AkatSaku - Close to the Enemy

Chapter warnings: Hinted KakaSaku, ShikaTem and IzumoKotetsu, and a tad overly self-confident Sasuke later on. If you squint really hard, you can barely smell some very, very mild hinted ShikaSaku. But you'll have to squint really, REALLY hard.

Disclaimer: I don't own any of Naruto, or I wouldn't be a rabid Naruto fangirl writing this, would I?

Chapter 1 - Goodbye, Konoha

She was sitting at the hospital bed, where the raven-haired Sasuke lay. A tear streamed down her cheek.

"Sasuke…" she whispered. "Please wake up soon."

The room was silent. Too silent. Sasuke was in a coma, so she couldn't even hear his breath. Only her own breath and heartbeats. Yes, she could actually hear them. Her heart was thudding harder than ever.

Sasuke had been in a fierce battle against the enemy he lived to kill, the only reason for living that mattered to him. This had resulted in his defeat, and when they finally found him, he was in a coma, nearly dead.

He had woken up once in the hospital. Sakura, Naruto and Ino had been there, with two nurses. It was only luck that anyone was there to hear him. To hear his manic chants. His heavy breath going all of a sudden, as he said in panic: "Him… Him! Kill him! Someone! Anyone! He just won't die! THEN I WANT TO DIE!" After he had finished the last words, he had instantly fallen back into coma.

Everyone was worried. Especially Sakura. She had always felt that she hadn't ever been significant to his as more than someone on his team.

She wanted to be of help. She wanted to do anything for him. She wanted to mean anything for him. She wanted to do what Sasuke had failed to do.

She wanted to kill who Sasuke couldn't kill, even if it meant she'd have to sacrifice her own life too.

Sakura wanted to kill Uchiha Itachi, and she had the willpower to do anything right now for Sasuke.

She woke up early. It was four o'clock, and she was one of the only citizens of Konohagakure awake. She had packed her bag the night before. Sakura yawned, rubbed her eyes, and picked the bag up, before leaving her house silently. Good thing I live alone now, Sakura thought to herself.

She closed the door with as little noise as possible, and as the ninja she was, she hid in the shadows as she passed Naruto's house silently. On the other side of the window, Naruto was sleeping and snoring. She gave the snoozing boy a small, sad smile as she blew a tiny, but only friendly, kiss.

Sakura closed onto the village gate. Izumo and Kotetsu were as usual at work, although they did look a bit tired. She picked up a tiny, tiny stone, and looked at the cup of coffee Izumo had standing next to him. He seemed like the least awake of them. She held it between her fingers as Izumo picked the cup up to drink some.

"She aims, she shoots, and... She scores," she whispered to herself.

The little stone hit the cup perfectly. It shaked a bit, barely any, but still enough to spill some coffee on them both. Kotetsu glared at his comrade.

"Look what you did, you clumsy potatohead." He shaked his head, although he smiled for a short second.

"C'mon, let's get some dry clothes," Kotetsu said. Izumo cracked a sly smile. They left for a short moment to get some dry pants, but that short moment was all Sakura needed.

She was almost out of sight, when...

"Sakura-chan?"

Sakura jumped. So close, yet someone apparently just had to notice her.

'WHO THE HELL IS AWAKE AT FOUR IN THE MORNING?!' Inner Sakura screamed. The actual Sakura, however, just paused, closed her eyes, and turned around to face the one who'd just walked up to her.

"Sakura-chan?" the voice repeated calmly. "Where do you think you're heading?"

Sakura opened her eyes slowly and looked directly at Kakashi. "I'm leaving Konoha to do what I feel I have to."

To this, Kakashi just shaked his head silently. "Sakura... You should know better. Didn't you see what happened to Sasuke when he tried taking revenge? Even he was no match for the Akatsuki."

