Im so sorry for the wait. SCHOOL. Lol But I really hope you all enjoy this chapter, I know I had to really think on this one. Thank you for sticking with me, and I love every review so far. Thank you! ENJOY!!!
Chapter 3:
Naruto Uzumaki stared disbelievingly at the young man who claimed to be Sakura's cousin. The man had white hair with purple eyes, and the sword made him uneasy. Naruto was having a hard time associating Suigetsu Hozuki with Sakura. It wasn't that the man didn't exert the same confidence, but he had an evil aura, and the tooth hanging from one side of his mouth didn't qualm Naruto's fear.
Naruto sat back in his chair and studied the man. "I'm afraid I can't do much to help you find your cousin, Hozuki-san. Sakura chose to go to Itachi of her own free will."
Suigetsu frowned at the Jinchuuriki's manner. "I think what you mean is that you won't help me. Isn't that right?"
Naruto shrugged his shoulders. "I don't have as much power over Sakura as you seem to imagine—think whatever you want."
"But Sakura is alone and probably terrified. My um… my brother wishes to have her home so that he might marry her, in order to have purer blood… She doesn't know what she was doing and needs to come home to her family."
"Sakura never mentioned you or your brother, and her parents never seemed to have any family. As much as it pains me to say this, I think Sakura is better off where she is."
Suigetsu snorted. "My brother offered his hand long ago, and her parents were all for it. The young girl was just too headstrong to know it was for her best interest. That may be why she didn't tell you. Marriage for love is a benefit that can't be given when it comes to keeping a clan's blood clean. What sane woman would go off with a missing-nin?" Naruto's eyes narrowed to slits. "I will find her, and when I do… I will take her home, with or without your help, Uzumaki-san."
"I'm surprised you would take the trouble, Hozuki-san. Apparently Sakura didn't want to marry your brother in the first place, or she wouldn't have left with Itachi."
Suigetsu forced his face to redden dramatically with fake irritation, enjoying this game of lies. "Our mothers were sisters you see, and it was their hope that their first children that were of opposite sex to wed. It was my mother's dying wish. Kami rest her soul, she has been dead six months now. Besides, my brother put me in charge of retrieving her. If she had been left in your care, would you leave her?"
"No," Naruto agreed. "But you should know that she is Itachi Uchiha's wife. She will never agree to leave him."
Suigetsu turned slightly pale. Well, Karin had told them Sakura had run off with some missing-nin, but not that one. Sasuke was not going to like hearing that Itachi had the woman he had been coveting. Apparently the girl had a way of getting into a man's blood and making him forget everything but possessing her.
That was why Suigetsu was sitting here spinning a convincing web of lies about a brother that never excised. When Sasuke had learned of Sakura's fate, he and the rest of the team had been forced to join Karin in the village she was stationed. Sasuke wanted Sakura back, for he had convinced himself she would still be there to bare his heirs after he returned from his revenge. Now that another man possessed her, he was determined to get her under his wing again. The little pink haired minx had become an obsession.
Suigetsu realized his mind had been drifting and that Naruto was staring at him. "Can you tell me how to get to the Akatsuki hideout?"
The jinchuuriki raised an eyebrow. "You are either very brave or a fool. If you think you can just walk right into an Akatsuki hideout, you're dead wrong, Hozuki-san. They will kill you first, ask questions later."
"I doubt I'll go myself," Suigetsu patted his money pouch. "I'm sure I can find some fool who's willing to risk is life for money. You can pass the word around, Uzumaki-san."
Naruto watched Suigetsu Hozuki for a moment. His dislike for the pompous, arrogant man grew. There wasn't anything in particular that Naruto could pin his dislike on, but Hozuki-san struck him as a fraud. He doubted the man would find anyone that would go up against Itachi to get his cousin back for him. Although Naruto had orders sent from Lady Tsunade to help Sakura's cousin, Suigetsu had gotten all of the information he was getting from him. There had to be a good reason Sakura had turned the proposal down. Naruto had no intention of helping Hozuki-san or his brother get to her.
