A/N This story came from a dream that I had that has been plagueing my thoughts for a while. I've been working on it on and off since then, and I finally decided to post it. Just to prove that yes, I'm still typing, just not very quickly. A warning to you all, though I've done a rediculous amount of rereading, this is my first attempt at having Itachi in a story, and it's almost a given that he'll be OOC, so please, please tell me how I can improve my portrayal of him!
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.
Hatake Kakashi crouched beside Sakura on the branch of the ancient pine tree. He pressed a finger to his lips, or rather the general area of his mask that Sakura assumed they were underneath, signaling silence. Sakura nodded curtly, as sweat dripped down the back of her neck.
She began to wonder whether she even should have come. Kakashi pulled up his headband, the red glow of his sharingan eye standing out against the forested background, and he looked over his shoulder through the dense foliage. Sakura began to feel the familiar stomach upsetting feeling of fear, waiting behind the silent Kakashi who stood stalk still. In a matter of milliseconds, his head had cocked back, looking over Sakura's right shoulder, and he had grabbed a handful of her hair, pulling it down violently as he himself ducked as well. A neat row of kunai blades embedded themselves in the tree where their heads had been sitting, the shock of this making Sakura withhold her cry of pain.
"Sakura, stay in the trees and hide," Kakashi stated in a low, quick voice, before they both jumped away in opposite directions. Sakura felt her pulse race as chakra in her feet stuck her to all of the trees she traveled through. Bounding through the branches, Sakura looked around; Kakashi had known from the start that they were being followed, him specifically.
She caught a glimpse of his silver hair flashing across the forest floor as she passed him by. Whoever was following them was good, very good. She had seen neither hide nor hair of their pursuer yet, and had come face to face with death in that short time slot. Then Sakura saw it; the leaves of trees and the man's movement kept her from getting a good look, but Sakura saw blackness.
"Kakashi!" Sakura yelled, pointing in the place where she'd seen the movement. Kakashi looked up, following her arm to where she was pointing. He ducked to the right, forming katas with his hands. Sakura leapt off of the tree she clung to, watching Kakashi dart through the shadows. It was only when she felt the whiplash of an errant branch across her lower cheek that Sakura took her eyes off of her old sensei and looked up to see where exactly she was going. She caught herself on a tree trunk, her knees bending as her entire body fell into a defensive crouching position to absorb the shock. Her heels had taken too much of the force, and Sakura yelped before she could help herself, a dull, sore pain passing through her feet.
In an instant, before Sakura's inner thoughts could even finish berating her, Sakura felt herself pulled backwards. She tried to wiggle her wrists in vain, but they were being held tightly as her back was being held against a body. A kunai similar to her own was pressed against her throat, it seemed that the only things that Sakura could feel were cold and lifeless; the cool metal of a knife, and the thick fabric of a traveling cloak.
With a bitter laugh that Sakura held in, she realized that even now, on the eve of her death, she wouldn't be able to see her assailant. It was irony at its cruelest. "Hatake Kakashi," He said, the coldness of his voice sending chills down the back of Sakura's neck, "Where is it?"
Sakura held her breath as Kakashi stepped out into the clearing, blinking in recognition. He pulled out a white scroll, sealed with a ring of green paper inscribed in wax with the kanji for ten. A scroll kept safe by heaven itself, to be delivered from the Hokage to the Mizukage. "Uchiha Itachi," Kakashi said in surprise. Sakura flinched at the name, her dull, macabre amusement folding up underneath the horror that gathered in her breast. Her breathing quickened, as Sakura began to try and think clearly as best she could, a difficult thing to do with impending death hanging over you. The only thought that could clearly pass though her head was 'I'm really going to die this time…'
Sakura felt her feet leave the security of the tree as Itachi leapt down to the ground. Sakura's aching feet protested loudly at the landing, but she didn't dare make a noise; that was what had gotten her into the situation in the first place. "I propose a trade," Itachi stated coolly, "The scroll for your little kunoichi." Kakashi dropped the kunai blade that he'd been holding in a show of treaty, and stepped forward with the scroll. Itachi waited.
