The sun rose over the trees of Konoha, though Sakura was already out in the fields training. Today, though, something was distracting her from all of her usual routines. It was the anniversary of the day that Itachi killed his family and left. For many, this day meant absolutely nothing, they would rather forget about that incident than to relive it every year, but for Sakura it meant something completely different. On the night he betrayed Konoha, he had visited her.

"Sakura, I'll be leaving soon but I can't tell you why, okay?" He sat beside her on her bed, knowing it was wrong to even be there.

"But Itachi, why? Are you going on a mission or something?" The young Sakura asked him, oblivious to what he was really about to do.

"I suppose you could call it that." He stood. "I'm leaving now. I won't see you for a long, long time."

"Write to me, okay!"

"I'm afraid I won't be able to do that."

The scene replayed in her head multiple times as she threw kunai for target practice. How could she have been so stupid back then? Now she knew why he had really left, though she wasn't sure why he did it. He was like an older brother to her, he had taught her a lot of what she knew and he was always there when she needed him. Then, the scene had continued:

"I won't be able to talk to you anymore after this. Take this, but don't read it until you are truly ready to know the truth, okay? Promise me." He said as he handed her a scroll.

"Okay…" she said a little confused. "But Itachi, why can't you talk to me? Did I do something wrong?" She looked up at him.

"It's not you, Sakura. Just take that, don't show it to anyone, not your mom, Sasuke, Naruto, or any of them, got it?"

"Y…yeah, I got it."

After that, he had disappeared and it was only later that she had been informed that he killed his whole clan and left Konoha. She sat down, taking a break from her training as she leaned against a tree. Closing her eyes, she thought about that night some more and then her eyes flew open and she jumped up. Of course! The scroll! She ran back to her house as quickly as she could and ran to her room. The scroll was tucked safely into a secret drawer in her dresser. She had kept it there but never read it, fearing what was written there. Slowly, she picked it up and opened it. As she read, her eyes widened, not from fear but shock. Inside it read:

Sakura, you are the only one I can trust this to. You were like the little sister that I never had. Tonight, I will do some unforgivable things and even if you don't forgive me for what I'm going to do, I want you to know the truth. It was not my choice to kill my clan. I was ordered by the Third Hokage to do it since I was the strongest. He feared the power of the Uchiha clan and so he wanted us eliminated. I had no choice but to do it. After this, I will be headed to join the Akatsuki, an elite group of missing ninjas. Whatever happens in the future, whether our paths cross and we are forced to fight or if we never see one another again, I wanted you to know the truth of this night, not what they wanted you to. Goodbye, Sakura.

Her eyes opened wider with every sentence that she read. The Third Hokage ordered it? But…why? If that was true…then everything she had believed in was false. If the Hokage had lied about that, what was he telling the truth about? Was everything he said a lie? She rolled the scroll back up and held it tightly.

"Itachi," she said, barely above a whisper. "I'll find you…."

Quickly, she tucked the scroll back into its resting place and tried to regain her composure, though her hands still shook with a mixture of rage and confusion. That man had ruined the relationship she had with Itachi, he took away the closest thing to family that she had. She sat on her bed, knowing that she couldn't do anything until that night came. It would be too easy to be discovered leaving during the day. She untied and held her headband in her hand, looking at the symbol and tracing it with her finger. Was she ready to give this up to find Itachi? She laid back, staring at the ceiling. It didn't matter, she needed to find him one way or the other. Sure, Naruto and the others might miss her for a while but they would get over it. This mission might very well mean the end of her life if she is caught or if one of the other Akatsuki members find her first, but she was willing to make that sacrifice to find the truth.

She went through the rest of her day doing all of the usual things. She spoke with Naruto and Kakashi about training and any new missions and they all went out for some ramen since Naruto always insisted. Kakashi noticed her space out as she was eating her ramen and after Naruto had left to go home, he grabbed her by the wrist.

"Sakura, what's up?"

"What do you mean, Kakashi-sensei? I was just on my way home." She looked at him a little confused.

"Then why do you seem so tense? It's not like you to space out like that."

"Like what? Oh, when we were eating?" She smiled a little guiltily. "To tell you the truth, when I was training this morning, I was a little off and it's been bothering me all day. That's why I spaced out, I was trying to figure out what I was doing wrong. That's all."

"Sakura, don't hide it. You and I both know that today is the anniversary of the day that Itachi left. Every year you get like this. I just wanted to make sure that you're fine. You've got to forget about it, Sakura. You may be forced to fight him one day."

She didn't answer, instead she just looked away, wishing she could tell Kakashi that he would be the one forced to fight her in a day or so. So instead of an answer, she nodded her head and walked away when he released her wrist, him watching after her protectively. He had thought of her as a daughter since she was placed under his care and he hated to see her get like that, though he wasn't aware of their previous relationship and so he couldn't do or say anything to make any of it better.

As soon as she got back to her room, she pulled out a bag and put clothes, food, and other necessities in it, though only the bare necessities. She pulled her headband off and threw it in the bag along with the scroll that Itachi had given her. She flung the bag over her back and waited until the night was still and headed out silently. She made it to the edge of the town where the guards were sitting, thankfully asleep. Silently, she ran past making her way out of the village and into the forest. It would be a long time until she would be able to find him, she knew that much, but she had to be able to track him down somehow. She ran and ran as quickly as she could until she couldn't run anymore. It was around daybreak now and she was far enough that no one in Konoha should find her if they were even aware that she was gone yet. She sat on the branch of a tree, taking a break to get something small to eat from her bag.