Thinking he might throw Hozuki-san off the trail, he decided to give him what he considered a piece of useless information. In doing so, however, Naruto had no idea that he was unwittingly putting Sakura in danger.
"If you are determined to find you cousin, you might want to go to the Village of Goudou. According to Jiraiya, it's much closer to the last known hideout than the Village of Leaven."
Suigetsu's eyes gleamed with a secretive light as he faced the fox demon. It's too bad I don't think Sasuke would forgive me if I killed this one. "You might want to reconsider going after her yourself, Uzumaki-san. I will be offering a… high reward for her return."
Naruto frowned. "I have no need for your money, Hozuki-san. But as a word of warning, Itachi will never let anyone close enough to Sakura to take her away."
"If you want to bet on it, I think that by the summers out, my brother shall have that little girl."
"You are a fool! Even if you do find some baka that is willing to do your dirty work for you, he won't live long in an Akatsuki hideout."
Suigetsu gazed out the door. "Sakura is out there somewhere, Uzumaki-san. I know about greed. I won't have much trouble finding a baka. Then I will have her for my brother."
"You shouldn't lie to yourself. You have no idea who you're dealing with."
Suigetsu shook his head. "If you will excuse me, I think I will find my brother and head out for that village you spoke of.
16161616
The Akatsuki had made their camp on the same river that ran into the old hideout. The summer breeze that blew down from the nearby mountains brought them a pleasant odor.
It was early evening as Sakura and Itachi walked beside the river. The night was dark, with no moon to lend its light to the deep shadows. Thousands of stars seemed to twinkle in the ebony skies.
Itachi took Sakura's hand and turned her to face him. "You are quiet tonight, Sakura," he said, drawing her into his arms.
She sighed contentedly, laying her head on his shoulder. "I was just thinking how peaceful it his here. I was thinking about how much I love most of the people in the Akatsuki I was raised to fear."
His chin rested on the top of her head and he smiled. "What about me? Do you love me too?"
She raised her head and touched her lips to his cheek. "You I love more than I can say."
He laughed deeply and hugged her to him. Her hand moved up to touch his dark hair. Sakura felt his hands span her waist and he lifted her above his head and slid her down the length of his body.
Sakura noticed that no other members were walking by the river and she moved away from Itachi and sat down on the grass. "How is Neji doing, Itachi? He seems happy…"
Itachi sat down beside her and took her hand in his. "He is doing very well, Sakura. He fits right in with the rest of the members. I don't think it will be ling before he can return to the village and take his revenge on his clan."
"I'm glad. Sometimes I worry about him. That he wants the revenge to much, and then I think about Hinata… but I guess as long as he's happy, right?"
"…Sakura, around four of my ninja are going to go on a… relatively dangerous mission. I have decided to send Neji as well. I think it will be a good part of his training to be put under this form of training."
Sakura was quiet for a moment. When she spoke, Itachi could hear the concern in her voice. "How long will it take?" she asked at last.
"He may be gone for several months."
"I see… well I suppose he has to go, doesn't he. His honor and pride are so important to him, and if this helps him to prepare…"
Itachi took her hand and placed it against his cheek. "I knew you would understand, Sakura." Itachi pulled her into his arms.
Sakura's head was resting against Itachi's chest, and she could hear the drumming of his heart. She thought about how he had touched her life, and now he was helping Neji for her. Sakura loved him with all her heart. She hoped she would always be worthy of him.
"Sakura, I must also be going away for awhile," he said softly.
"How long will you be gone?" she asked, feeling a deep sadness that he was leaving.
"I don't know how long I will be gone. This is a mission that calls for one of the main members."
Sakura shivered in spite of the hot night, feeling a deep foreboding in her heart. She wanted to beg him not to go, but she knew she could not hold him back.
"I'll miss you," she said, closing her eyes to keep the tears from seeping through.
"Come," Itachi said, standing up and pulling her to her feet. "I leave in the morning. I want to be with your before I go.
