Time To Pretend

Kisame wasn't entirely sure what was going on, he had been completely preoccupied with trying to hold off the Konoha shinobi when Itachi had spoken. He disappeared only to reappear at Itachi's side a moment later. He observed the scene with wonder. Itachi had the pink haired kunoichi in a lock, with a kunai held to her throat. The Kyuubi container was shaking on the ground, seemingly trying to stand but failing miserably and the younger Uchiha was stooped over a little, a deep frown set upon his face.

To be honest he wasn't entirely sure what to make of the scene, to him it seemed as if Itachi had everything perfectly under control, just as he usually did. He couldn't fathom why they were leaving but then again it was Itachi who was the genius, not him, so he simply resigned himself to the fact that whatever his stoic partner had in mind was probably the best course of action.

"Alright then let's get out of here" he sighed.

"Itachi isn't going anywhere" Sasuke growled, his voice shaking with fury.

Kisame was taken by surprise at this little outburst, he assumed that the younger Uchiha would be grateful to leave this place with his life. Apparently not.

"No offense but you don't look like you're in a position to do anything kid" Kisame remarked snidely.

Sasuke ignored the shark-nin, his crimson eyes fixed on his older brother.

"Let Sakura go and fight me like a man."

"I'm afraid I can't do that little brother" Itachi replied coolly. "I have no interest in killing you right now and your mind is clearly clouded with rage. Your time will come soon Sasuke-kun but you can not defeat me now."

His words infuriated Sasuke. Damn it, I have to regain my composure. Don't let him get to you, you aren't a little kid any more. Sasuke straightened up, ignoring the searing pain he felt as he did so. He unsheathed the Sword of Kusanagi and considered his brother with sharingan eyes, searching for a way to make him release Sakura.

He could see the fear in her eyes and he didn't mean to scare her. He had already caused her enough pain and had no intention of causing her anymore, in fact, he was only doing this to save her. Itachi was right, he couldn't defeat him now but there was no way in hell he was going to allow him to hurt those he had once – maybe still did – considered to be precious to him. He had already taken away enough people that Sasuke had cared about and as long as he lived he was never going to allow it to happen again.

Karin and Suigetsu were loitering behind him looking unsure of what to do with themselves. He wasn't about to let them know that his objective was to save his former friend, he didn't think it was something they would understand. It wasn't really something he understood, he had tried so hard to make himself the perfect avenger, devoid of all emotion. Yet, he still felt. Despite abandoning them and even after almost killing Naruto they had still cared about him. They wouldn't allow him to sever the bonds between them and in a way it was a ray of light, an ounce of hope in the darkness that had devoured him. He knew that one day, when he was ready, they would be there to save him from the darkness. It was only fair that he too should save them.

Itachi's eyes were locked on Sasuke's, trying to anticipate what he was planning. He wondered if his brother would be willing to hurt the kunoichi locked in his arms. He didn't want her to get hurt, ideally this transaction would go as smoothly with as little fighting as possible. He knew how deep the loud mouthed Jinchuuriki's bonds ran with this girl, that he would do anything to save her. It wasn't necessary to hurt her, it would only anger him and he could do without that hassle. Akatsuki were running more than a little thin on the ground, there were a few new faces that had been drafted in to replace the former members but the standard of the members had fallen dramatically.

All of the other bijuus had been captured and extracted, only the nine tailed fox demon was left. Naruto had proved to be a tricky one, the Kyuubi was the most powerful of the bijuu making him the hardest to capture in the first place but Naruto was unusual for Jinchuuriki. He still belonged to his village and was deeply cared for by it, many strong shinobi surrounded him. For three years he had the Legendary Toad Sannin Jiraiya at his side, which was unbelievably frustrating as these would have been the prime years to capture him. Whilst he was weak.

He was no longer a weak little child, he was a young man to be reckoned with. The Hokage hadn't helped the situation. They had expected that she would keep him in the village where they would assume he would remain safe, they had been prepared for such a scenario, Itachi knew Konoha well and very few shinobi there would so much as prove a challenge for him and his partner. This, however, was exactly what she hadn't done. Over the last few years she had continuously sent him on missions making it hard him to be tracked and simultaneously protecting Konoha at the same time. Well, she was one of the Sannin.

Although he admired her thinking and it had caused problems for Akatsuki, he wasn't one to be out maneuvered. He had his brother to thank for the plan he finally devised. A plan that would work out for the best all around. His brother had been pursuing him for some time now which had been more than a small annoyance, from what he had gathered the female that traveled with him had the ability to sense chakra, allowing them to follow in the Akatsuki pair's footsteps with relative ease.

Then one day it had occurred to him, the thing that the Jinchuuriki wanted more than anything was to retrieve Sasuke. He also knew that it was always Naruto's team that the Slug Sannin chose to send on missions to bring Sasuke back to Konoha, Zetsu had reported that it had been them sent when Sasuke had originally deferred from the village. They had also been sent once again when Sasori had provided information on Orochimaru's whereabouts.

