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recap
All the Uchiha wanted was for her to be safe and stay alive until he got there. If he would ever be able to find where the whereabouts of the Akatsuki hideout was located. No one in all of Konoha knew where the Akatsuki were now residing in.
"Please Sakura don't die on me..." The Uchiha whispered before drifting off into a placid sleep. Dreaming about Sakura back in Konoha where she belonged... with him right by her side.
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Chapter 4:Akatsuki Gain One
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Voices echoed in a certain petal haired kunoichi's head as she ley unconcious on what seemd to be a... bed? A jolt of pain surged through Sakura's head and then her legs. She could hear footsteps approaching her until it stopped and she felt a cold hand cupping her left cheek. A deep calm voice took her out of unconciousness and she felt her body go cold under the hand that was caressing her cheek.
"Little kunoichi wake up..."
Itachi was looking down on her sleeping form and felt her shiver due to the coldness of his hand. Sakura slowly opened her emerald eyes and looked into blood red sharingan eyes. Her eyes widened and she tried to sit up so she could get away from one of the Akatsuki members. Unfortunately Itachi's hand reached out and caught her arm giving it a squeeze until he heard Sakura give out a little cry of pain. He released her sore arm and stared down at her, Sakura fell back down on the soft bed that she was placed on and tried hard to stay concious.
Her wounds from earlier were still bleeding and needed time to heal. Sakura wanted to cry, she wanted to cry so badly at the situation that she got herself into because she was too weak. She knew that Itachi would eventaully kill her and she would never be able to see the faces of all her friends... The Uchiha activated his sharingan and looked deep within Sakura's eyes until he saw them droop halfway closed. He had just used his Mangekyou sharingan and would control her mind.
Sakura felt drowzy so she shut her emerald eyes and saw Itachi emerge from the darkness. He had a kunai in hand and slashed at her making Sakura scream out and cry. All he did was smirk and chuckle at how weak she truly was.
Sakura couldn't believe what was happening... Itachi was trying to kill her.
When Itachi saw that his plan was working he deactivated the mengekyou sharingan and saw the kunoichi go limp. The Uchiha took out a vile containing blue liquid from inside his black cloak and held it to Sakura's pink lips. He let the liquid slip from the vile and into her mouth. He could hear her starting to cough until the vile was emptied of its liquids.
Itachi smirked at the sleeping kunoichi and exited the room where she was placed in. He shut the door behind him and went into a large room where all Akatsuki members meet on a daily basis. Itachi seated himself beside Deidara and Kisame as Sasori began to speak...
"What are your plans for the girl?"
Itachi smirked as he began to explain himself to the rest of the group.
"I have just made her drink a formula that I created to make her memories vanish..."
"When she awakes she will have no memories of her life in Konoha but as an Akatusuki instead..."
All three members eyed the Uchiha until Kisame spoke up...
"Why do we need her?"
"To destroy my little brother and much more..." Came Itachi's reply.
They all began to chuckle at how ingenius Itachi's plan just was. He of course stayed silent and waited for them to become silent. Before he knew it the room grew quiet and finally Deidara spoke up.
"What is her name?"
"I believe its... Haruno Sakura..." Said Itachi.
"She will need a new name yeah." Deidara explained.
They all thought about a suitable name for the young kunoichi. The silence lasted a while before Itachi thought of the perfect name that suited Sakura.
"Crimson Blossom..."
Deidara thought for a moment and nodded his head as everyone else did. Itachi smirked and decided to check up on the rosette haired kunoichi to see if she had awakened from her slumber. The Uchiha walked down the stone corridors until he stopped in front of a large wooden door. Itachi slowly opened the door a crack and peered in. There stirring in the bed was a sleeping Sakura, her face was paler than usual and her lips were formed in a grim line.
Itachi walked towards her and looked down at her form. Emerald met blood red. Sakura opened her eyes and stared at the figure of Uchiha Itachi. She stared at the Uchiha and sat up hugging her knees and placing her chin on top of her knees looked at her feet. Itachi gave her a stoic look and bent down on one knee...