Sakura's heart was heavy as she realized that both Itachi and Neji would be going away. She managed to smile in spite of her grief as Itachi led her into their tent.
That night, as Itachi lay sleeping beside Sakura, troubled thoughts continued to plague her. She couldn't tell Itachi that she didn't want him to go away. He would only scoff at her fear. What did she sense? Was it only that she didn't want him to leave her… or was it a premonition of disaster… a warning of some kind?
Sakura curled up beside Itachi, and in his sleep he pulled her tightly against him. She tried to push her troubled thoughts aside, but she couldn't. Reaching for Itachi's hand, she clasped it tightly against her. How would she live if anything happened to him? She tried to tell herself she was just being a baka, but it didn't help.
The next morning when she saw Itachi off, she tried to smile, so he wouldn't suspect she was troubled. The horrible feeling only deepened when Neji left that afternoon. She sighed, feeling almost as though a woman's lot in life was to wait and worry over her man. Now, wouldn't Shikamaru be proud of that? The uneasy feeling stayed with Sakura for days, until she finally pushed it to the back of her mind.
16161616
Sakura went about her day with a heavy heart. She hadn't seen Itachi for over a month, and she missed him terribly. She missed Neji allot too. If it hadn't been for the fact that she had her friends to talk to, she would have been miserable.
It was apparent that Tenten was happy with Deidara, and it made Sakura happy to see her friend so content. She remembered all to well that Tenten had been captured, and had gone through hell, until Itachi had rescued her and Neji.
And she could share Tenten and Deidara's joy that they were expecting a baby, because Sakura now knew that she was going to have Itachi's child. She waited each day for him to come home so she could tell him the happy news. She hugged her precious secret to herself, telling no one, since she wanted Itachi to be the first to know. If her calculations were correct, and she knew they were, the child would be born in midwinter.
Sakura was distracted from her musings by a ninja coming into the village. She recognized Jiraiya, Naruto's pervy sensei who had become so close to her. She loved the old man, and she was glad that he had sworn to keep the hideout a secret, and that Itachi allowed him to stay as he pleased.
Jiraiya stood over Sakura and studied her closely, before he spoke. "I see you're taking it easy, Sakura," he said, sitting down beside her.
She smiled up at him. "I'm just resting a moment. Are you going to the Village of
Goudou today?" She asked, laying a hand on his arm.
He grinned a toothy grin. "Of course I am, I have to do my research somewhere don't I?"
"I was hoping you could bring me any news from the village you can get. How long will you be away?"
"If you don't keep me here gossiping, I might be back before to long."
"Come back soon, Jiraiya. I get lonely with Itachi and Neji gone."
The old sage looked at Sakura speculatively—he saw the dark circles under her eyes and knew she hadn't been sleeping."
"What are you so worried about, Sakura?"
"Nothing," she answered wistfully.
"I 'spect your nothing is something. Wanna talk about it?"
"There isn't much to say, Jiraiya. I guess I just miss Itachi."
"And?"
"I don't know… it's a feeling I have. You would probably say I'm being a woman, but I feel as if something bad is about to happen."
"You're just being a woman," he said, laughing aloud at what he thought was witticism on his part.
Sakura's eyes traveled the distant mountains and she felt a prickle of fear. "Perhaps, Jiraiya. I'm really praying that you're right!"
16161616
The Akatsuki had made their camp on the same river that ran into the old hideout. The summer breeze that blew down from the nearby mountains brought them a pleasant odor.
I no, that was terribly short! Im so sorry about how badly written it was. I was having writers block, and then skul started on me!!! ugh. I had a time getting this going. I sort of put in some hints of what is to come, and YAY sakura is pregnant, finally!!! But now you no how I feel about clan marriage, and I put in a minor hint that I don't know if you caught about how I take the sequel… (ps. The sequel wont focus on Itachi and Sakura so much, just as a spoiler, lol) but that's going to b a whole nother story, lol. This one is going to b many chapters!
I hoped you all enjoyed this, R&R. thanks for the time!
