Last Priority

Chapter 7

Enjoy (:

-

Previously on Last priority…

"You have improved," Itachi said as he walked to the group. "Leader has called for you." With that, he went inside after Hidan, expecting Sakura to follow.

"That's as much of a 'good job' as you're gonna get from him, blossom." Kisame called after her.

"I know," she said with a smile as she followed Itachi inside.

Who would her partner be? She was excited, yes, but she also dreaded the type of missions she would be getting as Naruto's words kept ringing through her head. She shook her head and caught up with Itachi. She'd just have to wait and see then…

-

"Sakura-san, I understand that you've completed your training," Pein's deep voice rang throughout the dark office.

"Hai."

"Then I'm proud to say that now, you are an official member of the Akatsuki. Congratulations Sakura-san. You'll find your cloak and ring in your room."

"Thank you," she replied politely. Was she really thanking him for kidnapping and blackmailing her? No, it was just common courtesy to say thank you when someone congratulates you.

"As for your partner…I'm sure you're aware that your medic skills are highly respected so I will be pairing you with Itachi for now. His eyesight is slowly deteriorating and he needs an accomplished medic to heal his eyes."

"I thought as much."

"Good, so you've been expecting it. No complaints then?"

'I never said that,' she thought to herself.

"No."

"Very well, you're dismissed. Welcome to the Akatsuki Haruno Sakura."

Sakura nodded and left the room. She half expected Itachi to be waiting outside like he always did, but instead, Deidara was standing outside the door.

"Oy, what took you so long, yeah? What'd he do, rape you?"

Sakura's eyes widened and her face turned into a giant tomato. "Of course not, Deidara!"

The blonde raised his hand in defense in case she decided to punch him. "I was kidding, yeah! Anyway," he tried to change the subject before she got really mad, "We're gonna throw you a party to celebrate, yeah!" He gave her the details and she thanked him before going to her room.

-Later that evening-

Sakura looked at her reflection in the mirror. Deidara said it was a formal party so she picked out one of the kimonos she and Kisame bought on her first mission. It was a black with the silhouette of dragons scattered along the bottom half and right arm. The designs were various shades of gold and yellow, blending intricately with the material of the kimono. The obi was a warm jade; the designs were much simpler compared to the kimono. There were many swirls spread out along the green material and it tied into a much larger bow than any of her other kimonos, nearly reaching the ground. Sakura left her hair down and it reached her waist. She sighed and walked out the door, making her way to the living area. When she arrived, there were many more people than she had expected. She assumed it would only be the members of Akatsuki, but there were men and women of all ages talking amongst themselves, some in traditional kimonos, and others in more modern western-style clothes.

"Sakura-san! Tobi thinks you look amazing!" The masked man bounced over to where Sakura stood and hugged her tightly.

She returned his embrace somewhat awkwardly. "Thank you, Tobi. You look great as well."

"You really think so Sakura-san? Thank you!!"

"Oy, Tobi! You shouldn't hug her so tightly, yeah. You're gonna wrinkle her kimono."

"Ah! I'm so sorry! Tobi will fix it!" He let go of her immediately and straightened out all of the wrinkles he could find.

"You look good, Sakura, yeah," Deidara commented offhandedly.

"Thanks, you look good yourself," she smiled. "Um, if you don't mind me asking, who are all these people?"

"They're just our bunshins under a henge, so it seems like a real party," Tobi answered cheerfully. "Enjoy yourself, Sakura-san and congratulations!"

"Thank you, Tobi."

He nodded enthusiastically and disappeared into the crowd. Sakura and Deidara talked for a while longer before she excused herself and made her way to the courtyard, saying something about moonlight and fresh air. It was lit up dimly with Japanese lanterns which reflected off the pond. She walked over to the bridge that loomed over said pond and leaned against the railing. With a troubled sigh, Sakura studied her reflection in the water. Being on the bridge like this reminded her of the bridge Team 7 used to meet at as genin.

"That was a big sigh, little blossom," Kisame appeared beside her. "Aren't you having fun?"

