CHAPTER 4- The beginning

"Uchiha, cease the sulking."

Itachi was glad that he was facing the window and that Tsunade was unable to catch the way his eyebrow twitched out of annoyance. He was standing in front of the broad windows of his office and faced the village that laid beneath the Hokage Tower whereas Tsunade was comfortably seated on the chair, his chair, behind his desk and went through his assistants report.

"I don't think that there is any reason for me to sulk, Tsunade-sama." Itachi calmly returned, his voice betraying the annoyance that he felt after hearing her comment.

Uchiha Itachi did not sulk.

He could practically see her rolling her eyes at him in return. "I know that you are anything but delighted regarding our most recent decision, but it's not as bad as you make it seem."

Itachi frowned. It wasn't like he was against the idea itself, he proposed it after all, it was rather the conditions that he wasn't too happy about and Tsunade knew it.

"Besides," The blonde once more spoke up after some moments of silence have passed, a teasing smirk on her lips as she rested her chin on her palm. "Sakura is an intelligent and strong young woman. Not only can she take care of herself, she also possesses quite a lot of diplomatic skills that I am sure will come in handy on your journey to Suna."

The Uchiha heir exhaled a soft sigh and closed his eyes. It wasn't like he didn't want Sakura to join him, it was simply that he didn't want anyone to join him. He didn't need any unnecessary baggage on a mission like this and would be faster on his own but of course, as soon as he told Tsunade about his plan she suggested that he should take her student with him.

"I don't need her." He once more insisted, but he knew that it would change nothing. Tsunade was a stubborn woman and once she wanted something her way, it would be her way.

Tsunade drummed her fingers against the wooden desk in return, seemingly bored. "I begin to think that you need her more than you know, Itachi." She uttered under her breath and just then a knock echoed through the office.

She smirked as she glanced at the clock that was hanging to her right. "Would you look at that, two minutes early as well." Tsunade ignored the amused huff that she earned from Itachi as he as well turned around to face the door, defeated, and smiled mischievously."Enter!"

Itachi lifted a dark brow at Tsunade upon hearing her call and mildly wondered just who the current Hokage was. She was sitting in his chair, in his office and allowed people to enter without even bothering to acknowledge him.

He heard the sound of the door opening but allowed his gaze to remain on Tsunade. "I didn't believe that you would miss your position as the active Hokage this much." He commented as Sakura entered the office, oblivious to what was going on.

As soon as the pinkette was fully standing in the room however, she found herself mildly surprised at the sight that greeted her. Tsunade was sitting behind the desk and seemed to be beyond amused whereas Itachi was standing next to her and looked like he was at his wits end.

It was a strange sight indeed.

"Don't worry Uchiha, I am glad that it's you that has to deal with the staples of papers and the council instead of me." She said, patting his arm before she crossed her arms above her chest and gave Sakura, who still looked beyond unsure as to what was going on, a smile. "Punctual as usual, Sakura-chan."

Sakura returned her mentors smile with an uncertain one of her own. It seemed like Tsunade found a new victim and whereas she did pity him to some extend, she was glad that she was off of the hook for now.

"Tsunade-shishou." Sakura greeted her old mentor before she turned to Itachi, her smile turning sympathetic. "Hokage-sama."

Itachi gave her a curt nod in return. "Haruno-san." He politely returned, his hope for a calm and fast journey fading with every second that passed. Sakura was an intelligent woman, he knew as much, but if rumors were true and she possessed her mentors thick skull and temper his doom was certain to be near.

"Well Sakura, I am sure that you're wondering why Itachi suddenly summoned you to his office." Tsunade started, voicing the pinkette's thoughts as Sakura in return merely nodded.

She indeed wondered why Itachi would want to see her in his office this fast and this soon but now that she knew that her mentor was involved as well she already had quite a few guesses.

"You will accompany me on my journey to Suna."

That, however, was certainly none of them.

Sakura blinked and he watched her eyes light up with a mixture of surprise and confusion before they fell on him. She obviously didn't expect this and when her eyes flickered to Tsunade for the split of a second, as if to ensure herself that he was indeed serious, his brows furrowed for the smallest of bits.