"Release Sakura first," Kakashi demanded. Itachi smirked in amusement as he shoved Sakura tumbling over herself towards him.
"You should know that the Uchiha keep their word," he stated, slipping the scroll out of Kakashi's grip as Kakashi caught Sakura. Kakashi helped Sakura get her balance, glancing at their surroundings.
Sakura shuddered, brushing herself off, "I don't want to be here." Kakashi hesitated, and then nodded, taking Sakura's wrist as they walked out of the clearing. Sakura gazed at Itachi in one last glance of fear, and then a deep hatred… for Sasuke's sake. Itachi began to undo the silk rope that wound around the scroll.
"Kakashi, how can you just give him the scroll-" Sakura asked, her fear dissipating the further they walked as she regained her thoughts, before Kakashi covered her mouth. They were out of sight of Itachi at this point, the many trees and plants obscuring them from view.
"A life is more important than a scroll," Kakashi said, yanking her to the side by her wrist. "Sakura, we've got no time left, I need you to get back to Konoha, alright?" he asked, pulling her into a run. Sakura blinked; his voice was so quiet it was barely audible. "I'll draw his attention," Kakashi said, stopping them both a fair distance away. Sakura opened her mouth to argue that Itachi had gotten what he'd come for, when Kakashi pulled out the scroll. His hand that held it shook slightly, as if from the raw power of it; the seal was gone. "I gave him a decoy, this is more important than you can understand," Kakashi said quickly. He paused, his mind racing. "It's unstable with the seal gone; hold still," he suddenly commanded. Sakura did as she was told, and Kakashi unrolled the scroll, not looking at it as he flipped it over for her to see.
Sakura had never seen a scroll as intricately done as this was. The ink was as black as midnight, and immediately Sakura felt like she'd lost herself in it. There was so much she simply couldn't take it all in. Ninja techniques, notes on chakra, and things that Sakura had never seen before came clearly into her mind. Sakura felt her forehead start throbbing as all of this information was finding its way into her head, she felt like she knew everything, and at the same time, like she was dieing; it was too much. She fell to her knees and screamed, shutting her eyes and holding her temple; it felt like it was on the brink of bursting.
And as quickly as she'd known chakra techniques, lists of ninja traits, and simply everything there was to know, Sakura knew none of it. Kakashi helped lift up her crumpled form by the wrist as she got up and stumbled forward, drunk on pain, shock, and adrenalin. Kakashi took off her headband and retied it across her forehead in the traditional style as quickly as he could manage.
"Sakura, get back to Konoha and wait for me. Stay to the trees, and this time keep quiet," he whispered, before darting through the shadows and disappearing. Sakura began to regain her thoughts as the pain receded. Testing her chakra flow, she walked up the side of a tree. Thinking back on the urgency of Kakashi's warning, Sakura nodded to herself and started heading back. She began to feel like her normal self again as she breathed in the fresh cool air of the morning and her nausea receded; she couldn't even remember what had been written on that scroll.
Thinking it over, Sakura decided that a sacrifice in speed was necessary to remain unnoticeable. Climbing through the trees, her feet slipped off of the side, the chakra faltering, and she began to tumble down through the branches. She landed hard on her back, squinting through the pain. Sakura pushed herself up and began to sprint across the forest floor, stumbling. Her chakra was giving out; Sakura mused that she must be more tired than she thought.
The only thing that kept her running as quickly as she could was Kakashi's warning… and a hair thin cut on her neck that burned in the air. No matter how she tried to reason with herself, to hate Itachi as openly as she'd always felt it, there was no denial that she was absolutely terrified of him. So like Sasuke, and yet so unlike him… Sakura blinked back tears of relief as she caught sight of the main entrance to the city of Konoha.
