A/N: Just a warning, if you're not up to date with the manga, then Itachi might seem OOC. ^^; Incase you aren't, Itachi is a kind and caring person actually. :3 R&R
--If there are grammar or spelling mistakes, I apologize. I write the way I talk—with a few edits of known grammar here and there.
--So here's the first chapter, enjoy!
Chapter 1
~"Dream World"~
"nii san-tachi!!" Tiny footsteps raced down the cement-coated staircase.
The place was a cross between a western style home and the traditional Japanese house. The doors, windows and ornaments screamed Japanese old style home, while the way everything fit together showed modern western. The roof's shingles were made of dark brown wood and the walls were of cement. They were painted a dirty white and the floors made of light brown wood. The grass around it was of uniform height with one another. The dues hitched on them glowed with the bright rays of light illuminated by the sun. Flowers of different colors adorned the pathway. They were like servants. They bowed with the passing of the wind or with the running of an excited little girl.
"You're home!" tiny arms wrapped the black cloth patterned with red clouds, circling around the wearer's waist—or half of it. Pink hair fluttered down to the sides of her face, framing them. She gripped the cloth looking up at the man that stood before her.
"Hn." Onyx eyes were directed to the small girl. "Sakura, you should be more careful."
The small girl pulled away in question. The black haired man sighed, "What if it was a Henge?"
The small girl looked down, lips quivering, when a voice boomed from behind them, "It's alright squirt, at least it was us now" A shark like head popped from behind the onyx haired man.
"Kisame nii kun!" Sakura grinned and embraced the shark man.
"Kisame, you spoil her." Was all Itachi said before walking into the house.
Kisame just grinned and patted the girl before lifting her onto his shoulders. In the sunlight, his blue skin shimmered a light green. Sakura clung to his neck. She was happy to know they were back.
Sakura was sitting idly on a couch when Itachi stepped out from the kitchen and into the living room. He was shirtless; but, it never really bothered the 10 year-old-girl.
It had been more or less a year since the day Itachi had taken Sakura away from Konoha—away from her pain. And even then, she had never told anyone why she wanted to leave the place. Everyone never even bothered to ask thinking she would tell them she she was ready.
Itachi glanced at the small girl then turned to head to his room.
Sakura stared at Itachi taking in the small scars tattooed on his back. That's when she spied a gash on his side. Shocked, she jumped off the chair and ran to Itachi's side. "Itachi-nii san! Your side has a wound!"
Itachi had turned to look at the girl and before he could even grunt, she had taken his hand. She pulled him into his own room. At least he got there faster.
"Sa-" The girl, about four or five years younger placed a hand on his mouth. His expressionless face turned to her. What was this child doing? He made it a habit to call her 'child' seeing as that was what she was.
The girl opened a drawer and took out bandages. And it wasn't the long bandages that were used in hospitals, no, these were bandages for little children. Band-aids. That's what Sakura called them.
Itachi glared at Sakura. No, she wouldn't dare. He sent several death glares at the pink haired child who ignored them skillfully. "Itachi nii san, you injured yourself again. You should be more careful."
He sighed. Careful? It was a mission to steal a heavily guarded scroll. Careful was written all over the mission. The gash was as careful as it could be. If he hadn't been so, he would've returned with more than a simple 'cut' on his side.
Sakura placed the red band-aid on the cut. "There all better" She chirped happily and bent down to inspect the wound.
Itachi felt something soft against where his wound would be. Sakura had kissed the wound. What was he, a small boy? And what was she, his mother? He was more than capable of taking care of himself. He was a shinobi- he was…Akatsuki. But he could never bring himself to tell her that.
He, long ago, had decided that no one was to reveal to her what he did and what he was doing. Each night, as the pink haired girl curled next to him, he'd wonder if he was doing the right thing. He would tell her in time, that was inevitable, but now he would revel in her innocence.
It was the one thing that kept her by his side, and the one reason he refused to tell her his secrets. Why he was out that night, where she was, who he was, who all of them were—the truth of everything.