"Suna?" Sakura echoed as Itachi nodded once more and leaned sideways against the desk with his arms crossed above his chest.

"Yes." He confirmed. "There are a few matters that I personally have to discuss with the Kazekage." He explained, his face not away any clue as to what these matters could possibly be.

Of course Sakura already had the sneaking suspicion that it was related to her recent discovery regarding the murder of their shinobi but knowing Itachi, she would only find out if this was the case if he wanted her to.

"I see." Sakura mumbled as she forced a small smile on her face. She was anything but delighted upon hearing that she would have to travel all the way to Suna with Itachi but she professionally masked her disappointment.

She hoped that Itachi summoned her because he planned to send her on a solo mission, or at least a mission for Team Seven but that was not the kind of mission that she looked forward to.

However, she was aware of the importance of this mission and would not complain about it, regardless of whether she liked it or not. She was a kunoichi and a mission was a mission, she couldn't always choose what she liked.

"As I see that you've already packed, it would be best if you two leave as soon as possible." Tsunade advised them, expression now serious. "Four Anbu members will follow you at a safe distance in case of an ambush. Sakura, you will join Itachi as his advisor and the two of you should be back in around two weeks. No one is to know of either Itachi's absence nor of his journey to Suna, understood?"

Sakura nodded in return and tightened her hold on the strap of her yellow backpack, ignoring the way her stomach made a flip. "Hai, Tsunade-Shishou. I'll do my best."

Tsunade waved her hand . "I know that you will." She assured her before she turned to look at Itachi, who was eyeing Sakura with calculating eyes. "Ready?"

The Uchiha pointedly ignored Tsunade and kept his eyes fixed on Sakura, who met his blank gaze with her own stubborn one. "I expect you to be at the gates in two minutes." He told her, and as soon as he uttered these words he disappeared within the blink of an eye.

As soon as he was gone Sakura allowed herself to exhale the breath that she was holding and shot Tsunade a helpless gaze.

She however merely smiled in return, and Sakura had a feeling that this mission would turn out to be her hardest one yet.

-X-

They have been traveling for the past three hours without taking a break and even though Sakura didn't want to admit it, she was slowly beginning to feel tired. She could have easily carried on if she wouldn't have trained with Sasuke and Naruto earlier but then again, she couldn't have possibly known that Itachi would summon her right after either. She sighed.

Troublesome.

They continued to jump from tree to tree, Sakura facing his back in silence while her senses where on high alert. So far they fortunately haven't stumbled across anyone or anything unusual, meaning that they would most likely reach Suna within the next two days if everything went according to plan.

Itachi was thinking along the same lines as they were running through the woods at full speed and noticed the way Sakura's chakra flickered the tiniest of bits. He expected her to speak up an hour ago to suggest a break but surprisingly she carried on without doing as much as to utter a word.

Itachi inwardly sighed. He could have easily carried on running for another hour or so but knowing that by then her chakra would be fully drained, he decided that there would be little sense in wearing her out.

Itachi continued onward until a small clearing came into his sight minutes later and he dropped down onto the ground, waiting for Sakura to do the same. The young woman was slightly surprised to see him stop rather abruptly but didn't dare to comment on it and instead, took it as the Kama's answering her silent prayers as she jumped down as well.

The clearing was spacious, but not too large either. They would be able to make a small fire but not gain too much attention at the same time either, what was exactly what Itachi deemed fit for them.

"Hokage-sama?" Sakura questioned, the night air causing a shiver to run down her spine as Itachi's dark eyes met hers.

The Uchiha's expression was blank. "You'll have three hours to rest. After that I expect your chakra to be fully recharged." He curtly informed her before he turned around and moved to sit down at the base of one of the trees.

Sakura's eyes widened for the split of a second upon hearing his words before she pursed her lips into a thin line, visibly displeased at what he was indicating. "I assure you that I'll be fine without any rest." She firmly returned, brows furrowed.

It was true after all. Sakura would manage for another hour if she had to, but she knew just as well that she would end up even more exhausted and it would take her chakra additional hours to fully charge, but Itachi didn't need to know that.

