A/N – It's probably about time that I start thinking about this fic again. Right now I am revising it and just doing slight editing. Mainly to tweak some things so that the plot I have for the sequel will fit, since I have new plans for the end of this fic. Also I have combined chapters since they were so short. So just because there will be less chapters doesn't mean I left stuff out.

For my new readers, I hope you enjoy this... granted my writing makes me cringe. lol. Although it show how much I have improved and how old this fic is. xD.

Disclaimer – Naruto does not belong to me.

Deception

Chapter One: Captive

The years had begun to pass slowly and Konoha was finally returning to the happy carefree place Sakura had known as a child. However, peace came at a heavy price. She remembered vividly that many people died to achieve it. Orochimaru had returned; almost three years after his first attack. He rampaged the village turning it into a chaotic bloodbath. The loyal shinobi of Konoha fought against him bravely no matter how futile it might have seemed. They were able to hold him off - or so it seemed - until his secret weapon appeared.

Sakura recalled her eyes filling with tears as she looked into the face of her first love standing there, face blank, beside the snake who had taken him from her, and from Naruto. His raven hair danced in the wind as his cold eyes scanned the place he had once called home. At that moment she felt as if all hope was lost; Sasuke had really betrayed them all.

She was swept into awhirlpool of emotions that she had hoped to never experience. Those feelings of pain, regret, sadness, and anger could not be suppressed, especially ones that stemmed from a friend’s betrayal. They flooded her senses as she threw herself into battle once again, killing blindly in an attempt to free herself of this pain.

But it did nothing to sooth her, for they were not the cause of her pain, he was. Sakura's eyes fell on the snake that had taken everything away from her. Anger clouded her senses as she took off after him; determined to kill him. The next thing happened so quickly that she still had a hard time recalling it to this day.

She lunged herself at Orochimaru and he easily countered her attack with a smug grin placed on his face. She hated how he looked at her, like an ant that he could easily squash. Why? Why couldn’t she stop him? Why did she have to always be so weak? It was all she could think about as he prepared to deal the final blow.

Sakura instinctively closed her eyes, waiting for the searing hot pain that was sure to come, but it never did. Regaining her courage she opened her eyes; what met them shocked her. Standing before Sakura was Orochimaru with a horrid expression on his face. At first she was confused as to why he had stopped his attack, or that was until she noticed the hand protruding from his chest.

The Snake Sannin fell to the floor, drowning in his own blood. Shocked, she stared in mortification at the sight of his mangled body. But who had saved her? Looking up, her eyes widened with astonishment. Standing before her was Sasuke, his trademark smirk on his handsome face. Had he not actually betrayed them? He had saved them all; he had saved her.

That had been two years ago, back when she was still a chuunin desperately trying to show her worth. Now she had become a jounin and had shown her worth many times. Proving she was no longer that worthless girl of her youth.

Sighing in contempt she looked to the two bodies laying next to her in the grass. They were the two people she cared about the most, even if one of them tested her patience to the extreme. Naruto had matured a lot though, but he would still always be that little boy she knew from her childhood. Sasuke on the other hand had not changed at all. He was still his usual moody self, but she was glad for that.

Yawning, she finally sat up. They had been sitting there for a good hour or so, waiting for their sensei. But, this was to be expected since Hatake Kakashi was never on time.

"What the hell is taking him?" Naruto finally said, becoming more and more impatient. "I wanna get going on this mission. I have been looking forward to this all week." They all had been looking forward to this. It was there first big mission in a while and they had been anxious to actually go out and do something.

"We all do Naruto. But complaining about it won't help any of us." Sakura stated to the blond who in turn began to sulk.

"Sorry to keep you waiting." A familiar voice said, announcing the presence on their sensei. "I had to..." Kakashi tried to explain but was rudely cut off by Naruto.

"Save the excuses. Let’s just get going." Naruto shouted and this time everyone agreed.

The mission had gone well up until now. They were in charge of seeing an important scroll returned to a high ranking individual in Grass Country. They traveled to the designated spot and came across no obstacles, until they reached the small clearing where they would rendezvous with the scroll’s owner.