IIIIIIIIIIIIII
Itachi unfolded the scroll, looking it over and stopping as the inside met his eyes. It was completely blank. "Kakashi, I'm not here to play games," he stated. He took Kakashi's left arm and before he'd even realized, Itachi had cracked it. Kakashi yelled despite himself as the pain coursed through his body.
"That's it," Kakashi gasped, wiping blood out of his eyes with his mobile arm. Itachi looked over it a second time; the colors of the edges matched those of the seal, and it had been made with ridiculously fine paper, it was practically fabric. Kakashi hadn't been lying.
"You found a holder?" Itachi asked, musing for a moment over the possibility of Kakashi having the information, and then dismissing it. He wouldn't be here now if he did, he was much too cunning. "The girl… I see. So that's why you brought her along," he smirked, looking up. "Let's see who can find the little kunoichi first." He turned and left, rolling up the blank scroll as he left through the trees.
Kakashi took struggled to get up. With any luck, Sakura would be back in Konoha by now, waiting with Tsunade.
Sakura ran through the streets of Konoha, blissfully happy at the familiarity of it all. She began to spin, looking all around her, before stopping herself. She just felt so relieved, she thought she'd never see home again. Konoha was where she belonged, heart and soul. Running down the streets, Sakura thought.
Kakashi had said that he would meet her, but not where, so she decided it would be best to stay at one of her usual haunts. Rounding a corner, Sakura saw Naruto. Stupid, annoying idiot that he was, Sakura cried out in glee and hugged him when she saw him, her eyes watering. "Sakura, what're you doing?" Naruto asked as she clung to him, flushing slightly.
"Where're you going?" Sakura asked, letting go of the boy.
"Ichiraku, want to go get ramen?" Naruto asked, still a little in shock from Sakura's abrupt change in attitude towards him. Sakura nodded gleefully.
"You'll never believe what happened to me today," she smiled as they walked to the ramen bar.
"Here, you can tell me over lunch," Naruto replied. Sakura grinned. It was a good day to be alive.
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
"It's been six hours and they haven't made contact with the shinobi the Mizukage sent," Tsunade thought out loud, drumming her fingers across the table where she ate lunch, and looking up.
"Anko, get together a search party, three or four ANBU should be good enough," she ordered, thinking for a moment before adding, "We can't be sure who knows about the scroll. It could just be that they were held up, but we don't want to take that chance." Anko nodded, getting up from the seiza position she'd been sitting in and leaving the room. Once in the hallway, she darted out of the door, running through Konoha.
Sakura and Kakashi had left that morning before sunrise. It was a fairly simple mission, but it had been riddled with dangers and doubts from the start. It had been decided that a pair of two shinobi would go, Kakashi and a lower ranking ninja. Perhaps not a particularly safe idea, but it gave valuable experience to younger ninja who otherwise would almost never get to experience the greater forest and land outside of the main city until they were actually sent on a mission out there. Seeing as how easily one could get lost, and plans could fail, an earlier introduction was needed, so it was decided that ninja from 14 to 18 had to go as pages at least 10 times with an older ninja to familiarize themselves with these types of missions and surroundings. In the years before then, it had gone on without many hitches, the secrets of the scrolls passed between the lands kept safe. The only danger was the constant threat that other shinobi would learn of these scrolls, a matter not to be trifled with. Anko narrowed her eyes as she thought it over and turned down one of the streets.
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
Sakura slurped up a mouthful of miso-flavored ramen, glancing at the door. "Naruto, you haven't seen Kakashi have you?" she asked, looking back at Naruto. Naruto shook his head, swallowing his mouthful of noodles.
"So you're just waiting for him to get back?" he asked. Sakura nodded. "What happened? I heard it was just a delivery mission."