"Crimson Blossom..."
"Tomorrow will be your first day of training... be prepared..."
Itachi gave the kunoichi one last look before leaving the room with a confused Sakura in it. She ley back down and instantly fell asleep dreaming about the man she had just seen and the name he spoke of... Crimson Blossom...
When the petal haired kunoichi felt the sun's warm rays shining down on her face through the window facing the bed. She rubbed the sleep from her emerald orbs and tiredly sat up and swung her legs over the edge of the bed. Sakura sat like that for sometime before she heard the voice of that man she saw the other night and another voice that she didn't recognize. Sakura placed her feet on the cold ground and moved towards the wooden door where the voices seem to be coming from. The kunoichi gripped the metal knob and slowly opened it revealing Itachi staring at her and Kisame handing him something...
Sakura instantly began to close the door but Itachi was holding it open. She was soon overpowered and found herself on the ground and eyeing Uchiha Itachi. Sakura was about to stand up and found that whatever Kisame had given to Itachi was now thorwn ontop of her. Sakura gave the Uchiha a confused look as she stood up directly infront of him, though she wasn't nearly as tall as him. Her head only reached a little over his broad shoulders.
Sakura examined what he had just given her and found that it was clothing. A long flowing black cloak and a straw hat was what Itachi had thrown at her. Again Sakura gave Itachi a confused look and to her surprise he began to talk in a deep velvety voice...
"Get dressed and wait in the training grounds."
With that being said Itachi left the room and Sakura immidiately began to dress herself. The one thing that shocked Sakura was that her wounds were wrapped in white bandages and her clothes were ripped and tattered not to mention bloody. The kunoichi noticed black material lying at the foot of the bed she had slept in and walked over to it. There was a petite black spaghetti strap top and a black skirt with one slit running up the right side of her leg. The slit was being held by mesh and she saw in the corner of her eye that something pink had fallen to the floor. Once Sakura was fully dressed in her black attire she bent over and picked up what seemed to be a ring?
Confused, Sakura slipped the ring onto her middle finger on the left hand. Before exiting the room she was currently in Sakura grabbed the cloak and woven hat and quickly put them on. Sakura
closed the door behind her as she left and walked down th dark corridors. She found a door at the end of the long corridor and pushed it open, revealing a bright sunny day and a large gated area.
The kunoichi walked to the middle of the yard and saw a cloaked figure leaning up against a tree trunk, arms crossed and bangs covering his eyes.
Itachi looked at the pink haired girl and walked towards her, his cloak flowing as the wind swooshed by. Itachi reached behind his back and pulled something out the sun now reflecting off of its metal.
Sakura didn't have much time to think as the kunai was thrown at her. The only thing she could do was dodge it and run head on towards the Uchiha who was attacking her. Sakura realized that what Itachi
said last night to her about being prepared ment that he was going to test her strength out.
Sakura took a deep breath and began her long line of hand to hand combat. Everyone of her punches and kicks were blocked our countered by Itachi who seemed to enjoy making her look weak. Sakura took another deep breath and was able to land a punch to his stomach. She smirked and before she knew she was being pinned down by the Uchiha, her hands being held above her head and his grip tightening around her wrists.
"It seems that you are worth training..." Itachi breathed next to her ear.
Sakura's emerald orbs widened when Itachi still had her pinned to the ground. She turned a bright shade of pink and felt herself being lifted up by her arm, Itachi was eyeing her and then handed Sakura a katana.
She took it without hesitation and readied herself in a fighting stance as Itachi took out a katana and did the same. Both began running and metal clanged on metal their breathing becoming raggged the longer they fought.
Itachi blocked her katana which was aimed for his gut and punched her shoulder.
