Tsuki-chan: I don't own Naruto! Enjoy the chapter!
The stench made Sakura's stomach roll in disgust. It wasn't as bad as she had imagined though. There was no dead bodies rotting in the middle of the street or kids crying in hunger. What made her senses tingle was the feel of the surroundings. It was filled with hostility and fear.
"Are you alright?" Itachi asked, adjusting his grasp on her shoulder.
Sakura nodded stiffly, leaning towards Itachi for comfort unconsciously. His grip tightened to give her reassurance. All the citizens walking by had their heads bowed, concentrating on the floor.
"This place gives me the chills." She whispered so that only he could hear.
"I know," he began to direct her towards the nearest inn. "Let's go get a room, koishii, and then we can look around."
She stiffened at the word 'koishii' but relaxed when she remembered the reason why they were here in the Sound Village in the first place. When they entered the inn, an old lady sat there stiffly with a man standing behind her. They were softly murmuring to each other about something.
"Excuse me," Itachi said, sounding pleasant. Sakura was kind of envious of how natural he sounded.
"Hello there young man," the old woman said. The woman's face remained hard and on guard. Sakura could only wonder the things she had gone through to maintain such an exterior.
"We would like a room." His grip on Sakura didn't relent. Actually, it tightened even more when the gaze of the man behind the woman landed on Sakura. There was a hidden layer of lust behind the cold violet eyes, lust that Sakura didn't want to let loose anytime soon.
"For how long?"
"What do you think?" he asked Sakura in fake contemplation. She looked upward in shock before remembering her place. She had to pretend to be his wife! "We were going to go to the Earth country for their hot springs, but our reservations there isn't until next week."
"Then how about we stay here for five days?" she asked with a big smile. "That'll give us enough days to look around and start our journey towards the Earth country!"
"Good idea," Itachi leaned down so that he looked at Sakura eye to eye. She froze at the sudden close proximity and couldn't stop the blush as he seemed to nuzzle into her face affectionately, "koishii."
Itachi was so close to her, waaaay closer than from when he was simply just holding her shoulder. She could smell that delicious scent once more, not too sweet or bitter but a charcoal like scent that reminded her of the delicious campfire aroma with the winter air. Sakura no longer squirmed under his grip and relaxed, her face flushed, but relishing at the feel of Itachi being so close.
While Sakura was another spout of her blushing marathon, Itachi gave a lax glare at the man behind the old woman. There was no need for him to give the man a deadly glare because just with the glare he was using, he knew that the man would be able to get the message loud and clear.
This rosette haired woman.
Was.
His.
The old woman chortled silently at the threat Itachi presented. She handed them a pair of keys, watching them with sharp charcoal eyes. "A newlywed, eh? Strange that a couple just starting their journey in marriage would decide to visit such a dreary place as our village." She murmured.
"That's because," Sakura began with a flustered face. "Well, Obaachan, it's because-."
"The place holds special memories to both of us." He brushed her black hair aside so that he could take a better look at her eyes. "After all, this is the place where we shared our first kiss."
"You two lived around here?" the man asked in a gruff voice. He had seen and understood Itachi's warning, but his gaze still lingered on Sakura. She wasn't the most beautiful woman, but there was just an air around her that caught your attention. Something entrancing, he wasn't quite sure what it was.
"No," Sakura managed, thankfully, to say in a calm voice but the blush still splashed her cheeks. "My husband and I had been on a little vacation trip and had found a beautiful nearby lake and that's where we… well… er…"
"We'll be going to our room now." Itachi grabbed the keys and began to push Sakura towards the room. The moment they were out of the two's sight range, Sakura touched her forehead. It was starting to ache from all the strain.
"My head hurts." Sakura mumbled to herself as Itachi opened the door to their room. It was a decent enough room with a bathroom of its own. Sakura looked around to see if any enemies could enter easily and found a few, they were the windows, the bathroom window, and finally the door itself. The ground and the ceiling would be too risky for anyone to use.
Sakura's headache suddenly doubled when she suddenly realized what was wrong with this picture. There was only ONE bed! She rubbed the side of her head for relief but none came.
"What's wrong?" Itachi asked, dropping their things next to the bed. Sakura walked towards him slowly, knowing that they wouldn't be able to relax until they were out of this village. The two would have to pretend to be a newly wed twenty four seven until the mission was over.
"My head hurts." She repeated.
