Author's note: The idea for this fic came from The Good Left Undone by Rise Against, which is an amazing song if you ever get a chance to listen to it. This Fic is rated M to be safe for violence as well for later sexual content and angst. Unfortuantely for me Kishimoto owns all the characters. Enjoy and Reveiws would be greatly appreciated if you want me to continue.


Chapter 1: Blood.

A gust of wind wrapped itself around the two lone figures positioned in the middle of a field. One towered above the other who lay sprawled on the grass, her emerald green eyes cast upward, staring into a pair of crimson above her. The sky rumbled, allowing a few spare drops to leak through.

Always Raining

Itachi knew Sakura did not have the will to fight back, she had resigned herself to the fact that she was at Itachi's mercy, unfortunately for Sakura, mercy was something Itachi rarely gave.

It was a common misconception that Itachi killed without reason or motivation, but in truth the Uchiha prodigy had never taken a life that he didn't feel would ultimately benefit him in some way. Itachi was a murderer with cause.

None spoke; both knew the words that went unsaid;

He had every reason to kill her.

He knew it

She knew it.

He stood over the young woman, her messy pink tresses cascading down her shoulders, her clothing muddy and bloody from where a kunai had pierced her thigh just above the knee. Her eyes were locked directly on his, no longer afraid of the illusions they could inflict. For all Sakura knew she was already trapped in a genjutsu. But she supposed she had already lived most of her life in an illusion, so why shouldn't her death be one as well?

Thunder erupted around them, shaking the earth as electricity struck off in the distance. The clouds swollen with water finally burst; letting it fall down and drench them.

Even as Itachi stood over Sakura, who had proved herself to be not only a threat to him, but Akutsuki as well, he couldn't help but debate over whether or not to end her life. He had all the motive he needed, but was it enough?

It should be. It is.

Itachi raised his katana, the gleaming tip pointed downward. A bead of water fell from the point onto Sakura's cheek,

Like a drop of venom from a snake ready to strike.

The droplet streaked down her face

Like the tears I should be crying

Itachi would not let a woman such as her get away, one who made him question himself, even if it was for a moment. He raised his sword slightly higher, the woman beneath, too weak to flee, braced herself for the impending blow. And Itachi swung.


3 weeks earlier

"You can't be serious!?!"

"I am."

"No. I refuse to accept!"

"You have no choice."

"Tsunade-sama, please send someone else, anyone else, I'll pull as many other missions as you want, just don't make me do this."

"Whether you think so or not, this is in your best interest. You will complete the tasks you are given without question."

"But!"

"If I assign you a D rank then that is what you'll complete! Honestly, do you really expect me to give you anything dangerous when you are 3 months pregnant?!"

"-but…"

"Not only would an A rank pose a threat to you and your unborn child, it also poses a threat to the safety of this village… you aren't in any condition to fight! AND If I hear anymore complaints from you, I will have you do my paper work for the next 6 months!Understood?"

"Yes Hokage-sama." Ino hissed with mock respect, before she turned and strutted out of the slightly cluttered office; on her way to weed some old woman's garden. She slammed the door behind her, but not before shooting a glare at a giggling Sakura, who was leaning against the unorganized bookshelf.

"UGH! The nerve of that girl, I feel quite sorry for our poor unfortunate Shikamaru! The man has to put up with that insistent whining all day long, it'll only get worse now that her hormones are raging!"

Sakura brought a pale hand up to stifle more giggles. Ino and Tsunade had been at each other's throats ever since Ino was put onto D rank missions. The hotheaded blond refused to accept any such tasks that were so "degrading and unworthy of her valuable time."

"Sakura!"

"Yes Tsunade-sama?"

"You are going to be needed at the hospital tonight."

"Aren't I always?" Sakura mused, a grin still playing on her pale pink lips.

Tsunade sighed; her golden eyes were unfocused, as if she was closely examining something in her own mind, a slight frown tugged at the edge of her mouth.

It was in moments like these Tsunade looked ancient, as if she was being reminded of all the suffering her long career as a shinobi had brought her. Whatever Tsnade was about to explain, Sakura knew it was not something to be smiling at.