Sakura winced in pain as his fist collided with her now aching left shoulder. The spar between Itachi and Sakura lasted hours until the kunoichi crashed to the ground from exhaustion and overexertion. Itachi smirked at the the fallen cherry blossom as he slid the katana back into its sheath. He approached Sakura and picked her up bridal style maing his way back into his bedroom where he had placed her the other night. The kunoichi felt herself being placed on something warm and soft, she instantly knew that it was a bed and quickly let herslef succumb to sleep...
Sakura and Itachi would spar every single day for the next couple of days. Days turned to weeks, weeks turned into months and months turned into a year... Sakura had been trained for a year and was exeptionaly strong for a pink haired kunoichi. She was now 16 years old and had grown even more beautiful then that of when she was 15 and still in Konoha. Today was the day that Itachi had said she would become the new member of the Akatsuki, Sakura was very exited she had never thought that she was strong enought to become an actual member.
Inner Sakura was jumping up and down and pumping her fists into the air. Sakura only shook her head and walked out of her bedroom that the Akatsuki had given her, she quickly ran out the door and into the lond dark corridors. Itachi had told her where to meet them and she clearly remembered what he had said... Sakura made a right down another hallway and then turned left only to be met with a large wooden door. She knocked on the door and heard the coversation on the other side of the door cease and the voice of Itachi calling her in.
"You may enter now..."
Sakura let out a deep breath and pushed open the door where inside the Akatsuki members were sitting in a row of chairs and waiting for her arrival. She slowly made her way towards the members and stopped right infront of them, letting out a small breath of air as she heard Deidara speak.
"Kunoichi yeah, you are from this day on Akatsuki yeah..."
Itachi approached her with a budle of black in his arms, he came to a hault infront of the petal haired shinobi and handed her what seemd to be... a cloak?
Unlike the cloak that Sakura was currently wearing this one had red cloud designs near the bottom. It was the Akatsuki cloak... Sakura undid the clasp near her neck that held the black
cloak in place and let it fall to the ground. Itachi put the cloak on the kunoichi and tied the clasp together as he did this Sakura couldn't but blush at how close he was to her.
Itachi looked down at the new Akatsuki member and smirked, she had grown strong over the past year that she was brought here. She would serve as a powerful weapon to the group, destroying Uchiha Sasuke and the rest of Konoha. Itachi wanted to see the despair and fear in his little brother's eyes as the one he cares for slaughters him on the spot... Itachi had already begun filling Sakura's head with nothing but lies about Sasuke, that he was the enemy and that he tried to kill her countless times.
Now her heart was no longer pure but filled with anger, regret and hate. Hate for his little brother and everyone she used to know and love. Itachi told the kunoichi that they all betrayed her and called her weak. Doubting her power and determination as if it were nothing to them. Sakura had told him that she would show no remorse for killing them all and that she would make their death as painful as humanly possible. Those beautiful orbs no longer held any emotion, now the only thing you could see was blank emotion. Love... something that she had given up on a long time ago, was no longer familiar she would never allow herself to feel that weak emotion again...
"Crimson Blossom..." Itachi said huskily, which snapped herself out of her thoughts. She looked Itachi in the eyes and gave him a smirk which he let play across his features. The Uchiha gave Sakura a blue scroll and told her to depart from the room. She did as Itachi had told her and left without another word... Sakura opened the scroll and began to read whatever it contained written on the fine parchment.
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Crimson Blossom
You will go on your first assassination mission tomorrow night.
To kill Uchiha Sasuke and whoever else gets in your way.
Be prepared we leave at sundown...
Uchiha Itachi
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Sakura smirked and ran into her bedroom, placing the scroll on her wooden desk and stripping herself of her new Akatsuki cloak. Sakura ley in bed with the covers stopping at her slender neck and letting out an exhausted sigh. She had been training with Itachi today and was tired as hell, her body hurt all over and her hair was a complete mess.