"Come here," he ordered. Sakura complied, trying to seem as less reluctant as possible. She was afraid of what Itachi was going to do. Over the years, she had discovered that he seemed to enjoy making her life miserable. The funny thing was, this little habit of his was always only on her!
He sat down and motioned her before him on the bed. His fingers grazed through her black hair gently, running them through until they were tangled up with her hair. Sakura heard the sounds of the chop sticks holding her hair loosen, allowing her hair to fall towards her shoulder.
She moaned softly at the feel of his fingers massaging her scalp. The pain in her head lessoned quite a bit. His hand strayed down her back and found her obi, tugging on it lightly so that it would loosen.
"Ita-." Before she could slip his name from her lips, Itachi crushed her lips against his. He took advantage of her open mouth and slipped in his tongue, relishing at the feel of her addicting taste. Sakura's hand reached upward and her fingers found themselves lost in the mess of Itachi's brown hair.
With her obi loosened, her kimono loosened enough for him to push aside the annoying collar and indulge himself with her exposed neck. One hand cradled the side of her face, holding her still. The other hand found its way upward, pushing aside the open kimono. Sakura squeaked as his large calloused hand cupped her right breast.
She squirmed. Itachi had loosened the bindings on her chest when he had tugged at her clothes and at the feel of his hands on her bare chest made it hard for Sakura to resist the blush blooming on her face. She knew she couldn't demand him to stop and the way he was toying with her breast made it hard to complain.
"I…Ita…" she couldn't even form his name!
"Yes?" his breath ghosted her sensitive skin. Sakura's back made contact with the bed, her hands held up so that they wouldn't push him away. "You don't know how hard it is to stop."
Itachi couldn't tear his gaze away from her. Her eyes were glazed with lust and need, her plump red lips begging to be taking. Sakura's cheeks were flushed and she was panting for air, making her exposed chest rise up high enough to graze his chest. She whimpered at the feel of her sensitive skin making contact with his rough clothing and Itachi couldn't help but curse the clothing that separate him from her.
He kissed her hard. Sakura's eyes widened at the feel of something hard prodding against her thigh. "They're gone," he whispered.
Sakura was still frozen in her place, even when Itachi got off of her. There was the sound of the bathroom door closing and Sakura knew he was taking a cold shower the moment she heard the water turn on. She still didn't move.
They knew that someone was outside, listening to their every move. Without saying anything, the two had fooled the spy by doing what all newly weds would do. She just didn't expect it to go this far.
Sakura turned to the side and curled up into a ball, holding her legs against her chest. Sure Itachi kissed her like crazy sometimes and there were the occasional wandering hands, but he had never touched her bare skin with his hands before. And by bare skin, she meant the… well, you get the idea.
Her face flushed up once more when she remembered the feel of his scorching hot hands on her person. Sakura rubbed her thighs together, feeling an unknown sensation gather at the section between her legs. She wanted something… no, needed something from Itachi but a part of her whispered that if she got it, she would lose something dear if she made the decision without thinking carefully.
"…my head is hurting again?"
Saku looked around carefully. When she noticed that the surroundings were clear, she closed her eyes. Good, she didn't feel any chakra. That probably meant she was finally alone.
She reached for the back door and slowly opened it. There still wasn't anyone there! She was actually going to get out! With a big smile, she began to slowly walk outwards.
"Where do you think you are going?" a low tenured voice asked. She stiffened. She knew that voice. After all, she had heard it for years.
"Fu-Fu-Fugaku-san!" she squeaked. Standing beside him was Sasuke and Mikoto. She smiled at Saku while Sasuke grunted a reply. "Wha-What are you doing here? Er, not that it's bad that you're here! It's just that, I-."
"Sakura-chan said to make sure you don't sneak out of the house past curfew." Mikoto chirped. "So, I thought of a great plan! Teishu, Sasuke, and I will stay here with you until Sakura-chan comes back!"
"Th-That's great!" Saku said trying to sound enthusiastic. She was grateful for the concern Mikoto showed, but she had been planning to see Ino. She also knew that Mikoto had slept over before and so Mikoto knew that Saku had plenty of room for a handful of guests.
"Don't worry about your little meet with your friend. I have already contacted Yamanaka-san about that." Fugaku informed Saku who sighed in defeat.
"Don't forget about us!" Naruto yelled, appearing out from behind the bushes with Kakashi. They both had bags, showing signs that they also wished to stay overnight.
"What are you doing here, dobe?" Sasuke demanded.
