Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.
Slight AU warning.
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XXX

Unknown Deceit

The Author Speaks: bolded lines are Inner Sakura. Italicized lines are regular thoughts from anybody.

Chapter 4 – Tell Me Everything

The fight was impossible to see, and impossible to hear. Yet, when Sakura looked past the genjutsu barrier, she wondered who had conjured up a barrier so omnipotent that could contain the ungodly battle that was underway. Tenten broke a piece of the barrier off with a secret jutsu, and they all stepped through. Sakura and Naruto had barely taken a step onto the craggy dirt lining the level ground of the battlefield, before Tenten had withdrew a scroll from her shirt, open it, and summon hundreds of battle axes, falling towards a colony of corpse puppets; her other hand was holding a bo staff which she was spinning around, deflecting senbon needles that were flying towards her.

The battle site was well outside of town, in a huge, forlorn dirt field, the bottom of an expansive hill where hundreds upon hundreds of corpse puppets were charging at ninja squadrons. The field was darker than the night; the moon and stars were blocked by the barrier, and the flashes of weapon strikes could be seen, not heard, in the roar of battle. Blood was soaking into a creaking bamboo fence, and a ninja jumped by them, bleeding ferociously. Sakura's eyes widened—this truly was a Jounin/ANBU fight. Naruto, somehow, seemed excited. He was grinning, his weapons prepared.

Tenten was holding three more scrolls. "I'll go warn Neji's squad!" she said, starting to run off. She stopped quickly and turned. "Naruto, Sakura...be careful." She threw them a few scrolls. "Weapon summoning. Just in case." With that, she disappeared within grey smoke.

Sakura felt almost the same way she had felt when being dropped off at the Ninja Academy for the first time. She was only five, and was terrified of being without her parents. In this case, Tenten was her mother. She wanted desperately to cling to Naruto; but he would just rush into battle with her. "Sakura? Are we going in?" Naruto asked. He didn't want to leave him former teammate behind. She stood glued to her spot, taking in the field. "Naruto, I think..."

She was never talented in analyzing situations quickly and figuring out how to approach them the most effective way possible. She couldn't figure out what to do, exactly...charge in and attack? Or look for weaknesses while sitting there? This is where a person like Shikamaru Nara came in. Sakura was tracing the outline of a kunai in her pocket. With a precise hit, she could send it through the fake hearts of multiple corpses, killing them instantly and without much fuss. She withdrew it from her pocket. "Yeah, let's go." She couldn't sound brave, there was no way. Naruto put his hand on hers, the one clutching the kunai, and squeezed it gently. She felt her skin press against the kunai's blade. She looked up at Naruto, puzzled. He smiled. "We're gonna be fine Sakura-hana. Believe it." Sakura mouth twitched upwards at those words. His goofy little phrase that he always used to reiterate several times in minutes annoyed her then, but not now. "Yeah, we can do it. Cha!" she added, using her own little phrase.

You are such a dork, you know that?

Sakura and Naruto began to walk into battle. They sped up after each step, until they broke into a full run. The corpses and the ninjas grew closer, until they were literally surrounded by them. Sakura and Naruto kept on running, until Sakura stuck her foot out sideways and skidded to a halt, twisting her body almost fluidly, throwing her kunai perfectly parallel to the heart of a corpse puppet. It went straight through the heart, like a hand through a spider web, and out the corpse's back, and kept on traveling. Sakura knew the entire anatomy of a person. She had lined up a shot that would kill at least five corpses. She looked at Naruto, who nodded. His hands performed their usual symbols. "Shadow Clone Jutsu!" he yelled. Hundreds of Naruto clones appeared, and Sakura pulled out what seemed to be a bento box. She opened it and threw it up in the air. She performed her own pre-jutsu symbols and held her index fingers and thumbs like a heart. "Burning Heart Jutsu!" Fireballs shaped like hearts flew from her chakra web in her fingers. She smirked. She figured out the idea from Lee, who kept on pouring hearts out to her when they were younger. The jutsu worked well, starting a fire that spread quickly amongst the enemy. Ninja scattered to avoid getting caught in the burning blaze.