Sakura looked straight into her sensei's eyes. She'd grown a lot, and was much more mature than before, and she intended to tell him this now. Tell him that his little student wasn't just his little student anymore, but a grown-up woman. She was nineteen, damnit. She wasn't his anymore, no matter what either of them said, thought or wanted. She didn't belong to anyone. Unless you counted Sasuke, but he was just still in denial, according to Inner Sakura. She was able to take on much bigger tasks now than her sensei would ever have sent her on. She wanted to tell him all this, but... She couldn't make herself say a word. Kakashi's eyes were pleading for her to stay, to not get hurt. She knew he cared a lot about her. At this point, Sakura felt like she was doing to Kakashi-sensei and her friends what Sasuke had done when he left Konoha and Sakura had tried stopping him.

Sakura wanted to stay, yet she knew she couldn't. She wouldn't be able to live with herself if she did.

Kakashi seemed to have understood what she had wanted to tell him. He merely looked at her and asked quietly: "Why are you doing this to us... and especially, to yourself?"

Sakura looked away. She couldn't take looking at her protective sensei one more second. She started walking away from him, without a single word.

Okay... Maybe she could sneak a glance at him just this one last time.

The problem was, when she cast a small glance backwards, there wasn't any Kakashi-sensei there to look at anymore. Had he already left? Was he telling the guards? Was he telling Tsunade? Naruto? Sasuke? All these thoughts raced through her head in a single nanosecond, before something- no, someone, held a kunai to her still really large forehead.

"I don't think you're going anywhere tonight, Sakura-chan." Kakashi-sensei said through gritted teeth. Sakura knew he felt bitter about having to risk hurting her, but she couldn't stay in Konoha. It wouldn't get her anywhere - literally. She didn't say a word. As Kakashi tightened his grip on her arm, she looked at him bitterly, as if saying 'I'm sorry', then closed her eyes and simply disappeared in a puff of smoke. "A Kage Bunshin... She's mastered this without me knowing? She must've planned it for some time," he murmured with a frown clearly visible. Too bad nobody were there to see. And there was definitely no Sakura-chan there to see.

Kakashi lifted his headband to reveal the Sharingan eye, and saw a flash of the trademark red disappear behind a mountain. He sighed.

"Fuck."

As Sakura looked back, she wished she'd at least given him a hug. She knew he was one of the ones she'd miss on her journey. Her sensei, the one who had taught her so much of what she knew. The one who'd been like another father for her. One she could take out to ramen, to discuss her training and techniques or simply to chat a bit about this and that. She was one of the few who'd gotten to see his true face behind the mask, multiple times. At first, all kinds of events would occur whenever he took it off to eat, and he'd finish it so fast that she wouldn't even get a small peak. Then, after that evening Sasuke had left, she'd sought comfort in her precious sensei, seeing as she trusted him with her everything. She'd knocked on his door, told him what happened, been invited in, cried herself to sleep in his lap. When she had woken up that morning, he'd put her in his bed and slept on the couch instead, everything for her comfort. He had been cooking some excellent ramen, and invited her to breakfast. That was when he'd forgotten that he had guests and took off his mask to eat. She had giggled, as if he'd fallen into a trap. Sakura now cracked a small smile while turning around to face the way down. Her parents had been scared when she'd been gone the entire night, and freaked out when she told them she'd stayed at Kakashi-sensei's that night. It took several hours for Kakashi and Sakura to explain the situation and to assure them that nothing had happened. The latter had caused Sakura to blush furiously, how could her parents even think that?! Oh well, she couldn't blame them, seeing what books he usually read in full daylight, and she'd been close to terrified when she'd found herself in her teacher's bed. They had laughed a lot about that later on.

Sakura continued her journey towards the Akatsuki lair. But first, she had one more thing she knew she had to do.

She took off her headband. She had been so proud of it when she'd earned the title of Genin. She lifted her kunai, whispered "Goodbye, Konoha," and made a quick slash over the Konoha leaf mark.

She was now a missing-nin.

"Kakashi-sensei? What's going on? And where's Sakura-chan? It's not like her to be late.." Naruto huffed, looking out the window in Sasuke's hospital room, wondering where his pinkette squadmate was. Sasuke had his eyelids only half closed, and both Naruto and Kakashi expected him to wake up soon enough. Ironically, he didn't choose to wake up the day before so he could've stopped it. If he had wanted her too, that is.