The creak of the door and illuminating light that cracked with its opening brought him back. Kisame stood there grinning his usual goofy grin. Itachi hn'ed at his blue-skinned partner.
"Leader sama wants to see us for the mission report."
"hn."
"Leader sama?!" She bounced off the bed. It was a rare treat to see the leader. He rarely came to the external bases.
She ran towards the living room expecting the leader of the group, but met only with a blonde fellow. "Oh…Deidara nii chan." She didn't know whether to be happy or disappointed.
"What's wrong, yeah?" He asked. He was concerned, shouldn't she be happy to see him? Or could it be that she didn't like him anymore?
"Nothing, I just…nothing." She said glancing around the room and found no one else.
"Hey, you seem sad," He pouted "Fine I'll leave then, yeah"
Sakura grabbed him from behind, "No. I'm sorry- I didn't mean-"
"She thought you were leader sama." A monotonous voice answered behind them.
Itachi stepped out. His eyes roamed around the room and landed on the door as it began to open.
Sasori, inside his puppet, walked in- or rather crouched in. "Sasori nii sama!"
He didn't respond as the girl ran and embraced the hard wood. "Sasori nii sama, why don't you come out?" She asked cocking her head slightly to the side.
Deidara placed a hand on her head, "Don't bother him. He wants to hide his ugly face, yeah." He said chuckling at his insult.
Sasori was about to fight back when Sakura did it for him, "Ah—but Sasori nii sama isn't ugly. He's very cute!" she said proudly and not a hint of reluctance. Truth be told, his real form looked just a few years older than Sakura, well so was Deidara and Itachi.
"Oh? Squirt likes Sasori?" Kisame walked out of the kitchen, a bottle of sake in hand and Samehada in the other.
"Of course!" Sakura replied. And by 'Cute' she meant not ugly. Sasori was indeed good looking. Red hair and dark eyes, women would faun over him if he chose to come out of his puppet. But, to Sakura the child, cute wasn't meant that way. Even if once or twice she'd have her heart racing around him because of him being too close.
Deidara felt a pang in his heart. Wasn't he her favorite? "Sakura chan likes sasori sama, yeah?" He asked pouting slightly.
Sakura nodded, "Yes. But, Deidara nii chan, Itachi nii san, Kisame nii kun are cute too!" She declared.
Deidara sighed in relief as he placed a hand on her pink locks. "Ah I see…" he was grinning. How cute. She was so naïve. She didn't even know the underlying meaning of 'cute'. And he was real glad she didn't.
They all settled in. Deidara sat on one end of the couch, Sakura next to him and Kisame after her. Itachi settled to the recliner next to Kisame, and Sasori opted to not sit at all.
Their leader suddenly appeared in the middle of the room. It was just an image of course—a hologram of him. "Leader otou sama!" Sakura bounced in her seat.
Ever since she was taken into the house, not knowing it was the Akatsuki base, she had opted to call their leader otou sama. He didn't mind of course. On several occasions, she had made their leader smile and even laugh. "Hello Sakura chan" He said bluntly just for the purpose of replying to the girl.
A figure was barely visible behind him. It was hard to tell who it was because it was just a silhouette, but Sakura knew better. "Konan okaa sama!" The figure gave a curt nod at her name. Konan was always next to the leader. Sakura had simply implanted in her mind that if leader was 'otou sama' then konan would be 'okaa sama'. It was a simple logic that she devised in her own mind.
Kisame held back a chuckle. Instead, he gave a grin that said 'knew those two were together'.
"I have called you here to remind you of our goals." The leader said after a pause. The four males shifted in their positions getting ready for the information to be relayed to them.
It had been the usual post mission report. After finishing a mission, come back to a branch base, report to the leader and he assigns you to another mission. Then, the whole cycle continues with a hitch here and there when leader-sama decides to 'remind' them of their goal and the three major steps on how to get there.
"Our first step to our goal, what we're doing now, is gaining the funds for our goal."
Sakura cocked her head to the side. Her head was filling up with questions like, 'how do we get these funds?' 'What's everyone doing to earn these funds?' or even 'Can I help?' But, she didn't dare interrupt their leader and ask these questions.