She didn't want to be an inconvenience and have him think that she needed a break every three hours, what certainly wasn't the case. She didn't want to burden him any further with her presence and yet he was making it quite hard for her to get her point across.

Despite of the darkness she could easily make out the way Itachi's eyes sharpened. "Your chakra is almost fully drained and you are visibly tired. I doubt that you would be fine without any rest and I would certainly like to avoid having to carry your unconscious body to Sunagakure after you have passed out due to your drained chakra, so I advise you to rest now while you have the opportunity to do so."

Sakura's eyes narrowed upon hearing his words and he instantly noticed the way her eyes brighten up in the darkness of the night, emerald orbs filled with displeasure. She remained standing a few meters away from him, back straight and fists tightly clenched at her side and Itachi could tell that she was doing her best to keep herself together.

She was a temperamental woman, he knew as much, but she seemingly was quite stubborn as well.

"Do you think of me as that foolish?" She inquired, clearly insulted. "I am a medic, I know my limits and especially my chakra."

Itachi lifted his knee and leaned his elbow on it, his expression doubtful. "If you really knew your limits Haruno, you wouldn't be wasting the time that you could use resting with trying to convince me that you are able to carry on whereas you clearly aren't." He returned, voice holding a hint of annoyance. Here he was, providing her a chance to rest and gather some energy for the long hours that still awaited them and yet she complained.

Sakura could have sworn that her brow twitched and bit on her tongue. She knew that if she went on to discuss like this it would lead nowhere, especially since she knew that it was impossible to argue with the Uchiha. Not because he would have won, Sakura clearly knew how to get her point across, but because he would eventually grow tired of their argument and stop, what would leave Sakura even more angry than before.

"Very well then." Sakura breathed, head held high and eyes hard. "I advise you to get some rest as well though. We wouldn't want you to get abducted in case of an ambush, what would leave me to get you out of trouble and frankly, I don't feel like doing so at the moment Hokage-sama."

Itachi huffed upon hearing her words, his eyes fixed on the young female as she walked over to a tree opposite of his and slumped onto the ground as well. She then leaned with her back against the rough tree trunk and gazed upwards at the dark night sky that was filled with tiny sparkling stars, the moonlight that filtered through the tree that she was leaning on caressing her face gently.

"You truly believe me to be as weak as to get abducted?" He asked, his voice laced with the smallest hint of curiosity that didn't escape Sakura.

The pinkette couldn't stop herself from smiling upon noticing that he seemed to be sincerely interested in her answer and inwardly rolled her eyes. "I'm not calling you weak." She sighed as she closed her eyes and enjoyed the feeling of the fresh night air on her skin."But I am not calling you invincible either. Regardless of how strong you are, you are still human, Hokage or not."

Itachi hummed curtly in return and regarded her for another moment, genuinely interested. Now that he got the opportunity to formally talk to his advisor, he finally had a chance to find out more about her. After all, he still needed to ensure that he hadn't made a mistake by accepting Tsunade's offer and taking her as his right hand.

Whereas he didn't distrust her, he didn't know whether she was the right one for the position. The Hokage needed someone whom he could get advice from in case of an emergency or regarding political matters and he didn't know if Sakura was fit for this position and would be able to keep a clear head, or if she would start to panic as soon as things would be looking bad.

"I am not invincible." He agreed. "However, the chances of me getting abducted are very low and the chances of you having to aid me in my escape are therefore close to nonexistent."

This time, Sakura actually opened her eyes and turned her head for the smallest of bits to look at him, green eyes gleaming with amusement. He sounded so confident and seemed so convinced by his own words that she couldn't help but wonder if this was another one of the traits that the Uchiha shared.

Sakura met his confident gaze with her own amused one, all thoughts of sleep having completely left her mind.

"I am certain that there will be a day when you will be in the need of my help whether you'll like to admit it or not." Sakura confidently returned, certain that she would forever remember the day when she would need to help the oh-so-great Uchiha heir.

She mentally snorted.

Itachi arched one of his brows, his blank expression firmly in place. He clearly doubted that he would ever need her to help him regardless of what kind of circumstances they would find themselves in, not because he thought of her as useless but rather because she seemingly didn't even know how to help herself.

