A/N: Check chapter 1 for the storyline differences. Another important point I forgot to point out is that this Itachi is actually stronger than the canon.
Thanks to ItaSaku-ness, gunitatsuhiko, cherrys-and-strawberrys, and Hana-Taisho for reviewing chapter 1.

Enjoy!

Chapter 2 – Elderly Concerns.

"When the truth is reduced to silence, in the face of doubt or fear, the lies are the only thing anyone can hear."

It was still morning, not so early; the sun was almost at its peak, but Konoha had settled into a somewhat peaceful slumber. It was a Sunday after all. But the Shinobi district was a bustle, with missions not slacking off, despite the day of the week. It was just less busy, for the most part. The smell of food wafted through the commerce parts of the village, with aromas to tantalise the senses and items for sale that had both civilian and ninja.

There was no way to pass through unseen while carrying the unconscious form of Sasuke Uchiha, and Sakura Haruno wanted to avoid the stares. She felt so exhausted, like she was carrying Katsuyu, Tsunade's summons, instead of an S rank criminal. She ignored the stares, the pointed whispers and concerned expressions, wishing it was midnight instead of almost midday. Sakura was jumping from rooftop to rooftop, above the heads of the people below, but both civilians and ninjas alike could easily spot her pink hair. It was just one of many reasons she'd never tried out for ANBU.

Grateful that no-one tried to stop her or find out how she'd managed to find Sasuke Uchiha, Sakura made straight for the Hokage's tower. The inside of the building was potentially cumbersome with the load she was carrying, so she pushed herself up to Tsunade's window. She really did not want to hang around and explain what she was doing to some random worker or ninja in the building.

But upon entering unannounced and casting her eyes over the room, Sakura was surprised to find her shishou fast asleep, her head on the paperwork on her desk. This was unusual for this time of day, as Tsunade would only fall asleep doing paperwork when it was two or five in the morning and she'd been up all night. Of course, there was only one reason the pinkette could think of that would have made her shishou this tired during the day.

'Me.'

She had spent the better part of the morning working alongside Hinata Hyuuga, unblocking Sakura's chakra points, already exhausted before they'd started. Sakura remembered telling her it would be okay if they waited a few hours for her to rest, but Tsunade had promptly ignored her. Sasuke was the one who had sealed the pinkette's chakra, and ironically was the reason Sakura was back in the Hokage's office so soon.

She dropped Sasuke unceremoniously on the couch in the corner of the room and stepped away to stare dispassionately at her shishou. She wasn't going to try to wake her by throttling her, like she felt like doing, remembering the last time Kotetsu and Izumo had tried to do that. She'd sent them flying through her window, but it had been at two o'clock in the morning that time.

So Sakura cleared her throat and said her shishou's name several times to rouse her. The older woman stirred and looked up groggily, paperwork sticking to the side of her face. Sakura smiled slightly, wishing she had a camera on her. It was moments like this that really made her day. Her smile widened as the Hokage had to tug on the paperwork to get it off of her face.

"Give me a break Sakura," Tsunade said sleepily. "I was up until five o'clock this morning doing paperwork, got an hour to sleep and then there was your session as well. And an hour ago, Naruto bombarded me with some stupid rant about his new missions being child's play and refused to leave until I'd promised to pay for his next meal at Ichiraku's –"

Sakura forced her smile to fade. "Oh of course shishou."

She thumbed toward the couch where she'd dumped Sasuke and watched in barely contained interest as Tsunade blinked heavily before focusing her brown eyes on the sight. The slug queen bolted out of her chair and darted over to the Uchiha, stunned and now very wide awake.

"How did you –"

"He'll wake soon," Sakura interrupted. "So I would suggest sealing his chakra straight away."

Sakura had no intention of trying to do it herself. She still felt as though she wasn't at full strength from her ordeal, and carrying him here had taken more effort than she had expected. She really needed to sleep.

Tsunade stared at her student, worried by the lack of emotion in her voice. True, the younger Uchiha had tortured her and left her for dead, but there had to be a part of her that still wanted him back in the village. After all, why else would the brat be drooling on the Hokage's sofa? Then the blonde realised what the issue was, cursing herself for not thinking about it earlier.

