Naruto and its characters belong to Masashi Kishimoto.

Sakura walked along the beach, tears trailing down her cheeks in salty paths. Her bathing suit a simple pastel pink to match her hair, with a straw hat adorned with a pink ribbon. Her over shirt an off-white, clinging to her form by the cool water from earlier that still soaked her to the bones. She hadn't bothered to dry off, not with them still on the beach.

"Haruno-san," a single monotonous voice addressed her- one she was all too familiar with.

She turned around to see Uchiha Itachi. She swiped a hand quickly at her eyes and flashed him a weak smile, fixing the straw hat on her head so it wouldn't get carried away by the decent winds. "Hello, Uchiha-san."

Itachi glanced behind her to see his idiot brother and little group, Team Hebi. Karin was hanging on Sasuke more than normal, somehow appearing more cheerful than usual, and Itachi quickly understood why. He returned his gaze to where Sakura sat on the sand and offered a hand to her with a small grunt.

Sakura's eyes widened and she took the hand, allowing herself to be pulled up into the muscled chest and arms of Itachi in one of his rare attempts to comfort. Analyzing what could possibly cause him to react in such a way she concluded that over the time she had spent with the Uchihas Itachi had begun viewing her as a little sister much like Mikoto viewed her as a daughter. Well, she certainly had no reason to spend time with them anymore, not after what Sasuke had done. Once Itachi released her she stepped back, and flashed a reassuring smile- there was no way she'd allow Sasuke and his little posse to get to her. "Sorry, I was being weak for a moment."

"It is ok to be weak sometimes, Haruno-san," Itachi declared, Sakura just now taking in that he was only in some swim shorts.

"Are you here to enjoy the beach, Uchiha-san?" Sakura asked, trying her best to mask her incredulous tone. She wasn't used to Itachi doing anything remotely fun for normal people.

"Ah, we're meeting farther down," Itachi stated, obviously referring to the Akatsuki when he said 'we'.

She nodded in understanding, and would have walked away seeing as the conversation was highly unlikely to go any farther at the mention of Akatsuki, yet Itachi stopped her. "Would you like to join us, Sakura-san."

She didn't question him on the sudden change from using her last name; they had known each other long enough for him to easily call her without a honorific either. She also knew him long enough that by calling her by her first he was requesting her to call him by his first as well. "I should be heading home since I don't have any reason to be here."

Her hand was magically in his, gripped lightly but more than enough to keep her from leaving. "I insist. If your parents require you to notify them you can call them on my cell."

It was well known that an Uchiha always got what they want, so Sakura didn't bother resisting seeing as that rule applied more so to Itachi than any other Uchiha. "Can I see your cell then?"

She proceeded to call her parents and tell them that she'd be hanging out with Itachi and his friends, and that he'd be dropping her off after her parents asked how she'd be getting home. When she was finished she snapped his cell closed and handed it back to him. He held out his arm for her like the gentleman he was raised to be, and she accepted it, letting him lead her past Team Hebi and down the sandy beach farther until a rather large fire, most likely created by a certain blonde pyromaniac, and right to the group of college students.

"Uchiha!" the blonde pyro shouted out, completely ignorant of the pinkette on Itachi's arm that he ended up punching when Itachi inevitably dodged. His eyes widened and all of the Akatuski's eyes were now on the idiot blonde and the pinkette that they believed would start bawling at Deidara's hit. They were all surprised when the pinkette's fist collided with Deidara's face and nearly sent him into the fire, a surprising show of strength for such a petite girl, and she let out a loud "SHANNARO!"

Konan clapped the girl on the back, giving her a cheery smile. "I'm Konan, you are?"

"Haruno Sakura," she answered, smiling cheerfully now that she let her anger out on someone.

"Pein, leader of the Akatsuki. You have a killer right hook, Haruno-san," the orange head greeted.

"Kisame," a blue, shark looking man introduced. "I'm Itachi's best friend."

"Sasori, doll," the redhead who was holding the blonde's ears shortly introduced. "Idiot's Deidara."

"I am Zetsu, Haruno-san. You look good enough to eat." She ignore the comment, remembering that on the way Itachi warned her of Zetsu's black side and his comments about eating people- most made in good humor.

"Who brought the fucking bitch?"

Sakura turned around to find a familiar orange masked man with a silver-haired Jashinist and another masked man. Her eyebrow twitched up, and without a second thought she had uppercut the foul-mouthed Jashinist- sending him flying a good distance away much to her pride (We work damn hard making sure we're fit!). The non-lollipop looking man took off his mask that covered his mouth as well as his hat, allowing her a good view of his smirk. "Thank you. I'm Kakazu, and my partner is Hidan. You'll have to forgive him for his language."

"Cherry Blossom," the orange lollipop man stated in greeting, assuring Sakura as to who he was.

"Madara," she greeted. She turned back to the others, giving them a big smile. "Please, just call me Sakura!"

Hidan hooked an arm around her neck, leaning into her. "Sakura-chan, bitch-"

Hidan found his head implanted in the sand. "Except for you, you'll call me Haruno-sama."

Her statement caused chuckles amongst the other members, and she smiled to herself. She could get used to the Akatsuki- well except Hidan.

She was given little warning before Kisame picked her up and walked towards the water. Of course she didn't protest, she was wearing a swimsuit after all. Maneuvering so she was sitting comfortably on his shoulders she locked her legs, causing Kisame to turn slightly bluer than before. Before she would make him pass out she released and tugged him backward- making them both fall into the waters. They teamed together to get all the other members soaked, and by the time it had gotten dark they had accomplished their task. Sakura stood laughing on the sandbar in the water away from the others, hiding from Madara when he proclaimed they'd be playing hide and seek much to his childish alter-personas pleasure.

"Found you."

Sakura jumped, turning around to face Itachi- who Madara had deemed worthy of being 'it'.

"So did you enjoy yourself?" Itachi asked, standing there relaxing.

Sakura smiled, trying to twist some of the water out of her shirt. "I have. Thanks for inviting me."

She turned around at the sound of loud bangs going off behind her. Her eyes widened slightly- there on the other bank were fireworks going off.

"Deidara was asked to do set up a fireworks show for tonight. He called a group meeting here so we'd have the perfect viewpoint to watch," Itachi explained, watching the colorful lights. His eyes returned to hers. "Sakura, Pein-san was wondering if you'd like to join the Akatsuki. You have no obligation to, and you'd still be able to hang out with us even if you refuse."

Sakura turned back to face Itachi. "I'd love to."

She grabbed her over shirt, twisting the bottom to remove all the excess liquid. The wind managed to lift her hat off and the lay it carefully on the water not too far. The fireworks continued to go off behind her, so she twisted to see them better.

(1,344 words)

Inspiration: www. waltor .com images/wallpapers/sakura-haruno-84676. jpg (please remove spaces)

A/N: I added some to the ending, and found a better link.