Title: The Radiance of the Moon
Chapter: One – The Black Side of the Moon
Coupling: DeiSaku, with suggestions of others.
Summery: No one knew of Sakura's hidden life, her life behind the mask of happiness. And they probably never would. But when she finally claims to start going insane if she stayed another day, a year of leave from her current residence is set up by her true family under the impression of it being a mission. In this year, will Sakura find true love amongst her real family, kill yet another in her built up anger, or both and even more? – DeiSaku
"They still think you are one of them…"
"But I'm NOT! Why can't I come back?"
"Because, we still need you there."
"What did Pein say? Didn't he say I can come back?"
"…"
"You didn't even ask him?! DID YOU?!"
"I do not have to answer that."
"You'll answer me, alright! I order you to answer me! Uchiha, Itachi!"
The fire of the candle flickered as the name cut the air like a knife. The small flame danced into a larger being and reflected upon the pale face of a man. Burning red eyes, long silky black hair, and lines dragging down his face at an angle were his key features. The features which made it unable to mistake him for anyone but who he was; the murderer of the Uchiha clan; Uchiha, Itachi.
But as the flame continued its dance, the other being speaking was hidden in the shadows.
"Whether I asked or not is not the question that is important at present. We need you to stay here. To watch the Kyuubi boy. You have become so close to him, closer than anyone but a few. But not only that, my brother as well…" Itachi said to the darkened figure before him.
"And you see how well that turned out, yeah? He's run off with that damnable traitor Orochimaru. I TOLD you that something was up, but you didn't listen to me."
"He is not the one I am after… I need the Kyuubi. I will deal with Sasuke and Orochimaru later. Stay here, watch Kyuubi. He has fallen in love with you; he will do anything for you. He will give his life to protect you, Haruno, Sakura."
Another flame burst to life and reflected in deep green eyes. A pink strand had fallen in the path and was forcefully pushed back in place behind the ear of its owner. Yes, this was the one and only pink haired kunoichi of Konohagakure; Haruno, Sakura. Her short pink hair and deep green eyes, hard to mistake for another, pale skin and a white circle upon her back… But what was odd about her appearance than anytime before was the ring she wore around her neck with the symbol for moon: 月 [A/N: I originally had it as Lunar Mansion or Nakshatra which is one of the divisions in the sky. Seeing that the other members have symbols relating to the Chinese Constellations upon their rings I thought it would be fitting. But I decided to make it easier and just stick with moon for short as they stuck with the shorter signs for translation purposes.
Itachi's eyes wear dragged down to the ring Sakura wore. "I see that you have decided to wear it outside of your clothing for once… I don't see why you won't wear it upon your hands like the rest of us…"
"I am not here for idle chit-chat, Uchiha… I am here to ask for my permission to leave this revolting village. There is nothing left here for me to do. The Kyuubi has returned. I have learned all I can from that wretched woman, Tsunade, and I even had to kill one of my own to keep my cover. I demand that I am allowed leave of this village. I have been in this organization for much longer than most of those now and I demand a reason as to why they are allowed to live together and I am forced to stay in this place. You got out by killing your clan. But I would prefer a less dramatic effect so that I may be able to return for more information if needed. But I need a break. I cannot stand being around that stupid little blonde imbecile for another minute least I suffocate myself in my sleep so I don't have to listen to that voice of his," Sakura hissed to Itachi as she took a step forward, "I've had to hide everything behind that damn fangirlish appearance to keep everyone thinking I'm some Uchiha obsessed freak. I. Need. A. Break." Her eyes seemed to be upon fire as she took another step towards the Uchiha before her.
Itachi stared directly into Sakura's green eyes. He knew she was serious. After all, she had been here her whole life. Eight years she had been with the Akatsuki. And she was 16 at the moment. Not once had she gotten a break from it all. She lived with her enemy, keeping tabs on him for them. Itachi, himself, had been the one to bring the young pink haired girl into the organization. No one outside of the Akatsuki knew of the real Sakura. The 'Inner Sakura' who was so cruel and forceful. No one knew it was the real Sakura locked away so as to not give herself away. No one knew of the beautiful ring she wore on a string around her neck; usually under her shirt. Her life had all been a lie, everything was a lie. Her crush upon Uchiha, Sasuke was a favor for Itachi so that she might be able to keep an eye upon him. She made sure the test scores worked so she could keep an eye upon Kyuubi and the Uchiha at the same time. Everything was set up perfectly for the good of Akatsuki.
-Ten Years Earlier-
"Who…Who are you?" an eight year old Sakura asked as she stared up at a thirteen year old Itachi. He had blood upon his body and he easily struck fear into the young girl's heart.
"My name, is Uchiha, Itachi… I will not harm you, do not worry… I am here to ask a favor of you," Itachi said as he stared down at the wide eyed girl. He was standing inside of her house. Behind him were the dead bodies of her parents.