Sakura turned to give a thumbs up to Naruto. Her eyes widened. Where Naruto had been, a few kunoichi were in his place, holding bloody katanas. "Naruto!" One of the women turned and looked at her. She shook her head and pointed up towards the hill. Sakura swore and took off up the hill, jumping amidst various ninja and corpses. She turned in midair and kicked a shuriken away from her. Something grabbed her foot. She shrieked and looked down to see a corpse, tugging at her. She growled and kicked him in the face with her free foot. She dislodged her foot from him grip and jumped on his head, propelling herself into the air. She put her hands together and concentrated. Blue energy swirls began to surround her, and the leaves on the trees scattered amongst the rock ridden ground snapped off their branches and gathered around her. Another scream rang through the air. Sakura couldn't do anything about it. She put her hands up towards the sky. "Wind Release: Nature Screech Gale!"

The blue energy and leaves gathered around her catapulted away from her, aimed towards the ground, the harmless leaves became a sharp, deadly weapon wrapped around a cocoon of chakra that caused them to grow bigger. They effortlessly mowed down around fifty corpses with ease. Sakura smirked and concentrated chakra in her feet, hitting the ground and flying up again, continuing up the hill. She hit the ground and went to go back up, and her vision caught an ANBU flying at her. She opened her mouth to recite the disappearing technique, when he crashed into her and they both sped through the air, the ground greeting them towards the edge of the genjutsu barrier. It was one of the few areas where a battle was scarce. Sakura clenched her teeth together, pain branching out through her body. The ANBU jumped off her and a Rasengan ball appeared in his hand. She yelped. "No, stop I'm not the enemy!" she shrieked. Her eyes met a black and red eye. "Kakashi-senpai!"

The ANBU captain blinked, and his Rasengan disappeared. "Sakura, what the hell are you doing here!" he asked, his voice laced with anger. She scrambled up. "You don't expect me to sit tight and just let this all happen! Naruto's here too, but I lost him." Kakashi growled. "You're an idiot. You don't have the experience for this." Sakura's hands curled into fists. Had he not seen her performance? "If you'll excuse me, there's nothing you can do now. I'm going back in." She stepped forward. Suddenly, an electrifying sensation jolted through her back. She froze. What is that feeling? It's...so horrible...but not painful. She began to shake, and for some reason, her mouth let out an echoing scream. She stumbled forward, right into Kakashi's arms. "Sakura? Sakura, what's wrong!" Kakashi asked, pulling her away from him and holding her by the shoulders. She couldn't find the words to say anything. Her voice box closed on her. She felt something burn, she heard strange whispers in her ear. She blinked. She screamed again. The entire battlefield was burning. An inferno had spread across everything. Everyone was dead. People were screaming in the heat of the flames. Not just normal ninja, but an Akatsuki member as well. Death...fire...everyone's dead. Kakashi shook her roughly. "Sakura, snap out of it!"

In a moment, it was all gone. No fire. Just blood, screaming, and the other sounds of warfare. And...Sakura's eyes widened. Past Kakashi was something so familiar and heart-pounding. She felt her blood breeze. A black cloak with red clouds. Not a corpse. Only a nine in ten thousand chance of encountering one of them. And luck was on her side...or rather, not on her side. Sakura didn't even move until a large sword appeared in his hands. Then, she responded by throwing Kakashi to the side and summoning a battle axe. "Chaaa!" she yelled, in both fear and anticipation.

The man was on top of her before she could blink. He gripped her hand that was clutching the axe. He smirked down at her. She felt his fingers dig into her skin. She whimpered. His eyes were small, and the gills on his face shocked and frightened her. His teeth looked unnaturally sharp. Nothing about him looked...normal. Despite his strong and painful grip on his arm, he lowered it gently and she dropped her axe. She backed away from him. "Don't come near me!" she screamed. Her arm was limp at her side. Had he paralyzed her?

