She stood, shivering, over the unconscious body of the kyuubi. The knuckles grasping the kunai were white, the hands slick with sweat.
He was coming.
"You can't stop me, kunoichi. Nothing you can do will help him." His emotionless voice filled the small clearing.
"No! You'll never get to him!"
He chuckled to himself, hearing the fear in her voice. "Quit fooling yourself, kunoichi. You're helpless."
She straightened a bit. "I'm not just a kunoichi! I have a name-- Sakura! Haruno Sakura!" Her eyes took on a determined gleam.
He was surprised by her sudden show of courage. He had expected her to break easily, but there she was...back straight, eyes narrowed, pink hair tossing slightly in the breeze. As he looked at her from his perch in a tree, a part of him was slightly impressed.
"Just leave us alone and go back to where you belong... go back to hell!"
She was feisty... this was rather fun. "And how do you plan to make me go back, Sakura?" He said her name mockingly, making her bristle in anger.
"Don't underestimate me," she hissed dangerously, and then she was gone. He scowled dangerously--how had he allowed her to slip away like that?
Suddenly she was behind him, and he heard kunai whistling towards the air towards him. He chuckled, dodging them easily. "You'll have to do better than that, Sakura."
A sly grin lit her face. "I did."
He was trapped, invisible arms of chakra pinning him to the spot. He almost laughed-- he could easily escape such a simple attack. But then he felt the odd sensation...
"Tsunade-sama tought me well, don't you think? Those chakra arms pinning you down, do you feel what they're doing? They're slowly draining your chakra. You can't easily escape that." She twirled a kunai, smirking as she looked into his eyes.
That was her biggest mistake.
She felt herself slipping away, felt the world being drained of color. She tried to scream, but no sound came.
She was alone in the inky darkness.
"No!"
She sat upright, panting, and looked around wildly. She was in an empty black room, devoid of anything she could see.
"Sakura, so good that you could join me."
She squealed in fright and bolted up, reaching for shuriken. "My weapon pouch... where'd it go?"
He chuckled. "I can't let you in here armed, little girl. You should have known that."
Of course-- she was in the Sharingan.
"Who the hell says I'm a little girl? I'm seventeen!"
He appeared before her, kunai in hand. "Age is irrelevant, Sakura." He took a step in her direction.
She stepped back automatically, eyeing the kunai. A hoarse whisper escaped her lips. "What are you going to do to me?"
"If you'll let me have the kyuubi... nothing."
"No. I won't let you have Naruto! I'd rather die than betray him!"
"You might get your wish." He advanced again, raising the kunai.
She closed her eyes, tears leaking from the corners. "This is for you, Naruto."
She charged.
Her fists were easily grabbed by him, her swift kicks easily dodged, and he forced her to the ground. "No!" She struggled, pulling forth all of her strength, but he was too powerful. There was nothing she could do.
He felt her muscles relax. "Kill me, if you must," she whispered. A sob escaped her throat, although she tried her best to stifle it. "Forgive me, Naruto."
He looked down at her-- eyes squeezed shut, tears sliding slowly down her smooth cheeks, pink hair arranged wildly on the ground. She was beautiful, he had to admit-- pathetically beautiful.
Leaning torwards her, he whispered gently into her ear. "A shinobi must never lose hope. A shinobi must always fight. This... this is the shinobi way. You know this, so why do you not follow it?" She shivered at the warm feel of his breath, acutely aware of the weight of him pressed upon her. She opened her eyes, looking up into the red eyes of madness. "I will not kill you. You are too amusing, kunoichi."
"Sakura," she hissed, through gritted teeth. She was crying, yet she still had the strength to snap at him.
He smiled. "You are too amusing, Sakura." This time her name was said without any hint of sarcasm. She felt a hand run down her cheek, brushing off the tears. "I will let you go, but you must not forget what I have said. Grow stronger."
She felt the darkness slide up to her again, and she was gone.
He felt the arms of chakra slide away, watched her body slump forward. Quickly he caught her, before she fell to her death on the forest floor, and jumped down beside the kyubbi.
He knew he should take the kyuubi, but a part of him said no-- this was not the right time. The girl in his arms stirred softly. "Naruto...," he heard her whisper. She grabbed a fistful of his cloak, murmuring incoherently.
Gently, he lay her down beside the boy, prying his cloak from her hand. She shivered slightly in he cold November air, curling into a little ball.
He pulled the cloak from his shoulders and lay it on the girl, tucking it underneath her. She wouldn't awake for quite a while, and he didn't want her to die of pneumonia... he looked forward to seeing her again in the future. Who knows what amusements the girl would provide then? Besides, he had plenty of cloaks back at headquarters. No one would question him if he lost one-- no one dared to question him about anything, anyways.
A strand of pink hair blew gently across her face, making her wrinkle her nose. He reached down and caught it between his fingers. So soft... he quickly brought out a kunai and cut the strand, tucking it into his pocket. A bit of hair in exchange for the cloak. A fair trade, he supposed.
He turned to leave, walking slowly towards the trees.
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She awoke an hour later, pleasantly warm and curled into a ball. "What... happened," she whispered groggily, sitting up slowly.
Suddenly it all came back-- the fear, the darkness, the tears, him.
She jumped up, cloak falling to the ground, and grabbed a kunai. But he was gone-- she didn't sense him anywhere. Relieved, she sat heavily down, then turned to look at Naruto. He was still unconscious, breathing heavily, and was he... yes, he was snoring. She smiled gently. What a loser...
She looked down, spotting the cloak close by her side. Itachi's, it had to be... but why was it beside her? She remembered jumping up after she regained consciousness and feeling the cloak float to the ground...
Of course. She must have fallen unconscious after being trapped in the Sharingan, and he must have layed her beside Naruto and put his cloak over her.
She snorted. Itachi, covering her with his cloak? The idea was laughable, and yet there were no other explanations. But then again, he had done other mysterious things... he had left her alive, for one thing, and not taken Naruto. What was he thinking?
She sighed tiredly. Who knew what was going on inside that madman's head... it was a puzzle no would ever figure out. She was just thankful she and Naruto were still alive... and, she supposed, greatful for the advice he had given her. A shinobi must never lose hope... a shinobi must always fight...
A cold breeze blew, and she smiled. "Thank you, Itachi," she whispered, "Thank you."
Surprised with her sudden gratitude towards the Akatsuki member, she busied herself with covering Naruto with the cloak. If someone had heard her...
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From his perch high in the tree, Itachi turned and jumped away. A bitter smile touched his lips.
You're welcome... Sakura.
END
A/N: This thing took some serious time to write. I have new-found respect for all the great Itachi/Sakura authors out there... they're a hard couple to write! Sorry if Itachi was sort of out-of-character at all... I tried to keep him his old self, but when you're trying to make the sparks fly with such a cold, calculating man it gets tough.
Please, if you read this story, REVIEW! I love hearing comments about my writing, good or bad. Constructive criticism is great for a new author like me.
Thanks for reading!