Disclaimer: Blah blah, your usual, monotonous greeting you see in just about every fanfic you read (Hopefully) - I do not own Naruto. Although if I did... Itachi and Sakura would be having a lot of -ahem- fun.
Summary: Among a field of brutalized bodies, a kunoichi with pink hair tainted with blood looks skyward. Adorned with wings darker than night, her eyes are listless and beyond her years. "What are you..?" "A fallen angel damned to this godforsaken world" ItaSaku/NON-AU.
Quick A/N: First fanfic, wish me luck! After reading a ton of other ItaSaku fics, I decided to try writing one myself. Also, I would like to thank Clyde-Chan for taking the trouble to beta my story. I hope you guys like this story!
A blur of pink flashed among the surrounding foliage while the clashes of metal resounded throughout the seemingly empty forest. Screams of agony were plenty, as crimson blood tainted the ground. That was not all that was colored a rich red; coats dark as night adorned with clouds of a fearsome, reddish hue swept through the plentiful trees.
Sakura Haruno, ANBU captain and medic, happened to run into misfortune during her S-ranked mission to uncover clues about Uchiha Sasuke's whereabouts.Unfortunately, as Tsunade predicted a possible encounter with the Akatsuki, the youthful kunoichi had inherited the infamous luck of her mentor.
Thus, this left her face to face with the incorrect Uchiha.
Quite a number of ANBU were sent for this mission including Hyuuga Neji and Uzamaki Naruto's squads. Although -in Sakura's mind- they were more reinforcements, which meant more possible casualties and more people close to her that she could lose.
As the pink haired medic quickly ran towards a clearing in the forest, she sighted her struggling comrades. Sakura took note of her friends desperately trying to fend against Uchiha Itachi and his companion, Hoshigaki Kisame, who let Samehada out of its cloth sheath. The kunoichi nimbly landed in the clearing and quickly crouched into a defensive stance. The red eyed male merely glanced at Sakura out of the corner of his eye with his piercing glare, while Kisame gave a menacing smile. This didn't mean that he did not take his focus off the other Konoha shinobi.
Sakura quickly scanned the bloody field and took in the sights before her. She noticed that Naruto was unleashing a flurry of attacks upon the Uchiha, the first tail of the Kyuubi no Youko released. Hyuuga Neji trying in vain to land a hit on one of Hoshigaki Kisame's pressure points, but was pushed back by his large sword. Hinata, on the other hand, was desperately trying to heal Akamaru, who had a gruesome abrasion across the side of his back- The work of the Samehada.
The young Haruno promptly ran to aid Naruto, who was clearly on the losing hand. The agile pink haired female dodged the oncoming kunai sent by Itachi. Sakura quickly proceeded to gather a substantial amount of chakra in the petite fist. It was then that the Uchiha's brow rose oh so minutely at the amazing strength of the tiny kunoichi. Clearly, Haruno Sakura's file at the Akatsuki base was a stark understatement compared to her actual strength.
Understatement indeed.
Uchiha Itachi was amazed as he caught her flailing fist in the palm of his hand. Sadly, that was the wrong move to do; the appalled Uchiha grunted in pain as he felt his bones fracture- From the small metacarpals to his radius and ulna. He quickly jumped away from Sakura and clasped his injured arm. He quickly checked for injuries and his fingers met a thick, wet substance.
Blood.
The once weak Kunoichi of Team 7 had managed to give the Uchiha Itachi a nasty compound fracture of the ulna. His eyes narrowed dangerously and activated his Mangekyou Sharingan.
Nevertheless, the Konoha kunoichi was unfazed by his sudden fluctuation of chakra to his optic nerves from the activation of the Mangekyou. Still, she shifted her gaze elsewhere to evade their hypnotic effects.
"Resorting to your Mangekyou to defeat a couple of Konoha shinobi," the Haruno said with a smirk, "eh, Uchiha?"
She spat his family name with such venom. The said male's eyes narrowed, as he vaguely remembered how his otouto had left her on a bench that fateful night. This included and how he could possibly use it to his advantage.
Itachi's mouth was about to open to reply, but was cut of by the Kyuubi host. Naruto had been watching from the sidelines to let his wounds heal with the restorative power of the nine tailed fox. Now, he was back for action once more.
"First you take away Teme's family…now…you take Teme himself away from us!"
