I sincerely apologize for the super long delay on this chapter!

I moved out of state and I was getting settled and then I got a job and basically I've just been having to be an adult. Again, I apologize and I hope this chapter appeases you!

I'm sorry for any errors in this chapter, I was in a hurry to post it.

Once again, I do not own Naruto.

Yet.

So far away from where you are

These miles have torn us worlds apart

And I miss you, yeah I miss you

So far away from where you are

I'm standing underneath the stars

And I wish you were here

After hiding in her room for most of the day, Sakura decided she was going to go downstairs and investigate the study she had come across previously. After the situation at breakfast she hoped she wouldn't run into Itachi or Kisame, but she was sick of sitting in her room doing nothing.

She made her way down the stairs and towards the giant doors. So far, she had yet to see either of her captors, and her luck continued when she saw that the study was also devoid of Uchihas or sharks.

She gazed at the rows of books and scrolls, mesmerized. Her eyes fell on a particularly worn book and she pulled it out. Taking a seat on the couch in front of the fireplace, she began flipping through the pages. Surprised, she realized it was a book documenting the history of the Leaf Village and its clans.

She frowned, not liking the idea of the Akatsuki having that information. Not that it mattered; Itachi probably told them everything anyway.

Looking at the book, she wondered what was going on in the village. She wondered if they were still looking for her or if they had given up by now. She figured they had probably given up. She had made sure that she had left no trace of herself everywhere she went. Now, as she sat a hostage of the Akatsuki, she severely regretted that decision. Her heart sank at the thought of Lady Tsunade being furious with her for leaving the village. Kakashi-sensei too.

And what about Naruto? What did he think of her right now? He was still devastated about Sasuke, and was still trying to recover from that. She had made him promise to bring Sasuke back to her, and then she herself had abandoned him. He must be so hurt, and she had no way of apologizing to him.

She desperately wished she could somehow reach out to all of them and tell them that she was okay; that she was alive. But with Itachi and Kisame watching her every move, that was impossible.

The thought of Itachi made her fists clench. She was still angry about what had happened at breakfast and how cold he had been, especially when she had confronted him about Sasuke. She shuddered at the memory of him standing over her like that. In that moment, she had thought for sure that he was going to hurt her. So, she had fled from him like a coward. What kind of Shinobi was she if she couldn't stand her ground in front of an enemy? Granted, Itachi Uchiha was no ordinary enemy. If he could mercilessly slaughter his entire family, there was no telling what he would be willing to do to her if provoked.

Still, even the thought of him made her blood boil. She knew she couldn't beat him in a fair fight, even if her chakra wasn't being suppressed. From what she knew of him, he was a very skilled Shinobi; a master of the Sharingan, and proficient in genjutsu. She had heard once that he had been a member of the Anbu Black Ops, but she wasn't entirely sure what his rank had been, or how long he had been a member.

To be honest, she didn't know very much about him at all. She knew even less about Kisame, aside from the fact that he was an asshole and he had a stupid fish face.

Sakura felt an uncomfortable knot in her stomach as she realized once again that she knew nothing about the Akatsuki. How many members were there? Do they have a leader? Why were they after the Tailed Beasts? Had they captured any more of the jinchuriki besides Gaara?

Her head was swimming with questions and she let out a groan as she put her head in her hands. There were so many answers she needed and she didn't even know where to start looking.

Suddenly getting an odd feeling she looked over her shoulder.

Itachi stood in the doorway watching her.

Sakura didn't move. She watched him uncertainly as he made his way fully into the study and began looking through the bookshelves. She considered getting up and leaving but her pride wouldn't let her. She wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of scaring her off again. Instead, she opened the book again and tried her best to ignore him.

Unfortunately, that was proving rather difficult. Especially when after he found a book worth his interest he sat down on the couch next to her. Sakura stiffened and kept her eyes glued to her book. Itachi made no move to even acknowledge her existence as he calmly sat and read silently.

Sakura sat as still as she could and chanced a glance at Itachi. He looked completely at peace sitting there reading his book, and didn't seem to even notice Sakura watching him out of the corner of her eye. That is, until he looked up at her with a raised eyebrow.