Kakashi stared out the window too, seemingly absent-minded. "No. I called the part of the team who'd be here." Upon hearing that, Naruto cocked his head to his left, with a questioning look.

Kakashi stopped for a bit, and added with as little emotion he could at that moment. "Our Sakura-chan won't come today."

"What?" Naruto asked, turning to fully look at his sensei, who appeared to be a bit silent, even more than his usual self.

Kakashi didn't bother hiding it anymore. "Actually, she might not come ever again." To this, Naruto made a terrified face.

"WHAT?! Where's Sakura-chan?! What do you mean?!"

Naruto's team leader closed his eyes. "Sakura-chan left Konoha last night, Naruto. I couldn't... I couldn't stop her, no matter what I would've tried. She tricked me with a Kage Bunshin and ran off while distracting me... Haruno Sakura-chan is now a missing-nin." Kakashi would've cried if he didn't have the self-control ninja were trained to have.

Sasuke, appearing to be in a coma until now, blinked a few times. Naruto ran to his bed, after a few seconds of being paralyzed by what he'd just heard.

"Sasuke-teme! If you're going to wake up, NOW is the time!!" he shouted, clutching Sasuke's wrist.

Sasuke blinked again. Then, he slowly opened a red and black Sharingan eye and looked at Naruto. "Teme.. Please tell me what I just heard was just a bad dream..."

Naruto almost cried, before remembering that ninja shouldn't cry. "Sasuke-teme! You're awake! And…" Now, Naruto looked down to face his dark sandals. "No... It wasn't a dream... Sakura-chan is a missing-nin..."

Sasuke opened the other eye of his. They were both still Sharingan.

"Kakashi-sensei."

The sensei in question looked at the pale boy in the equally pale bed. He knew what Sasuke would ask, but allowed him to ask on his own. "What is it, Sasuke?"

"What did she say before she left? Do you know why she left Konoha?" Sasuke whispered.

Kakashi sat on the hospital bed, making sure not to sit on Sasuke. "She said she would do what she felt she had to.. And I do, as a matter of fact, know why she left." He paused. "She wanted to finish the task you couldn't."

Sasuke was now wide awake. "She - the Haruno Sakura, pinkette, Tsunade-hime wannabe, and fool of love - believes she can take on Itachi?!"

Kakashi merely nodded, he had hit the nail right on the spot. "In fact, I believe I can even guess her plan. Unfortunately, it's not a plan we'll be able to stop without killing her in the process."

Naruto and Sasuke looked absolutely mortified. Naruto, mostly because he was afraid of anything happening to Sakura. Sasuke, because he couldn't believe she would be foolish enough to try taking on the famous Uchiha Itachi, whom even he, Sasuke, couldn't kill. The most Sasuke had been able to do at the last meeting with him, when he was put into coma, was to stab his brother's right leg. He had told himself before going into coma that he'd do him much worse the next time.

Now, Sasuke was afraid there would be no next time.

"I believe she's planning to infiltrate the Akatsuki and taking them all out after gaining their trust," Kakashi continued. "In other words, she's probably planning her own nifty little assasination mission. Not for Konoha. For revenge."

Sasuke believed he now knew how Sakura must've felt it when he left. Except for the love part - he wasn't a fan of love.

Sakura travelled onwards, to find the infamous Akatsuki lair. She'd been there before, right? After the whole Deidara-attacking-Suna and Sasori-puppet-fighting incident. It had been many years ago, but Sakura was sure they were both still alive. She had to be careful if Sasori was still alive, though; she knew he'd recognise her, and so would Deidara, but if she was lucky, they would believe the story she had made up while travelling.

Sakura now stood outside Suna. She'd have to either go around, which would take too long for her patience, or get through without being seen.

Obviously, she chose the latter.

She snuck past the guards the same way as she had fooled Izumo and Kotetsu. Guards were surprisingly foolish at times. She simple shaked her head as she put on some clothes she had made ready on forehand and blend into the crowd.

After not long, she decided to listen to the surroundings, in case there was something interesting. She heard quite some talk about the "great Kazekage-dono", who she knew to be Gaara, and his siblings, although they didn't get the same attention. Kankuro had been travelling a lot the later days, apparently. She'd have to watch out for him, she'd bet anything he and some elite squad were after her. Temari seemed to be more of an information gatherer - much like herself at the moment.