Sakura gave a small sound of fear as she sunk back more in the closet she hid in. This boy had just come and killed her parents, and now he had asked a favor of her? Then again, he did save her. No one knew it, but her parents were never that kind of people. They acted like saints outside of the house. But Sakura was abused. It was always the same since she was a small child. They would come home and beat her, cut her, destroy her as much as they could until they feared her screams would be heard by the neighbors and stopped. This night, she knew that it would be different. That it would be more than before. She could see it in their eyes as they backed her into her room. She took refuge in her closet as quick as she could and just as she closed the door, she heard the front door smash open. Screams and curses flew through the air. And then, silence… A few seconds later, the closet was ripped open and the Uchiha boy stood before her. 'In a way… He could have saved my life… I guess…' "I guess I can trust you…" she muttered as she averted her eyes to her bare feet.
"Good girl," Itachi said with a smile as he got down to her eye level, "You see… I need you to work for me… Will you do that? I am in an organization and I would like for you to join as well. I can tell you will be strong in the future, I know you will be. I want you to join and stay here and relay needed information for us. Can you do that? Will you work for us? I will bring in others to pose as your parents, they won't hurt you. No one will lay a finger on you again least upon the battle field when you are a ninja… Do you accept?" He stared directly into her eyes as he slipped a beautiful ring out of his pocket. The symbol of the moon [月 was etched into its red center.
Sakura's eyes widened at the ring in front of her. It was a beautiful ring and something about it just made her want it, to be able to slip it upon her fingers. But why… Why did Itachi come to her? How did he know she was going to be strong? There were plenty of other females in the village who wanted to become ninja, many other stronger boys for that matter… "Why… Why me?" she asked as she ripped her eyes from the ring and up to the red eyes of Itachi.
Itachi smiled lightly as he pulled a pink string from his pocket and put it through the ring so as to form a necklace. "Because, you are the one who has caught Leader's attention. There is something about you that makes us know you will not betray us. That you will help us and you will become strong. You see, I am leaving this village. I had to get revenge upon my clan for what they did to me. Similar things to what your parents have been doing to you. If you join us, you will be able to get revenge upon the whole village for what it has done to you. Cast you out, hate you, and make fun of you. Join us and take all of your anger inside and let it boil inside of you. So that when we complete our goals, you may take out everything upon whoever you wish. Get rid of those who hurt you. All I need is for you to swear loyalty to the Akatsuki…"
-Present-
Over the years, Sakura learned of everything through mind connection with Pein, the leader of the Akatsuki. She was given orders and obeyed everything she was told. She did absolutely everything with no questions asked. All the while, letting the anger inside of her boil up, become her power. She stayed in the village, never once asking to see the other members of the Akatsuki. Never wondering who they were. Besides, only two people even KNEW she was a part of the organization; Uchiha, Itachi and Pein. None of the others knew of her. Yet when forced to attack some of her own, she was ordered to kill Sasori in order to keep her identity as a member hidden. She hated herself for it. They were her real family; Itachi had saved her from who knows what fate… She swore her life to the Akatsuki yet she had to kill one of them to remain hidden in the village. Now was her time to ask for something in return. She needed a break. Being kind and healing those of the village were getting on her nerves. Having to live amongst her enemies and be kind to them, it was eating her. Her anger was at the point of turning her insane. She needed a break.
"Itachi, I have to get out of here. Please, Itachi… Forge a mission, a fake mission for a fake village in the middle of nowhere or whatever you please. Somewhere that they won't have constant contact with. I will have it be so that only I and two other minor shinobi are available for the mission. Once I get far enough away, I can kill the two and come to you. From there I will send message of our arrival. Please, Itachi. A year, a year is all I ask of you all. I need to be able to get some rest from this disguise from this happy and kind person amongst my enemies. I am going insane, Itachi…" Sakura pleaded to the older ninja as she tried to get it through his thick skull that she needed a break. Badly.
"Fine, I will see what we can do…" Itachi said with a nod to the pink haired Kunoichi, "But are you sure it is alright for you to take this time off from the village? Won't suspicion grow?"
"Of course not. If the village asks for a highly trained medical ninja in the group, I will easily be placed inside of it. Even if not, I WILL make sure that I am one of the only ones able to go upon this mission. Being so close to the Hokage has it's advantages, Itachi," Sakura said with a smirk as she reached up and started to play with the ring she wore around her neck. For so long had she longed to wear it upon one of her fingers... But as long as she was inside of the village, it was too dangerous. Now, she might not only be able to wear the ring, but to be able to finally wear the black and red cloak and meet the other members face to face. To be able to be in a place she was accepted, with people who were just like her.
Notes: Thank you very much for reading! I hope you enjoyed it and the next chapter will be up as soon as I get it typed.
I would appreciate reviews upon my story, but they are not needed nor will I demand them. Please do not make crude comments upon my story but HELPFUL criticism is gladly accepted. This does not mean that you can go about telling me my story sucks donkey ass. Well, you CAN, but I would greatly appreciate it if you would not. Asking me to maybe do something different or to look into trying to do this instead of that is alright. I appreciate that help. But if you tell me my story is a piece of crap, I will bite back.
On another note, I know Sakura isn't perfectly in character. If you don't like it, don't read it. But if you don't know why she is this way by now, you might want to consider reading through this again.