It was supposed to be just a simple, C-rank mission to gather medical herbs on a long forgotten island with loads of free time. The Hokage even gave her one day extra to relax a bit. She was supposed to be sent out of the village, away from Naruto to clear her head and return with a fresh mind set on the duties she had. No more 'We need to save Sasuke!' or 'Sasuke must be scared and alone and cold...and scared...'. That's right, no more thinking of Sasuke or other power addicted runaways. She had a life. Or at least that's what she made herself believe. Kakashi always said that she needs to be more selfish and egoistic. Starting today she will be, that's a promise.
That is, if there is a tomorrow for her.
Like I said, it was supposed to be all the things mentioned above until she just had to run into trouble. A nin from Konoha was always meant to run into some sort of problem where, for an example, a Suna nin would never have such a privilege. And what are the odds that problem's name started with an 'A' and ended with 'katsuki'? They'd never bother an Iwa nin. No, all the trouble seemed to love the always so loyal and the inheritors of Will of the Fire from Konoha.
At least, that's what Haruno Sakura thought when she faced her trouble.
"Ugh," was the only sound Sakura could make when she fell on the ground, beaten, cut and utterly tired. Oh yeah, chakra too was dangerously low. Nevertheless, she still tried to get up. No way she's going to loose to a single Akatsuki member. Which was weird, considering the fact that they usually traveled in pairs. Must be her lucky day.
"Give up, kunoichi," her opponent said in a nonchalant voice, staring at her with his blood red eyes. Don't look at them, don't look at them, don't look at them! She just wasn't in the mood for a genjutsu.
Sakura wiped the tiny blood stream from her lip and slowly got up, feeling every single muscle ache. Lucky day her ass. "I'm not going down that easily. You'll just have to kill me."
"I do not wish to kill you," Itachi observed her state and arched a brow when Sakura tried to put on a face that denied the pain she was in or the fear she felt.
Avoiding his eyes, Sakura looked up a bit. "What do you want then?" The used-to-be-a-Konoha-nin just stood there and watched her. Sakura snorted. "What are you - allergic to answering questions?" Itachi took a step in her direction and she, out of instinct, took one back, terrified that she finally had cracked a little the emotionless man. Quicker than she had ever seen, Itachi performed hand signs. Compared to him, she was as slow as a snail, even Kakashi-sensei wasn't that fast. A huge fire ball came soon after and Sakura started to run, cursing everything and everyone she could think of. How the hell did she manage to run into him in the middle of nowhere? Did he target her? Did he know she was there? Oh, wait. Was this a way how to make Naruto go Kyuubi and then capture him? That must be the case, she decided and jumped away from the fire ball.
She landed on a branch, confident that this time she managed to get away from the fire untouched only to find the cause of the fire already waiting for her. Damn he was fast. Groaning Sakura jumped back in the air to dodge a set of shuriken flying her way. Damn the Sharingan, damn all Uchihas. Damn Tsunade for sending her alone. Fuck her life.
Fuck it hard, because for less than a second her eyes locked on his. Oh, crap! Something akin to a smirk found it's way on Itachi's lips when her world turned into black, red and gray. "Kai!" Nope, didn't work. His genjutsu only shook a little but didn't disappear.
"Someone who does not posses the Sharingan can't dispel my genjutsu," Itachi's voice somewhere around her said what she already knew. "Give up, kunoichi and I won't make you suffer."
"Fuck you!" She spat back. "I'm not going to be a bait to lure Naruto out of Konoha!"
"Is that what you think I'm doing?"
"What else would you want?"
"Give up and you will find it out," he said, this time appearing before her, a long and deadly looking sword in his hand.
"How do I know you're not bluffing?"
"You don't."
Sakura's eyes narrowed, Itachi guessed she'll finally give up. Instead she asked: "You want me to heal your eyes, don't you?"
Itachi sighed inaudibly. "Do you wish to suffer that much?"
"Or," she emphasized, pointing her index finger in the air, "you wish to come back to Konoha, but can't because of the tiny slaughter you performed once upon a time and you're purposely trying to kidnap the apprentice of the Hokage to make a deal?" Damn, she shouldn't have stopped at that bar. But then again, she couldn't just pass by it when the sign said that for woman the first drink was on house. Yeah, lucky day.
Itachi pinched the bridge of his nose. That girl was something. Or high. Most people when trapped in his genjutsu begged for him to spare their lives not made crazy assumptions. Would he be a less patient man, he'd set her free just to end her annoying babbling. Or kill her. Why the hell would he want to return to a place that made him who he was now?
So that's why he had to stop this madness and knock her out with the Sharingan.
...
Headache. How much did she drink last night? Apparently, quite a lot, judging by the piercing pain in head. Never again will she stop by at shady looking bars that offered free drinks. She lifted her hand up to heal the pain, but it didn't move.