How would she help him if she refused a mere three hours of sleep in order to charge her chakra?

"Unlikely." He curtly replied, watching how Sakura's eyes were seemingly burning, just waiting for the opportunity to prove him wrong.

Sakura's smile turned into a small smirk as she turned her head back and once more faced the stars."I wouldn't be too sure of that, but in the end you'll see it for yourself." She told him, sounding confident herself as she closed her eyes and decided to get some rest before they would leave again. The pinkette wasn't necessarily tired anymore, but she knew that this would be her only opportunity to get some rest for the next day or so.

Itachi watched how Sakura slowly drifted into a light slumber and fought the urge to shake his head at her. She was stubborn and confident in her skills, and she even went as far as to challenge him.

Itachi tried to think back to the time when someone had mustered up the courage to speak this open with him and as expected, couldn't think of anyone with the exception of the pink haired kunoichi.

Whereas he knew that she would never disrespect him, she didn't hide herself behind a mask of forced politeness either and Itachi had to admit that it as a refreshing change. Ever since he became the Hokage, people would watch their every word and spoke with an amount of forced kindness, feigned concern and faked interest that sickened him.

So far, no one tried to prove him wrong and Itachi would like to see Sakura trying to do so.

He would be fine on his own, and he would ensure that Sakura would come to learn that as well.

-X-

"Two rooms, please."

The woman behind the counter gave Sakura a bright smile and bobbed her head before she scribbled something down on a blank sheet of paper. The girl seemed to be even younger than Sakura and despite of the fact that it was four in the morning, she seemed quite motivated and wide awake.

Sakura and Itachi have traveled for the past twenty-four hours and entered the Lad of the Wind an hour ago. It has been raining the entire day and by now both Sakura and Itachi were soaked to the bone, Sakura having suggested to look for a place to rest over the night to which Itachi wordlessly agreed.

"All set." The young girl chirped with a bright smile as she handed Sakura two keys, her hazel eyes shining brightly in the dim lightning of the room. "Your rooms are on the second floor, 206 and 207. Enjoy your stay and if you need anything, just give me a call!"

Sakura didn't miss the way the brunette's eyes flickered to Itachi's when she had said the last part and gave her what she hoped to be a polite smile when she noticed that Itachi didn't even bother to acknowledge her.

Said Uchiha merely put a not too small amount of bills on the counter before he took a key from Sakura without uttering as much as a word and proceeded to walk towards the stairs.

Poor girl.

"We'll make sure to do that." Sakura swiftly assured her, all the while inwardly cursing the Uchiha's for being so handsome and having this effect on girl. Poor her would probably remember Itachi for the next years judging by the way she dreamily gazed after him.

The medic gave her a small wave before she turned around and jogged after her boss. She managed to catch up with him halfway up the stairs and silently followed him, too tired to comment on his rather rude departure.

Itachi and Sakura managed to find their rooms without any problems and since they have already discussed the details of their departure on their way to the inn, they entered their respective rooms without exchanging any words with the exception of the soft goodbye that Sakura mumbled before she closed the door.

Itachi closed the door behind him with a soft click and dropped his pack on the ground next to the plain bed that was placed in the corner of the room. He removed his wet shirt and used a katon jutsu to lighten up the fireplace in the opposite corner of the room so that his shirt could dry before he laid down on the bed, facing the ceiling.

He knew that he wouldn't be able to sleep.

There were too many things on his mind, too many thoughts and concerns that left him unable to give into the sweet temptation of sleep that was trying to pull him into the darkness of the night.

When was the last time that he had been able to get a proper sleep? He couldn't remember.

It's been like this ever since he could remember, even before he was named the Rokudaime Hokage. He has encountered sights that others could not even imagine and was forced to grow up at a very young age.

Itachi has always been different, he realized that the moment that he entered academy and noticed the way the children looked and acted around him. He always was rather reversed but even after all these years passed people still treated him like he was special, if not even dangerous.

That' why he got along with Shisui this well. Shisui understood Itachi and his concerns, his mind set and his perspective on life.

In a world this cruel and judgmental it was hard to survive in between people that only thought of themselves first.