There was no doubt in his mind it would be them sent again if a chance to take Sasuke back arose. It was ludicrously simple. Sasuke had been pursuing them now for two years with the utmost dedication, Itachi had filled Kisame in on his plan and the two headed directly for the Fire country with very little discretion.

Being Akatsuki they quickly drew attention to themselves, exactly as he had planned. He wanted word to get to Konoha that they were heading straight for them and Sasuke was in tow. He knew how hesitant Konoha was to lose it's precious blood line limit, they wouldn't let this opportunity pass them by, he was sure of it. They had taken their time, wanting to ensure that Naruto would be there and not on a mission. It was essential his team was the one to be sent.

He knew all too well that this could be his last chance to finally capture the Jinchuuriki. It had proved difficult even getting this far. He was not going to allow his brother to interfere, he had served his purpose for now.

Sasuke pounced, his sword held above his head.

Sakura watched in horror as the blade gleamed above her menacingly. Her heart thumped in her chest as the sound of the blade cutting through the air filled her ears, she was unable to keep her eyes open any longer, she didn't want to have to see the blow as well as feel it.

Sakura opened her eyes to find that both she and Itachi stood in a different spot from where they had been a moment prior. She wondered how it was possible for him to move them both without her so much as feeling it. The kunai had become warm against her skin and her arm ached from being twisted, a surge of desperation to escape from Itachi overtook her, if she didn't get away Sasuke was going to kill her... just to get to his brother. This isn't going to happen to me, I am strong.

She threw caution to the wind and slammed her foot to the ground. A fissure exploded through the surrounding area, the ground rose up beneath them, shattered by her incredible strength. Dust filled the air, and in that moment Itachi's hold on her loosened.

Her body seemed to be thinking independently of her brain and her elbow jolted backwards making contact with his stomach. She hadn't been thinking clearly enough to infuse the blow with any chakra and consequently the damage done was minimal, but it was enough. He let out the smallest grunt, a mixture of both surprise and pain as she hastily escaped his clutches.

Her eyes darted across the surrounding area, seeking out her team mates. Where the fuck are they? She thought frantically. She needed to reach them, to find refuge from the Uchiha adorned in black and red. The earth began to crumble beneath her feet, she was going to be swallowed into the large crack in the ground that she had created. She despairingly clawed at the earth, searching for anything to cling on to but everything she touched seemed to simply dissolve beneath her finger tips.

And finally she slipped into the darkness.

...

...

...

"You should not try to escape me, Sakura-san."

Her eyes widened, he had used genjutsu on her. Her breath caught in the back of her throat and she could feel the familiar dampness of sweat on her brow. She was still extremely shaken. Genjutsu wasn't supposed to affect her, she was a genjutsu type with perfect chakra control but he was clearly on a totally different level. She should have easily been able to break free but she hadn't even known what was happening, all she'd felt was dread.

"You should have not used your strength to escape me. It forced your comrades to back away and they were unable to help you in time Sakura-san" he explained to her soothingly. She found the softness of his voice to be some what calming, there was nothing in it to suggest he meant her any harm and she relaxed in to his hold a little.

Just stay calm Sakura, the others will save you, keep your cool. She inwardly gave herself a pep talk, everything that she had done so far had caused more harm than good thanks to her rash actions. It was clear to her that she wasn't thinking straight and the best thing she could do was hold tight and wait to be saved.

Wait to be saved – wasn't that what she promised herself she would never need to be again? She managed to remain calm at this thought, reminding herself that even Kakashi needed help against this man, needing help was nothing to be ashamed of.

"Who woulda thought a cute little thing like you could cause that much destruction?" Kisame asked with amusement.

The question was rhetoric but she found herself fighting the urge to spit back an angry retort. Her emotions were always getting the better of her and it was dangerous. She could see how being like that emotionless Uchiha bastard could be an advantage in some ways, although she would never choose that path no matter how powerful it could make you. Whilst it was true that all the Akatsuki members were lacking when it came to having a conscience, Uchiha Itachi was the only one she would describe as being devoid of emotion. His face was always remained expressionless and his words never betrayed a thing, he was impossible to read and it frustrated her immensely. Nothing seemed to ruffle his feathers, she was sure Sasuke could throw every insult under the sun at him and he would not so much as bat an eyelid. She guessed that you had to be an emotionless bastard to slaughter your entire family, save your five year old brother.

Shuriken rained down on them, glinting red in the last light of day. They looked as if they were already covered in blood. This time Kisame was the one to block them, batting them away easily with his Samehada.

