Chapter 1: The Perfect Plan

My first try for a Naruto fan-fic, I hope you enjoy.

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The ANBU squad leader watched helplessly as her comrades fell to the ground, defeated by their mysterious but powerful enemy. The ANBU's hands curled into fists and she lowered her head trying to conceal the angry tears that stained her beautiful face. Her long pink hair was drenched from the falling rain and several drops fell onto the kunai which she wielded in her left fist. She could not gaze into those horrifying red eyes, scared that she would fall under their spell and would suffer the same fate her comrades had.

It was quiet, too quiet for Sakura's liking.

The pink-haired kunoichi carefully lifted her gaze expecting to see her enemy garbed in the long black cloak decorated with red clouds, but instead there was no-one. Her enemy had vanished. She turned around swiftly; frightened that he had moved behind her but the only sound was the light drumming of the rain.

"Kunoichi, I can feel your fear and anger from here." His dominating voice echoed through her ears but held a cool and emotionless tone which sent shivers down her spine.

Sakura felt the hair on her neck raise and the pace of her heart rapidly increased. She slowly turned around to see the Akatsuki member standing on a branch, gazing at her with his piercing red stare which stabbed her heart with a shocking fear.

She quickly turned away from his gaze and closed her jade eyes. Sakura had already seen the destruction and the death he could cause, just by gazing at his opponent with the infamous Mangekyou Sharingan. Her comrades had suffered an excruciating death because they glanced once at the face of their enemy.

"Uchiha…. Itachi." She said filled with spite and hatred, a rush of emotions plagued her mind and her body shook with a despairing anger.

Itachi's lips curled into a smirk and he vanished from his position, reappearing behind the kunoichi and placing the metal kunai across her neck.

Sakura felt his warm body press against her back and she gasped when the cool but sharp metal rested against her neck. She could no longer hide her fear or her anger towards the cold-hearted killer, her body was not obeying her pleas to summon enough charka to use her incredible strength but was trapped within his grip.

"You are Haruno Sakura, a comrade of the Kyuubi's host. Correct?"

His cold and dominating tone rang through her ears with a constant echo. Sakura could tell that he was growing impatient but she was confused by his words. Why did Itachi, the legendary cold-hearted killer who murdered his whole clan and family, want to know if she was a friend of Naruto? How did he even know her name? What was he plotting?

Itachi sensed her confusion and guessed that she was trying to calculate what he was planning. An amused smirk appeared on his handsome but expressionless face. He was loosing patience and he pressed the kunai deeper into her neck, not enough strength to kill her but enough to create blood.

Sakura winced when the kunai was pressed against her neck, creating a small but painful wound which she estimated would take little time to heal using her chakra. She had to answer his question but he already knew who she was, so she could not lie and had no other choice but to tell the truth.

However, the ANBU captain was not in the mood to submit herself to Itachi so easily.

"What would happen if I said I was?" Sakura asked barely in a whisper, she found little courage in her throat to question the killer which was holding her in his grip at her mercy.

Itachi's eyes narrowed and moved his free hand towards her hair, gripping onto the roots and pulling them down. He was loosing patience with the pink-haired kunoichi and wanted an answer, not a question.

Sakura yelled out in pain as a rush of bitter ache swamped through her slim frame.

"This is the last time I am going to ask you, kunoichi. If you do not ask me, I shall kill you and the other ANBU squads in the area." His tone was harsh and cold, but somehow he still kept his expression emotionless.

Sakura had no choice but to oblige. "I am Haruno Sakura." She muttered underneath her breath.

She felt his grip loosen and wondered what was going to happen, several predictions ran through her head and the most likely seemed death. Nothing happened after a few seconds and she turned around to stare directly into Itachi's face like he wanted. Her mind swirled into darkness and her unconscious frame fell forward towards Itachi.

He caught her in his strong arms, turning his red eyes to her beautiful but emotionless face. He lifted her light body across his shoulders, wrapping his hands around the back of his knees and continued to walk through the wet night, towards an unknown location.

A perfect trap to lure out the Kyuubi. Itachi thought to himself and quickened his pace into a fast run, lifting himself up into the forest's branches and diving through the night with the kunoichi collapsed against his back.

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It was not long until another ANBU scout squad found the dead bodies killed by Itachi. The leader of the squad was Rock Lee and he knew that Sakura was the captain of the squad; he searched the bodies for her frame scared that she had been murdered too but was confused to find that she was missing.

The male ninja hesitated and ordered his team-mates to carry the bodies back to Konoha. The scout squad swiftly followed the path back to Konoha, but their thoughts were on who had attacked the ANBU, how had they been defeated so easily and where was the captain – Haruno Sakura?

Rock Lee's eyes narrowed and quickened his pace. He knew she was alive but he doubted that they would be allowed to go search for the kunoichi until the deaths of the ANBU were determined, and an elite squad team was chosen and ready to search for Sakura. However, Uzumaki Naruto was on a mission and would not return for three days, and Rock Lee knew that if any search team was to find Sakura – Naruto had to be apart of it.