She quickly averted her eyes. But then looked back at him in irritation when he kept looking at her.

"Can I help you?" She snapped.

"I doubt it." He replied, before looking back at his book.

Sakura shifted uncomfortably. "Do you have to sit there?" She asked.

"This is where I always sit." He said, not looking at her.

"Well I was here first."

"I'm not telling you to move."

Sakura snapped her book shut and glared at him.

"What the hell is your problem?" She demanded. Itachi looked at her. She felt a shiver go down her spine as his Sharingan met her eyes.

"My problem, Kunoichi, is that you seem to have no regard for your situation." He responded coolly. "And if I were you, I would drop the attitude before it gets you into trouble." He looked back down at his book, clearly dismissing the conversation.

Sakura glared at him, feeling bold. "Oh, I'm the one with an attitude? I'm so sorry for not being overly friendly to the people who took me hostage. But you're probably used to everyone doing what you say all the time." Itachi had looked up from his book and was now watching Sakura with an unreadable expression. She didn't care though as she continued, her irritation clouding her better judgement. "Does thinking you're better than everyone else make you feel good at night, despite all the shitty things you've done?"

Itachi's eyes were narrowed as he watched her like a predator watching prey. "Careful, Kunoichi." He warned, a dangerous edge in his voice.

"Fuck you."

Sakura had no time to register what was happening before she was pinned beneath him. Itachi's hands holding her down as his Sharingan swirled dangerously. Her boldness quickly disappeared and was replaced with fear as she struggled against his grip on her wrists.

"Like I said, Kunoichi, you have no regard for your situation." His voice was laced with venom, no longer containing any of the boredom that was usually present.

Sakura knew she looked pathetic, struggling to break free whimpering in fear.

"What are you going to do to me?" Her voice cracked, to her shame.

Itachi continued to look at her for a moment before letting go of her wrists and sitting up. "Nothing." He responded, his voice once again emotionless as he stood. "Not yet. You still have use. But as soon as that usefulness runs out…" He didn't finish his threat. He didn't have to. His meaning was clear as Sakura stayed where she was, sprawled on the couch not daring to move. As soon as her usefulness ended, so would her life.

Itachi glanced at the door of the study a moment before Kisame appeared. The shark nin gave a curious glance between the Uchiha and Sakura who was still where Itachi had left her. He didn't question it though as he looked back at Itachi.

"I thought you might want to know that they're almost here." He said.

"How close?" Itachi asked.

"I'd say about ten minutes. I assumed you would want some time to figure out what to do with her." Kisame jerked his head in Sakura's direction.

Itachi looked at Sakura, as if contemplating something. "It wouldn't do for them to ask questions about her." He seemed to make up his mind as he turned to leave the study. "Come with me, Kunoichi." Sakura slowly raised herself into a sitting position and watched him warily, unsure if he was going to attack her again.

Itachi glanced behind him. "Now." He demanded irritably.

Kisame smirked at her as she stood from the couch and made her way to follow Itachi. She avoided his gaze as she left the study with the Uchiha.

Itachi led her up the stairs without a word. Sakura knew she should probably keep her mouth shut after what had just happened, but her brain was full of questions.

"Who's coming?" She asked tentatively. Not surprisingly Itachi ignored her. Her mind reeled. Were more members of the Akatsuki coming to the manor? Her breath caught in her throat at the next possibility. What if it was Naruto? What if he had managed to track her down already and was coming to rescue her? He would be walking right into a trap.

Itachi stopped outside her door and opened it.

"Get inside." He ordered.

Sakura didn't move. "Who's coming?" She repeated, more urgently than before.

Itachi regarded her silently for a moment.

"Associates of mine." He said simply. "Now get in and be quiet unless you have a death wish."

Sakura hesitated but then decided it wouldn't be a good idea to disobey him so soon after having made him so angry already. She timidly made her way past him into her room. Itachi stood in the doorway watching her.

"Don't make any noise." He said, "Do not leave this room until I gave you permission to do so."