The sun was beginning to rise over the horizon when she stood back up and began running again. Wherever Itachi was, it wasn't likely that he was close to Konoha. She ran and ran until she heard a twig snap on the ground below her. She stopped silently. Who could be out here this far into the woods? She looked down suspiciously and dodged a kunai aimed right for her. She narrowed her eyes as she grabbed a kunai from her pouch.

"Who's there?" She yelled to whoever was hidden in the trees. There was silence for a second, not even the clanging of metal against metal.

"…Sakura," a familiar voice said as he fazed out of a tree and into her sight. Right there in front of her was the man that she was so sure she would have to search for. Right there. He had come to her…. "What are you doing here?" He said.

"Itachi!" She put her kunai away and ran to him, wrapping her arms around him, trying to find comfort in the arms that used to be so full of comfort for her. He remained still, confused. "Itachi, I read the scroll." His body tensed and then he put his arms around her hesitantly.

"Are you aware of what you've done?" He said, his eyes closed. "You've just betrayed Konoha. They'll kill you when you go back."

"I'm not going back!" She said looking up at him. "You can't make me! I'm staying here with you."

"With me?" His eyes narrowed at her. "And what makes you think you can do that?"

"Because, Itachi, I'm not going back to a place that doesn't feel like home anymore. I can't trust them…besides, it's not like they'll miss me too much. I'm not going back there."

"But what makes you think you can join the Akatsuki. You're not a criminal, only a missing nin."

"What, I should have killed a whole bunch of people and then I would be allowed?"

"It's not that, Sakura."

"Who's the girl?" A menacing voice said as a blue man stepped out of the shadows. "She your little girlfriend, Itachi?"

"No, Kisame. Her name is Sakura Haruno. I'm bringing her back with us." He looked over at Kisame and then down to Sakura. "Stay with me at all times, got it?" She nodded while Kisame simply smirked. "Okay, let's head back. We need to ask Pain if this is allowed." Sakura followed closely behind him, not exactly comfortable with Kisame being that close. She glanced back every once in a while to find that Kisame was eyeing her suspiciously, and once she could swear she saw Itachi glare back at him.

The day seemed to drag on forever as they continued to walk. She wondered just how far they were going to go to meet this "Pain" guy, whoever he was. As the day went on, the more it took for her to keep up with Itachi.

"Sakura, are you sure you want to do this? If you have any second thoughts, I can take you back to the village and make it look like you were kidnapped." Itachi said. He looked down at the girl who was once like a younger sister to him. She looked so frail, like she could break with any little touch, but he knew that under that exterior, she was one of the strongest kunoichi in Konoha.

"Itachi, I have made up my mind. This is my choice and mine alone. I'm staying."

He looked at her and then quickly turned away, entering the cave with Kisame and Sakura falling closely behind. A short distance away from them, she saw a man in an Akatsuki cloak who had orange spikey hair. Itachi and Kisame bowed and so she thought that it would be best for her to do the same. She quickly bowed as low as she could.

"Itachi, Kisame, who is this girl?"

"This girl is Sakura Haruno, a new missing nin from Konoha."

"Haruno. I believe I've heard that name before." He eyed her suspiciously. "That's right. You are friends with the nine tails. Why are you here?"

"S…sir," Sakura said, "I have left Konoha after finding out some secrets that they had been keeping. I no longer wish to be a ninja there."

"And what makes you think you can join the Akatsuki?"

"Because I recommend her," Itachi said. "She may not look it but she's one of the strongest kunoichi in Konoha, rivaling any of the former Hokage."

"Is that so?" Pain said, raising an eyebrow. "You may stay for now, Sakura, but you must prove you are worthy on the next mission."

"Yes, sir," she said standing up with Itachi. "I will do my best."

"Good," Pain said. "Itachi, get her a cloak, she might as well look the part if she's going to stay here."

"As you wish." He led Sakura outside and once they were a good distance from the cave, he looked down at her. "How is Sasuke?"

"He hates you…" she looked away from him. "I didn't tell him, though. I didn't tell him the truth about what happened."

"Good." He turned away from her, starting to walk again. "That's the way it should stay until we face each other."

"But Itachi…why tell me what happened? Why didn't you do something about it?" He stopped abruptly and then looked back at her, silently wishing she could see why he wasn't able to tell anyone else.

"Sakura, you're smart. Think about it. The Hokage is the one who ordered it. He's in charge of everything and the Anbu were behind it as well. There was no where to turn, I had no choice. I gave you that scroll because I knew that I could trust you with that information. You are a strong, trustworthy ninja, Sakura."

She walked up beside him, looking through all of the trees and then up at him. No matter what had happened in the village, on their missions, or any other time, it seemed that her mind had always trailed off to Itachi. Now, though, she was with him. She knew the truth and she would soon be a part of one of the most criminal organizations in the ninja world. Everything she knew was coming to an end.

AN: Hello, minna! I'm sorry I haven't written back on my other in progress stories but I have been itching to write an ItaSaku. They've always been one of my favorite pairings from Naruto. Please review!