'Itachi.'

He must be the reason Sasuke was here, unconscious and unaware of his predicament.

Tsunade tilted her head, sensing the presence of an ANBU outside her window.

"Take him to Ibiki," she said, still staring at Sakura, but talking to the ANBU. "Be sure he seals the Uchiha's chakra right away."

The masked operative came into the room, moving lithely over to Sasuke and using Shunshin to disappear. Watching the man's movements, Sakura realised this was an ANBU she had yet to meet. She'd gotten to know some, through her medical duties lately, even though she couldn't see their faces. If she'd been in ANBU, she would be allowed to know who they all were, although she believed she had been able to guess rather accurately anyway. It wasn't like there was some law against figuring it out, whether or not the ANBU in question was obvious under the mask or not. The entire organisation was elite, the best of the best, but some things were obvious no matter what they did. They lived in the same village after all, and the operatives were not required to wear their masks when not on duty.

Sakura personally, had no intention of even trying out for the ANBU. Their methods freaked her out; she was a medic and wanted only to help people.

Groaning softly, Tsunade walked back over to her desk and sat back down, never breaking eye contact with her kouhai. Sakura waited for her shishou to bring Itachi into the conversation. Well, to start a conversation and then raise the topic of the former Uchiha heir. They stared each other down, both trying to think of the best way to go about this topic, although it was only the older Kunoichi who was taking it seriously. Sakura was thinking about how to avoid telling her that Itachi had left her behind. She couldn't help but feel angry with him, despite every fibre of her being screaming for his touch, to hear that deep, sexy voice and to know he would never leave her again. But there was something else she hadn't realised until now, something that his expression before he disappeared, breaking into a murder of crows.

Itachi Uchiha was up to something.

It was the only explanation. He was planning something under those dark grey eyes, something he didn't want her to be a part of. And of course, she realised another reason he didn't immediately come back with her would be because of Danzou Shimura. Perhaps he thought the old man would have him executed on the spot, but then why had he asked Sakura to heal Sasuke only to send his brother into the senile freak's waiting arms?

She couldn't figure him out.

Tsunade, finally deciding what she wanted to say, started to speak.

"Sakura, where is –"

And then she stopped abruptly, Sakura's questioning expression answered by a knock on the door behind her.

"Enter."

Kakashi Hatake entered the room, no Icha Icha book in hand, but a serene expression nonetheless (as far as Sakura could tell, but she knew him well enough). He also looked rather interested in the pinkette all of a sudden.

"I heard you were seen carrying Sasuke Uchiha into the Hokage Building," he said calmly.

She only nodded her head, the lack of emotion on her face now confusing him. He knew she'd been kidnapped by Sasuke a little over three months ago, and had escaped. His respect for her privacy had kept him from inquiring on what had happened between her and her first crush, but now he really wanted to know.

"Is that the only reason you came here Hatake?" Tsunade asked, annoyed by his interruption. She really wanted to ask Sakura about Itachi.

Kakashi raised his single eyebrow at her, surprised. It would appear he had just interrupted something very important, but was in no hurry to leave. If he played the innocent act, perhaps he could stick around and find out what that something was. Without drawing attention to his actions, he took note of the absence of any hint that Sasuke was in the room, but Kakashi's sense of smell was remarkable for someone not of the Inuzuka clan – more remarkable than he ever admitted – and he knew Sasuke's scent, even if he did need Pakkun's help to track it over long distances. He could smell Sasuke on Sakura, albeit faintly.

Kakashi shook his head at his Hokage.

"My concern also brought me here Hokage-sama. Sasuke was my student after all, and Sakura as well."

Tsunade sighed, losing the frustration in her voice. "You're right. But this matter is more delicate than you think. Sakura?"

Zoning in and out of the conversation as her thoughts surrounded Itachi, Sakura zoned back into it in time to hear her name repeated for the third time.

"Y-yes shishou?"

"How did you manage to find Sasuke Uchiha?"