"It was!" Sakura said, "But it all fell apart… I can't remember very well, but we were traveling and we were attacked. Itachi Uchiha came and tried to take the scroll, and Kakashi told me to run and come back." Naruto choked on his noodles, coughing violently as he jumped up from his chair.
"Itachi Uchiha was there?" He exclaimed, gaping at Sakura. "Why didn't you say so sooner?" Sakura's smile fell. "We need to tell Sasuke! Kakashi's still there?" Sakura nodded, unable to keep from feeling a little amused by Naruto's reaction, despite her reawakening fears. Kakashi had gone back… he really was still there with Itachi. Naruto grabbed her hand, pulling Sakura up, and dashing down the streets, guiding her along behind him.
"Naruto, where are we going?" Sakura asked as Naruto drug her along.
"To see Sasuke of course," he answered. "He'll want to know about Itachi." Sakura nodded, following Naruto.
"Sakura!" A voice yelled. Sakura stopped, turning around. "Sakura, where's Kakashi?" Anko asked, running up beside her.
"I don't know, I think he's still in the forest," Sakura said as Anko looked back to a group of ANBU. Sakura's breath began to quicken as her chest felt like it was constricting.
"Keep going, I'll take care of her!" Anko yelled to them, waving the ANBU off. "Sakura, you need to come see Tsunade, we've been looking all over for you." Sakura nodded, looking back to Naruto.
"Go tell Sasuke for me, I'll talk to you later today okay?" Sakura asked. Naruto gave a curt nod, before turning and continuing his dash towards Sasuke's home. "Anko, I can get to the Hokage in a minute, why don't you go with them?" Sakura asked, looking back to the retreating shapes of the masked shinobi.
Anko nodded, obviously in favor of this idea. "You're ok, right? Sakura, get there as fast as you can," Anko ordered. "I'll bring back Kakashi." Sakura turned and ran down the street, as it started to rain. It had been sunny with only hints of cloud for so long earlier that Sakura hadn't thought to bring an umbrella, and her clothes gathered little groups of spots of water that grew larger and wetter every minute. Skidding around a corner, Sakura added a light burst of chakra to her feet to keep them from slipping out from under her on the wet ground on instinct. Sakura fumbled with her footing, her feet faltering and slipping about as her chakra failed her. She lost her balance and fell, skidding across the wet ground, her knees aching. This was the second time today, why wasn't her chakra reacting?
Sakura bent forward on the ground for a moment, sniffing at the tears she held back, before sitting up and moving to get up. She took a hand held out to her by a stranger to help herself on instinct, closing her eyes in the shame that burned her cheeks bright red. She was soaking wet and her face was covered in little patches of dirt, along with the rest of her. Opening her eyes, Sakura looked up to thank the man who'd helped her, but instead took a violent step back, her eyes widening. Itachi Uchiha stepped forward, looking just above her eyes at her headband. Sakura's chest fell up and down violently with her quick, shallow breaths, and it was all that she could do to keep breathing when Itachi stepped up to her, lifting the brim of his hat up to look directly into her eyes. "An average girl, perhaps a bit weak," he noted, his monotone barely audible over the rain.
He reached forward, towards her headband, keeping her eyes glued to his in a trance like state, until his hand had taken hold of her headband. Sakura felt his touch on her head like ice… she felt sickened by it, by being touched, even looked at by the murderer of Sasuke's entire clan… by the man who carelessly and emotionlessly took away any life or future that the boy might once have had. Slapping away his hand, Sakura forced back a scream as she formed several katas and two duplicates of her appeared. They all turned and ran in different directions, and Sakura felt her desperate fear ebbing slightly at the regained use of her chakra. She looked behind herself to check on the progress of her shadow clones, but saw nothing at all. Spinning around, she slid strait into Itachi, who held her by the shoulders, looking down at her with dull, listless eyes.