Kakashi appeared in front of Sakura defensively. "Don't come near her. She has it," Kakashi growled at the shark-man. He blinked, and Sakura wrinkled her brow at him. What did she have? All she had on her were a few simple weapons and two scrolls. The shark-man spoke in a strangely calm and polite manner for his formidable appearance. "She has...it?" Kakashi nodded. "So don't come near her."

Sakura felt like different were being communicated than what was actually being said. The shark-man smirked and grabbed Kakashi by the throat. Sakura screamed. "No!" Kakashi disappeared and reappeared next to the man, who punched him clear out of the area. Sakura rushed after him. "Kakashi-senpai!" She saw the figure of her teacher attempt to get up, and crumple to the ground. Sakura gulped and watched in horror. No...Kakashi wasn't dead, was he! She felt the gaze of the shark-man on her back. She turned around, her eyes filled with tears, and ran at him angrily. "YOU BASTARD!"

The man shook his head and a figure appeared next to him, who stepped in front of him and walked towards her. Before they collided, Sakura skidded to a halt.

Her eyes on the ground, they traveled up a familiar cloak, and then up to a pale face, to deep imprints traveling up his face and finally into a pair of blood red eyes. All her senses disappeared. He stared down at her. He was so close, his body warmth enveloped her. It was...strangely comforting. He put his face close to hers, as if studying her. She flushed lightly. Itachi...Uchiha...

He took her chin in his hands. He spoke softly, but not to her. "She has it, Kisame?" he asked. Kisame nodded. What do I have! Sakura thought angrily. She stepped away from Itachi's cold fingers. He responded by grabbing her and pulling her close. She yelped as her face was buried in her cloak. She was so close to him, she could even smell him. Goosebumps rose on her back when Itachi pulled up the back of her shirt. Her eyes grew wide and she struggled. What was he doing!

Itachi craned his head around hers to look down at her back. He lowered her shirt and turned her to face him. Sakura felt paralyzed by his gaze. A small smile spread across his lips. What frightened Sakura wasn't the evil dancing in his eyes. In fact, he instilled a sense of protection to her. What was more, his smile was...genuine. Not a smirk or even fake. It was a comforting, gentle almost. "What—" Sakura began to speak. Itachi's gaze drifted for a split second. He grabbed her by the throat, taking her off guard and by surprise. He didn't hold onto her; he threw her as hard and as far as possible. Sakura screamed as she felt something break against her back. A genjutsu barrier. And then, another one.

Sakura was now flying over a huge crater, so massive it was twice as big as the Academy's grounds. She didn't know where it came from, or why it was hidden, in fact she had never seen it in her life. It didn't matter. Her flying stopped and she plummeted into the deep hole. She stared up at the sky above. Ghostly, cloudy, dark. She held out her hand, trying to reach it. She didn't want to die. She didn't know how far deep the hole went. She closed her eyes and let her arm fall limp. She could feel the air between her and the ground dissipate as she grew closer. Closer, closer, closer...the ground was so close. She couldn't even see the surrounding foliage anymore...just the sky. The forlorn grey mass of smoky clouds and pale moonlight. She saw someone look down at her. Who was it? Kakashi? Shark-man Kisame? Or was it Itachi? Why was she asking herself so many questions? So close to death, she wanted to know everything. Was that it?

She uttered one thing before she hit the ground below. "Tell me...everything..."

XxXxXx

I think I wrote the chapter well until I got to the end. Yuck, I can't write fight scenes. So Sakura finally meets Itachi! Although it's not really heartfelt, heh...well, they are enemies! Anyway, another cliffhanger, next chapter will be a bit different. I've got a lot of story ideas in my head, another one involving Itachi and Sakura, so I might start that when this story has progressed far enough. I bet you're all confused right now XD. Don't worry, everything will be explained later.