Sakura Haruno had become much more than the teary eyed little girl she had been at twelve. Under the pressure of having such amazing team mates, she had to push herself farther than she ever thought she would be willing to go. After Naruto had gone with Jiraya to train again and of course with Sasuke still being in the clutches of Orochimaru, Sakura had trained her well shaped butt off to play catch up.
Sakura had trained with Tsunade and learned everything from medical jutsu to her insane strength, and then she had gone to her original sensei, Kakashi. She became an obsessive study, spending every waking moment pushing her self farther.
Sakura's sweat dripped down her brow and she pulled herself to the next foothold.
"Almost there." She ground out as she inched up the cliff, one hand tied behind her back. Finally, with one giant thrust, she landed on top of the cliff, beating her record time. She grinned and broke the tie holding her arm.
"Sakura Haruno?" An ANBU had appeared beside her. She nodded. "Lady Hokage requests for you to come to Hokage tower immediately." He disappeared in a puff of smoke and Sakura narrowed her eyes.
Tsunade hadn't spoken since Sakura arrived; she had marched around the room angrily for a few moments, and then sat heavily with a sigh.
"We have a problem." Tsunade finally growled out. Sakura stood patently, waiting for an explanation. "A spy for Orochimaru managed to sneak into the secret files of the Uchiha clan. With Sasuke gone, there wasn't anyone there to make sure they were safe. In two days time, the spy will meet Orochimaru's spies in a small village outside of Cloud. I need you to kill him in six hours, and bring the files back here. No one can know that you are there; it wouldn't look good for a Leaf nin to be killing people in a village in Lightning country. I chose you because you aren't as well known as my other top class ninja, and you have worked hard and proven yourself capable of completing this mission. But this isn't a piece of pie, if you were to be spotted for any reason, I would have to deny any knowledge of sending you there and pronounce you a missing nin."
"If I get caught, then I can't come back. Is that what you're saying?" Sakura let the reality of the mission hit her like a ton of bricks.
"Choose carefully." Tsunade's eyes softened slightly.
"If I am seen as a missing nin, I could perhaps infiltrate higher threats to this village, like Orochimaru, or the Akatsuki. This is an opportunity to eliminate our enemies." Sakura thought of the possibilities of becoming a missing nin. She could finally be the one protecting the village. She would finally be the strong one.
"I am not asking for you to go on such a deep mission, just for you to become a ghost for a few hours and kill this one guy."
"I understand Lady Hokage. I accept the mission." Sakura bowed and left the room quickly to prepare for her mission. She had six hours to get to a place three days away and kill a man she only had a picture of. Not precisely an easy venture.
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The Leader flickered before Itachi, his red eyes glowing in the dark cave where Itachi was resting after a particularly difficult mission.
"I have a new assignment for you." The Leader's voice echoed. Itachi stared impassively at the flickering figure. "There is a spy, from Orochimaru, who stole secret documents belonging to the Uchiha clan. My sources say he is in Lightning country, and he is going to hand the documents over to Orochimaru there. Your mission is to kill the spy and retrieve the documents."
"Why are these documents so important?" Itachi asked monotone.
"They detail special jutsus known only by the Uchiha clan, Orochimaru must not be allowed to learn them."
"He has Saskue, couldn't he just learn the jutsus from him? Also, how do you know what documents were stolen and by whom?"
"Your foolish brother doesn't have the ability to learn these jutsus, and it is very likely that he doesn't know they exist. As for the other question, I have eyes and ears everywhere Itachi, I see all and know all and if you question me once more I will show you why I am thought of as a God, do you understand?"
"Hn." Itachi responded.
"Very well, go quickly. Your target will reach Lightning country in an hour." The form of the Leader flickered out and Itachi was once again alone in the cave. His thoughts on the documents that this spy had stolen, and how important they must be for the Leader to be so concerned.
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Sakura flew though the trees at breakneck speeds, using almost all of her chakra to force her body to Lightning country as quickly as possible. Her thoughts drifted to her old friends.
Naruto had gotten stronger, and taller, and very handsome. He looked so much like the fourth Hokage that there was no doubt in anyone's mind that Naruto was the Fourth's son. Although, too much time spent with the Toad Sage had turned Naruto into a total perv. She thought back to the time that Naruto had tried to peek at her in the shower. He had been in a coma for a week after that.
Sasuke came into her mind as well. She wondered how he changed over the years, if he would still call her weak and annoying if they were to meet now or maybe if he would even recognize her. When he left, she had been weak and left her emotions for all to see, but the woman she had become was powerful and professional.
Kakashi had not changed at all in the time Sakura had known him. He still read his Icha Icha Paradise books and kept his face covered. But since Saskue and Naruto left, he had been slightly more withdrawn. That is until Sakura asked him for help training.