"Why don't you want your cohorts to know I'm here?" She asked.

"Because you would be of no use to me dead." He replied, impatience evident in his voice.

Sakura was about to ask another question when Itachi glanced sharply away, apparently listening to something. He gave Sakura one last warning look before closing the door, leaving her by herself in her room.

She began pacing her room, thinking.

So, more members of the Akatsuki were now at the manor. Which ones? What were they doing here? And why was Itachi so determined to keep them away from her? He had said she would be no use to him dead, so she had to assume that if they found her they would kill her. But why? What reason would they have to kill a random Kunoichi? Couldn't Itachi just tell them what she was being used for and order them not to kill her? But maybe they wouldn't take orders from Itachi. Which led to Sakura once again wondering if the Akatsuki had a leader.

All these questions were whirling around her head as she sat down on her bed, waiting for Itachi to come tell her she could leave her room.

Hours seemed to pass and still Itachi had not come to fetch her. Her patience was getting very low and her previous fear of Itachi from early was now gone.

Sakura was tired of hiding in her room like a helpless lamb while the wolves were prowling outside. She had vowed to get as much information on the Akatsuki as she could and get it back to Lady Tsunade and the village. How was she going to do that if she kept herself isolated? Itachi had warned her not to leave her room but to hell with what the damn Uchiha wanted.

Steeling her resolve, she softly opened the door and peered into the empty corridor. No one was there and she couldn't hear anybody talking in any of the nearby rooms. Figuring they had all left and gone somewhere else, she stepped fully out of her room and made her way downstairs, keeping as quiet as possible just in case someone was there.

And apparently, someone was.

She had just stepped into the study when she felt a kunai at her throat.

"What do we have here? Seems like we have an intruder, yeah."

Sakura was frozen. What should she do? She had just been caught sneaking around the manor by an Akatsuki member who wasn't Itachi or Kisame. She swallowed and felt the kunai press harder against her throat. She figured the best thing to do was explain that she wasn't an intruder. She raised her hands in surrender to the person behind her. She couldn't see who it was and she hoped that they would listen.

"I'm not an intruder" she spoke as calmly as she could. "I'm here under Itachi's orders." Even though she was telling the truth, she didn't feel like admitting that she was technically Itachi's prisoner.

She breathed a sigh of relief as she felt the kunai leave her throat and the presence behind her back up a step.

The relief was short lived though as she turned around and saw who had been threatening her.

Flashbacks hit her like a ton of bricks.

Hot sand. A cave. Gaara's lifeless body. Lady Chiho. That dangerous and terrifying fight...

The man standing in front of her was Deidara.

She instinctively took a step back.

Deidara regarded her with curiosity. "You look familiar, yeah..." His eyes narrowed as he tried to place where he'd seen her before. She dared not say anything and tried to figure the best way out of this dangerous situation. Deidara took her in, trying to piece together a memory he knew was there.

Sakura's heart leaped to her throat when she saw his eyes flash with recognition.
His eyes that had just a moment ago held curiosity, now held nothing but fury.

"You." He growled, moving towards her. "I do know you. You were there with the Copy Ninja and the Nine-Tails brat when we captured the One-Tail, yeah."

She was backing away from him, and he was matching her step for step. She felt her back connect with the wall and terror hit her as she realized she was trapped. She was trapped in front of a dangerous S-classed criminal; an S-classed criminal who's partner she had killed.

Deidara stood directly in front of her and glared furiously down at her. She could only see one of his eyes, the one that wasn't covered by his blond hair, but it held enough hatred and anger to make her fear for her life. He grabbed her by the neck and lifted her up above him, still pressing her against the wall.

She grabbed at his hand, trying to free herself.

"You killed Sasori, yeah. I know it was you. Zetsu told me it was the pink haired bitch from the Leaf." Sakura was struggling to breathe now. She was becoming more and more panicked by the second.

Just when she felt she was about to pass out, Deidara released her and she fell to the floor gasping for breath. She looked up.