He untied her headband with one hand, holding her arms immobile behind her back with the other. It fell to the ground with a chink of metal on stone, and Sakura yelled. A second figure came, and Sakura realized that Itachi was not alone. A man with gray, cold skin that looked more like some sort of thick leather, stood beside her. Sakura blinked, and realized that the slits she'd seen on his flesh were some sort of gill like phenomenon, altogether creating a very shark like look.
She breathed in deeply through her nose and tried to stop staring without making much progress, shuddering as he grabbed her shoulder, looking her up and down. Itachi blinked, looking from Sakura to Kisame, his eyes flashing violent red against the rain soaked streets of Konoha.
And then he grabbed a blade out of his Akatsuki cloak and aimed a slice right across Kisame's neck. Sakura ducked when Kisame grabbed her by the waist, already finished with performing katas, and smoke encircled them both in a blinding gaseous explosion.
"Sakura, come with me," he said, grabbing her wrist and sprinting through the town. Sakura was about to argue, when she saw a familiar face. The shark man had become Anko in the pool of smoke, but wherever they were was far enough away from there that Anko had dropped the disguise. Nonetheless, Sakura was scared, and could feel the blood pumping through her veins.
"Sakura, run to Tsunade, don't pause for a moment," Anko whispered. She ran beside Sakura looking behind them cautiously so often. "It'll all be all right, but if worse gets to worse," Anko looked at Sakura, her eyes deep in thought and hesitation. "Sakura, you're only 17, but that's old enough to know. I don't know why they'd want you, but if the Akastuki catch you," her voice quickened as the smoke fell from around them, dissipating into the airy streets, the darkness of the clouds and rain soon to be their only disguise, "…"
"What?" Sakura asked, unable to bear the silence.
"Sakura, the Akastuki are a terrible group of terrible people," Anko muttered, quietly, loathingly. "But they're talented. If worse gets to worse, and there's no hope of rescue left," Anko's voice rose in importance and deepness at this part, "And only if there's nothing left either you or we can do, slit your throat."
Anko turned at that moment, dislodging kunai blades from their holster, and giving Sakura a final strong push on the back towards her destination. Sakura kept running, not looking back as she turned a corner, tears running down her cheeks. It took her a while to notice this, her mind running over the last thing that Anko had told her. She couldn't die… she still had to pass the ANBU test with Naruto and Sasuke, and for God's sake, she was 17! Sakura flew through the doors, running up the stairs and through the doors leading to Tsunade's study, not bothering to take off her shoes or even close them. She'd always known that there was a chance that she would die on a mission, that continually escalated as she worked her way up the ranks of ninja, but… she couldn't help but sigh in utter relief at the sight of Tsunade.
"Sakura?" Tsunade said, looking up and frowning at her disheveled appearance. "Where's Kakashi?" Sakura stood, soaked through, gasping for breath, and covered in dirt. She gasped for breath, and glanced around, trying to figure out a way to try to explain… well, anything. It turned out that she didn't really have to. Tsunade's eyes flew to Sakura's forehead, and she gasped, getting up and walking across the room in a couple of quick, urgent strides.
"Tsunade," Sakura stuttered, before Tsunade grabbed Sakura's shoulder, glaring just above her eyes.
"Sakura, wait here for Kakashi with me," she ordered, looking down into the girl's eyes. "He's got some explaining to do." Sakura nodded slowly. Then she opened her mouth to speak, and finding no words there, closed it. She opened it again as Tsunade led her to a seat next to her own. This time, she found her voice.
"Tsunade, you've got to find Kakashi," She finally managed to blurt out, her mind going back to her sensei in horror. "He stayed behind to distract Itachi while I ran back to Konoha." Tsunade blinked, looking up at the name.
"Uchiha Itachi?" she asked, biting her lip thoughtfully. "Hmm… Anko and a group of ANBU left just a half hour ago, so we'll wait for another half hour or so before sending out another search party." Sakura nodded.
"I met up with Anko," she said, "She protected me from Itachi… but the ANBU had left by the time Itachi showed up." Tsunade nodded.