Sakura blinked heavily at her. She was leaving it up to her whether or not to mention Itachi in Kakashi's presence. The pinkette considered this. Regardless of Itachi's decision not to come back with her, the issue of his survival was bound to crop up, especially once the elders find out what has happened. Kakashi was then bound to find out. They would discover what had happened between Sasuke and Itachi, be it through Ibiki Morino's interrogation technique or Inoichi Yamanaka's. So how hurt would her former Sensei be if he found out that she had told everyone she trusted implicitly except for him?

'Very.'

She sighed. "Itachi led me to him."

Kakashi didn't know how to respond to this. He looked between both women in the room, realising they were gauging his reaction and not staring each other down. Then he realised that something was going on between Sakura Haruno and Itachi Uchiha, and Tsunade already knew about it. He didn't know what to think about this either.

"Sakura," he said slowly, "have you seen Itachi Uchiha recently, other than him leading you to Sasuke?"

She nodded her head, her green eyes intense on the dark hue of his single eye. Kakashi glanced at the Hokage, trying to evaluate the situation. They both knew Sakura had seen Itachi, and then the S rank criminal had led her to his younger brother, who he didn't kill, and now Sasuke was… probably with Ibiki by now, and his chakra bound. Sakura was not physically harmed, not a scratch on her, so she hadn't been forced to fight the Akatsuki member, nor Sasuke. So this meant that Itachi had not laid a hand on her. Weird.

"What's going on?" Kakashi asked, unable to come to any conclusion other than Itachi had had no intention of harming Sakura, which was… weird.

Tsunade double checked they were alone and Sakura explained everything to Kakashi. She was kidnapped by Sasuke, held for two and a half weeks before she escaped, left for dead in some torturous version of Tsukuyomi, then found and healed by Itachi. Kakashi was stunned with every word, his shock increasing as she told him of those two and a half months she'd spent recuperating, the images of Itachi's life she'd seen and the fact that the two of them had fallen in love.

Kakashi flashed back to something Ibiki Morino had told him shortly after the interrogation he'd done on Sakura when she returned to the leaf.

"She's been through a lot Kakashi, more than she's telling, I'm certain of it. But the Hokage is insistent that no more need be said. This is all I know…"

The silver haired Shinobi nodded his head slowly, understanding. "You're in love with Itachi Uchiha."

It was a statement, not a question.

"Does Naruto know?"

She nodded and he sighed.

"So I'm the last to be told."

Another statement.

"I'm sorry Kakashi Sensei," Sakura said.

He decided not to dwell on this. "What about Sasuke? What does he know?"

"The Uchiha is still unconscious," Tsunade said. "His chakra is bound to have been blocked by now. Perhaps we should go see how Ibiki is doing with his new inmate."

"You'll do nothing of the sort."

The elderly council members, followed by Danzou Shimura, entered the room without knocking. Sakura looked slightly startled, but Tsunade knew they had only overheard the end of that conversation, and not the parts about Itachi. She nodded her head softly to Sakura, to assure her.

"And why not?" Tsunade snapped.

"You captured an S rank criminal and sent him to Ibiki without informing us," Homura Mitokado said gruffly. "We require an explanation as to why you did not think to let us know."

Sakura stepped out of their way and closer to Kakashi as all three of them walked over to the Hokage. Danzou was the only one sparing a glance for Sakura – obviously, he had heard the rumours about how Sasuke had returned. The pinkette ignored him, but had to force herself not to punch his ugly face. He was the reason Itachi and Sasuke both ended up as missing-nin. He had ordered the slaughter of the Uchiha clan, manipulating the thirteen year old heir into killing his own family. A coup by the Uchiha could have been prevented without genocide. Looking back at the memories that Itachi had shared with her, Sakura wasn't sure how, but was certain that the third, had he known about the coup, would have found a way.

"It's only just happened," Tsunade said calmly, her face showing how annoyed she felt. "I have barely had time to send Sasuke to Ibiki via an ANBU that happened to be in the area; that's why."

"He should be executed at once," Danzou said remorselessly, his face composed.

Sakura clenched her fists, but let them go as Kakashi placed a hand on her shoulder, shaking his head minutely.