Deidara was still standing in front of her, but now so was Itachi. Itachi was holding Deidara's wrist in his hand and was glaring threateningly with his Sharingan. Despite his angry gaze, he spoke calmly.

"You should know better Deidara, than to play with what isn't yours."

Deidara glared at Itachi with as much hate as he had given Sakura. But instead of trying to attack, he simply wrenched his wrist from Itachi's grip.

"Whatever." He growled, turning and walking away. "She isn't worth my time, yeah." Despite those words, he sent Sakura a threatening look over his shoulder that promised he wasn't done with her yet.

Deidara left the room and Sakura was left alone with Itachi.

The Uchiha looked down at Sakura breathing heavily on the floor.

"I told you not to leave your room." He said.

She glared up at him.

"I don't take orders from you." She spat. She was angry that she had put herself in such a dangerous situation, but she was even angrier that she had had to be saved by Itachi of all people. She stood up but didn't meet his gaze. Instead she focused on a spot behind him. "I had it handled."

It was an obvious lie and Itachi wasn't having it. He stood directly in front of her, blocking the spot on the wall she had been focused on. She stared straight ahead, glaring at his chest.

"Look at me."

She refused.

He grabbed her chin and jerked her head up to meet his gaze.

"Look at me Sakura."

Her eyes met his. He stared intently down at her.

"I have tolerated your outbursts and foolish behavior to this point. Despite your lack of respect, I have not harmed physically you. Do not make the mistake of expecting the same courtesy from the others." He paused. "And yes, you do take orders from me."

And with that, he was gone.

Sakura was alone in the study. Despite wanting to ignore Itachi's warning, and basically everything about Itachi in general, she couldn't help but notice that for the first time since becoming his prisoner, he had called her by her name.

Naruto stared into his untouched bowl of ramen wordlessly, Kakashi-sensei sitting next to him.

"You need to eat something Naruto." His Sensei told him gently.

Naruto ignored him and continued staring at his food, not really seeing it. He had no appetite, just like most days now. He barely ate and he hardly slept. He put in minimal effort when training, and spoke very little.

He barely noticed when Captain Yamato and Sai joined them at the table. He ignored their greeting and barely registered their conversation.

"How's he doing?" Yamato asked Kakashi quietly.

Kakashi looked at his friend and gave a small shake of his head. Yamato sighed and looked around Kakashi at Naruto.

"Hey Naruto," he said cheerily, "I'm surprised that bowl is still full! Usually you're scarfing down at least your third by now!" He frowned when Naruto ignored his joke. He glanced worriedly at Kakashi, who looked just as troubled as he felt. They of course knew what was wrong.

Sakura.

There had been no leads as to her whereabouts and they had all but given up on finding her. Lady Tsunade had stopped sending out patrols to look for her when it became evident that she was no longer in the Land of Fire. She still reminded all the teams to keep an eye out for the missing Kunoichi whenever she sent them on missions, but none ever came across her.

She had even sent a message to Gaara requesting that he be on the look-out for her but he and the rest of The Hidden Sand Village had not found any evidence that she had entered the Land of Wind.

Sai was regarding Naruto with a curious expression. He turned to Yamato. "I wonder why Naruto is so upset about Ugly leaving." He said.

Naruto clenched his fists on the table. Yamato gave Sai a warning look, hoping that for once the pale boy would show some sensitivity. Unfortunately, his hopes were for nothing as Sai continued.

"It's clear to me that she has no intention of returning to the village. It's common knowledge that if you abandon the village, you are a traitor."

"Sai that's enough." Yamato warned him. Naruto was practically shaking now but Sai ignored them both, determined to show off his obvious intellect on the subject.

"I find it interesting. She is so obsessed with the traitor Sasuke Uchiha, and now they are both traitors."

The next thing they knew, Naruto was flying at Sai and punching him in the face.

Kakashi and Yamato both bolted out of their seats and attempted to pull him off the other boy.

"Take it back!" Naruto was screaming at Sai who wasn't making a move to stop him. Kakashi and Yamato managed to pry them apart and Naruto ripped himself out of their grip and stormed off.