They had entered the clearing cautiously and for good reason to, for in front of them laid the mangled body of the scroll’s recipient. He had been murdered, which meant the killers might still be lurking around.

Looking into the lush forest, Sakura scanned the many oaks that surrounded them. Everything seemed to be clear, or at least to the untrained eye. Sakura, however, was very well trained and easily picked out the enemy shinobi hiding in the dense foliage around them.

She quickly glanced at her companions, who confirmed that they knew of their presence as well.

With a nod from Kakashi, the battle began. They appeared to be greatly outnumbered, but that did not discourage them in the slightest.

Sakura reached for her kunai, not wanting to get in close combat with any of these shinobi until she could assess their skills thoroughly. She threw the weapon as one of them began to advance. The kunai struck her attacker in the shoulder, but it didn't seem to phase him. To her horror, the kunai fell out leaving unmarked skin in its place. ‘But how?’ was all she thought while dodging an oncoming attack. Were they really human? Or was this some type of genjutsu?

Her companions seemed to be having the same kind of trouble. Nothing seemed to harm them. If you slashed right through them, they would just reattach themselves. It was impossible to fight such an opponent, but since they seemed to be mere decoys, there had to be someone controlling them, and that was who they had to search and destroy.

"They’re in the trees." Sasuke yelled as he finally spotted the real enemy.

Sakura looked towards the place where Sasuke had pointed out and wasn't surprised to see that he had been right.

"Ah, so you’ve found me." an amused voice filled the entire clearing. "Too bad I can’t stay, but I’ll leave you with a nice present..." And then he was gone, but the figures remained, staying completely still.

For a moment, they thought they were in the clear… until... "Hit the dirt!” Kakashi shouted as the inanimate bodies began to glow. "They’re going to explode." That was the last thing Sakura remembered before she felt herself being thrown back by a tremendous force. She soared through the forest until her head and back hit the large trunk of a tree, making her lose all consciousness.

Sakura was immediately aware of a sharp pain in her back and head. 'What happened to me?' she wondered as the memories of the battle came back to her. ‘That’s right. There was a bomb.'

She tried to sit up quickly as the thought of her friends being hurt floated to her mind. But as she did so, a searing hot pain shot through her arm. Opening her eyes, she saw the appendage lying there lifeless and covered in blood. It was broken. The bone was cutting right through the skin. The sight of it made her sick. She would have started to heal it, but it was a tricky wound. She needed to set the bone and that would be extremely difficult in her current state. Sakura would at least need someone to assist her.

"I see you are finally awake, little kunoichi." someone spoke. Sakura's head shot up to face blue-gray eyes. So this was the man who attacked them. She looked at him up and down, her eyes widening when she caught sight of the familiar black cloak. She had seen it only once before, but she would never forget it.

"Akatsuki." She breathed out through her pain.

"So you know of us then." He stated rather than questioned with a grin before standing up. Getting a good look at him, she noticed that he was quite young. He had a very feminine look to him with his long golden hair and his nicely featured face, but other than that, there was no way of mistaking him for a girl.

"Who are you?" She asked not wanting to seem intimidated.

"I should be asking you that." He said curtly. "But I am Deidara... yeah."

At least she felt a little less scared with him than she felt when she first met Itachi, but only by a little. This man still gave off a very powerful aura.

"Haruno Sakura...." She said through clenched teeth, the pain finally getting to her.

Deidara seemed to notice this. "That is one nasty break you've got there."

Sakura didn't really care about that at the moment, so she chose to ignore his question and asked one of her own. "Where are my friends?" She asked, a hint of anger in her voice.

"You were the only one I found. Looks like the rest got away."

"So you want to kill me?" she spat at him.

"No I just wanted the scroll you have been carrying." He pointed to Sakura's bag that was opened next to her, the scroll in plain view.

"What do you want with it?" She asked, temper unwavering.

"And that my dear kunoichi… is none of your business." He merely said, before retrieving it.

She tried to stop him but as she moved her hand the same white-hot pain stabbed her hard and she screamed. That was all it took before the darkness claimed her once again.