"Normally," Koharu Utatane said, "I'd agree with you. But Sasuke Uchiha is now the only connection we have to the Akatsuki. With Jiraiya dead, we need to know what is going on in the aftermath of Pein's death."

"The Uchiha brat won't know what's going on," Danzou said. "He isn't Akatsuki."

"You know very well that Sasuke's Team Taka was recently approached by several Akatsuki members," Tsunade growled at him. "Don't pretend to have forgotten."

This had been reported by an ANBU squad that was following a dummy trail left behind by Konan after her split from the organisation. Kakashi chuckled softly, drawing attention to himself, but not regretting this.

"And let's not forget," he said good-naturedly, "that it was by master Jiraiya's words we know he had a spy in the Akatsuki. We need to find out who that was, or should I say is."

Sakura looked up at him cautiously. She had mentioned it was Itachi to him, right? She couldn't remember. Had she relayed that to Kakashi? She suddenly couldn't remember if she'd even said it to Tsunade, Naruto, and Hinata, let alone under the interrogation of Ibiki and Inoichi. The pinkette dwelled on this for a moment, very aware that Kakashi's hand was still on her shoulder.

"I highly doubt the Uchiha brat knows who was slipping Jiraiya valuable information," Danzou scoffed.

"But he would know more than we do," Tsunade said.

Homura and Koharu both nodded in unison and Danzou was outvoted.

"Then the priority," Koharu said, "is now on the interrogation of Sasuke Uchiha. You sent him to Ibiki, Lady Tsunade, but wouldn't Inoichi's skills be more appropriate?"

The Hokage shrugged her shoulders. "I promised Ibiki a long time ago if we ever managed to capture Sasuke then he could conduct the interrogation, well at least the first one."

Sakura had to force herself not to chuckle. Her shishou was making light of the debate, a little white lie so that she didn't have to explain why she wanted Ibiki to try first. It surprised the pinkette, quite often, how forceful the elders tried to be in their questioning of the Hokage. They never learnt their lesson though, trying the same tactics over and over with her.

"I think it's about time you told us how Sasuke Uchiha was brought back to Konoha," Danzou said, and all eyes, whether intentionally or not, landed on Sakura.

She knew what he wanted, but was in no mood to comply. Sakura had no intention of telling Danzou about Itachi unless Tsunade ordered her to. He would not hesitate to order his Root members to chase him down and make sure Itachi was "accidentally" killed in the process. The Hokage was also in no hurry to broach that subject right now.

"That can wait," she said. "Sakura?"

She indicated to her star medical apprentice. "Follow me."

The elders protested but Tsunade ignored them. Kakashi followed the Hokage and his former student, his assumption on their destination proven correct when they left the Hokage Building, moved quickly over the rooftops of Konoha and came to rest in front of the main entrance for the building for the ANBU black ops Torture and Interrogation Core. He was curious as to whether or not Sasuke was awake yet as well.

X X X

He had no intention of never seeing her again. Itachi Uchiha could never live his life knowing he had been with Sakura Haruno, and then left her behind. He wasn't the type to take anything for granted, and he'd spent two and a half months in the woman's company and helping her, waiting for her to get stronger. The days had passed painfully for him, since he'd known she would have to return to the leaf eventually; he didn't want her to leave him: he needed her. But she belonged in Konoha, where Tsunade could unblock her chakra and her friends would welcome her back with open arms.

He had no idea where he belonged, except with her.

Itachi could still remember the longing in him, the strength with which he had had to resist touching her more than necessary. While he was helping her recover, his thoughts had surprised him. He'd had sexual urges before, and fulfilled them, but his desire for the pink haired Kunoichi was so different. He had been continually and pleasantly surprised by her strength, her resilience and the way she was making him feel. Itachi was naive when it came to women and love. Jiraiya had told him once that falling in love was like falling off a steep cliff with no chakra control. Love was an adrenaline rush right up until the moment you flattened flatter than a pancake on the ground below.

He wondered briefly if those books the late pervert had written really were as sleazy as he'd heard.