Speak of the devil, Sakura thought as she saw a woman with bangs and blond hair put up in four pigtails sitting in the local Ramen bar. She appeared to be talking to a boy, or a man; she couldn't see his face nor hear his voice yet. Sakura closed up on them to eavesdrop a bit - whoever it was, would probably say something about her if it was important enough for Temari's precious time. Sakura was startled when she heard some of the conversation.

"Really nice of you to take me out, though!" Temari said happily. "Never knew you were such a gentleman, Shika, or I'd have put up with you much earlier."

Shikamaru?! Sakura though, panicking. If anyone in Suna would recognise her, it would be one of the Sand Siblings or a citizen of Konoha. Someone she actually knew from school would definitely recognise her at once. Luckily, she had on a full headwear to hide her hair - pinkettes weren't really a normal sight unless you lived as a Haruno. She knew Shikamaru would be able to recognise her by just casting a short glance, even in disguise. Damn those green eyes she had. Damn those cute looks of hers. Damn that goddamn forehead.

Sakura jumped as Shikamaru interrupted her thoughts with speak. "Well, yeah, I thought I'd at least be a bit nicer to the ladies, unless it gets too troublesome..."

To this, Temari gave a small pout. "And here I thought I was special to you." Shikamaru just laughed.

"Of course you are, Temari. Although, it's not a date this time. You know why I'm here, I presume?" he asked calmly.

Temari smiled a bit, before turning serious again. "The new missing-nin, right?"

Sakura tensed. So it spread so fast over a few days? She didn't dare to look up, but listened intensely instead as Shikamaru continued.

"Exactly. It's almost like it's become a trend to leave Konoha. First Sasuke-kun, then her, and even Kakashi-sensei tried following, although we managed to convince him to not abandon Konoha."

Sakura gave a small gasp. Kakashi-sensei had tried following her?! Luckily, nobody seemed to notice. So her sensei really cared so much that he'd abandon his village just to get her back? Well, she wasn't one to speak, she was after revenge. And getting rid of the rest of the Akatsuki too, if she could. The rogue Uchiha was her primary target at the moment.

Shikamaru still didn't see Sakura, and continued talking to the perplexed Temari. "He still wanted to go after her, though, so he's leading one of the ANBU squads, since he used to be in there too. And I heard Kankuro-kun had already gotten the details?"

Temari nodded firmly. "Yeah, he left with a squad on his own yesterday. Actually, I think Kakashi-sensei was the one to bring the details to him, 'cause I'm pretty sure Kankuro said that he had gotten information on where she might pass through. He insisted that Suna had to be extra protective."

Of course. Kakashi-sensei would know where the lair was. He'd know that Sakura would have to go through Suna and past the mountain.

"Well, he was right about that," Shikamaru sighed. "Suna should have many squads out as much as possible the nearest days. For all we know, she could be in Suna at this very moment."

Temari suddenly looked up at Shikamaru. "Who was the missing-nin again? I keep forgetting the name. All I remember of her was that she was at the chuunin exams with us. Was it the dark-haired or the blondie or what? Can't remember."

"She sure was," came the reply. "The pinkette, actually. Haruno Sakura-chan. Don't know her that well, the ones who knew her the best would be her squad and Kakashi-sensei."

Now, Temari looked thoughtful. "The pinkette? The girl on Uzumaki Naruto-kun's and Uchiha Sasuke-kun's team, right?"

Oh, so she remembered Sasuke-kun and Naruto-kun, but not me. Surprise, Sakura thought, slightly annoyed about being forgotten about so much.

Well, it wasn't like she wasn't used to it. Sasuke-kun and Naruto-kun always got the attention. She couldn't blame people for forgetting about her – even she had a tendency to forget about herself when they were nearby.

As if Shikamaru had somehow noticed her and read her thoughts, he continued with a slightly annoyed look. "Yeah, her. Maybe people will remember her name a bit better now."

Temari looked particularly amused by this statement. "So even though you don't know her well, you sure sound like you want people to know about her."