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
Itachi stopped, looking around. "Kisame, we're leaving," he said, pausing to wait as Kisame finished undoing the knots around his wrists and ankles. They were good, but loose; Anko hadn't had enough time to be picky. "She'll be with Tsunade by now." Kisame grunted, getting up and nodding in agreement. Then, turning around, they both disappeared in a cloud of smoke.
Moments later, the ANBU came through, two helping Kakashi back, while the other stopped to check Anko's pulse. The one who'd stopped exhaled after a moment, and picked Anko up. Then he or she dashed through the streets, catching up with the others.
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
Sakura could feel her heart beating, and tried to slow her breathing as she sat beside Tsunade. She was with the Hokage now, she reasoned, Itachi wouldn't try anything. But she couldn't drown out the sound of her heart, no matter how many times she chanted it in her head. "Sakura, it seems we've got news," Tsunade said, patting the girl on the back. Sakura looked up and saw the door open and close, a man in a bird mask walking in.
"Anko is in severe care at the moment, but Kakashi can come in as soon as the medics have finished bandaging him," he relayed.
"Bring him in as soon as you can," Tsunade ordered, "And ask the medics if they need help with Anko, I could use something to keep me busy until Hatake can get here." The ninja nodded. "Sakura, I haven't heard the whole story of what happened yet, but I want Kakashi to tell me, alright? Afterwards, you can add in everything that happened to you." Sakura nodded weakly, her mind numbing over at the knowledge that Kakashi and Anko would be okay. Suddenly she was dead tired… Sakura could feel almost no chakra inside of her chest… and she closed her eyes.
And then Sakura was inside of the infirmary, the familiarity of it all washing over her as she walked through. She'd worked here with Tsunade in her training… it was just as she remembered it. Except as she turned a corner, she saw Anko laying down in one of the beds, cuts lacing her body like fine silk threads. Sakura sat down next to her, suddenly uneasy. "Sakura?" Kakashi asked, walking up beside her and sitting down next to her. His arm was in a sling, but a steady dripping of blood came from somewhere in his chest, and out through the bottom of his coat.
"Kakashi?" Sakura said, "Kakashi, you need to get back to bed, you're not well yet." She then noticed the blood and gasped. She tried to speak, but was cut off.
"Sakura, you know what you've got to do," Kakashi stated, handing her a kunai blade. "Itachi's coming, so you'd better get it over with." Sakura looked at him in confusion, until Kakashi drew a line across his neck, miming a cut across his throat. Sakura got up and ran, away from there, away from the blade, into the whiteness of daylight outside of the hospital, and strait into Itachi.
"Kunoichi," he smirked, a cruel, horrible amusement catching in his eyes. They flashed red, sharingan changing to mangekyou. "How would you like to see my dear little brother as he was at Orochimaru's headquarters?" Sakura was drawn into the deep, blood red eyes of Uchiha Itachi, and felt herself losing a grip on consciousness, when Tsunade started yelling, and Sakura opened her eyes.
"Sakura, are you ok?" she asked, sighing in relief as Sakura glanced around and pushed herself up. "You feel asleep." Sakura wiped sweat off of her forehead, and rubbed her eyes. The door opened, and they both looked up. "Just in time," Tsunade said, almost to herself, glancing at Sakura, who put on a small smile. She couldn't remember what her dream had been about.
Kakashi walked in, limping heavily on his left leg, his right arm in a sling. His hair was more windswept than usual, matted and covered in dried blood that had mixed in with the silver colors. "Sakura," he said happily through gritted teeth. "You made it back."
Sakura felt her tears gathering in her eyes, as she got up, all proper etiquette forgotten as she ran across the room to hug her old sensei. "I'm sorry Kakashi!" she sobbed, unsure of when the tears had first started to spill over, but now unable to stop them. Kakashi patted her on the back with his good arm, whispering soothing things to her until she'd regained control. Sakura sniffed and smiled, taking a step back when she'd finished.