He rarely encountered anyone who was actually unafraid to freely converse with him without fearing him or his actions if they were to get on his bad side.

That was why he didn't want an assistant. He didn't want to depend on anyone and liked to take care of things himself, this way he was sure that everything would be properly taken care of without any problems .

The image of a pink haired kunoichi flashed through his mind and Itachi sighed softly.

She was still innocent in a way and hadn't even seen half of what he did and yet, she wasn't naive either. Sakura seemed to be rather realistic and didn't fear to speak her mind, what was quite refreshing for Itachi. Of course she was quite stubborn and thick-headed but in the end it was better than having someone as his assistant who didn't even dare to breathe without his permission.

Itachi scanned the area with his chakra and was not surprised to feel Sakura's calm signature, indicating that she was sound asleep.

At least one of them was able to properly rest.

Itachi stayed like this for the next hour, deep in thought when he all of sudden sensed the chakra signature one of Konoha's Anbu Shinobi hurrying into the direction of his room.

Itachi narrowed his eyes and moved to stand up from the bed. Gradually, one by one unveiled their chakra Signature and when he moved to walk over to the window and activated his Sharingan,he gazed outside at the small sleeping village and waited.

The first signature went out like a candle light and it was then that Itachi moved over to put on his shirt and vest before he grabbed his packs and left the room, heading straight for Sakura's.

They had to leave.

Standing in front of her door, Itachi didn't even bother to knock and instead formed the signs of the familiar jutsu. Knowing Sakura, she most likely sealed the door and indeed, the soft sound of the lock opening broke through the silence as soon as he formed the last sign.

He pushed open the door and entered her room without making a sound. As soon as he was inside, he gently pushed the door close and turned around to scan the room.

Almost instantly his blood-red eyes fell onto the sleeping form of the young kunoichi. Despite of the darkness, he was able to make out even the tiniest detail of the room with the aid of his Sharingan. The pale sheets covered her body up to her waist and her shoulder-long rosy hair was sprawled on the pillow, shining in the light of the fire that softly burned in her room.

Her expression was peaceful and for a moment, he almost felt bad for having to wake her.

Then again, it was her own fault for not sensing what was going on.

Itachi walked over to her bed and contemplated how to wake her before he reached out to gently shake her shoulder.

What he didn't expect was that just before his fingers would have touched her body her eyes suddenly shot open wide and her arm shot out and grabbed a fist full of his shirt, forcefully yanking him downwards while she used her other hand to grab her kunai from under her pillow and placed it against his neck.

Itachi acted as soon as he realized what was going on and faster than her eye could pick up he grabbed her forearms and pinned her on the bed before he twisted her wrist so that the Kunai that she had been holding slipped out of her grasp and fell on the ground next to her bed.

He used his right leg to keep her legs from moving and looked down at her, clearly irritated whereas she gazed up at him through half-lidded eyes. It was then that he realized that she was still half-asleep and had purely acted out of instinct, having most likely believed that someone tried to attack her in her sleep.

When Sakura's vision cleared and she realized that a pair of red eyes were staring back at her, a pair of very familiar red eyes, she frowned.

Where had she seen them before-

It was then that her fuzzy mind began to clear and that she remembered just where she was and just whom these eyes belonged to. Sakura felt her insides freeze at the realization and inwardly groaned. This had to be a dream, a really bad dream because if this was reality Sakura doubted that she would survive the next minute judging by the way his irritated eyes locked with her own confused ones.

"You really have to stop doing that." She breathed, unsure of what else to say in this kind of situation. Well it wasn't everyday that she would wake up to Itachi pinning her on the bed either.

Their noses were almost touching and the eyes that others would have been too afraid of to stare into were locked with her own, his arms still keeping her firmly in place. A strange sense of deja-vu overcame her and suddenly, images of the time when he woke her in his office flashed through her mind.

She frowned at her own thoughts. Why was it that he always managed to sneak up on her? She usually always managed to sense approaching chakra signatures, even if masked, so this was a first.

"You have to be more on alert."

Then again, he wasn't helping her much either.

Sakura pursed her lips into a thin line and opened her mouth, ready to retort when Itachi suddenly lifted his eyes and tensed.

