Itachi's POV

"She's dead," the redhead stated. "I will personally kill her!" Pein narrowed his eyes at me.

"It's not my fault."

He didn't say anything for a minute or so, just stared at me. "I thought you wouldn't deactivate your Sharingan ever, because you can't see right without it."

"That's right."

"So why now?"

"Don't know. I didn't do it consciously."

He stood up and and came to me. I didn't blinked or flinched as he was so near I could feel his breath on my face. He touched my cheek with a finger. He laughed. The sound was so strange and unfamiliar that I furrowed my brows.

"You have a jutsu on you!" He said and laughed again. I was so confused I didn't notice the door which opened.

"Ehmm..."

As I heard the voice I turned around. Her face was unsteady and her eyes were opened frightened.

"What is with my request?" she asked and I felt my Sharingan that flashed through my eyes. I blinked once and she flinched.

"You can go, but with one condition. Itachi will guide you and you will hide your face. Nobody will know that you are there."

She nodded wearily and looked to me again. My features didn't change and in her eyes was something like guiltiness. I couldn't think of the reason.

"You will go immediately. Otherwise it will be... impossible" Pein said mysterious and shoved us out of his office.

I grabbed Sakuras arm and ignored the electric shock which went through my arm and sped up my heartbeat. I pulled her through the hallways and then outside.

"Here." I gave her a sweater which should hide her face and I let disappear my Akatsukirobe. Now I was only standing there in my black pants, the net shirt and my black shirt above it.

"What?" I asked after I noticed her staring at me.

"Nothing." She lowered her eyes and we began to walk. None of us said anything for a while. Then, suddenly, a kunai flew at us. I caught in the air, before it hit the girl in the shoulder. She hadn't even notice it. With wide eyes she stared at me.

"T-Thanks."

I didn't answer and went in the direction where the knife came from. I could have just let the knife through so I didn't have a problem with her anymore, but my body just reacted. It won't listen to my mind.

'I have to bring distance between us' I thought and and sped up my steps. She was right behind me.

'Just hold your distance!' my mind screamed and my glance became gloomy and depressed.

Sakura's POV

"Fight or flee!" growled a deep voice behind the bushes. The answer was a whimpering tone.

Itachi stopped. Then he turned around and went back to the route again. I ran after him though my body protested to the fast movement. "Hey, wait! Why aren't we helping them? The person is in trouble!"

He shrugged. "Doesn't concern us. Now come."

I hesitated. Then I gave in and followed. There was no use, I was way to weak from the healing and couldn't help them in this condition. But it hurt me to leave the person behind. 'If I still were in Konohagakure, we would have helped him.' Me and my team. Naruto and... Sasuke. I concentrated on the road. The memory was too painful.

We walked on in silence. A little village appeared on the right, just a few houses. Itachi went to a big building. I entered a shop with all sorts of medical treatments. A medical-center.

I looked around, searching for the ingredients I needed for the man. I searched for the herbs and found them in a little shelf full of plants. I found almost everything except a brown root from which I needed the juice. Well, I could find it in the forest, but... I looked over to Itachi. He was leaning against the wall, his eyes watching me. I quickly cast down my eyes, though I recognized the Sharingan. My jutsu was way to light for him I ithought angry.

I took the ingrediants and told him I was finished. He payed and we left.

We had already lost sight of the houses when I finally took the courage to tell the Uchiha that I still needed that root.

"And you really need it?" he asked, sounding slightly annoyed.

"Yes" I insisted. "It's the most important. Without it, I can't hold him steady until I have the book and my things."

"Okay. But if you try to run away..."

He didn't had to complete that sentence. I nodded.

Itachi's POV

'This is so unfair. Why do I have to follow this girl orders?'

She was on her knees and dug in the ground. I could have helped her, but she didn't ask for it and I didn't want to, either.

Suddenly she hummed something. I couldn't believe I hear right. She was all relaxed and happy, smiling and humming. If I hadn't twenty years of experience in controlling my emotion, my jaw would just pop down in unbelieving.

"What are you doing?" I didn't intend to sound so harsh, it just happened.

She stopped immediately and looked up guilty. "I-I'm sorry."

"There is nothing you need to apologize for. I was just asking." I let my eyes wander, avoiding her gaze.

"Itachi."

"...Hn?" I looked at her again. She sat with crossed legs on the ground and watched me. I waited for something, anything, but it didn't come. She just watched me and didn't do something else.

"If you have nothing to say..."

"I have! I have! Why are you not show any emotion? Nobody will know what you think or feel."

That caught me off guard and I couldn't think of a answer immediately.
"A ninja is supposed to be emotionless and that's simply easier. Nobody can see through your steps or what you will next."

She was silent for a while, a strange root in her hand I had not seen in my whole life before.

