Hey everyone this is my first story on here so be gentle okay? I actually had another story written before this, it was a Sai x Sakura story...but sadly the story was lost when my last computer crashed. Alright so the ages are slightly off. The rookie nine should be 20 at the moment. Assuming that the Akatsuki are still out there, but that Sasuke has killed Itachi and joined the Akatsuki himself. So please read and review and let me know what you think!


She was alone, condemned to wander the world for the rest of eternity without a place to call home. Her hands shook and her emerald eyes were clouded with uncertainty, she looked down the old dirt road and felt the bitter truth freeze her heart. There was no turning back, her past was forever cut off to her and her future was now an unknown, the only thing she had left was the present.

Approximately 5 hours had passed since Haruno Sakura had "died"…probably about 3 since her lifeless body had been discovered. The hunt for her murders would be unlike anything any of the hidden villages had seen before. She had been the best friend to the next Hokage, apprentice to the current Hokage, the third member of the legendary team 7, and adored by anyone she had ever healed.

Reaching into the hidden depths of her hood she allowed her fingers to intertwine with her telltale pink hair. She'd have to dye it soon, each day that she allowed it to remain its natural color was another day filled with the possibility of being recognized. That was an unacceptable danger, if Konoha thought she was alive it would mean that Orochimaru would know she was alive. After Kabuto had injected Orochimaru's cells into his body it had taken less than a month for Orochimaru to completely overtake his new host. Even after being reborn Orochimaru was still unable to move his arms, it didn't take long until he turned his attention to kidnapping the only medic that had ever passed Tsunade, Sakura.

It had been after the second attempt to capture her that she had been approached by Morino Ibiki. With the Akatsuki still after Naruto, it was stretching Konoha's ninja too thin to protect her as well. She had vehemently denied the fact that anyone needed to help her, that she could handle this problem on her own. Deep down she had known that it was a lie, Orochimaru was obsessed and she couldn't escape him forever. The only way she would be free would be in death and even then that was a small obstacle for Orochimaru to overcome. She couldn't become a missing nin, without an alliance to the leaf it would be far too easy for Sound to take her. In the end, Ibiki had helped her day by day to create the perfect murder scene and the perfect fake body. She had been the one to come up with the plan, Orochimaru wouldn't be able to resurrect someone that was still alive. But, no one could know the truth, even Tsunade, the grief had to be real.

Even now as she moved further and further away from Konoha she couldn't help but ponder is she had made the right choice. As she considered all the pain that her friends were undoubtedly suffering at her sudden death she felt a stab of guilt. But, she had done all of this for them, to protect them, so others wouldn't have to be hurt trying to protect her. She was a medic nin, it was her duty to save people.

By the time night had fallen she had reached the northwest border that Fire Country shared with the Waterfall Country. She found a small town just across the border and opted to stay in an inn. Trudging up to her room, she practically collapsed onto her bed as she plucked a small bottle from the inner folds of her cloak. Glancing at the bathroom door she sighed and pushed herself to walk the few feet over to the door. She sat down in front of the mirror and began the slow meticulous process of dying her hair. After she had washed out the dye she found a girl with vibrant green eyes and blood red hair staring back at her. She had known that she would never again be able to wear the colors that marked her as a member of the Haruno clan, but had been reluctant to leave the last reminder of her family behind her…a reluctance that had led to her current choice of hair color.

The next day she was back on the road again, never ceasing in her constant trek away from Konoha; away from the only home she ever knew, away from the only people she had ever loved, away from the only world she had ever known. She was thrown into the depths of depression; but by midday she was beginning to claw her way out again, reminding herself that her sacrifice was for a reason. It wasn't until she came across the town she was stopping at for the night that a new realization hit her; that for the first time in her life she was free to make her own choices, she was no longer bond by the demands of a village.

She spent the early hours of the evening in a bar drinking sake, partly in celebration and partly in depression. Healing chakra circulated through her body to help prevent the next day's inevitable hangover. After her seventh bottle the barkeeper approached her warily.

"Don't ya think its about time you head home? Someone will be missing you if you stay much later."

She raised her head and met his dark eyes with empty green ones.

"Its already too late for me to go home," she slurred.

"Nah," he shook his head, "its not even midnight yet, I'm sure your parents wont be too mad."

"Yeah I guess you're right," she let out a hollow laugh before returning her attentions solely to the bottle in front of her.

Shrugging his round shoulders the man turned and walked back to the other end of the counter and nodded in greeting to the new customer. The man simply glanced around the bar before his gaze landed on the woman slumped at the counter. Walking over he casually sat down beside of her.

"The seat's taken" Sakura said without bothering to look up.

"Hn."

The strangers reply or rather lack thereof irked Sakura greatly and she turned towards the man grabbing his shoulder and pulling him towards her with chakra enhanced strength.

"I said the seat—"

She hissed as she met crimson eyes and looked upon the face of a man that was supposed to be dead. Ignoring the voice of reason in the back of her mind that ordered her to break eye contract she instead stared at him in shock.

"You're dead."

"They say the same about you." He quirked an eyebrow at her, "Do you always trust rumors?"

"Sasuke killed you, I know that he killed you."

"Oh?"

Her eyes narrowed in frustration and she decided to approach the situation from a more direct route. "How are you alive?"

"How are you?"

They stared at each other for several long minutes before Sakura gave up waiting for him to answer. She returned her attention fully to the bottle in front of her, and chose to ignore him for all intents and purposes. Itachi sat silently beside of her and sipped at the cup of tea placed in front of him. Perhaps it was the alcohol or maybe it was just her need for someone that understood, but Sakura eventually relaxed and basked in the fact that she a tangible connection to her past sat beside of her. She wasn't the 12 year old that would have trembled in fear and she was no longer the 15 year old that would have run off desperate to find Sasuke and point him in the direction of his revenge. As a young woman of 20, she sat quietly in the presence of a man who had killed his entire family save for his brother. As a former member of ANBU who had massacred an entire family on an order she could no longer judge him for his actions. And, as a lonely individual who could no longer turn to her friends for comfort she found that she could not reject his company.