"Kakashi-sensei, I wanted to ask you a question." Sakura stood before the copy nin, who politely lowered his book to look at his old student.
"Hm?"
"I want you to train me again. This time, I want you to not ignore me. This time I want to be your best student." Kakashi thought deeply on this, after the failed attempts at training two of her other team mates, he wasn't sure he wanted to go through that again.
"I thought you were training with Tsunade." Kakashi replied, returning his gaze to his book.
"There are some things she cant teach me, that you can. Teach me to fight, to be emotionless and powerful. I don't want to be weak any more." Sakura stood determined. Kakashi saw the spark of fire in her eyes, she would not fail him like he had failed the others. This time, he would get it right.
"Ok."
Sakura stopped on a branch outside of the village. She was on time, and had roughly two hours to recharge her chakra and kill the spy. She opened her bag and pulled out a food pill. Cringing at the known affects it was going to have on her body, she popped it in her mouth and swallowed.
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Itachi crouched on a branch just outside of the village. He scanned the area with a special jutsu he had created for his sharingan. He would be able to view a large area and single out chakra patterns and tell if they were strong or weak, male or female, and even what kind of elements they used. He noticed the presence of a small group of Cloud ninja, leaving the area, nine male ninja chunin rank and higher in the village, and a female ninja on the opposite end of the village. Focusing mostly on the nine ninja inside of the village, he scanned to find where one was alone. Two possibilities. Itachi sprang forward into the village, using the cover of dark.
Sakura took a piece of hair left at the Uchiha compound, that had been identified as the spy's and used a locater jutsu to narrow down where the man was. She finished the last hand sign and opened her eyes to see the man, in an alley wearing a long black robe.
"Gotcha." She whispered and surged forward into the village.
Itachi landed beside the band and held a kunai to his throat before the man could comprehend what had happened.
"The files." Itachi demanded.
"What files?" the man asked flabbergasted. Itachi wasted no time in killing the man and searching the body for the documents.
"Wrong one." Itachi growled and moved toward the last known place of the other lone ninja.
Sakura walked down the alley, her forehead protector gone. She smiled warmly at the lone man.
"Wanna party?" She purred seductively. The man took the bait and walked towards the pink haired woman. When he was in range, she flicked her wrist and threw a senbon into the man's neck. The man gasped and ripped the metal weapon out.
"Too late, it was poisoned. The documents?" She walked over confidently and ripped the files from the dying man's robes. "Thank you." She whispered as the man fell to the ground, dead.
Itachi sensed the female ninja near the lone man, and then the lone man's chakra disappeared completely.
"Leaf assassin." He smirked and followed the woman's chakra out of the village.
'Whoever this is, she is fast.' He thought. The chakra in front of him blazed forward into the night towards Fire country. Just as she was nearing the end of Lightning country, the same unit Itachi had sensed earlier was rushing to cut her off. Itachi narrowed his eyes, 'If they catch her, even if they kill her, Cloud will declare war on Leaf for having a ninja on their lands. Leader will not be happy if there is a war started before his plans could begin.' He thought.
Sakura was running out of juice quickly, her footing was starting to falter and she could sense chakra patterns all around her. Finally, she tripped and toppled down to the ground. All at once she was surrounded by Cloud ninja.
"Who are you, and what are you doing here?"
"She looks like a Leaf nin!"
"What does she have, papers?"
"I bet they belong to Cloud!"
Voices blazed all around her as she tried to clear her head. She reached for her forehead protector and by using a hidden senbon in her sleeve, she slashed a line right through the leaf symbol. Sakura tried to get up, but was kicked in the ribs.
"You're a long way from home." One of the men growled and kicked her in the head. The last thing she heard was shallow screams as she lost consciousness.
Itachi came up behind the unit, and noticed that it was missing one. He narrowed his eyes and focused on the group accosting the young Leaf nin. Pink hair, green eyes, he knew her. He had seen her before. Like a shadow he ascended upon the unit, killing them with ease.
Itachi looked down at the girl in front of him, she was alive but had used up most of her chakra. He crouched down and took the files from her robes, and placed them in his own pack. He then noticed something in the girl's hand.
Her forehead protector, and it had a slash right through it. Itachi smirked, "Very cleaver." He whispered. Of course she would do anything to protect her village, she was from Leaf after all.
"Perhaps you can be of use to me." He said as he lifted the small woman in his arms. He let her forehead protecter fall to the ground as evidence of Leaf's non involvement, like it or not, this girl was now a missing nin.
A/N: I have begun my new Itachi/ Sakura fic that has been so requested. I will try to update regularly but I cant make any promises. Please read and review!