Sasuke stood a short distance away from them, high in a tree that had managed to escape the small earthquake she had created. An arrogant smirk spread across his face as Samehada flew out of Kisame's hands. He had rigged the shuriken! She had seen him use this trick once before against Orochimaru in the Forest of Death when they had been much younger and it almost made her smile to know that he still used it.

Kisame chuckled a little, "you're going to have to do better than that boy!"

The teeth of Samehada burst into life, instantly shaving through the wire that had been drawing the fearsome sword towards the younger Uchiha. With an almighty crash, Naruto's golden blonde head burst from the ground, his fist making contact with the sickly blue ninja's chin. A faint cracking sound echoed through the area, soon to be replaced by the familiar pop of Naruto's trade mark jutsu: kage bunshin. One of the three Naruto's that now stood before her lunged at Kisame and grabbed him in what could best be described as a bear hug. It looked rather amusing and she had to hold back a giggle at the ridiculous sight, she was sure no ninja had ever used such a method to keep hold of a foe, especially not the fearsome mist nin. Well, he was the number one most unpredictable ninja after all.

The remaining bunshin began moulding bright blue chakra in the real Naruto's hand before disappearing in a puff of smoke. Naruto launched himself at his clone and it's captive, swooping his arm back in a broad motion before swinging it back in one swift movement. The attack met a similar puff of smoke along with a splash of water.

"Water clone" he growled.

Kisame was leaning on Samehada casually, the smug expression on his face taunting her hot headed comrade.

"Kisame there is no need for us to fool around here" came the stoic Uchiha's voice from behind her.

"They've got my blood pumping now Itachi-san, plus I've been wanting to cut off this fools legs for some time now" he replied with a feral grin.

Naruto was trembling a little and she knew he still wasn't fully recovered from the Kyuubi taking over earlier. If it was anyone else apart from him she doubted they'd still be standing. There was no way he was going to last much longer.

"Get the fuck out of here Naruto!" she screamed at him, her voice strangled. Her desperation ringing through the open space.

Kakashi winced a little as he heard Sakura's scream, it was painful to hear. Yamato, himself and Sai had been hiding a little way from where the battle was taking place and had spent the last few minutes trying to come up with a plan to get the whole team out of here safely. This was too much for them to handle and right now Naruto was out there fighting against two S-Class criminals in his significantly weakened state. Things didn't look good but at the same time he knew it would be foolish to simply run out there unprepared and hope for the best.

So far he'd come up with nothing. Every plan they had thought of would be easily seen through by Itachi, it seemed Itachi had it covered on all fronts. He had Sakura which essentially meant they couldn't fight him without putting her at risk. If they weren't careful he'd soon have Naruto too with the way things were currently looking.

He hated himself for thinking such thoughts but at the moment the best option seemed for them to flee. He knew Akatsuki wouldn't kill Sakura, she was the bait after all and if they left now they could keep Naruto safe and send a different team later to rescue Sakura. Yet, that simply wasn't an option, he promised himself long ago that he would always protect his team and he wasn't about to let his former student be taken by Akatsuki. Even if they didn't kill her they were sick, sadistic criminals and who knew what kind of twisted torture they might subject her to.

"I'm going in, you two back me up when you come up with some sort of plan" he suddenly told the two men crouched down beside him. Neither looked shock by his decision, they knew all too well what Kakashi was like and he was going in to try save his pupils in his usual gallant way. Yamato gave a curt nod of acknowledgment and with that the silver haired shinobi streaked silently towards the scene of the battle.

"I'll never give up Sakura-chan" his voice was full of defiance and it broke her heart. Her eyes swelled with tears but she refused to give into them. She wasn't going to let Naruto be taken, he was the person she loved more than anything and she'd be damned if she lost him.

"If they take you, you're going to die" her voice was barely a whisper but it stole everyone's attention.

"If you die Naruto... I can't live. You mean everything to me."

Sasuke had been merely observing since Naruto's surprise attack on Kisame. He'd had no idea that his idiot former team mate was beneath the surface waiting to strike, perhaps he was no longer such an idiot he mused to himself. Although he had quickly cleared up Sasuke's doubts on that matter by attacking the ones trying to kill him head on when he was clearly in no state to do so.

If he hadn't been expecting Naruto's assault on Kisame, the words that had just tumbled out of Sakura's mouth amazed him even more. Were they in love with each other? He guessed it was now almost six years since he'd left them behind, he had no idea about their relationship with each other. Why should he care anyway?

Because if they love each other there is no room for me.

Sasuke immediately crushed this thought. He was here for one thing and one thing only. To kill his murderous, traitorous, bastard brother. He would keep his silent promise to himself to keep them safe but he couldn't help but be annoyed by how distracting they were, how distracting they always had been.

He gracefully leapt from the tree, landing at Naruto's side.

"Relax, nothing is going to happen to either of you" he said, fixing a cocky half-smile on his face.

