbye to me and continued his sleeping.

I finally found my way around the base. I knew where the majority of everyone's rooms were. But I didn't know where Konan and Leader-sama's were. Sasori knocked on Leader-sama's door, and we both sat down in front of him. Sasori told Leader-sama that the mission went smoothly and some other details about the mission. "Good. And what brings you here today Sakura?" "Oh, um. I finally mastered tree climbing today!" Sasori patted my head. "Keep up the good work. Eventually I'll get Itachi to train you soon." "Hai! Arigato Leader-sama!" I smiled at him, and then we both left his office. "Let's call it a day , Sakura-chan." I could tell Sasori was really tired from his mission. "Ok! See ya later!" I ran off to my room to continue reading this interesting scroll I found in the library the other day. As I was making my way back to my room, I accidently bumped into someone. "Oh sorry Itachi!" "Hn." He walked away without another word.

'Do you think he hates me Inner?' 'I think he's just quiet.' I couldn't help but wonder if that was really the case. Kisame and Leader-sama were the only ones who he could hold a conversation with. For some reason I really wanted to know exactly why he was ignoring me. I ran up behind him, "Itachi! Wait!" He turned around and looked down at me. "What?" "I really want to know- do you hate me?" "No." "Then why do you keep ignoring me?" "Hn." He started to walk away again. As a gut reaction, I grabbed his hand. "Itachi! Please tell me." Without turning around he said, "Because you remind me of him." "I remind you of who?" He sighed and let go of my hand. He turned around and started to head back to where my room was. "Are you coming or not?" Surprised, I followed him. I opened my bedroom door and at on my bed, while he closed the door and pulled out the chair from my desk. "You've heard of the Uchiha massacre, right?" I nodded. "Then you would know who you remind me of." "Wait! I only heard of it, I didn't know who did it. I just knew that one person made it out alive." He looked at me and said," I was the one who did it, and I spared my little brother, Sauske. He's your age in fact. That's why you remind me of him. I was…quite close to him." "Then why did y-""Because it was an order." "Oh."

We sat in silence for a while. "So you don't hate me?" "No." I jumped off my bed and gave him a hug. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you mad." I let go of him, and curiously watched his reaction. He actually had a small smile on his face. "I have to go now, ok?" "Ok. Bye Itachi." He left my room without another word. 'I told you he was the quiet type.' For some reason I really cared about what Itachi thought of me. 'Well he is going to be a future sensei of yours.' I totally forgot about that! After Itachi told me that it was an order, I felt really bad for him. I wanted everyone's approval, and it seems like Itachi just gave it to me. Sasori had told me not to talk too much to the others members when I first got here, but I feel like deep down everyone one here is misunderstood, and they came to be understood. 'You're pretty keen, Outer.' 'Haha, thanks Inner.'

I picked up that scroll I was going to read earlier. I looked over at the clock, only to find out it's just now noon. I was utterly bored. I gave up on reading and ventured out of my room, back to the training grounds. 'I wonder if Deidara is still there.' "Oh yeah!" I rushed out back and found him still sleeping underneath the same tree. "You sure sleep a lot Deidara." I giggled. "Huh? Oh! Sakura! Sorry about earlier, un." "It ok. Hey could you do me a favor?" "Sure, un." "Could you help me with the water surface walking technique?" He smiled and stood up. "That technique is more advanced than the tree climbing one. You sure, un?" "How much more advanced is it?" "Well, you have to emit a constant chakra stream from the bottom of your foot, using the repellent force to walk across the water's surface. It's more difficult because the amount of chakra that needs to be emitted changes constantly, un." "That sounds hard." "Here, let me show you, un." We walked up to the edge of the small lake near the training grounds. He took of his cloak and shoes and set them on the dock. "Watch me feet carefully, un." "Hai." I watched curiously, and was amazed by how easy he made it seem. He was practically skating across the water without even trying! He walked back to the edge of the dock where I was sitting. "Was that hard?" He laughed, "No not really." "You're so cool sensei! I can't wait till I can do that!"

We sat next to each on the edge of the dock. "Sensei? What village are you from?" "Iwagakure, un." He looked up at the sky and continued, "I was in the Explosion Corps before I blew up the place, un.""You blew it up? Why did you leave?" He sighed and looked back down at the lake. "I found out about this kinjutsu that was passed down in Iwagakure, un. It was a technique that allowed the user to knead chakra into substances. I broke the law and stole the technique, and ran away because I was being pursued, un." "I'm sorry." He looked up at me. "Itachi was told to recruit me and at first I refused. He beat me in battle, so I joined, un." "How old are you Deidara?" "Nineteen, un." "You're pretty strong." He patted my head and stood up. I looked back at him to see him grab his shoes and cloak, and then he headed back for the base. 'He's pretty nice.' 'Yeah.'

*Next morning; Dining Table*

I finally gained the courage to talk to Kisame. While Sasori, Itachi, Kisame and I were eating I decided to ask him. "Um, Kisame?" "Huh?" "I was wondering if maybe you could train me when Sasori is off on his mission soon?" "Sure kid." "Really?" "Yeah." "Thank you Kisame!" We continued eating. I never thought he would agree. 'Maybe he has a soft spot for you.' 'I hardly have talked to him Inner.' 'Never know.' I was starting to get used to living here. I already trusted quite a few People. Especially Leader-sama, Konan, Sasori, Deidara, Itachi and hopefully I can trust Kisame too.

