broken-nosed gods

Despite the title, it's a fairly cheerful story thus far. It's really one of the more brilliant Naruto fics I've read. The basic premise is that Itachi finds Sakura crying in the woods when he's leaving the village, and (on a whim) takes her with him. Sakura turns out very kickass, but also extremely human. She can't defeat enemies simply by waving her hand at them; she gets injured both physically and mentally. (Although she *can* beat Kisame. Heh.) The fight with Kimimaro, for instance; while she does win, she is badly hurt, and slightly shaken by the realization that he's a lot like her.

In Chapter Two, Sakura is introduced to Deidara, and picks him out of all the Akatsuki to share a room with (since she is unable to share one with her Itachi-sensei-sama). Of course, this is because she first assumed Deidara was female. (Close enough ;) )

I love the Sakura/Deidara dynamic in this story. Best friends, teacher and student, possible romantic interest... The best of it, though, is the balance with Itachi. Itachi is her teacher, her leader, her strength — the person she looks up to the most. But Deidara — apart from anything else, Deidara is there.

Sasori is her older brother figure. Teacher and friend; as he is Deidara's partner, she spends more time with him than Itachi. Both explosives and poisons are some of her favourite fighting techniques since she arrived.

There are many, many wonderful things about this fic. But there is one line that stays in my mind, and pops up unexpectedly — you know, like a door-to-door insurance salesmen. But it feels more like a line from Shakespeare than an annoying guy in a suit. Deidara was there; she couldn’t hear him, but his lips kept saying come back, come back, come back… That 'come back, come back, come back...' is definitely one of the more haunting things I have ever read, almost as much as 'Break, heart, I prithee break.' You can practically hear the wishing, longing, fading voice it would be read in. Beautiful.

Link: The Tortured