"Around 2 weeks ago I sent out a group of 5 chunin and jounin to gather information and attempt to locate the location of Akatsuki's new headquarters. I was supposed to get a status report on the fifth day, I never received any. I figured that it was possible they were too close to the enemy and attempted communication would have given away their position, so I was unconcerned. They were scheduled to arrive back in Konoha 3 days ago."

A shiver ran down Sakura's spine, there was a good chance that Sakura knew some of the ninja who had been sent on the mission, so far it didn't seem like odds were good that anyone had survived.

Tsunadae started again, "I was just notified an hour ago that the squad had crossed back into the fire country, they are being escorted by a team of ANBU and will be arriving at the hospital shortly."

Sakura felt slightly more relieved. A least they are in safe territory.

"Unfortunately only three of the five are returning so we do not know who is coming back or what condition they are in, I imagine after a tangle with the Akatsuki it can't be too good," Tsunade finished.

"Sensei, if you don't mind me asking, who all were sent out on the mission?"

"Mitarashi Anko, Hyuga Neji, Rock Lee, Akimichi Chouji, and Nara Shikamaru."

Sakura gasped. "Shikamaru? But Ino! And what about the others?"

"I know this is a bit alarming to you Sakura, but I need you t to focus on your job tonight, these patients are all people you know personally; don't let it cloud your judgment. I know what it is like to be in such situations." The far away, miserable look took hold of Tsunade once more and Sakura swallowed a lump that had formed in her throat.

"You sent Ino on that D-rank to distract her, didn't you?"

Tsunade let out an exasperated sigh. "She doesn't need to be working in the hospital when her husband is carried in bleeding to death… or even worse… completely missing."

Sakura felt a stab in her heart for her best friend. You're the one who is suppose to have the happy ending Ino-pig.

Tsunade had turned and was looking out the window. Tiny droplets of water were splattering against the glass, lightning flashed off in the distance. She did seem as though she had anymore to say and Sakura took this as her queue to vacate the office.

It was going to be a long night.


Itachi let the warm water cascade down his back. It sunk into his long ebony hair causing it to stick to his muscular shoulders. He drew his hands up to the level of his endless onyx eyes to reveal bloodstained fingertips. The dried crimson was wedged into the creases of his palms and stuck underneath his black-purple fingernails.

He loved blood, it was a stunning color; a deep red. It was sticky and velvety all at once and tasted bitter sweet, like dark chocolate. Most people thought of blood as grotesque and disgusting, but Itachi thought it was beautiful, if was the juice that kept all things alive, if too much of it was spilled the life faded and ceased to exist… such a fragile balance.

Eyes still lingering, Itachi replayed the events of that afternoon in his mind, the blood on his hand was that of a mysterious Konoha ANBU, one with long dark locks to his waist. He hadn't caught the name, but it didn't matter. What had struck him about this ninja was his pale eyes, Itachi's Sharingan had determined them as Byakugan, an extremely rare blood line limit possessed only by the Hyuga Clan. It was said the Byakugan was even more powerful then the Sharingan, clearly whoever had observed that had not gazed into Itachi's eyes.

The ANBU along with another comrade of his had apparently been captured by Deidara, Itachi had not heard the details, but it sounded as if his comrade had simply just gotten lucky. However, Deidara hardly ever did anything on accident or just happen to get lucky. The small details were of no importance in this particular matter, all that was of value was the information they possessed pertaining to the Kyubi.It had not turned out to be a great deal, it was almost pathetic… the two were supposedly quite close to Naruto-kun. Itachi had not had high expectations though, only a select few knew just why the Akatsuki had taken such an interest in the loud mouth ninja.

Itachi had simply swept into the room and flashed his sharingan, replaying the man's memories, sorting to the ones that were trivial and the ones that had significance until he had found the ones that he was looking for.

Immediately after he had interrogated the Ninja he turned on his heel and glided out, not bothering to stick around and find out the man's fate or informing the others of his finds. There wasn't anything to tell really. Soon the leader would be wondering what he had unearthed with his Tsukuyomi, but Itachi hadn't found anything concerning Akatsuki. It was a waste of his time… almost.

Reluctantly Itachi began to scrub the dried scarlet from his hands. What a pitty.


A/N: I really have great ideas for where I want the story to go, I'll update when I feel like I've gotten enough feedback or overall readers. So reviews would be great because it takes work to write this ya know :D thank you!