As soon as the blonde uttered the last word of his emotionally thick sentence, he lunged at the Uchiha, eyes red with rage. The raven haired male used the Bijuu host's animalistic charge to his advantage, dodging his swiping claws while managing to land a kunai into his torso. Poor Naruto howled in rage as he flung the same kunai embedded in his leg back at the assailant. Unable to control himself any longer, Naruto's body shook with spasms while Sakura and Itachi both watched for entirely different reasons. Itachi was well aware of the fact that as more tails of the Kyuubi no Youko get released, its unfortunate host slowly loses control and sanity. He needed to neutralize the Kyuubi vessel fast. On the other hand, Sakura watched with growing worry as he ignored her soothing words.
Itachi spotted Sakura coming at him from his side with a fistful of shuriken in hand. She unleashed her weapons upon him and hit him squarely. The Haruno was apprehensive of such an easy defeat. Her qualms were ratified as she was tackled to the ground by the red eyed murderer. Luckily, Naruto was just in time to charge at the offensive male. With the sharp eyes of the Sharingan, the Uchiha saw an opening as Naruto's arms dug into the ground. A katana appeared from within his cloak, its sheath holstered behind his hip, and charged. But not at the Kyuubi vessel.
Out of reflex, Sakura's eyes closed and her arm rose in defense at the scene that was about to happen. It was already too late to dodge to oncoming attack. She felt soft droplets of warm blood make contact with the sensitive skin of her abdomen. Opening her eyes, she was shocked as she saw orange slowly being dyed by the red she had always been seeing for nearly half of her existence.
Naruto collapsed on top of her panting heavily as the Uchiha retreated back approximately ten meters, leaving the weapon lodged in his chest. The blade intruded into his body just under his right armpit, and came out through the right of his chest. His labored breathing indicated that the katana had managed to puncture his lung, and quick treatment was crucial for the life of the young blond. Soon, blood would flood into the lungs and eventually drown him.
The poor girl was trying desperately to resist the tears that were threatening to fall from her glazed eyes. Her body shook with soundless shock at the blond hovering protectively above her.
"Na-Naruto!" With silent tears, she quickly began to heal him.
"We need to retreat," She shouted into the headset, "Naruto is critically injured!" Said male closed his eyes to rest, his chest rising and falling trying to supply enough oxygen to his body despite the lower blood count.
Naruto felt a pair of arms lift him during his battered state. With great urgency, Sakura quickly fled through the forest at an alarming speed. Itachi's eyes narrowed by a slight, and quickly took off after the fleeing female. He needed the Jinchuriki alive, but the skills of Tsunade's famed apprentice would be an added bonus; she could heal his deteriorating eyesight. The Uchiha murderer faltered in his step after nearly stepping into a score of shuriken thrown by Hyuga Neji. It seems he had managed to incapacitate the Hoshigaki temporarily.
Sakura was desperate; She was utterly afraid of the older Uchiha despite her steely exterior. She needed to live. There was so much she hasn't accomplished yet. Why, she is only 21! She had just become of age a couple weeks back. This sudden realization pumped adrenaline into her frenzied body system. Thusly, she headed for the Konoha gates at an alarming rate. The surrounding trees were slashing at he face and arms. The gates were only a couple miles-
The frantic kunoichi's eyes widened as she felt something hard brutally ram into her body from behind. Naruto's unconscious body flew out of her arms, and made a sickening thud as it hit the forest floor. With amazing speed, she whirled around to face her attacker, and was met with pools and angered crimson. Naruto's life was on the line, and time was running out. The tired female had expanded her chakra trying to run from the vicious Uchiha. All for nothing. She was getting brutally abused as his shin came in contact with her thigh. The battered girl winced as she felt her femur give a sickening crack. Her chakra reserves were too low and not enough to mend the bone and have enough energy to fend against the offending male.
Itachi noticed her weakness and took advantage of it. His hand appeared from within his Akatsuki robe with three sedative laced senbon in hand. It was over. She knew it. Her desperate struggle for survival was futile. She would end her days as a captive to the sadistic Uchiha.
Sakura merely closed her eyes and waited for the inevitable defeat. She heard the metal fly through the air and clenched her teeth to brace the pain.
Tk!
No pain came, but the distinct pitch of deflected metal rang like and explosion in the quiet forest.
Well there you go. I hope all goes well, and that you enjoyed the prelude to my first story. Please tell me suggestions and inform me of any mistakes you found. I'm open to comments and possible suggestions of how the story may proceed. Did you guys like how I protrayed Naruto with his act of self sacrifice? It's so touching. ;D
Look at the 'Go' button. Isn't it just shouting, "Click me! Click me!" Please review! It does not only make me happy, but helps me improve.
-Kuryu-