Within the next second he yanked her arms towards him and wrapped his own around her waist, pulling her against him in a flash before he rolled down from the bed just when the sound of the wood splintering reached their ears and a huge flame shot through the inn's wall from the outside, burning the bed that they laid on a second ago.

He held her against him as she inhaled sharply out of surprise, eyes locked on the flames that brightened up the room and slowly crawled up the walls.

Sakura clearly didn't expect the walls of her room to get blown up by a huge ball of fire and after a moment she felt like groaning. Great, just what they needed. Someone trying to grill them and Itachi's ego pushed because he saved her once more.

Of course this wasn't the first time that something like this happened, but the circumstances have always been different. Sakura mildly wondered who would be in their right mind to willingly attack Itachi and her.

"What the hell is going on?" Sakura questioned as Itachi pulled her up, all sleep having left her system when Itachi released her and walked to the other side of the room.

"We're under attack." He flatly returned as he grabbed her backpack and tossed it at her. Sakura easily caught it, her expression blank at his rather uninformative explanation.

She quickly slung her backpack over her shoulder and followed him out of the room. "I can see as much." Sakura returned, her voice irritated as they hurriedly went down the stairs.

Itachi didn't even turn to look at her. "If you are aware of what's going on then you shouldn't have asked."

Sakura bit the inside of her cheek to keep herself from arguing any further even though inner Sakura was screaming at her to do so. He would get an earful from her regarding his attitude when they would arrive in Suna but until then she would have to keep herself together for the sake of their mission. Itachi was seemingly in no good mood either and as for now they had more important things to take care of.

Like escaping before the entire building blew up, for example.

The other visitors were throwing curious glances out of their doors and windows, looking for the source of the loud sound that caused them to wake in the first place but the two of them pointedly ignored them as they went outside.

Itachi stopped in front of the small wooden building and scanned the area with his Sharingan, Sakura standing by his side as she patiently watched him.

After several moments passed, Itachi moved his head to look to his right with a displeased frown. Something was not right. Whereas he had been able to sense the attackers and Konoha's Anbu shinobi a mere minute ago their signatures were now gone, as if none of them have ever been here in the first place.

"Come." He muttered the command so softly that it almost escaped her hearing but when he took off Sakura instantly followed him with a heavy feeling in her gut.

They run through the empty roads of the sleeping village and jumped from roof to roof like shadows in the night, not leaving a sound. Sakura noticed that they were headed back to the woods close to one of the rivers that they have crossed on their way and suddenly felt wary.

Why were they traveling back?

She soon received an answer to her question, however it was not the kind of answer that she would have liked.

At first, it was a mere white blur in the trees but when they got closer she felt her heart sink when she realized just what this white blur was.

There, hanging from one of the branches of a tall tree was one of the Anbu that were following them, their mask still in place and limp body hanging from a sickening angle.

She knew even before she reached him that he was dead.

"The other three are close as well. One is at the base of a tree in the far back, another one's burned corpse is hanging from one of the branches and the last one is laying on the ground a few meters back, whether he is alive or not I can't tell." Itachi informed her, slowing down as he jumped onto the branch where the first one was hanging from, Sakura following suit.

Her eyes softened out of pity when she noticed that his body was slung over a broad branch and that the back of his skull was open, looking as if an animal had bitten into it. Her eyes then moved lower and when her eyes fell on his neck she furrowed her brows. There was a clean cut on the back of his neck that couldn't have possibly been the result by a kunai. It was too deep, to thin and too precisely done. Whoever it was that attacked him must have had some kind of medical knowledge because this didn't seem like a battle injury to her.

"Uchiha-san," Sakura softly mumbled as she knelt down next to the dead shinobi, eyes fixed on his neck. "Could you please check on the others and look for anything that may seem off to you?"

"Aa."

Itachi took off without as much as another word and left Sakura alone once more.

The pinkette clenched her hands for the split of a second before she slowly opened them and moved to lay a glowing green hand a meter below the cut, her senses tingling and chakra burning when she did so.