"Someone has to protect Sakura-chan from you!" Naruto yelled. "She's mine and there's no way I'm going to let you touch any part of her!"
"Naruto!" Saku screamed angrily. "I can take care of myself, thank you very much! I'm not a complete weakling!"
"Ah! Sakura-chan, that's not what I meant." Naruto protested. "I'm just saying, that someone should make sure that the teme doesn't go crazy and chase after you like an animal!"
"The only animal here is you." Sasuke growled.
"Shut up!"
"I'm sorry Uchiha-san," Kakashi said rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. "I've tried disciplining the two, but it's much harder than it looks."
"Don't worry about it Kakashi-san," Mikoto said with a little giggle. "I've taken care of the three for years and so I know how hard it can be."
"Teme!"
"Naruto," she said in her usual happy tone. "What have we talked about cursing?"
"Ah!"
"Hah, dobe," Sasuke snickered.
"Sasuke," she said, turning her gaze on her son. "What have we talked about name calling?"
"Er."
"You two…"
"Sakura-chan," she said. Saku stiffened. "Let's go inside and bake some cookies, okay?"
Kakashi sweat dropped at seeing his students acting like docile obedient children's under the order of the great Uchiha Mikoto. He turned towards Fugaku who seemed unaffected by the change. "How does she do that?"
"That's something I've been wondering about for years."
If Sakura had been told of what she and Itachi would doing in this mission, she would have NEVER believed that it was a mission. I mean, c'mon! Holding hands, laughing gaily, and all that mushy stuff. It was sweet to see Itachi act this way –even though they're not really married- but Sakura couldn't help worry about what they were going to do for the mission.
"Hiroshi-kun?" she asked, calling Itachi by his pseudo name.
"Yes, koishii?" was it just her or was Itachi continuously calling her by that? They had already established that they would call her Kasumi.
"When are going eat?" she looked up at him, knowing he would understand her mental question. 'When the hell are we going to start this mission?' she thought angrily. "It's been two hours!" she whined. 'It's been two friggin days!'
"You shouldn't spoil your appetite, koishii. We already ate lunch so wait until it's time for dinner." He said patiently. 'Be patient Sakura, we'll start this mission when it is dark.'
Okay, so their time here so far hadn't been a complete waste of time. The two had managed to gather some information by discreetly asking the citizens some questions that would seem random to others, but a gold mine of information to a trained Anbu shinobi. They had discovered several things during the past few days.
The two had wondered why they hadn't seen any Sound shinobis during the time and had found out that they were all being trained in that fortress looking area in the center of the village. Sakura frowned. Orochimaru was so focused on training the shinobis that he forgot his duty as a kage, to protect the village.
Another thing they had discovered was that Orochimaru sent his men to gather children, who are only about five to six years old, to start their training as a shinobi. They didn't seem to have any choice about it. Sakura remembered, very bitterly, a woman screaming and crying in tears as she tried to stop the men from taking her son. What gripped her heart the most was that no one came to help her.
Now, the final thing they discovered. Itachi sweat dropped when he saw Sakura half pouting and half fuming with anger. Sakura had noticed, without even asking anyone, that Orochimaru didn't seem to accept kunoichis. Nope! He only seemed to be focused on the men! WHAT ABOUT THE FRIGGIN GIRLS!
She calmed herself down by telling herself that the only reason Orochimaru wasn't training girls to be kunoichis was because of his horrible memories of Tsunade beating the crap out of him. He probably knew that the girls would want to be more independent and wouldn't take it lying down if a man tried to control them. Yes, that was probably the reason why.
"Kasumi-chan," Itachi asked, finally calling her by her pseudo name. "Are you alright?"
"Ah, Hiroshi-kun," she squealed hugging him while letting out a hysterically laugh, "I've never felt better!"
The plan they had formed was to simply sneak in. During their two-day little tourist shopping, they had managed to see the scouting patterns of the Sound-nin guards. They alternated every three hours and during the night, there were more guards than during the day.
Fortunately, they were only about Jounin and Chuunin level shinobis. It was a piece of cake to sneak in. Now, the only problem was getting what they wanted and getting out a live.
What was it that they wanted?
To see if Orochimaru was involved with this village.
Okay, Sakura already knew that Orochimaru was involved with this village. Hell, she knew that he was the kage of this village! The problem was, she just couldn't come up to the Hokage and tell him all that. It was unfortunate, but she found that the Hokage was one of the people who lost their memories… meaning; he doesn't remember that she wasn't originally from this timeline.
