Those first few weeks after arriving at the Akatsuki base were tense. The members were uncomfortable with me almost as much as I was of them. When I met with the leader I had reluctantly handed Sakura over to Kisame. I was hard pressed not to, but Sakura had smiled and told me to go, that she would be fine. I was uncomfortable with the leader, but he didn't seem truly as malicious as the others, he had the thirst for the kill, but he didn't care so much for revenges or torture unless it was necessary. So he was better than the others.
There were ten members including myself. Kisame, Orochimaru, Zetzu, Kakazu, Sasori, Deidara, Hidan, Leader-sama(I was told to call him that, his name was actually Pein), Konan, and finally me.
Kisame was the one I trusted most of the members. He wasn't malicious, though I realized he had quite a bit of blood thirst on missions. His sword was the Samahada, it sucked the chakra out of its victims, it wasn't meant to cut them like a normal sword. And surprisingly, he was incredibly fast, even with his height. I usually let him go for the kill, but I did sometimes go. I was never in the mood to kill, I never had been, I had simply killed when told.
Orochimaru was a creep. I trusted him the least. He always gave me weird looks, as if he wanted my body-yes, creepy, I know. He gave Sakura perverted looks, looks that made me want to rip off his favorite appendage and shove it down his throat. He was into snakes. I only went on two missions with him and he never showed his true abilities, just summoning a large snake.
Zetzu was…interesting. He was an oversized plant with a split personality. I nearly had a heart attack when he picked up Sakura. He simply held her as she crawled all over him, playing with the fly trap parts that reached over his head. I didn't trust him, but Sakura seemed okay with him, so I let him hold her if I was within watching distance. He was our spy, and he was good.
Kakazu was obsessed with money, Konan had an obsession with origami, and Leader-sama had an obsession with piercing. I didn't know much about them. I had never actually met Konan, she was at my initiation. I met Kakazu when I was getting money to buy groceries for the Akatsuki-he had grumbled the entire time. And the only times I had met Leader-sama was that first night and my initiation.
Sasori was the puppet master, he himself was a puppet. He was weird, talking of art as everlasting. He was stoic, like myself, but I trusted him for this, I had something to relate to. He was even teaching Sakura how to control a puppet with her chakra. And because of her amazing chakra control she was learning quickly.
Deidara was his partner. A little to hyper, and a little to angst. He was a stupid child. He was the only member truly my age-he was fifteen-, Sasori was about twenty, even though he looked our age. Deidara used clay to make bomb figurines. He had hands in his hands, stomach, and, obviously, on his face. He truly was annoying. Sakura didn't mind all the mouths, but she was annoyed with his attitude. So I attempted to keep her away from him-but I will admit that my reasons weren't so unselfish, he seemed to be overly interested in her, so I made sure to keep her away from him.
And finally Hidan. He had a cursing problem and I nearly killed him for cursing in front of Sakura. But she told me she was used to it, that bullies went away if you ignored them, and that I shouldn't get angry about it. He always tried to get a rise out of her, always told her he was going to sacrifice her to his god, Jashin-sama. But she would simply look at him before looking for me. I restrained myself from attacking to do as she wished, to simply ignore him. He finally came around and stopped bothering her, just as she said it would.
The pairs had been switched up because of me. I was now paired with Kisame. Deidara was still paired with Sasori. Kakazu was still paired with Hidan. Leader-sama was still paired with Konan, and Orochimaru was paired with Zetzu.
My first mission away was hard. I was terrified about Sakura the entire time, always worried about what would happen to her. But as the missions increased and every time I returned Sakura was okay, I started becoming less worried. I wasn't completely cured of my worry, but it was manageable now and I could forget about it when I needed to. Sakura was quickly becoming stronger with her training, almost all of the members trained her at least once, except for Orochimaru and Deidara. I made sure they never came near her, even when I was gone.
So my missions continued, always gruesome. Well, not always. Sometimes they were simple assassinations, sometimes they were to spy. It was only bad when we went to get information from a person-usually by means of torture-and when we went to retrieve something-usually meaning we killed every person guarding it then some. I would leave Sakura with Kisame if he wasn't on a mission with me, which he usually was. If he was, then I left her with Sasori with strict instructions for her not to be near or alone with Deidara or Orochimaru. I never got the chance to train with Sakura, whenever I got back I would eat and then sleep. When I awoke I would spend the day just sitting with her, usually reading or taking her into town to learn about buying things and what was best to buy and the quality, I would usually be on another mission the next day. It was nearly half a year when Sakura got sick.
"Ne, Itachi, why you goin' so fast, we can relax." I ignored, pushing us even faster. "Damn it Itachi, slow down! I can't go that fast!" I ignored him once again. I was pushing myself to hard, I knew this, but I had a bad feeling. I needed to get to Sakura. Something was wrong. I couldn't let anything happen to my angel, nothing could happen to her, I wouldn't allow it. I kept pushing us. Kisame had finally stopped complaining, simply following me. The silence went unbroken for an hour, I didn't speak until we were almost there.