Still, Sakura's constant presence in that small cabin had gotten him thinking. She made him want to live past his fight with Sasuke, and he'd known all his life he was sick. When he used his Sharingan the pain worsened, but he bore it for the sake of his missions, and then later, for the sake of his intentions with Sasuke. He needed to stay on alert at all times as a missing-nin – there was no choice. This was why he kept his Sharingan active longer than necessary. And it was killing him.

Itachi started moving again, having watched Sakura re-enter the village to ensure she did as he asked and brought Sasuke home. He knew that Danzou Shimura would want him executed, but trusted that the potentially valuable information Sasuke might have on the Akatsuki would give Tsunade an excuse to keep him alive. This was just a temporary solution to Itachi's immediate concern. The fifth Hokage was predictable. He knew she would question Sakura on how Sasuke had ended up in her custody, but wondered what the younger Kunoichi would say.

'First things first.'

Itachi glanced briefly over his shoulder, and back toward Konoha, a longing tugging at him, but he forced himself to continue on, leaving the territory of the village hidden in the leaves. He had no idea how long it would take to find what he was looking for. It had occurred to him to let this fall to leaf ninja, to just give himself up and hope that the council wouldn't execute him on the spot, regardless of his knowledge of the inner workings of the Akatsuki; they wouldn't need both Uchiha brothers alive to extract information.

It wasn't fear keeping him from returning with Sakura, more his ANBU training. The council would need proof, like Sakura had told him. He knew she was right.

Eventually, Itachi realised he was being followed. He made no move to evade this shadow however, knowing it was futile. Someone had known he was nearby, despite the care he'd taken to enter Konoha unseen, and leave just as quietly. He watched this person out of the corner of his eye, using his Sharingan to keep track of their movements. They were keeping their distance well, not getting too close, and if he hadn't been specifically trained by the elite ANBU black ops of the village hidden in the leaves, he might not have noticed this tail.

Curious as to what his faceless pursuer wanted, Itachi decided to take them on a wild goose chase, heading north, in the general direction of the Valley of the End, as though he was heading toward the small village called Tatsuma Town. He had been there several times, it wasn't big on the entertainment side, with nothing to occupy one's time unless one happened to live or work there. But Itachi had made some seedy contacts in there over the years, and he never went in without casting a henge over himself. The people there were well aware of the missing-nin listed in the bingo book, and therefore knew of his status as an S rank criminal and would sell him out faster than he could blink.

The contacts he had made there were Akatsuki contacts however, like an underground movement that wasn't really moving anywhere. Pein had authorised him to promise them money in return for their help, but with the leader dead and the true puppeteer revealed, Itachi doubted the money was still flowing into this sleazy town.

Itachi changed his direction, watching as his ninja shadow did the same. Up ahead was a small field, and plenty of room to fight in. If this guy wanted to fight, it was the last place he was ever going to see.

'Unless he's a Konoha Shinobi.'

Over the years, he had done a remarkable job of avoiding unnecessary deaths. And more often than not, the survivors were leaf ninja. He would forever be grateful that the fates awarded him the comfort that he had never killed anyone from his own village, since that night, almost nine years ago. Slaughtering his own clan had been the final straw for him. He'd planned it out, put contingency upon contingency until he was sure that nothing could go wrong. Killing the Uchiha clan was the last time he'd killed anyone from Konoha. And he'd overly prepared himself for the act itself.

'But not the repercussions.'

He had been more traumatised by that night than he'd ever admitted, even to himself. Sasuke had come home late, as Itachi had expected, but did not notice the genjutsu in the air. None of them had. It took someone with the Mangekyō Sharingan to see it, and there had been none with it, other than Itachi. That wasn't to say they'd gone down easy of course.

Itachi broke out of the forest and stopped himself in the dead centre of the small clearing he had spied, using his Sharingan. Turning to face his pursuer, he recognised that angry face immediately. This girl had been on Sasuke's team, Taka they called themselves. The redhead spat at him, her words venomous.

"What have you done with my Sasuke-kun?"

X X X

A/N: Rewrote this several times and changed what I originally had in mind. But it still ended on the same note. Hope you liked it. Please review! Love ya, ciao!