The last time she so rudely—as Sasori nii sama had called it—interrupted, Itachi nii san had locked her up in his room for the entire day. It was only later at dinnertime was she allowed to go out of the room.
Before leader sama could say the second step, Itachi stood and apologized for interrupting leader. He turned to Sakura, "Sakura, get my scrolls in my room." His voice was demanding that Sakura could not refuse a command from him, even if she wanted to.
She slid off the couch and ran to his room. Everyone glanced at Itachi. He sat back down, apologizing once more and asked the leader to continue.
Sakura crouched down beneath Itachi's desk. He always placed his scrolls in a trap door beneath the desk and she always wondered why. She attempted to ask why before, but he just shrugged her off with a 'hn' and walked off.
Finally finding the handle hidden underneath the carpet, she pulled it up. The hiding place was small. It was just big enough to fit a few scrolls, some kunai and tags that had yet to become exploding tags. "Got'cha!"
She closed the hatch down so it was well hidden and raced out of the room and handed the scrolls to Itachi who took them. She plopped down on the couch and listened to leader.
"You all know your missions?" Leader asked eyeing the scrolls in Itachi's hands.
Apparently, while Sakura was getting the scrolls, leader had finished the briefing without her. Sakura huffed to herself and lay back on the couch before Deidara propped himself up after he realized something.
"Hold on, if we all go on missions who's going to watch Sakura chan, yeah?"
"Hidan and Kakuzu will be arriving in a few days, and when they arrive, you will be leaving."
Sakura stiffened in her seat. If there was something worse than a drunken Kisame baby-sitting her, it was Hidan and Kakuzu baby sitting her. It wasn't that she didn't like them, not at all. She actually liked them because Hidan nii san and Kakuzu nii san were good company sometimes.
Hidan would tell her stories about Jashin and Kakuzu would lecture her on the value of money. She surmised that children her age would find it boring, but she oddly found it amusing. She'd sit there nodding her head as they talked. No, she didn't dislike them; she actually liked them. It was just in certain times when she didn't like them.
She didn't like Hidan nii san when he would start spitting a string of curses at her for some random reason like having pink hair.
What was wrong with her having pink hair? It wasn't like she chose to have that color. She was born with it, and she had to live with it. And why did Hidan nii san have to curse so much? Once or twice she felt like her ears would bleed with all the profanity he was saying.
But, he had his karma. Once or twice he was almost beaten bloody by the other Akatsuki members because she had learned to say 'fuck' the last time Hidan and Kakuzu were assigned to watch her.
And she definitely didn't like Kakuzu nii san when she'd ask money from him to buy groceries. She simply asked for a small amount to buy vegetables. He sent to her room for being 'unwise' about money.
Kakuzu nii san wasn't open at all. He never listened to her reasoning when it came to financial matters. When she was with Kakuzu nii san, she'd eat nothing but bread and butter for days. He said it was because they were on a tight budget and they needed to "save money"—frankly, they were quite rich. Every month, she'd see Itachi nii san with a thick envelope full of money.
After the first three days of having nothing but bread and butter, she'd grown thin. Her cheekbones protruded and her hair seemed to dull in its color. But he paid for that, though he was grateful he didn't have to pay in cash. He'd rather get the punishment they gave him when they returned.
After beating Hidan senseless and having a few body parts scramble in the backyard—because Sasori nii sama refused to clean after them—Deidara nii chan and Kisame nii kun turned to Kakuzu and beat him senseless for letting her get to that state.
They, well more on Deidara, fed her lots of good food afterwards. In a few days she was back to her old self. After that, Sakura refused to eat or even look at bread and butter.
Sakura put the thoughts away and nodded to leader sama, despite Deidara's complaints, who asked if she was okay with it. Deep down, however, she was trembling. Would she have to be forced to listen to curses and eat nothing but bread and butter?
The day had come to pass and it was now night. The moon glowed a soft white and sent tiny rays into the household. It was quiet. Everyone had turned to their rooms and gone to bed.