Deidara looked down at her, pity shown clearly in his eyes. Knowing that she would die if left alone, he decided he would take her with him. Who knows he might be able to make some money off her with a ransom.

A musty cedar smell was the first thing the young kunoichi noticed when she finally came to. She had been out for hours, if the darkening sky was any indication. The sun was already beginning to set, giving the room an eerie glow while hiding most of its treasures in the dark abyss of the corners.

She laid on a worn bed that was positioned near the only window in the room. Beside the bed was a small nightstand. Anything else that might have been in the room was hidden from view.

'Where am I?' Sakura wondered to herself as she stood from the bed. A sudden knock on the door halted her process as it opened to reveal the same golden haired man from before.

She immediately bounced back into bed and forced a most menacing look on her face, like a cat backed into a corner. Sakura was ready to attack if need be.

"I wouldn't move too much if I were you." Deidara gave a small smile as he gestured to her bandaged arm. "Sorry. That was the best I could do. I’m afraid that I’m not very good at medical ninjutsu."

Sakura looked at the sloppy bandage job, but at least it seemed that he had set the bone back and now she would be able to fully heal it in no time. Not bothering to thank him, she set to work as he watched her. Carefully she molded her chakra and moved it through her arm, allowing it to mend the bone and tissue as much as she could at the moment. It would be fully healed by the end of tomorrow if she continued the same treatment.

When she was finally satisfied with her handy work, she turned to look back at her captor. Sakura was not too intimidated by him although she knew he could kill her, but putting her current situation together she realized that he did not intend to kill her right away. If he had that intention, he would not have bothered bandaging her arm and he would not have gone through the trouble of taking her with him. But that still left one question.

"What do you want with me?" Deidara gave her a small smile as he walked towards her, ignoring her question. He carried with him a small tray, which held a steaming bowl and what looked like a cup of tea.

"I am glad you are finally awake, yeah." He said as he placed the tray on the nightstand. "I brought you some food, so you better eat up."

"What do you want with me?" Sakura tried again when he would not answer her. This time, he skipped the question altogether and began a new topic.

"You better eat before it gets cold."

That was the last straw, "Tell me damn it!" she cried out as her hand went towards the bowl of porridge in an attempt to send it flying. Instantly, Deidara caught her hand in a tight grasp, his eyes losing all playfulness, and his face sporting a cold glare. The atmosphere of the whole room changed within that one second. It was no longer warm and cozy but cold and ominous.

Sakura was scared as she looked into the blonde’s face, gone was that smile and in its place was a cold glare that disappeared as soon as it had come. The small smile was once again in place on his young face.

"Get some rest and eat... then we will talk." Without another word he left, leaving her to her modest meal.

'The things I get myself into.' she sighed as she took the bowl from the table and began to eat. Sakura had gotten herself into quite a situation. Normally she would try to escape but after the little thing she had just encountered, she would be crazy to try and leave. Deidara would be sure to sense her movements and he might not be so forgiving this time.

If only Sasuke was here or even Naruto. Together they would be able to get out of this. No. She wouldn't think like that. Long ago she promised herself to never rely on other people’s power; only her own, that way she would be able to grow stronger, but it sure would help if she wasn't alone.

'I have to get out of here.' Sakura was right. She could not stay here for long, but how could she leave? If she tried now, he would sense it. Seeing no current opportunity she decided to wait until the time was right, and then and only then would she make her escape.

Sasuke jumped from tree to tree. This had been their first mission together in a while and it had to end this way. He would not lie; he was very worried about Sakura. He and Naruto had been able to avoid the blast, and soon after found Kakashi, but no Sakura. They figured that the massive force of the bomb might have thrown her, yet they could not find any trace of the girl.

'Damn it.' The raven-haired boy cursed as he stopped on a branch that was a good half a mile from the clearing. Below him were the scattered remains of a backpack and its contents, but that was not what worried him. Stained into the ground and the material of the bag was undoubtedly blood, more than likely Sakura's blood.