A moment later they were joined by Kakashi who seemed to have materialized from thin air. Not that he was complaining. Sasuke knew he was strong, he even believed he was now strong enough to take out Itachi but the matter of fact was right now he was badly injured and the blow he'd received from the Kyuubi's shroud appeared to have messed up his chakra flow. Deep down he wasn't feeling half as cocky as he was making out and was grateful for Kakashi's emergence.

"Please, just get out of here, all of you!" Sakura cried out, no longer able to hold back her tears. She hated what she was being reduced to, the crybaby of days gone by but she was terrified of what was going to happen to her friends. Naruto had remained silent since she had last spoken and seemed to fighting some kind of inner battle, his clenched fists shaking at his sides. He looked up, his eyes locking on hers with such intensity that she felt heat rise to her face.

"They aren't going to take me Sakura-chan and they aren't going to take you either." She had never heard him speak with such certainty before, she trusted him from the bottom of her heart but his words only brought more tears to her eyes. He was out of his depth, there was nothing he could do but get hurt.

She looked at her boys, through tear stained eyes. Naruto, Sasuke and Kakashi. She loved them all and there they were, fighting to save her like they always did and always would. Even in such a situation she couldn't help but feel a wave of happiness at this thought, even if she hated needing to be saved it was nice to know there were people who cared enough to do it.

"This is going to get out of hand, it's time for us to leave" Itachi told Kisame with a tone of finality.

As soon as the words had left his mouth a wooden dome sprung from the ground covering both Sakura and her Uchiha guard. Darkness encompassed them and she wondered what the hell Yamato was planning on. She heard Itachi let out what sounded like a small sigh, his warm breath grazing the skin on her neck making her suddenly very aware of their closeness. His hands had become some what clammy from holding onto her and she could smell his musky scent. She felt very uncomfortable with their proximity and tried to edge her body away from his as much as possible, squirming a little as his grip tightened at her movements.

"Relax Sakura-san" and to her horror she did. She could feel the muscles in her body ease up at his words as if he had some strange power over her. She wondered what was going on outside and more to the point why Itachi hadn't made any effort to free them from their wooden prison. She could hear muffle noises from outside but the wood was too dense for her to be able to make out what was happening with any sort of clarity.

"Sakura-san, I would like you to break through the wood now" it was a simple statement. Although he had been polite it was clearly an order, not an option.

"Why should I?" she asked scornfully.

"It is the simplest way, all it will take is one kick"

She found the fact that he was making her break them out slightly odd, after all surely the great Itachi Uchiha should easily be able to break through the wood but she decided not to question him. She didn't desire to spend another moment trapped in this claustrophobic space with him, she gathered chakra to her foot and with precise timing released it as her foot made contact with the wall of their jail.

She had opted to not destroy the whole structure and had settled for kicking a hole large enough to allow them to escape. Itachi escorted her out calmly to where Kisame was struggling to fend off the others. He was outnumbered and already seemed to have been injured multiple times in the few minutes they had been trapped.

"Stop." Itachi's voice was authoritative and the others all heeded his command without a second thought. He seems to have that effect on people.

"This fight will only end in casualties for all parties involved. That is not in the best interest of any of us. If you leave this place now I shall not be forced to hurt any of you." he waited for his words to sink in.

"Naruto-kun, I'm sure you will wish to rescue Sakura-san. I promise that no member of Akatsuki shall lay a finger on her for ten days. You have those ten days to decide whether or not you are willing to exchange yourself for her."

"You bastard" Sasuke spat at him.

Itachi ignored his younger brother and continued "There is a town thirty miles North-West of here, we have a small base on the outskirts of the town. You should be able to find it easily enough. If another team is sent, I will kill Sakura on sight of them."

Sakura was surprised that Naruto still hadn't said anything, his eyes were cemented to the ground. She noticed he was biting his lip so hard he had drawn blood and a small trickle of crimson liquid creapt down his chin.

"If you do not come within ten days, Sakura will also die. I will allow you to bring the team you are currently traveling with so you are insured of Sakura's safe return. Think hard Naruto-kun."

And finally Itachi, Kisame and Sakura evaporated from the scene.

Everything was going to plan.

A/N - Thanks so much to everyone who has reviewed so far. I hope people enjoy the revised, less clumsy version on the story! Is anyone interested in beta-reading for me? I have one but she's currently still at school and won't be able to start for a while. After revising my first few chapter myself I realized just how useful it would be to have a beta reader.

I'd also like to point out that isn't going to just be a simple Sakura bait story. Trust me, I spent quite a while thinking about the plot for this story. I have some of the crazy folks at Naruto Forums to thank for their interesting theories which have inspired this story. I also have the advantage of writing this story after Itachi's character has been fully revealed at long last and I'm really excited about exploring the new posibilties this brings.

If you enjoyed please review! It means a lot to me, contructive criticisms are also appreciated.

Vodkalust :D