Yamato rounded on Sai.

"Was that really necessary?" He demanded.

It was Kakashi who answered.

"Yes. It was." Yamato looked at his Senpai with confusion.

"Naruto has been practically comatose since Sakura left, maybe some anger is what he needs to pick himself back up." Kakashi elaborated.

Sai picked himself up off the ground and himself off.

"I don't actually believe that Sakura is a traitor." He said, "I am worried for her wellbeing. But I am also worried for Naruto's as well. If punching me makes him feel better, than I am glad to anger him."

Yamato wasn't sure if he followed their logic but if it got Naruto back to his old self again, he wouldn't complain.

Naruto walked the streets of the Leaf Village without destination. He was still angry at Sai and he didn't feel like talking to him or the others. If he did, he wasn't certain he could stop himself from punching Sai again.

He knew why Sai had said the things he had. He was aware of how people looked at him these days. Always with worry and sympathy. He hated it. He hated how helpless he felt, and he hated that he was making his friends worry about him.

He couldn't help it though.

Sakura had been missing for months and there had been no trace of her. Why? Why had she gone off on her own? She hadn't said anything to him, just ran off and left him alone. Hadn't they promised both promised to be there for each other? After Sasuke had left, they had leaned on each other for support and Naruto had come to rely on Sakura being there. She was the only one who truly understood how he felt, which made her departure all the more hurtful.

He stopped and looked up. He was standing in front of the old Uchiha compound. He gazed at it, reminiscing about times gone by. Times spent with Sasuke and Sakura. When he had been a child, he had been so alone. Not a friend in the world, until them.

Standing there, remembering their faces, he felt more alone than he had ever felt in his whole life.

Itachi stalked through the manor into the living room. Deidara was sitting on a chair looking livid, and looked up when Itachi entered.

"What the hell do you want Uchiha?" He asked, glaring at him.

"What I want, Deidara, is for you to not do anything irrational." Itachi replied as calmly as he could. Unsurprisingly, Deidara launched himself out of the chair and glared furiously at him.

"I don't take orders from you Uchiha," He hissed. Itachi was getting rather tired of hearing that statement today.

He took a step towards the bomber, his voice threatening. "You'll take this order Deidara. If any harm comes to the Leaf Kunoichi by your hands, you will have me to answer to. And you and I both know that you are no match for me."

Deidara swung his arm at Itachi but the Uchiha easily blocked, throwing Deidara to the floor. He looked coolly down at his fellow Akatsuki member.

"I trust I've made my point." He turned to walk away but Deidara's voice stopped him.

"Why is she even here Uchiha?" He demanded.

Itachi didn't bother turning to look at him as he replied, carefully controlling his voice.

"That's my business, not yours. All you need to do is stay away from her." With that he continued out the door, leaving Deidara on the floor looking sour.

He entered his room and sat at his desk. Now that he was alone, he put his fingers to his temples and rubbed. His headaches were getting worse and he considered himself lucky that he could even still see at all. Of course, his headaches weren't helped by Deidara being there. Not to mention the Kunoichi.

Sakura Haruno.

He had recognized her instantly as Sasuke's other teammate when he and Kisame found her. They had heard that there was a Kunoichi from the Leaf Village asking about them, and they followed the leads right to her. The moment he saw her he knew who she was.

It was lucky that he had shown up before Kisame had seriously wounded her. Now that she was here in the manor, Itachi had made sure that Kisame wouldn't pull a stunt like that again. Unfortunately, Deidara was going to be a lot more difficult. Itachi was aware that Sakura had been the one who killed Sasori and he knew that Deidara was out for blood. He could only hope that he and Kisame would be able to keep him from harming her.

Itachi sighed and leaned back in his chair. He knew he was taking a risk with the girl. If his plan were to fail, the consequences would be dire. His head throbbed again in pain and he grimaced.

He was running out of time.

Finally we got a little of Itachi's perspective! I promise I will try my best to get the next chapter out in a timely manner this time...

As always, your reviews are welcomed and encouraged! Until next time, dear readers!