"I've been so worried about you," Sakura admitted, hating herself as she looked him over. "Anko too." Kakashi laughed, ruffling her hair. Sakura gave him another quick hug, a happy one this time, before Tsunade beckoned them over. They sat down and stared at one another, each expecting one of the others to speak. Tsunade was first to snap.
"Kakashi, tell me what happened," she said, "What the hell is that?" She pointed at Sakura, who froze.
"What's wrong with me?" she asked, her voice choking.
Tsunade's glare softened into a look of disbelief. "You didn't tell her?"
"Well, if you'd just let me speak, I would be able to tell you, now wouldn't I?"
Tsunade glared at Kakashi, moving to her desk and pulling open a drawer. She fished through it.
"Kakashi, what did I do wrong?" Sakura asked, horrified. Maybe they'd decided that she wasn't good enough to try out for ANBU… what mistake had she made? Being taken hostage?
"You didn't do anything wrong," Kakashi reassured her. "In fact, you acted perfectly; I'm glad that it had been you and not Sasuke."
"Why?" Sakura asked. Sasuke was much more skilled than she was, he might have been able to actually help Kakashi…
"Well, both Naruto and Sasuke act off of personal emotion," Kakashi explained, "But sometimes, in difficult situations, you need to be able to follow directions without question, which you realized and were able to do. That's one of the reasons, we made it out of there with minimal damage" Sakura gaped, about to contradict the statement 'minimal damage', when Tsunade plopped down next to her and held up a mirror about as large as a sheet of paper but oval.
Plastered on the center of Sakura's forehead was, in black ink, the symbol 'chi'. Sakura took the mirror, turning it to get a better look. The rain had smudged the ink, and it ran down her cheeks like black tears. Sakura took the back of her hand and rubbed the remaining ink off, gaping at what was underneath. "What the hell's going on?" she asked, looking up, tears coming to her eyes. Underneath the cover of the ink, the symbol for heaven had been burned onto her skin, red and irritated.
"Right, this is where it gets a bit awkward," Kakashi said, looking from the angry face of Tsunade to the grieving face of Sakura. It was a lose-lose situation in all senses of the phrase.
"I felt we might be being followed the entire time, and stopped us when I was sure of it," Kakashi began, "And then Itachi showed himself and captured Sakura. I slipped the seal off of the scroll and put it on a blank one, along with the string that circled it. He demanded a trade, and I gave him the decoy, which gave us a few minutes to get out of there.
"Once we'd gotten a ways away, I knew I had to do something with the scroll, it was no longer under my control without the seal, so I showed it to Sakura," he stopped to gesture towards the mark on Sakura's brow, "And stayed behind to try and keep back Itachi until she could get to you." Tsunade nodded, her anger somewhat subdued.
"It was one of the only things that you could do, I can understand Hatake," Tsunade said, frowning, "But I don't approve. It's not her fault, but Sakura's going to pay for this." Kakashi nodded, looking to her.
"I don't get it, what is this thing?" Sakura asked, tapping the mark.
"A binding," Kakashi said. "To keep the secrets of the scroll locked away. It may not make much sense to you now, but you're… a holder, you could say, of the information that it had. It's complicated, most scrolls can't do that, but we were lucky."
"I don't even remember it though," Sakura said, feeling more forlorn every moment.
"Well, it'll take some work to recover the information, but we can discuss that later," Tsunade said. "I'm afraid we have more pressing matters. Itachi will be back to try and capture Sakura, protection or no protection… but if they could simply hold him off until Sakura could get a message to me, that might work."
"It'll have to be at least four ANBU, who can you spare?" Kakashi asked. "I could watch her." Sakura looked from one to another. She felt a whirlwind of emotions rising up in her, boiling just beneath her skin. She wasn't sure whether to scream at them or start crying again.
