A/N:…hey to my readers, here's another chapter, I hope you love it…it should make things clearer over Sakura and Itachi's life…soooo…on with the story…; )

Deep in the forest, somewhere across the border of Tea Country, was a cave. In the center of the cave, a shadowy image appeared. There was light coming from a torch, illuminating the space just barely.

The shadow-cloaked person did a few rapid hand signs and muttered with a deep voice, "Assemble."

Soon after, nine more shadowy figures appeared, forming a circle around the torch. The first person walked a few steps from torch, and took his place in the circle.

After a minute of silence, the person spoke. "So you're all here. Good." The voice was deep, masculine. "Before I begin explaining why I summoned you here, I want Itachi and Kisame to tell me their exact location." He turned left, toward the ones he'd spoken of.

Kisame was the first to speak. "We are in Stone, searching for the scroll that you told us to find." Obvious sarcasm was evident in his voice.

"I know you're in Stone. Where exactly in Stone?" The growl coming from their leader shut Kisame's mouth quickly.

"We are near the Fire Country border, Leader-sama." The smooth, velvet voice of Itachi Uchiha was heard.

"Thank you, Itachi," said leader. He turned to Kisame, who was now trembling with fear. "This is why you're paired with Itachi, you impetuous fool. You should thank him, because with your brain, you would've been dead long time ago."

Silence filled the cave. No one dared to speak. Leader's Rinnegan was piercing holes through their heads, daring them to speak.

"Now, the reason I summoned you here. As you all know, we have started to have problems within the organization. By that, I mean the recent injury of several members." Automatically, his gaze fell on a bomb artist, and later on an 'immortal' pair.

"Not all of us have the same problems, but it is important. No one is perfect, so we may have problems with healing our injuries. And since our only medic is…" he stopped, taking a moment to look at the bomber's hands, and continued. "Inefficient-" Leader was cut off by their 'medic'.

"I did what I could. His hands were unattached from his body for too long. I did a great job, and I wasn't even paid for it." The last part was practically muttered, but his partner heard it all.

"The hell with you and your money! I'm fucking sick of you! You-" He was cut off by his impatient leader.

"Silence! I don't want to hear another word or you'll regret it. The way things are going, we will need someone to be our medic. We have far too many enemies, and we need all the help we can get. So, Itachi and Kisame here will get me a medic."

Everyone in the cave seemed to be deep in thought. It wasn't everyday Leader brought someone new into the Akatsuki, especially a medic.

"Do you have someone specific in mind, Leader sama?" Itachi asked.

"As a matter of fact, I do. I've heard of a very strong medic, one who is better than Tsunade herself. She's been-" He was interrupted by another member.

"She? What do you mean SHE? We're a 'no girls' organization, yeah!" Deidara was getting a little pissed off.

"Shut up, Deidara. Don't dare to interrupt me again! And, you moron, we have a woman in Akatsuki already. Itachi, Kisame, you'll go in search of the girl. Do not hurt her on the way here; she's of great importance to us."

Itachi's eyes narrowed to mere slits. He had the sinking feeling that he knew who Leader was talking about. And he didn't like it.

"Her name is Haruno Sakura, of the Leaf village."

'Oh, God, no.'

"Sakura, wake up."

"Saakuraaa."

She heard the voices of Kiba and Shino clearly, but she didn't want to wake up. She could still hear it in her head, Orochimaru saying that she was his daughter. But how? HOW?! It was impossible; she already had a father, and a mother. She needed some answers and fast. And she knew just who could given her those answers. But first...

"Hey, hey, I'm awake! Enough yelling!"

"Saku-chan, you're finally awake. Are you alright?" The night before, Kiba had been worried about her since she was late getting to the hotel. It wasn't like her, so he and Shino decided to search for her. He was glad they had.

"Sakura, we found you out in the forest. What happened?" That was Shino, always straight to business.

"I'm okay, just a little dizzy, that's all. Hey, guys?"

"Yeah, do you want something?"

"No, just…can you leave me alone? I'm still tired, and I want to get some sleep. Okay?"

Kiba and Shino exchanged quick glances and left the room without asking her any questions.

As soon as the door shut behind them, she started to plan. She knew where to find him, the one she needed for answers. He was close, too close, and she was going to him for some answers, tonight.

Two shadows jumped from tree to tree, hurrying to reach their goal.

As the night settled around them, they set up camp close to their quarry. They would strike as soon as morning broke.

The Sharingan user took the first watch. As he sat on the grass with his back against the tree, he couldn't stop thinking about their mission. They were to capture the medic and force her to cooperate, which was rather impossible. This was Sakura; he knew her like the palm of his hand. She was rather complicated and a huge pain if she didn't want to do something that didn't benefit her in some way.

He understood why Leader was so interested in her; she was strong, and yet she could become even stronger.

Glancing at his sleeping partner, Itachi's mind once again drifted to the pink-haired kunoichi. He remembered everything about them: how they met, their secret relationship. Everything. The last time they met was the end for them, and he was the one who had wanted it. But, he himself didn't know if he really had feelings for her. Did he care about her? Like her? Or was it all just lust? Well, they had started it as a lustful relationship, but as the time passed, they had ended up like this.