*Training grounds; an hour later*

"Deidara-sensei, is this how you do it?" I already had my shoes off and a swimsuit on, because I've fallen in like 10 times. I was trying to emit the same amount of chakra, but only got two steps in and quickly fell, but got back up quickly. I was pretty good at swimming fortunately. "You almost got it Sakura, un!" I tried to focus my chakra, but the water was repelling it too quickly for me to catch on. I sighed and tried again, only to get another two steps in. I tried again and again only to get the same result. "What am I doing wrong Deidara-sensei?" "Your reaction against the water is too slow, un." "Hmm." I got off the dock and tried again multiple times, and slowly got up to 20 steps. It was already 5, so we headed back in. Deidara and I parted ways in the hallway. All I think about was how badly I wanted to master this technique.

*3 days later*

"Remember, if you get two minutes in, you can say you've mastered it, un." "Right!" I took off my shoes, already in my swimsuit, and started to heads towards the edge of the dock. Deidara had a stopwatch in his hand. "Ready, un?" "Hai!" I quickly got off the base and began walking around the lake. I concentrated on the movement of the water. I could hear Deidara yell, "Good job Sakura! Only a minute left, un!" "Hai!" I was really concentrating. 'You're doing good Outer. Keep it up.' All of a sudden I heard Deidara say, "You did it Sakura, un!"I walked over to the dock and thanked Deidara. "Thanks for being my sensei." "Anytime Sakura, un.""Hey I have an idea!" "What, un?" "Let's play hide-and-seek!" He sighed and agreed. "Dibs on not being it!" I laughed, when he said, "Yeah yeah, un. I'm gonna start counting now, un." He turned around and started to count. I ran away as fast as I could, and hid behind a large bush. I waited about five minutes and there still was no sign of him. "I wonder where he oomph" Someone put their hand over my mouth.

*No POV*

The masked man knocked the pinkette out cold. He made some hand signs, quite a few, and then put his thumb in the middle of her forehead. A small, green diamond shape appeared. He quickly looked around and left the scene, with Sakura still unconscious.

*Deidara's POV*

Man she was good at this. It's been half an hour and I still can't find her. I figured I would just give up, but then I saw something pink lying on the ground. "Ha! I found you, un!" I ran up to her. "Sakura? Oi! Are you awake, un?" She was taking after me. She didn't respond. What the heck was that thing on her forehead? "Oi! Wake up Sakura, un!" She wouldn't respond so I picked her up and ran back to the base and into Leader-sama's office, where Konan was talking to him. "Deidara? What's wrong?" "It's Sakura! Someone knocked her out, un!" "Konan." "Right." I handed Sakura over to Konan, where she then walked back to Sakura's room. She gently put her on the bed and started to heal her.

*Pein's POV*

Deidara explained to me what had happened. I've heard the jutsu before, but I couldn't remember the side effects. Sakura's previous teacher, Tsunade, had the same curse mark. I walked over to the bookcase in my office and found the scroll I was looking for; Common Curse Marks. I quickly found out that the curse mark gives the person incredible speed, strength and a massive chakra upgrade from their previous levels. Unfortunately there was a side effect, but the scroll also didn't list what it was. I walked out of my office to see if Sakura was awake or not. I happened to walk in right when she did.

*Sakura's POV*

"Konan? Konan! I was attacked!" "Shh. It's ok. Tell me what happened." Just then Leader-sama entered. "It was horrible! I was playing hide-and-seek and then all the sudden this masked man put his hand over my mouth and then he knocked me out! I was so scared!" I leaped forward to hug Konan. "It's ok Sakura. He isn't here. Just calm down." I sat back in my bed. "I'm sorry Konan." She smiled, "It's ok." Leader-sama walked up to my bed and put his hand on my forehead. "It's a curse mark." He turned around and continued, "It gives you strength, speed, and a massive chakra upgrade. Lucky for you, I haven't found any serious side effects either. Tsunade had the same mark."

I looked up at him when he mentioned Tsunade-sama. "So it's a good thing?" He nodded, and left without saying anything else. Konan looked at me, "If you need anything~" "hai." I smiled, and then she got up and left. So it's a good thing? 'I guess so.' Sasori and Deidara walked in. "You ok Sakura, un?" I tried to act tough in front of my sensei's. "Yeah. I was just a little freaked out that's all. I guess this curse mark is a good thing according to Leader-sama." 'You are a horrible actress Outer.' "You should get some rest Sakura-chan. I'll tell Kisame ok?" "Arigato." They both said their goodbyes and left. I totally forgot about Kisame. I hope he's not too mad at me. 'Don't worry about it Outer.' 'Thanks, you always make me feel better Inner!' I quickly fell asleep, satisfied that I mastered the technique Deidara taught me.

(A/N) Thank you so much for reading! Please review and I'll submit chapter 4 as soon as possible! ^^