"Stop talking about me like I'm not here!" she burst out. "I'm 17, don't I get a say in anything?" There was silence in the air after this outburst, but Sakura's heart hurt too much for her to care.
"Sorry Sakura," Kakashi said, first to speak. "We shouldn't have excluded you. What do you want to do? You've caught the Akatsuki's eye, and without protection, if they come to try and capture you, there's no hope."
"Sakura, you have to understand that this isn't just about you anymore," Tsunade warned. "That scroll is one of a set of several, centering on information that is kept secret and known by only the leaders of the countries and a select few shinobi; it's something that the Akatsuki would love to get."
"Tsunade," Sakura began, and then stopped. She didn't know what she wanted… she wanted Kakashi and Anko to get better… she wanted to go to her apartment and lay in bed… most of all she didn't want the guilt. The nagging sensation that she could be sending her fellow shinobi to their graves by simply existing and needing protection. "Tsunade, I don't want a guard. Can't you teach me how to evade ninja? How to hide and send messages with animals and walk without making noise?"
"Sakura, it's out of the question," Tsunade said, "There's no time… and it's simply too risky, can't you see?"
"Don't decide too quickly Tsunade, what if I said I could teach those things, though only on a very low extent? Sakura, could you give me a valid reason to keep ANBU from following you everywhere you go?" Kakashi interrupted. Sakura bit her lip, pushing back tears; now of all times she had to be strong.
"I don't want to have to keep relying on others," she began, hardening her expression. "I'll be ANBU soon, I need to be able to take care of myself. After what happened to Anko… I don't want anyone else to have to do that, I can protect myself if I learn how." Kakashi nodded, smiling.
"Well Tsunade? She could spend the night with me if it makes you feel any better, and I can start teaching her tomorrow," he reasoned, delighted in the excruciating look that Tsunade had adorned. She was torn by the prospect of Sakura's happiness and growth, and her desperate need to protect the girl, even if just a little bit. Kakashi pondered this; Sakura was no longer a girl. She'd seen Sasuke return, she'd grown in strength and skill, and she was smart; sometimes too smart for her own good. Yes, the little innocent Sakura that Kakashi had once known had grown into a smart young woman, though still rather innocent despite it all.
"Kakashi, this goes against my better judgment, but I'll allow it," Tsunade finally said, her forehead wrinkled in worry, a seldom seen sign of her true age. She raised an eyebrow at him as she thought over the second point. "I'd rather she stayed with me tonight though, we'll see about later." Kakashi nodded, and got up.
"Kakashi, where are you going?" Sakura asked, unready for his departure.
"Back to the hospital," Kakashi said, "Don't worry, soon as they stitch me back up I'll start teaching you. Tomorrow at 10 o' clock in the morning." Sakura nodded, smiling despite herself. She'd always relied on someone… Sasuke, Naruto, Tsunade, or the ANBU of Konoha. Sakura was ready for change, and she followed Tsunade through the hallways that lead to her room, momentarily forgetting all of her problems in her determination. She wouldn't let Kakashi or Anko get hurt again for her sake. For a blissful couple of hours, she felt the weight of the world lifted from her shoulders.
"That Kakashi," Tsunade frowned, a smile working its way across her lips. "He's too good to you, be sure to thank him." Sakura nodded, smiling and blushing slightly.
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
"Itachi, when'll we go back?" Kisame asked, leaning on his Samehada. Itachi looked over at him, his eyes glazed over in thought, showing nothing.
"Day after tomorrow," he answered, blinking away the thoughtfulness in his eyes. Kisame nodded, turning and leaving.
"We'll give the kunoichi a head start," Itachi mused, heading the other direction. Kisame shivered as he tried to imagine Itachi's expression at that moment, and decided that he was quite happy that he couldn't see it. Despite their long standing partnership, Kisame would never fully get used to Itachi.
A/N This was lots of fun to type... please tell me how I can improve, and in my turn I will do my best!