"Itachi," she said again and looked up. I noticed that she looked on my temple and not into my eyes. Well, who would blame her for that?

"Why did you kill your family?"

I froze, my eyes narrowed and I could hardly control myself not to strangle her with my own hands.

"And why does that concern you?" I asked cold and I could see her shiver.

"Nothing, I just..." She trailed off.

"You just what?" I stepped forward. She lowered her head so that her bangs covered her face.

"Nothing. It was really nothing."

My nerve snapped. I grabbed the collar of her sweater and lifted her on her feet. Her eyes were wide in fear.

"What did you want to say?" I growled and nearly shook her.

Sakura's POV

That is nothing like I ever expected. Or maybe I just wanted him to strangulate me. So maybe I expected it, I even provoked him. However you turned it, it ends up me in his hands, ready to kill me.

"What did you want to say?" he growled.

"I-I wanted to know the reason. Tha-that's all" I stuttered.

"Don't lie to me" came the frightening reply.

"It... interests me... how somebody could do that. Killing his family."

He let me go, I stumbled away out of his reach.

"Why?"

I avoided his eyes, looking at the root on the ground I didn't want to remember that, but I couldn't retire anymore. "How can you want to kill your parents. I... I also..." a tremor shook my body. I whispered the last words. "I also killed mine, even though I didn't want to."

The silence was almost in reach. I felt his stare. Ignoring him, I took the root, put to the other stuff. "Are you coming?" I asked and walked towards the direction we came from. I heard him follow.

Itachi's POV

'Unbelievable', I thought, not really noticing that I followed her. 'She killed her parents! How did she do it? Why? How could she do it without wanting it?' The questions brought me on the edge of my control.

Suddenly I froze. This never happened before. She was the first one who did this to me. I didn't want this. I didn't want someone who can bring me this near to a loss of control.

"Itachi?" She popped out of nowhere and I backed away a little. I could see in her eyes that she noticed it.

"What?" I asked harsh and she flinched.

"You stopped suddenly, so I wanted to ask what's going on."

"Nothing important." I walked past her and went with big steps ahead. I had to bite my tongue to keep me from asking all the question I had, but I had luck. The headquarter appeared in front of me and I was faster in then anyone could look.

Pein awaited us. "Where is Sakura?"

I didn't like it how he said her name, but I didn't react to it.

"What are you talking about? She is right behi-" I turned around while talking, but I stopped as I saw that Sakura had disappeared. I growled and went back outside.

"That bitch!" I said out loud, but I couldn't fight the worry down which build up in me, because Sakura's low chakra was not the only one I felt.

Sakura's POV

"Where did you came from?"

I looked at Naruto, Sasuke and Kakashi. Naruto hugged me. "How good we finally found you!"

I patted his back, waiting for an answer.

"We were looking for you" Kakashi told me. "And gladly we found you. I hope nothing too bad happened to you" he said with a glance on my raw wrists.

"No, nothing important" I pacified them. Finally, Naruto let go of me.

"Good" came it from Sasuke.

"But... but you have to let me back" I said fast.

"What?" Naruto looked shocked. "No way we let you alone with those bastards. We can fight them!"

"No!" I insisted. "It will make it all worse. Please, you have to trust me."

"Sakura, that's totally stupid" Sasuke said.

"And nonsense" added Kakashi.

"No, it's not. If you let me back, I can help you" I explained. "They have a sick team member and I am supposed to heal him. If I leave now, they will get angry and destroy everything in their reach. It's needed that I stay. " I tried to tell them about my plan, but as I talked I tried to understand my will to back. Because it wasn't just the plan. There was more. Far more.

"We can't let you do that." Kakashi interrupted me.

"You must. There's no other way."

"But..." started Naruto.

"Please. Believe me, I know what I am doing. And I already survived their attack, I can do this." I looked them in the eyes.

"Sakura, that's not right." Sasuke also looked sad about my plan. "What if you don't survive? The chance that it works is too small."

I should be happy about that concerning reaction. But surprisingly I wasn't. I pushed the missing feeling on the chance to help the dying Akatsuki member. Not for him, but for my experience and knowledge. If I could heal him...

"Sakura, I don't like your decision, but you have a point there." Kakashi was serious. "I'll let you go when you stay in contact with us as much as possible. We will go back and inform Tsunade. Maybe she can think of an other way. But for now..."

"Thanks, you won't regret it."

"But be careful, Sakura!" Naruto exclaimed.

"I always am. Oh, and tell Tsunade, that I will come soon to borrow a book of her's."

After we talked a bit more, they finally let me go again. I grabbed my stuff and took the way through the bushes on the road where they had caught me. I was wondering why Itachi had not already found us, when I stumbled over a root that looked out of the ground. I fell out of the bushes... into two arms. The electric shock that ran through my body and made me blush told me it was Itachi holding me.

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