To this, Shikamaru blushed slightly, but it quickly disappeared. "She deserves some recognition, I mean. She's smart, works hard for what she wants and she's always been in the shadow of the rest of her squad. I could probably even play shogi with her if she'd had the time and patience. And concentration," he added after a little thought.

Sakura almost laughed. Had Shikamaru always though of her that way? She hadn't given him much though before, but she had always admired his skill at strategy planning.

"She's been completely obsessed with Sasuke-kun for as long as I've known them. This also brings us back to the reason she's left," Shikamaru sighed.

"Oh?" Temari asked. "It's related to Uchiha-san?"

Shikamaru sipped quietly to his ramen. "Yeah. More than one Uchiha, in fact. You remember I told you Sasuke-kun had returned after facing Uchiha Itachi, right?"

"Yeah? Hey... Wait… You don't mean she's gone after him?!" Temari gasped. Shikamaru gave her a silent nod as she clasped a hand in front of her mouth.

"That's way too dangerous for her! For most people!" She seemed completely shocked by the very thought.

Sigh. "Well, Sakura-chan isn't most people."

By then, Sakura decided she should be leaving. She quietly got down from her chair and left the ramen bar.

It was time to head to the lair she was seeking. Without being caught.

"Well, that was surprisingly easy.."

As she gazed upon the boulder they had somehow managed to get to replace the one they had smashed earlier, she just shaked her head quietly.

She gathered up chakra without a word, and used Tsunade-baa-san's jutsu Earth Style: Sphere of Graves. She easily lifted the boulder up, and threw it nonchalantly away, knowing there was probably someone watching her. That was no problem – the more impressed they were, the better it was for her.

She was right – a black cape with red clouds disappeared. She had developed a highly sensitive sense of sight after so many years, and it was no problem for her to spot the missing-nin, whom she thought should be a bit stealthier than that.

She saw a stone entrance, where she smirked and knocked lightly on a door that looked like it had recently been used.

She was completely silent as she heard voices from behind the door. No, whispers were more like it.

"Someone knocked on the door?"

"That's impossible! We're all here, who else would know where we are?"

"Uh.. Guys? I've just been on the roof. It's a girl. With pink hair. She just picked up the boulder like nothing and crushed it. I've never seen anything like it."

"A FUCKING GIRL?!"

"Yeah, a GIRL. I couldn't believe it either. Does anyone know her? Or HOW SHE KNOWS THE WAY HERE?!"

"Pink hair? Sounds like someone from the Haruno clan to me."

Oh, great, Sakura thought. Someone recognising me as a Haruno... That's just wonderful.

"A Haruno?! How the hell do you know?!"

"I've lived in Konoha, you know. And the only clan I've ever seen in my life with pink hair are the Harunos. Personally, I would guess it's a young girl?"

"Yeah. You know her?"

"Not personally, but I've seen her running after my brother as a child, if I'm right."

Oh… Fuck… Itachi RECOGNISED HER?! That wasn't what she had expected, but oh well.

Well, she got tired of waiting, and knocked again. "You Akatsuki going to open or what?" she asked nonchalantly as ever, imitating Sasuke-kun's style.

Finally, she heard footsteps coming closer. The door opened.

Less than a meter from her stood Uchiha Itachi.

"Hi," she said calmly. "You guys need another Akatsuki member?"

The look on Itachi's face was unreadable, but he seemed quite surprised.

A/N: Wow, this turned out longer than expected. Please review! I'd like ideas for various pairings – originally, it was intended to be only ItaSaku, but a whole AkatSaku would be more fun, right? So each and every living male Akatsuki member (this means Pein, Zetsu, Hidan, Kakuzu, Kisame, Itachi, Deidara and Tobi, people. Note the lack of Sasori. Unless you want me to bring him back just for the sake of the fic and someone to recognise her – I am a SasoSaku fan, after all) can be suggested! Though, I'll probably go through all of the listed ones, and even Konan if it's wanted, but I wouldn't mind suggestions for who's first and after that and after that and – you get my drift.

tl;dr: REVIEW PLZ. Suggestions for order of AkatSaku pairings accepted with gratitude.