'In the end, it's good we are not together. We're on two very different paths; I have to concentrate on my goal, while she…' In his thinking, he remembered something about her. And he couldn't help but wonder..

'Does Pain know? It is most likely possible that he does know. But, this is something that most people don't know about. In fact, just three people know about it, including me. I wonder if she knows about that already?'

He shifted slightly on the uncomfortable ground and moved himself to the tree. The night was perfect. A mild wind was blowing, cutting through the heat.

Just like the night they met…

Flashback:

He was running through the forests of Rain. The enemy he had been ordered to kill was rather annoying, not to mention a coward.

Itachi had a simple order. "Kill Miko Oyaki from Rain. Mission duration: one week," Leader's voice rang in his head. His week was at its end, and it was all because of the annoying man he had been assigned to kill. Demo, Itachi had to admit to himself, he was good at running; even at Itachi's top speed he couldn't get close to target. But that was gonna change real soon, because the man may be fast, but Itachi was- suddenly Itachi felt something or someone. But...that was impossible; he should have detected it a long time ago, but now, apparently the person was fighting HIS target…now Itachi was pissed.

He pumped chakra to his feet to get his top speed, but he didn't want to tire himself, because he would need his chakra, after all; he still didn't know who the person was.

When he got to them, he noticed two things. One, his target was lying dead on the ground. Two, (and this irked him most) the person who hid his chakra PERFECTLY from him, and killed his target, was a GIRL.

Itachi had a few thoughts running through his head. 'Who is this girl? And how…?' He was still amazed by her perfect chakra control. 'She's got a lot of explaining to do…if she want to stay alive…'

The girl turned slowly to face him and stepped out of the darkness .

Now he could see all of her. She was nothing he hadn't seen before: girly features, kunoichi's grace…but pink hair. 'Strange,' he thought, 'Not an everyday sight. And,' his eyes scanned the area quickly; there were large holes in ground, trees were cut in half, the place was destroyed, ' a rather strong one. This is…interesting.'

He was about to begin questioning her when she beat him to it.

"Uchiha Itachi," the kunoichi stated.

'So she knows who I am after all...good.' He couldn't help but smirk at the girl.

"I saw you chasing that man through the forest. He's your target, right?" she asked. Itachi just nodded.

"Well, I supposed so, demo I, too, had a mission involving this man. I got him first, and…" She stopped, and sent him smirk. "...you know, first come, first serve…and as I see it…he is mine." She put special emphasis on mine part.

'Strong and smart,' he thought. "Hn. You are correct, but tell me one thing, kunoichi. Why would I give my target to you? You know who I am, and I could kill you so easily." He repressed a smirk. 'Now what, kunoichi?'

"Yeah, you have the rights to him. And...you could, but you won't." The kunoichi grinned at him.

"And what makes you think I won't?"

"Your chakra is almost completely drained. You spent the most by chasing the man, and you reserved just enough to defeat him. But, you didn't count on anyone else being here to interrupt you. And I lost less than you, because I was lucky for finding him this fast. So, you won't get anywhere if you attack me now. Am I right?" She stressed every single word, so she could enjoy it more, and he knew that.

"Maybe you are right, demo you forgot one thing. I'm not a normal fighter; you should know that I don't even need much chakra. I have the Sharingan."

"Oh, yeah. That. I hope you don't underestimate me because you thought I forgot about that." Itachi's eyes narrowed.

"Because I didn't. I'm well aware of it; the thing is, I didn't want to touch on a sore spot." His eyes were narrowed to mere slits.

"Yeah. I know about your eyes, and even if you hadn't given it away, I would know, because my medic career allows me to sense your pain. And I know you're almost blind; I can sense that too. So, if you wanted me to tell you that, there you go. Happy?"

In the next second, she was pinned against one of the only trees that were still standing. The tight grip on her throat told her that she had stepped over of the line.

"And what was that supposed to mean, kunoichi?" He was beyond irritated and more than a little pissed. How could a low-class kunoichi humiliate him, without showing any fear?

She was right, he was almost blind, and the pain was unbearable...but still.

'This girl…she's not a normal kunoichi. She's from Leaf, and they don't train kunoichi like this. A medic, strong, smart. I haven't seen that in a long time.'

"It is supposed to mean that I pity you."

With that she got a brutal slap to the face, something she had expected for daring to insult the Uchiha.

He quickly composed himself, not wanting to be irritated by the girl. Or at least not let her know. She was entertaining, but not that much. The slap caught her off guard and sent her flying through the trees. He walked up to his dead target, picked him, and threw him across his shoulder. Before he walked away, he glanced to the girl and asked, "Kunoichi, what's your name?"

A cough was heard from her; he really had slapped her hard, but she had deserved it.

"Haruno Sakura."

"Haruno, we will definitely see each other again, and when we do, I expect better attitude. Girls shouldn't behave like that; it's not respectable." With that, he smirked and turned around to walk away. He was obviously mocking her, and she knew that. However, something made him stop in his tracks. She said something…

"But killing your entire family because of an order is?"

In an instant he turned towards her, eyes wide with shock.

'She…how?'

End of flashback

'She really is something.'

So, guys, what do you mean…Yeah, it's still little unclear, but it will get clearer in time…

So stay tuned, next chapter will have little SasuSaku, and much more…

And plz R & R…..love ya