Chapter Three
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. (But I do own the plot). And I still wished I owned Itachi!
Author's Note: In case you are confused (which I hope you're not), dreams are also italicized.
For once, I actually had a semi-normal dream. I dreamt I was at a party, and everyone kept asking me to dance with them. I ended up turning every guy down until I saw a familiar face from across the room. Itachi was standing there holding a red rose.
"Shall we dance?" he asked me. I took his hand and we danced for hours until it was time to leave. We walked down a winding path, and when we got to what was supposed to be my house, we sat together on the step. I closed my eyes, and Itachi leaned in...
I woke up and Itachi was still sleeping.
'Why did I dream something like that?' Then it hit me: Do I like him or something? No way! I looked over at him again. He was a good-looking guy, and next to Sasuke he had to be one of the cutest guys I've ever seen.
'I did not just think that!'
'Yes you did! You want him so bad!'
'No I don't!'
'Admit it! You like him!'
Okay, I admit it; I did think he was cute. I gently brushed his hair out of his eyes, and he tossed and turned a bit. Then he opened his eyes!
"What are you doing now?" he asked me.
"Uh...nothing," I said.
"Did you have that dream again?"
"No, what gave you that idea?"
"Never mind," he said falling back asleep. I sat there and I watched Itachi sleep. I didn't get why I was developing all these feelings for him, but it was happening against my will.
No matter how I hard I tried to push him out of my mind, he wouldn't leave! Then I got up and looked out the window at the cold black sky. And at that moment, I wondered if Sasuke was out there somewhere, looking up at the sky too.
Somewhere out in the woods...
Naruto's Point of View:
"Which way now Neji?" I asked him. Shikamaru and I got Kiba, Akamaru and Neji to join us in the search for Sakura. But finding the Akatsuki headquarters was becoming so frustrating!
"I think it's this way," he said pointing north.
"How do you know? Why would they be out in the middle of the freezing tundra?" said Kiba.
"Bark!" Akamaru barked in agreement.
"Well then, Kiba...if your so smart, how about you sniff out a trail for us or something."
"That doesn't sound like a bad idea," said Shikamaru. "Sakura has only been gone for two days, so all Kiba and Akamaru have to do is follow her scent."
"Well, don't look at me, Akamaru is the one to do it. Hey boy, can you sniff out Sakura for us?"
"Bark."
"He says he needs one of her belongings so he can track her," said Kiba speaking for Akamaru.
"Well, Sakura-chan gave me this rag to blow my nose," I said handing him a rag. Kiba reluctantly accepted it, and Akamaru sniffed it. By the looks of things, Akamaru could smell her and started to head east.
"Follow that dog!" I said boldly. The four of us followed Akamaru for hours until we came by a waterfall. Akamaru walked along the edge of the pool over the unsteady rocks, and disappeared behind the waterfall. We followed Akamaru though endless passages of caves until we came out into a thick pine forest. And all we could do was continue on.
Back at HQ...
Sakura's Point of View:
I woke up the next morning to find that Itachi was staring at me.
"What is it?" I said sleepily while rubbing my eyes.
"Leader-sama wants to see us, so hurry up and get dressed."
"Aw, just five more minutes..." I said laying back down. Itachi grabbed me and threw me off the bed.
"Ow! What is wrong with you?"
"Just shut up and get dressed," he said leaving the room. I quickly changed into my robes and left the room to find Itachi and Kisame waiting for me.
"About time you got your lazy ass up," said Kisame glaring at me.
"Shut up," I said following them to Pein's office. When we got inside, there were several people tied up in the back corner of his office.
"Nice of you to come." Then Pein looked at me. "Zetsu was out last night, and he found some friends of yours," he said pointing to the shadows. I walked over to find Naruto, Kiba, Akamaru, Neji and Shikamaru were tied up with cloths over their mouths, except Akamaru who was muzzled.
I went over to Naruto and took the rag that was over his mouth. But he wasn't exactly happy to see me.
"Sakura! What were you thinking joining these creeps!" he shouted at me.
"I'm sorry..." I said.
"You owe us all an explanation!"
"I did it because...I want to save Sasuke."
"Sasuke! You mean you still haven't gotten over that jerk?"
"You don't understand! Orochimaru's brainwashed his mind!" I argued back.
"Relax, Sakura." Pein came towards me and looked down at Naruto. "I'll take it from here."
"What are you going to do?" said Naruto. "Because I'm ready to take you on!"
'Naruto...you think after six years of being a ninja he'd know how to choose his battles...'
Pein turned to Itachi and Kisame.
"Take all of them down to the dungeons...except the kyuubi." Itachi and Kisame grabbed everyone else and dragged them down to the dungeons.
'Well...at least Gaara will have some company now.' I thought to myself.
"Sakura...go with them. I need to talk to the boy alone."
"Yes Leader-sama." I followed Itachi and Kisame down to the dungeons. We untied my friends and put half of them in one cell with Gaara, and the rest of them had a separate cell.
"Sakura! You traitor! How could you do this to us?" said Kiba growling at me. I wasn't trying to show any emotion, but I couldn't help but feel a few tears fall from my eyes.
"Sakura!" Kisame and Itachi were ready to leave.
"I'll be there in a minute." Itachi walked up to me and stared me straight in the eyes.
"Then I'm staying," he said. He slammed me up against the wall and I thought I felt my head bleeding.
"If you even so much as think about helping them escape, I swear that you will suffer a fate worse than death."
"Wha-what are you going to do to me?"
"Allow me to demonstrate. Mangekyou sharingan!" The three dots in his eyes joined at the middle, and everything changed drastically. I was down on my hands and knees, and Itachi was repeatedly stabbing me in the back with a katana. I screamed in pain.
"Please...stop it! Don't do this to me!" I screamed.
"No." I began to cry in pain as he continued to stab me. Then I was on the floor of the dungeons trying to breathe.
"And that's just five seconds of it. The real thing would be much, much worse. Now, get up." I slowly got up and looked at my friends. They had all witnessed what just happened, and they were all still in shock.
"I promise...I'll come back later," I said as Itachi grabbed me by the collar of my cloak.
"Let's go, Kisame is waiting." I followed Itachi out of the dungeons and back up to the main hallway.
"Why did you do that?" I said looking up at him with hate in my eyes. "Why do you have to treat me like this?"
"I told you I don't give any sympathy towards anybody."
"Not even Sasuke?"
"No. And if you mention his name again, you know what will happen." The thought of going through the Mangekyou sharingan again was frightening just thinking about it. The three of us went back to the dining room again to find most of the guys were gone except Zetsu.
"Where did they-"
"They're all on missions. Ours is tomorrow, and you're coming with us," said Itachi as we sat down. As usual, Mai came out of the kitchens wearing another skimpy number.
This time she was wearing the shortest skirt I've ever seen with high heels, and a corset top that looked about two sizes too small. She walked over to Itachi and started flirting with him while he ate. But he just ignored her. That girl was so clueless! Then she started glaring at me.
"Stay away from him," she said as she played with his hair.
"So Itachi, did you have a good time yesterday?" No answer.
"We can do it again if you'd like," she said giggling.
"Maybe you should leave him alone," I said out loud.
"Maybe you should get a hat to cover that giant forehead of yours," she said laughing at me. I took out a kunai and threw it at her. She screamed as it cut a piece of her hair off.
"You're crazy!" she screamed at me.
"That's right. I'm crazy. But at least I'm not some stupid bimbo in tacky outfits!"
It's about to be a girlfight! I think we already know who will win this one. The next chapter will be out shortly. :)