"The he-" she tried one more time but still, her hands were tied. Then she opened her eyes and saw that she was in a dark room or cell or whatever you can call this awful thing. Slowly pictures with her fighting Itachi came in her mind. "Oh, hell no!" She shouted as loud as she could. If Itachi had knocked her out to bring her here then she could at least make his life a little miserable by being loud. "Blah!" She fell on her back, luckily she was in some sort of bed, otherwise it would be a little painful if her back would crush against the cold floor.
"Are you done, kiddo?"That wasn't Itachi. Must be his lost partner. Oh joy.
"Fuck you." She didn't even turn her head his direction.
"I'd gladly allow you but Itachi specifically told me not to touch you before he get's back."
"How nice of him," sarcasm was dripping from her voice. "Where's that damned Uchiha bastard anyway?"
"You don't enjoy my company?"
"You're allergic to answering questions too?"
"Excuse me?"
"Thought so." And then a long, uncomfortable silence followed. Sakura started to hum an especially annoying song until she heard a sigh from the corner where Kisame was. It was dark in the room, so she couldn't see him, only the silhouette. "Are you planning on answering my question anytime soon?"
"What question?" Kisame asked in a not amused voice.
If her hands wouldn't be tied she'd smack her forehead. "Where's the damned Uchiha bastard?" Boy, she didn't like to repeat herself.
"How the hell I would know?"
"You're his partner, aren't you?"
Kisame answered with a grunt and: "I don't want to know what's going on in his mind."
"Who's mind?"
Both Kisame and Sakura almost jumped when third voice entered their conversation. It was no one other than Itachi himself, who had somehow appeared in the middle of the room, his cloak and hat wet. Must be raining outside. Or he had decided to swim. With clothes on. Don't forget the hat too.
"Never mind," Kisame brushed it off and stood up. Sakura would do the same only she had a little problem to getting up from the position she was. Some ninja she was. "So, what's next?" Kisame asked.
"We wait," the Uchiha glanced at Sakura and said.
"Wait for what?" She asked, curious to know what was her role in this thing Itachi had brought her in.
"For his brother," Kisame answered in Itachi's place. Oh, Sakura thought, makes sense. Actually, wait. No, it doesn't. Why was she here? Did the so-called-prodigy hoped that Sasuke would come to rescue her? Oh, she would love it, but in reality the Uchiha bastard junior didn't give a shit about her. So why would he come?
"And why exactly am I here?" She inquired.
"Like you presumed previously," Itachi started, "you're a bait. Only not to lure the Kyuubi out."
Sakura nearly choked and frowned. "You do know that Sasuke doesn't give a shit about me, right?"
"Oh, he does." The Uchiha answered with a slight malice in his voice. "More than he himself cares to admit."
The medic snorted. "I don't know what you're smoking, but you should quit." She shifted herself more comfortably in the bed until her back rested against the wall. "Your brother cares only about killing you."
"True," Itachi answered patiently and drew out a chair out of nowhere and sat on it in a relaxed manner. "That's why you're here."
"Oh," Sakura said. So she was a bait after all. And Itachi was feeling suicidal for wanting his death to come sooner than Sasuke was ready. It was time for a plan to be made if she wanted to exit as a winner out of this situation. In order to not look suspicious (as if she was scheming something) to Itachi, Sakura decided to kill the time in her style. "So, why didn't you bring your pet fish with you when you fought me?"
Kisame's head jerked at her. "Since when Itachi has a pet fish?"
Itachi inwardly facepalmed. He knew damn well what Sakura meant by that. "There was no need. As you can see, I could take you out by myself."
"True, but wouldn't it be more fun to have another one around? What if I killed you? Then there wouldn't be any one to witness it."
"Seriously," Kisame interrupted. "Itachi, you have a pet fish?"
"You can't kill me," Itachi said calmly, eyes closed.
"Oh, because I lack hate?"
"Hn."
"Guys!" Kisame yelled loudly, getting finally the attention he was lacking previously from the other two in the room.
"Oh, shut it, Fishface!" Sakura snapped at him. Immediately Kisame was right in front of her, menacing aura surrounding them.
"Who are you calling 'Fishface'?" He asked and readied his Samehada.
"Make a guess," Sakura challenged him.
"Kiddo, do you have any idea who I am?"
Sakura smirked amusingly. He did not just ask that, did he? She looked over his shoulder and met Itachi's eyes. "Um, Uchiha? Your partner seems to have forgotten who he is. Should I tell him?"
With an angry growl Kisame's hand shot up and then aimed for her head. Sakura shut her eyes and embraced herself for the upcoming blow, because there was nothing much better she could do with her hands tied and chakra close to nothing, though, it was slowly returning.
"Kisame," just when Hoshigaki's hand was about to collide with her cheek, Itachi stopped him. "It would make a better effect if she was unconscious and with more blood on her, yes, but I didn't bring her here for you to unleash your anger." Oh, wow. Itachi stood up for her.
"Ngh, but she's being mean," Kisame protested. Sakura blinked. That sounded more like a kid complaining to it's older brother than a S-class criminal with an incredibly big sword. No one's in Konoha gonna believe her if she told them this.