The second Sakura's chakra entered his body to scan it, it felt as if someone had just filled her veins with acid. Her skin felt as if it was on fire and she removed her hand from his body with a pained gasp, loosing her balance in the process what forced her to channel chakra into the soles of her feet so that she wouldn't fall down the tree.

The pinkette's wide eyes flew to her throbbing hand in wonder but contrary to her expectations nothing seemed to be off with it, the only exception being the burning sensation that filled it.

"What the hell?"

The burning gradually began to fade until only a dull throbbing sensation remained in her them that was quite annoying but fortunately less painful in comparison to the feeling before.

Something like this never happened before. Sakura has always been careful and only put a small amount of chakra into a person's body whenever she wanted to do an internal scan but she never once experienced something like this, not even with poisoned people.

She looked from it to the corpse, then back at her hand.

At first there had been a tiny pull on her chakra that she almost didn't notice but as soon as she did , it felt as if someone had forcefully shot it back into her body and set it on fire in the process.

Definitely unsettling.

"Just what did they do to you?" Sakura mumbled in mild wonder. She would have to report to Tsunade about what happened when she wanted to examine him so that the blonde would be prepared beforehand when their bodies would arrive in Konoha.

"Haruno." She heard Itachi call her from somewhere on the ground, ripping her out of her thoughts

Sakura took it as her cue to leave him and with one last regretful glance at the fallen shinobi of her village, the pinkette jumped down the tree and made her way towards Itachi.

He was kneeling next to the one that was laying on the ground a couple of meters away from the others, his Sharingan scanning the Anbu's body when she arrived. The first thing that she noticed was that there was a large hole in the middle of his chest, their clothes slightly ripped at some places and Sakura knew that he probably died the second that their attacker pierced their chest.

"Left thigh."

Sakura's eyes trailed down his chest to his left thigh and as soon as they did, her eyes sharpened. Stuck in the middle of his left thigh was a sort f metallic object that was engulfed by a light blue object that Sakura would recognize anywhere in an instant. After all, she used it plenty of times before herself and for a second, Shisui's words entered her head.

"A Chakra Scalpel." She finally said as Itachi nodded in agreement. Both knew that something like this was supposed to be impossible but here it was, stuck in the thigh of one of their Shinobi without it's owner anywhere in sight.

The Chakra signature that it consisted of was a foreign one and compared to most others it felt icy instead of warm and filled with life.

This chakra signature felt dead, yet alive at the same time. It was unlike anything that the two of them have ever sensed.

"Apparently, someone isn't too fond of us." Itachi observed, the coldness and displeasure that laced his words sending a shiver down Sakura's spine.

Something has been set into motion and both of them knew that this was only the second attack from many more to come.

Konoha was once more targeted.

A/N: Welcome back!:) I know that it's been ages since I've last updated and I humbly apologize. Quite a lot of things happened and even though that's no excuse for the lack of updates, I hope that you can forgive me!

I wanted to thank all of you for your support so far and am truly grateful for every single one that read, favored, followed and reviewed my story so far! I am beyond happy to hear that you like it so far and hope that you will continue to support me throughout the story. Your support is what kept me going so far and is highly appreciated!

This chapter was only the beginning of their mission and there are a lot of things that will happen during their stay in Suna, so stay tuned loves!

Now to the reviews from last chapter:

Shyzuka: Sorry for the long wait, but here you go!

Guest: Thanks for reviewing:)

Yarney Liag: Merci beaucoup! This is only the beginning and our favorite characters are going to face quite a turmoil so stay tuned!

Mbravesgirl7: Thanks!:)

Guest 2: I hope that your question has been answered:) But you're right, it's an exception since it's of great importance but you'll find out more about it next chapter!

CagedBird112: Thank you so much!

Zombie Reine: Oh it's only the beginning;)

NuteWelt01: She definitely needs some sleep, but Itachi seemingly doesn't like her to do so in his chair.

Dattebayodobe: Thank you!:) I am trying my best to make this story seem as realistic and reasonable, just like the characters and their feelings so I hope that you'll like it!

Starshinerose18: Thanks a lot, I hope that you liked this chapter as well!

Writemoresoon: Will do!

See you next chapter!

All the love, Sara.