The kunoichi thought for a moment and then uncovered herslef and went into her bethroom, which was situated in her bedroom. Sakura turned the hot water tap and let the steaming water run until she adjusted the temperature to suite her liking. She placed a hand under the running water and felt that it was just right, Sakura ripped off her clothing which was covered in sweat and blood and stepped into the shower.
The warm felt so good pelting against her fair skin and hair. Sakura poured shampoo into the palm of her hand and lathered it into her rosette hair, she took a bar of soap and began to rub it all over her sore body until the water washed her clean. Sakura let the water beat down on her skin and inhaled the scent of her shampoo, white lillies... She turned off the taps and grabbed a blue robe hanging on the door hook, slipping it on and wrapping the tie around her waist so it wouldn't fall off.
The kunoichi towel dried her hair and walked out of the steaming bathroom and onto her soft bed. She ley her head against the pillow, her hair spleying over it and her body freezing from the lack of warmth of the soothing shower that heated her skin. Sakura shut her emerald orbs and quickly fell into a light sleep, the last thing she had on her mind was... The blood of Uchiha Sasuke all over her and the screaming of his pain...
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Sasuke was sitting on a wooden stool at Ichiraku with his childhood friend, Uzumaki Naruto. Once the kyubi came back from his B-ranked mission he heard about the abduction of Haruno Sakura. It tore him apart and he vowed that
he would get her back. That was almost a year ago and the whole entire village gave up on Sakura who was now a missing nin. All shinobi and ANBU searched for Tsunade's apprentice for about 3 months before they all gave up hope.
The raven haired ninja refused to stop looking and had to be held back by Kakashi so that he couldn't leave the village. Tsunade never did stop crying, her assisstant Shizune would usually hear the Godaime bawling he eyes out
almost every single hour of the day.
Today was the day of Sakura's memorial, since no one found her body and she was missing for one year Tsunade had to change her status from M.I.A. (missing in action) to K.I.A. (killed in action)... Tsunade would be starting off the memorial and all of Sakura's friends would say a few words of honor and rememberance before the village made it official that Sakura was K.I.A... The home that Sakura lived in when she was 14 was now unoccupied, the Haruno's died on a mission four months back after Sakura disappeared.
The funeral was already held one month ago and Sakura's memorial stone was being placed beside Mr and Mrs. Haruno's graves. The marble stone was already inscripted with Sakura's name and a words at the bottom saying: Greatest Kunoichi in all of Konohagakure... Tsunade was the one that inscribed that into her memorial stone. It was to be placed right inder a Sakura tree for rememberance of their cheery emerald eyed kunoichi. The Harunos were placed around the tree and soon to be joined by the memorial stone of their only daughter...
Sasuke was snapped out of his thoughts by none other than Naruto... He was speaking with his mouth filled with miso ramen and some broth dripping down his chin. Naruto swallowed his mouth filled with noodles before talking again...
"Ne Sasuke-teme whats wrong?"
"Nothing Naruto..." The ninja said before hopping off the stool and walking away from Ichiraku and the kyubi holder. Naruto shrugged his shoulders and began to eat his ramen once again as Sasuke sat under a cherry blossom tree which was in full bloom. Everytime Sasuke needed to think or just be alone he would sit under this very tree and remember his female kunoichi. It was like Sakura was right their with Sasuke eachtime he came to this spot which had become his favourite in all of Konoha.
Sasuke picked up a fallen cherry blossom flower and held it in his palm. He saw an image of Sakura in his mind and he quickly let it seep in, trying to remember exactly how she looked like. Her beautiful smile was enough to make
his day and her voice sounded almost angelic. He felt hot tears spring at the corner of his eyes and pushed them back not letting himself cry. At night Sasuke would dream about the petal haired kunoichi and him living a happy life together.
Sasuke wished that he never had awoken from the dream and to just stay dreaming about Sakura.
His dreams were the only place where Sasuke could actually see Sakura and speak to her like it wasn't a dream at all, but instead real... He could swear that he could feel her touch against his skin and her pink lips on his. To be able to touch her... to feel her and see her again... Like nothing had happened but who was he kidding, it was just a dream... It wasn't real only images and memories that you recall when you sleep to make it seem real...