"Something is wrong, with Sakura. I will not allow anything to harm her." He looked at me for a moment, I could feel his stare on my back, before I heard the slight movement of his head, signaling his nod. We were quiet once more. I immediately ran inside the base and up to Sakura's faint chakra, in her room. I could feel the others around her(the others being Sasori, Deidara, Konan, Zetzu, and Orochimaru). I burst through the door and marched to her bed, the others immediately began speaking up.
"Itachi, I don't know what happened. I was with Pein when Deidara came to me, yelling about Sakura. I came down, but I couldn't do anything." Her words made the fear and worry in my chest grow, not that it showed on my face.
"I'm not aware of what happened. I sent Deidara to get Konan, but as she said, there was nothing to be done." His words made the feelings grow more, and the concern I could hear in the red heads normally emotionless voice didn't help.
"I just did as I was told." I ignored the blonde, angry enough that he was near my Sakura, but that didn't matter to me right now. I kneeled beside her limp body on the bed as Zetzu began to speak.
"I am not aware of what is helpful in these situations, but I heard from an old woman a while back that ones with sickness have restless and troubled minds. They spoke of a tea that could settle the mind, I found this tea and poured it down Sakura's throat, she drank it willingly. I could not cure the sickness, but that seems to be passing right now." My head shot up to look at her face. Now that I looked closer, I could see that she was indeed breathing. I sighed in relief, making sure the others couldn't hear it. I scooted forward a little so that I was kneeling by her stomach.
"Thank you Zetzu. Now, leave. Everyone." I heard the shuffling of feet before the door closed. I sat there for a while, staring into her face and stroking her hair. I laid down beside her, continuing my stroking upon her cheek, and watched her chest rise and fall with her steady breaths.
It wasn't safe here. I couldn't keep her. She wouldn't get the proper health attention a young girl like her did. And she needed a female caretaker, not a bunch of S-class criminals. Konan did not count as a female caretaker, she was far to violent and much like the others here. I sighed, I didn't want to leave her. I looked back up to her face. It was paler than usual, I could hear the labor it was taking her to breath, although it didn't look like she was having trouble, and she lay limp. Not even a full year and she looked as if she had been stepping over the thresh hold of death's door before she was pulled back. As I laid there, I made my decision.
"Itachi," Sakura asked from her position in my arms. She was bigger now, I used the second arm to hold her in place. "where are we going?" I looked down at her. Yes, she was still small, even a little under weight because of that sickness(she had only gotten over it, it took her an entire month). But her eyes held more life in them, I knew my eyes still hadn't gained any. The little that I had gained disappeared when I made the decision to leave Sakura with someone else, someone who could take care of her.
"Patience my little one, you will see in time." She gave me a curious look before nodding and looking back at the path that I was flying and jumping along. I was nearly there. Luckily, the woman I was looking for was that far away, I could feel her chakra. Her and her companion were setting up camp. I sat outside there sensing range for a while, waiting until they were more relaxed. Finally, once the sun had been down for a few hours, I teleported to the center of their camp and proected Sakura's head against my chest, hiding her under my cloak so that she wouldn't be seen. The two woman stood up and eyed me wearily, a kunai in each hand. A third person came out, a boy only a few years older than Sakura, who looked at me with a curious gaze.
"Itachi Uchiha, what do you want?" The blonde woman said. I looked over to her, she had moved closer, in front of the camp. The dark haired woman had moved to stand in front of the white haired boy. I looked back to the blonde woman.
"Tsunade-sama, I require your help." She looked at me in shock for a moment, her grip on her weapons loosening for a moment before tightening her hold and her fighting position was more guarded.
"Why would I help you?!" She growled it out loudly, making Sakura shift a little. I glanced down briefly and tightened my hold on her. I looked back at Tsunade.
"Please, I only request that she does not go back to Konoha. Her reasons are her own, I ask you to respect them." She was still holding her weapons, but they were now hanging limply in her hands. I quickly yet carefully pulled Sakura's sleeping form from my cloak. The two woman gasped and the young boy walked forward.
I watched him warily, holding Sakura closer to myself. He came to stand in front of me. He held out his arms, expecting me to put her in his arms. I held her tighter to me.
"Sir, I'll take her for you." The little boy glanced from my face to Sakura to his outstretched arms and back again to my face. I held Sakura closer to me. She shifted a little and groaned, signs that she was to awaken soon. I looked into his face, silently demanding his name and who he is.
"My name is Kimmimaru. I have a lung disease, I am hear for my health." I nodded, still reluctant to give her up. He smiled up at me. I sighed and handed Sakura to him once she shifted again. He held her in his arms, one arm under her legs and the other under her shoulders. Her head was leaning against his chest. I glanced around the occupants of the camp once more before looking back down to her, in another's arms.
I can't believe how attached I had become to her, how overprotective, how jealous and angry I got at others around her. I closed my eyes once before opening them once more. I leaned down to her.
"I will always protect you, My Little Blossom." I whispered in her ear. I kissed her forehead, her eyelids, her cheeks and then a peck on her lips. After another glance at the others, I was gone. I had hesitated far to long, Leader-sama would be angry I was gone for longer than expected.
A/N: Hey, hope you guys like this one. I know the beginning was a little slow, but I hope you like it anyways. Thank you for reading.
DISCLAIMER: I do not own Naruto or its characters.