"She is just coping with the situation in her own way, Kisame. Leave her be." And the Uchiha managed to leave Sakura speechless one more time. Who thought that he was actually a quite good psychologist?
She coughed. "So, um, do you have any idea when Sasuke's showing up?"
"Any minute."
"Really?" Sakura asked a bit surprised. "He's that close already?"
"Hn, you were knocked out for a half day."
"Oh," peachy. So, let her get this straight - she was knocked out for a half day, with only Kisame watching over her? He better did not touch her while she was soundly asleep. Sakura glared at Kisame who glared back at her, mumbling something about mean, little, pink haired girls and Itachi not telling him about his pet fish. "Why do you want to fight Sasuke so soon?" She asked Itachi who looked like he was asleep on the chair.
"To test how much stronger he had gotten."
"I see," Sakura glanced again at Kisame who was now sulking in a corner and talking to Samehada. After frowning at the sight she turned back to Itachi and asked: "What do you think about Sasuke's choice for a...um, tutor?"
Itachi opened one eye and with only that one eye made Sakura shudder. If looks could kill, she'd be dead three times already. "The worst decision he has ever made in his life."
"I know, right!" Sakura exclaimed after finding out that he had the same opinion as she. "That's what I tried to tell him three years ago. But, no, he just had to knock me out and leave me on that freaking bench," her speach at the end faded into mumbles and curses making Itachi smirk. Then his chakra picked up another one approaching them in a fast pace. That could be only one person.
...
Sakura's eyes darted from Sasuke to Itachi to Sasuke to Kisame to Itachi and so on. It's been half an hour already and they haven't moved an inch. She guessed that all the fighting was going on in their heads, namely, genjutsu.
Just as she had predicted (but not hoped), Sasuke didn't pay any attention to her at which she rolled her eyes and in her mind said to Itachi: "Told you so." She, on the other hand, couldn't keep her eyes off of her ex-team mate. Oh, how he had grown up. Just look at those abs and arms...and eyes, that were colder than they were before. Damn, but looked so sexy on him. She could jump him any second now. And then suddenly she had a plan. And, no, it won't involve her raping any of the goddamned hot Uchiha's in front of her. That sounded sad, actually. Damn hormones.
Sakura glanced quickly at Kisame who seemed to be watching the invisible fight between brothers very intently and smirked. After calculating how much chakra she have regained and thanking Tsunade for making her training her own physical strength, Sakura broke her ties easily - without using chakra, it would only look suspicious. Luckily, Itachi had left her pouch with her. Slowly, without attracting any attention from Kisame, Sakura took few sleeping gas bombs and a scroll from pouch and again smirked. This time a bit mischievously and said by herself: "Look, shishou, what I found!"
...
Tsunade was biting her thumb. Shizune had again hidden her sake and she couldn't find it. Not when that damned woman was watching over her shoulder every few minutes. And where the hell was Sakura? She at least would drink with her, not hide her precious sake.
"Shizune!" Said woman glanced at the Hokage suspiciously. "Where's Sakura?"
"You sent her gather herbs, don't you remember?"
"I know that I sent her on a mission. Shouldn't she be back by now?"
"She's just probab-" Shizune's answer was interrupted by a smoke cloud in the Hokage's office. When it cleared, both woman gaped at the sight - two soundly asleep Uchiha's were lying on the floor at a grinning Sakura's feet.
"Mission: Gather all medical herbs in sight - success!" If it was possible, her grin widened until Shizune doubted it was medically possible for it to be that wide.
The first one recover from shock was Tsunade. "What's this?" She pointed at the two asleep men.
"This?" Sakura too pointed at them. "Oh, some acquaintances I ran into on my way back home. Thought that I might as well bring them with me. Plus, wouldn't it look good on my record if next to "Responsible for the death of Akasuna no Sasori" were "Captured Uchiha Itachi and Uchiha Sasuke"? Think I would get in ANBU with this? I know where Hoshigaki Kisame is, should I get him too?"
Tsunade coughed and stood up, looking at her apprentice with calculating eyes. "We'll talk about ANBU later. Now what to do with them..."
...
First thing that popped in Itachi's mind after he had woken up was - "I haven't slept this good in years."
First thing that popped in Itachi's mind after he opened his eyes was - "Crap, I'm in Konoha."
And so Haruno Sakura's seemingly boring life was turned upside down. Not only did she bring back the "love of her life" back to Konoha, but also the #1 criminal that has ever lived in the same village these past 20 years. A hero, indeed, she was. Unknown to the heroine herself, there were consequences to pay.
Ya, I have no idea what was this. When I first started to write this...thing...it was supposed to be a dark, probably tragic story of how Itachi forces Sasuke to watch how he kills his ex-team mate. It failed, obviously. Nevertheless, I'm gonna make this a story. If I get enough reviews to this chapter. Heheh, I'm evil. Not.
Yosh! I'll stop blabbering and you start reviewing!
Ja ne!
~ RoseCallisto