Sasuke dispised his brother even more than before, it was Itachi's fault that Sakura was dead. He was the one who took her away from Konohagakure and all of her friends... Sasuke squished the cherry blossom flower in his hand and let the broken petals slowly fall to the damp grass. The raven haired jounin stood up and began to walk to where the Harunos were buried, that was were Tsunade told everyone to meet for the memorial of Haruno Sakura. He walked along the dirt roads until he caught sight of the Godaime standing by an alter and others sitting in rows and rows of chairs.
Sasuke found an empty seat beside Naruto and Hinata and he quickly took it. The Hyuga was crying along with many other shinobi and villagers who knew the Harunos. Sasuke looked at Tsunade just before she adjusted the microphone and parted her red lips to begin the memorial...
"We are all here today for the memorial of Haruno Sakura..."
"The greatest kunoichi in Konohagakue and much more, today we have just put her status to K.I.A."
"Sakura lived a short life and was claimed dead at the age of 16..." Tsunade wiped her eyes from the tears that had already fallen and were rolling down her cheeks. She gave Sasuke solemn look before continuing on with the memorial...
"Now some of her friends with come up and say a few words..."
Yamanaka Ino walked towards the alter and adjusted the microphone to her height. Ino took a deep breath and began to speak...
"Sakura was my best friend since we were little..."
"She was an awesome kunoichi and friend to me..."
"I miss her and will continue to miss her from this day on..." Ino sobbed at the last word as she broke down crying and Tsunade patted her shoulder in reasurance. Ino was escorted away from the alter and placed in a seat beside Shikamaru who tried to comfort the crying kunoichi. Naruto stood up from his seat and walked over to the alter, he took hold of the microphone and began his speech...
"Sakura and I have known eachother for a long time..."
"She would always lecture me about being addicted to ramen and having a big mouth..."
"She was in my eyes and I'm sure in all of your a wonderful kunoichi..."
The kyubi holder eyed Sasuke before leaving the alter and taking his seat beside the sobbing Hyuga. Sasuke slowly arose and walked towards the alter where he would have to give his words of honor to Sakura.
"Even though I told Sakura that she was annoying I never meant it..."
"I was a cold hearted bastard and hurt her emotionally..."
"When I left Konoha she tried to stop me, Sakura told me that she loved me and I left without giving her a second glance..."
"My mistake back then was calling her weak but now I'm sure that all of Konohagakure is proud of her..."
Sasuke closed his eyes to keep his tears from falling, he sat back down and watched as Tsunade took out the memorial stone and placed it by her mother and father's graves right next to a cherry blossom tree. The Hokage turned around and looked at everyone's sad faces. The Godaime opened her mouth to say a few last words to her apprentice...
"Sakura will live on in our hearts forever..."
Tsunade gave up on trying not to cry and let go. She fell to her knees and cried her eyes out, Shizune was beside her rubbing her back and helping her up on her feet again. Tsunade wiped her almond eyes and bowed her head in respect towards the three Harunos...
Once the memorial was finished everyone headed home, that is everyone exept Uchiha Sasuke. He was on his knees and staring at Sakura's memorial stone with her name carved into it. Sasuke saw a fallen cherry blossom and placed it infront of the marble stone.
The Uchiha bowed his head and turned to leave for his home. He took one last glance at the stone and slowly walked back to his house. Sasuke felt like crying like he never cried before, he knew that that wasn't going to help with his grief and that Sakura would want him to move on with his life.
He couldn't without her, he wouldn't without her... She was what kwpt him going all those years when he was with Orochimaru.
She gave him the courage to kill the snake sannin and to finally be free from hell itself... Sakura was the one who gave him a
reason to keep living even though his entire clan was murdered and his brother was a traitor...
"Thank you Sakura..."