He jumped down to get a better look, not at all pleased to see that it was a large amount, the crimson liquid pooling atop the fresh earth. How could he have let this happen? After all he did to keep them safe. It was the hardest thing to push them away like he had to join Orochimaru, but it had to be done. If they had tried to pursue him, he was sure that the sannin would not hesitate to kill them. He had to continue his farce not only to save them, but also to keep Orochimaru's trust. That all ended when the snake announced his plans to destroy Konoha. At first Sasuke thought it would end like it had the last time, in utter defeat, but as he watched Orochimaru prepare to kill one of the few he cared for, he had to make his stand and in turn ended the sannin’s life.

He was able to save her then, so why couldn't he save her now? Heaving a heavy sigh, he spoke into the small microphone he had around his neck to report his findings. They would not be happy to hear this.

Sakura had been able to heal all the wounds in her body and she was feeling good as new, except that she was locked inside the desolate bedroom that she now occupied. She had been there for about a week, but was well taken care of. Deidara seemed to be a ‘nice’ guy as far as S class criminals went. He would spend hours chatting with her about art and random things, but she did enjoy the time she spent with him, although she had yet to get the truth behind her imprisonment from him.

Looking at the clock that sat besides the bed, she noticed it was 3:00, which was around the time that Deidara came to visit her. But today seemed to be different. Earlier that day, he had come in to give her breakfast. Upon entering, she noticed that he seemed flustered and not his usual self.

"What’s wrong?" She had asked him when he placed the bowl of fruit on the table.

Deidara did not answer immediately but decided to study her for a moment. When he looked satisfied with what he saw he began to speak.

"I will be having company today... so please do not make a sound. Yeah?" when he finished, he smiled and patted her head before leaving. She had wanted to question him further, but he seemed to rather not talk about it, so she settled on eating as she watched him leave.

That had been hours ago and she had not heard from him since. She knew that he was probably busy getting ready. Knowing she would be alone for a while longer, Sakura went to grab the sketchpad Deidara had given her. She never thought of herself as a good artist but she found that she enjoyed drawing and the more she did it the better she seemed to get. The sketchbook was small and bound in red leather. Its pages were thick and many of them showed pictures of flowers that the kunoichi loved to draw.

She was soon sketching what looked like a giant sunflower when talking was heard out in the main room. 'They're here.' She told herself as she placed her sketch aside. Sakura was never one for gossip and she never made eavesdropping a hobby, but now she could not resist the urge to listen in.

There seemed to be three of them including Deidara. One of them had a very deep and loud voice while the others was smooth and cold. They seemed to be arguing and the tone in Deidara's voice seemed shaky and nervous. Something told Sakura that that was not a good sign. She had no idea as to who they were, but if they made Deidara act like this, then it was not a good thing.

'Could they be other Akatsuki members?' she thought momentarily as the talking died down. After all the time she had stayed here, the blond had never told her anything about the Akatsuki or of its members, but she guessed that should be expected since it was a secretive group.

Hearing that nothing was going on she went back to her drawing, shading in a smooth petal. Shading was not her strong point in drawing. She always managed to make it look like one gray blob of color, but as she looked at the petal she seemed to be finally getting the hang of it. It actual looked like a sunflower and for that she was proud. She couldn't wait to show it to Deidara. But as she thought about the blond Akatsuki member Sakura remembered that she had to escape even though she was enjoying her time here.

She soon started on the stem of the flower, but a loud bang made her jump, and in the process she dragged the pencil across the paper marking out her flower. She scowled looking at her damaged picture before looking towards the door, the source of the bang. What she saw made her blood run cold, but she quickly put that aside as she put up the bravest front she could. In the door way stood none other than Uchiha Itachi himself. She had only seen him once, but this was one person she would never forget.

Behind him, she could see a frantic Deidara and a large and intimidating blue tinted man. ‘Something tells me this isn’t going to end well.’

It had been years since she had last seen that cold face. Most of her memories of her past were muddled and she could only remember the highlights, but that was to be expected of the human mind. Old memories pushed out to hold the new, only leaving the memories that truly mattered. And Itachi was permanently sketched in her mind and for good reason too.