The two hadn't brought their Anbu clothing, because it would have been bad if the maids had discovered the armor and uniform while they were out of the inn. That included the mask, meaning they would be exposed to identification if they were captured. Just in case, Itachi and Sakura had brought some black clothing as well as a face mask to cover their faces.
They ran through the shadows with the silent footsteps they had practiced for years. Sakura no longer needed to remind herself to walk silently. It had become a habit and was unneeded.
Itachi raised a hand, stopping her. They could hear voices from behind the big copper door. She knew Orochimaru was behind it because of its design. It was of twin snakes, entwined together to form a door knob. Who else wanted tacky door knobs besides Orochimaru?
"The plan is about to commence, Kabuto." She stiffened.
'Holy shit, it's actually Kabuto!' she screamed mentally, making sure not to make eye contact with Itachi. He would notice her panic and interrogate her later for that.
"Yes, Orochimaru-sama." He murmured like the obedient slave he was (this is what Sakura thinks!) "You were brilliant in deciding to build a village of your own. The next phase of your plan to destroy Konoha will soon begin during the Chuunin Exams."
'This conversation is making me nauseas' Sakura thought wearily. 'Oh Orochimaru-sama, please let me kiss your feet, let me lick your toes clean! Ew… I need to stop thinking about things like this.'
"Don't tell me information I already know, Kabuto." Orochimaru had his back towards them and Kabuto was encased in the shadows too much for their eyes to see. Not that it mattered, Sakura would recognize Kabuto's face anywhere. "Just a few more days…"
"Yes."
Itachi gave a signal that it was time for them to leave. She nodded, turning to leave. Before she left, her eyes met with Kabuto's eyes. She stiffened and saw the amusement glowing in them, before she finally got the nerve to move away.
It was several hours later that Sakura remembered, grimly, that she had forgotten to wear the contacts that made her emerald eyes blue.
"Saku-chan," Mikoto squealed hugging the poor girl. Somehow, Mikoto had coaxed Saku into getting dressed up in a sun dress. It was snow white and had light green lace on it. "You're soo kawaii!"
"Ah," she sweat dropped and bowed. "Thank you, Mikoto-san."
Mikoto desperately wanted for Saku to call her Okaasan, if only once, but knew that would be too much. Instead, she opt to drag Saku into a beauty parlor to get her hair done.
Mean while, the opposite sex could only watch them helplessly. Fugaku wondered how he was here in the first place, when he should be at work. Sasuke and Naruto didn't know whether to run around in boredome or to be joyful that they got to see Sakura in a lot of cute and, sometimes, revealing clothing. Kakashi didn't seem bothered by anything at all!
"Hey, teme." Naruto whispered softly.
"What is it, dobe?" Mikoto was looking so they could say what they wanted.
"You want to go back to Saku-chan's house?"
"Why?"
"I'm bored and they have a big backyard. We can train!"
"…that's actually not a bad idea, coming from you."
"I k-HEY!"
Sakura felt an eye twitch. She had finally got back home from that ridiculous mission –ridiculous to her since she already knew about Orochimaru's position in the Sound village– and she came back to find her home like THIS!
Itachi sighed at the scene. He knew something like this was going to happen while they were gone.
Saku was crying in Sakura's arms dramatically. She was so happy that her sister was back that she was in tears.
Right before them, their house was gone.
It was completely gone!
How that happen, Sakura couldn't even imagine!
"What the hell happen?" she screamed.
"Naruto and Sasuke destroyed the house while they were training!" Saku cried out. "I was staying at the Uchiha compound while you were gone."
'Why do I have a feeling that Mikoto-chan planned this?' Sakura thought. She knew that the Uchiha matriarch could be very devious when she wanted to be. But, would Mikoto seriously destroy their house just to get them to stay with her?
Sakura looked up at Itachi who sighed.
"Of course she will." He said, apparently reading her mind.
"Pack your bags, Saku-chan," Sakura said in defeat. "We're staying with the Uchiha's… again."
Tsuki-chan: Please review! Thank you for reading! n . n
PS, PLEASE READ THIS PART!: I'm not accusing anyone of anything, i just want to be sure. someone told me and i've also noticed that the writer rachel9493 time-traveling fic 'Loving the Past' sounds suspiciously like mine with a few alterations, i was wondering if others could read and see if there really are similarites. I just want to know if it does because everyones opinion is different.
Thank you!