Deidara, after being threatened by the leader, finally stopped complaining about Hidan and Kakuzu baby-sitting Sakura saying that 'she would be nothing but skin and bones when we get back, yeah.'
Sakura sat on the edge of the bed listening to the shower. Itachi did some extra training after the briefing and came to the room sweating heavily. When he walked in, his clothes stuck to his skin. It was only because of the black cloak with red clouds patterned onto it that it didn't look so.
She heard the knob squeak and after a few moments, Itachi walked out of the bathroom. He was clad in nothing but his black pants. His chest was bare with only the towel hanging loosely on his shoulders. His jet-black hair wasn't tied into a pony; instead, it sprawled down on his shoulders.
Sakura waited for him to lay down with her. She was supposed to be sleeping, but she never really could unless someone stayed with her. She was afraid to sleep alone—afraid something would come out if she lay alone. It was quite silly, really.
A few months ago it was the cause for Itachi and Sakura's first fight. She had complained about being scared, and he simply called her weak for being afraid of a something so foolish. She refused to talk to him for a week—until she finally gave up and came crawling back to Itachi apologizing.
It occurred to her that 'Itachi nii san hated losing'. He never even admitted that it was his fault. It was his fault—he was 'mean' to call her fear foolish and trivial. Although after that incident, Itachi never complained when Sakura asked him to stay by her side until she fell asleep. Sakura guessed it was his way of understanding her. Often, she'd doubt her hypothesis and say it was just to keep her quiet.
Itachi glanced at the pink haired girl before sitting next to her. Sakura beamed at him before going under the covers, just peaking her head out. A few strands of her hair fluttered onto the pillow, scattering,
He inwardly grunted upon seeing her hair scatter on the pillow. He lay down next to her and looked at her once more before he too was under the covers and laying on his side. He, however, was turned away from the 'cherry blossom'. Sakura pouted disappointed that he didn't face her. He never did.
"Itachi nii san…?" She called softly.
Silence answered her as she gave a small smile. It's alright…this is good enough… she closed her eyes and slowly, she sunk into her dream world.
Itachi was awake. When Sakura had called to him, he chose to remain quiet. He didn't feel like conversing. Then again, he never really felt like conversing. He didn't use to be like this.
He feigned sleep as he drifted into his own dream world. A world he called 'his thoughts'. Unlike Sakura, he traveled there while he was awake. He never had dreams—not anymore—after that incident happened.
He recounted the night he turned away from everything: from his village, from his family, from himself. His hand twitched and a sickening feeling rose from the pit of his stomach. He could still feel the crimson liquid splattered on his hands. The blood. God he hated the feel of his clan's blood smudged against his skin.
His eyebrows furrowed and his hands tightened into fists. But he wouldn't ask forgiveness. He could never be forgiven anyway. He would never forgive himself. Then his thoughts drifted to the one life he spared from the massacre. His brother—Sasuke. How was he? Was he safe? How would he live having no one with him? Would he forgive him? Of course not. Sasuke, of all people, would never forgive him.
Before he started the massacre, he had decided that he would bury Sasuke in lies. His lies. Hopefully, his lies would turn into something good for Sasuke. He hoped dearly that Sasuke lived. It was a good thought--knowing that Sasuke was alive--even if it meant living in hatred.
He sighed. He didn't want to think anymore.
His fists softened and his eyes shut slowly and followed Sakura into sleep. Only, Sakura entered a world filled with flowers, white fluffy clouds and wonderful things. He, however, entered a world of nothingness. He saw nothing but darkness and never-ending oblivion.
A/N: So the first chapter. How was it? ^^; Too long? Too short? Hard to understand? I'm really nervous on what people think. xD So basically, this chapter introduced some of the Akatsuki members, and to focused on Itachi's thoughts. Yes Sakura sleeps with Itachi—not that kind of sleep . She's ten! He's about 14 or so.
--I realize Deidara (or the others) shouldn't even be there, but I'll point out that this story is slightly AU. This is because I messed with the time line. xD let's pretend deidara was recruited at an earlier age ==
-Madam Obscurum "What is fiction and what is reality? We are all enclosed to what we believe is reality and what we think is fiction…"