This was the man that had ruined so many lives, killed his entire family, and left his brother in anguish. He was to blame for Sasuke's pain, he was the reason Sasuke left them all, and he was the cause of all of their pain.

As Sakura sat there staring at that emotionless face, she felt her fear being pushed away by a burning anger. She hated this man with all her soul; how she wished she could kill him now, but that was a foolish wish. She knew she was no match for him. He would easily squash her like an annoying insect.

Itachi stared, his sharingan piercing her very being. If he was surprised to see her in this room he did not show it, but the large man beside him looked somewhat confused. He was tall, broad, and distinctly reminded her of a shark. The sight of him alone sent chills up and down her spine. Itachi was bad enough; why did this man have to be here too?

"Itachi... I can explain..." Deidara finally spoke up after what seemed like hours. He was panicking and Sakura saw it, taking it as an ill omen. Obviously it was not a good thing for Sakura to be here and she prayed to get through this alive.

Itachi seemed to ignore his fellow Akatsuki member as he continued to study the kunoichi before him. He remembered her as the young nin who accompanied the kyuubi. They were close and he knew that she would be excellent bait, but to use her as such would be beneath him. He would not use some underhanded techniques to accomplish his goal. She was useless to him, and at the moment she was an eyesore, for she only reminded him of his incomplete task.

"Dispose of her." he said void of any emotion.

Deidara turned pale at his words as he began looking around frantically as he tried to think of something to do. The shark man on the other hand smiled broadly as he went to grab the large sword that he carried on his back.

Naruto Stared in horror at the sight that laid in front of him.

"Are you sure this is her blood?" He asked his companions in hope that he was wrong.

Sakura couldn't be dead. They had promised to be there for each other; she had to stay with them.

Kakashi looked grim because the answer was not what Naruto wanted to hear. He decided to stay silent as he began to study the area in hopes of finding any clues of what might have occurred. He too hoped that he might find some small clue to tell them that she was alive. He was indeed worried; he didn't want to loose another person he cared for. If only he could have warned them all sooner then maybe he could have prevented this.

He scanned the small area, taking in every inch, making sure not to miss a thing. Sasuke too began to search, checking out the perimeter. He was about to give up when he noticed something. On a small fern a few feet from the place Sakura had laid was a smear of blood. To an untrained eye, one might not think much of it, but to Sasuke, it meant a lot.

"Kakashi-sensei." The Uchiha called waving the jounin over. "Look at this." He pointed to the fern.

Kakashi looked at the small trace of blood as he began to think. "Someone took her from this spot." He stated as he looked at the direction the blood smeared in.

"Exactly. Why would they take her along if she was dead?" Sasuke asked as Naruto looked back and forth between the two.

"So now we just have to find out who took her right?" he asked hopefully.

"Yes, but we have no clue who could have done this. Unfortunately, he never showed us his face so we don't have anything to go off of. Our best bet is to head back and report to Tsunade." Kakashi stood signaling the others to do the same.

"But what if we don't have the time, Sakura could be dying now. Don't you care, we can't waste time." Naruto yelled showing his concern.

Kakashi said nothing. He knew very well that Naruto could be right, but what could they do without a lead. They would only end up wasting more time trying to hunt down an unknown person. It was no better then looking for a needle in a haystack.

Without another word, Kakashi took off, followed closely by Sasuke, and then Naruto who was cursing angrily. This was hard for all of them.

Sakura sat there, fear visible on her features. This was it. She was going to die all alone without Sasuke or Naruto by her side. She would never know if Sasuke cared for or loved her. She would never hear Naruto's annoying rants or enjoy a bowl of ramen ever again. Why did this have to happen? Why wasn't she strong enough to stop this? Her mind was a whirlpool of jumbled thoughts and memories. Was this her life flashing before her eyes?

She had often wondered if this was actually happening. In any other situation she might have laughed. But as the shark man crept closer, all she could do was hope that she could melt through the wall she was pressed into.

This was the end of her short life. As she saw the giant sword overhead, she knew that this would be the last thing she ever saw. Closing her eyes, she waited for the end.

"Stop! Wait a minute..." She heard Deidara shout, but she knew he was too late.

To Be Continued . . .