Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, or any of the characters :(...I can only claim the idea for this plot.

Okay, this is The Guardian, sorry its alittle later than promised...Trying to get my house as clean and shiny as possible. My hubby will be headed home from Afghanistan in like four days, so I'm sorry. Updates will be slow for the rest of this month, but everything should pick up somewhere between 9-10 of next month. I'll do what I can in the next few days before he comes home.

Anyway, please read and review.

Haruno Sakura shifted farther into the soft warmth of her bed, she knew it was morning, but she really didn't care. She felt so warm and safe, that she didn't want to get up and go eat breakfast with the others. She knew she wouldn't be able to stay in bed much longer though, one of the four would come and get her up. They always did, each in their own way, since she had moved in with them three months ago.

Deidara was always bouncy and happy, he normally came in all smiles and extremely happy morning cheer, than never ceased to annoy her. He would bounce on the bed and sing horribly off tune, until she would grumble at him and get up. It suprised her, but no matter what he did, she never seemed to hold a grudge against him.

Hidan was almost as annoying, he would storm into the room, all swearing and muttering. He was the one who would either physically drag her out of the bed, or even dump a glass of water over her bed. Even though she would normally wake up swinging, sometimes even sending the immortal through a couple walls. He would grin up from the rubble with that stupid, charming, boyish smile of his, and her annoyance and anger would simply melt away.

Kisame was the only civilized one, he would knock on the door, call out 'Sakura-hime', sometimes even in alittle sing song voice, until she would be coherent enough to actually move. Occasially, especially if she had slept longer than normal, he would wake her up with a cup of coffee. He would sit in the chair beside her bed, and wave the hot fumes around her head, slowly coaxing her out from under her covers.

Itachi's was the strangest out of the four, she still hadn't figured out where she was with him, it was all hot and cold. Normally he would stand just inside her door staring at her, she would get so fidgety that she would bolt upright with a glare and a sharp demand of 'What!'.

Twice though in the last three months, she had awoken with the feeling of lips pressed against her's. She openned her eyes both times to find those dark blue-black eyes looking impassivly down at her. They had stared at each other for several long seconds, Sakura completely lost in those dark eyes, before Itachi had murmered a soft 'Breakfast is ready' before breezing from the room.

In the last three months, she had moved all her things from her cave into the new base they were staying in, it was located in Fire, just outside the boarder of River. She had become close to the four of them, Hidan and Deidara were brother's too her, much like Naruto, Sasuke, Gaara, and Kankuro. Kisame was the alcoholic Uncle, always good for a laugh or a sounding board, always ready to help her out of her bouts of depression.

Itachi was harder for her to figure out, it was impossible for her to decide what she felt when he was around. Sometimes, she would meet his gaze, and it would warm her to her toes, her insides feeling filled with butterflies. She would feel beautiful and safe when he turned those bottomless dark eyes on her.

Other times, he would look at her, his gaze expressionless and almost cold, than she would feel lonely and almost afraid. The darkness inside her would rear up and snarl at him, ready for a fight. Yet, at the exact same time it was snarling, it was purring and yearning for something that scared her. It wanted to touch him, to allow him to touch her, tame her, claim her, and for her to claim him in return.

She had spoken to Hidan, Kisame, and even Deidara about the feelings she felt for Itachi, about the things he stirred inside her. They all seemed to have about the same reaction, they would laugh, hug her or lay their hand on her shoulders. Deidara tried to give her advice, which she flat out refused to follow, she wasn't about to simply 'Jump his bones, yeah.'

Hidan had smirked, and offered to pray for Itachi and herself's 'heathen souls' than he had told her the exact same thing Deidara had said. Why was it that they both thought everything would be solved if she simple had sex with Itachi. She wasn't even sure she would be able to just 'have sex' with someone. Not after the horrible experience she had had almost three years ago.

Kisame was her favorite, he had simply said, "How the hell should I know what to do, I'm a six foot, four blue shark man." Than he had given her a cup of sake, and everything had resulted in a drinking match, which had ended up with both of them passed out. Hidan and Deidara were still trying to figure out why exactly Kisame's shirt was on the ceiling light.

Sakura was so lost in thought that she never even heard her bedroom door open, or the person enter. She couldn't even feel the eyes that burned into her body, even her darker self was paying more attention to her thoughts, and less to her surroundings. Which is why she yelped and almost fell from her blankets when Deidara spoke from by her door,

"Sakura-hime, its almost eleven, yeah. Time to get up and face the day, yeah."

Sakura sat up in her bed, hugging the thick down blanket to her chest, she wasn't naked, but seeing all four of the ex-Akatsuki in her bedroom was alittle unsettling. They had never all come to wake her at the same time, and not for the first time, she wished for her mask and hood. They refused to let her wear them when in the base, last time she had tried, Hidan and Kisame had held her down so Deidara could remove them.

"Wha...?"

Sakura knew her eyes were wide as she took in the wide grins that Kisame, Hidan, and Deidara sported, even Itachi had a smug smirk on his face. She wondered exactly what was going on, everyone had been deep in thought last night. They had finally found out where Madara was and what his plans where, and now they were all in her room. Staring at her, red flags went up in her mind, something was going on,

"Well, a little birdy told us that something special was happening today, Sakura-hime. So we decided that before we head over for our little rendezvous with the brats."

Sakura blinked in confusion, what was special about today? Glancing around she spotted her calendar and felt her eyes widen, today was March twenty-eighth, it was her birthday. Her twenty-third birthday, and someone had let it slip to these boys?

"You guys please don't make a big deal out of it..."

Deidara and Hidan both grinned widely at her, and it scared her more than anything so far. She knew that something was up, that they had done something, and she wasn't sure if it would be good or not. It was Kisame who spoke again, his voice light and teasing,

"But its the day you were born, Sakura-hime, we gotta do something special."

Sakura couldn't take it, this was going to be horrible, she hadn't celebrated her birthday since she left Konoha, and now it seemed like she didn't have a choice in the matter. She glanced over at Itachi, hoping that he would bail her out, only to see that he had slipped from the room. Flopping backwards on the bed, she yanked her pillow over and face, and screamed, the sound muffled by the soft downy. The three men simply laughed at her aggravation,

"Come on Sakura-hime, to the kitchen we go, yeah."

Sakura pulled the pillow from her face to throw a heated glare at the men, she knew she couldn't get out of whatever they had planned. It wasn't like she could just burrow back into her her bed and not come out till tomorrow, she was suppose to meet up with shinobi from Konoha sometime after noon. It was best to get up now and get everything over with.

The pinkette couldn't help but smile as she shooed the men from her room, so she could change. She would never admit it, but she was happy, these men, went out of their way to make her feel happy and content. They were the family she always wished she had, only Kakashi, Naruto, and the Sand Siblings had ever come close. She just prayed that she didn't lose any of them in the upcoming war.

And there it is, the first chapter of The Guardian. Its actually a part one, the actual birthday and meeting will be in the next chapter. Its like seven am and I haven't gone to bed yet. So sleep time.

Please review and tell me what you think.

Love you all,

Thanks a million

Kyo