"The party's fine…"

"Then what's with the long face?"

They stood in silence for a while as Kisame waited for a reply and Sakura thought of an appropriate on to give.

"It's just…" More silence. "It feels like I'm celebrating my betrayal of the village, yenno?"

"Well maybe you should try to not think of it that way," he placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

"It's hard not to, I just can't help it."

"Was the party a bad idea then?"

"No, no. It was really great of you all to do this, thank you. You know, I never would have thought that the Akatsuki were the type of people you really are. I always thought you were all just cold, blood thirsty killers—"

"And we can be when we need to."

"Yeah, but you're also capable of being nice and joking around just like anyone else. You guys are all pretty normal… for the most part."

"Gee, thanks," Kisame sweat-dropped. "It's not something we like to spread, might tarnish the rep ya know?" He grinned, keeping the mood light.

Sakura smiled back. "Ne, out of curiosity, if Itachi's going to be my partner now, then what about you?"

"Eh, Leader's gonna send me on a few solo missions, thanks to you."

"Hey, you're the ones who kidnapped me, remember?"

"I was just kidding," Kisame laughed.

"Of course you were," she replied sardonically.

"I don't mind doing a few solo missions. They're not that bad, plus I won't have to rush and be on schedule all the time like Itachi likes to be. I'm warnin' you now, blossom, he's not the greatest travelling companion,"

"Of course not, that'd be you wouldn't it?" Sakura winked.

"Ah, now you're catching on." They both laughed. "I think I hear Deidara calling me. He's probably gonna bring out the sake soon."

Sakura giggled at the thought of a drunken Kisame and Deidara. "Don't get too drunk."

"Hey, no promises. Congrats, little blossom."

"Thanks," she called after his retreating figure. She continued to stare into the water for a while until she felt Itachi standing beside her, mimicking her actions and staring into his own reflection.

Sakura looked up at him, "Hey partner," she said with a smile.

Itachi raised an eyebrow and nodded, "Good evening, Sakura."

Her smile grew, "You answered!"

"It would be impolite to ignore you."

"Yeah, I guess."

They stood staring at the water, their shoulders slightly brushing against each other. They were both completely aware of the contact but neither acknowledged it, nor did the make a move to get away.

"What aren't you inside? This celebration is for you after all."

"I thought I'd spend some time outside. It's beautiful out here."

"Indeed."

"Why aren't you inside?"

"Tobi was getting rather… affectionate." Itachi inwardly grimaced at the memory. Sakura laughed at the mental image of Tobi hugging a grumpy looking Itachi.

"So, it's official now. I'm really a missing nin of Konoha."

"You are."

She pulled out her forehead protector from her obi and sighed

"You've yet to slash through the village symbol."

"Yeah, I guess I really have to now."

They stood in silence and Itachi held a kunai out to her. Sakura nodded took it from him, making a solid slash right the leaf symbol. She began to shake, but refused to let the tears fall from her eyes. Itachi noticed her shaking figure and placed a steady hand on her shoulder. They stayed that way until Sakura was able to pull herself together. They made their way back inside to enjoy what was left of the night. Well, Sakura tried to enjoy it; Itachi just endured it.

The early hours of the morning began to roll around and the night's events took their toll on Sakura. "I'm going to go to bed now, goodnight everyone. Thanks again."

She went to her room and took off the many layers of her kimono before she slipped into one of the outfits Itachi had given her. Deidara had taken her to get her own clothes when she returned from her first mission as Kisame was sent out on another immediately after. Sakura now had plenty of clothes but Itachi's were very comfortable to sleep in so she kept them. They weren't practical seeing as they were much too big on her so she didn't use them on the battlefield. Her mind wandered along the many possibilities of her first mission. The reality of the whole thing hit her then; she was an Akatsuki, enemy of her beloved Konoha and everyone she loved, she was a missing nin and she had fought her ex-teammates. Everything she had worked so hard for was destroyed, but what scared her the most was that she couldn't bring herself to hate the Akatsuki for doing this to her. Alone and in the privacy of her own bedroom, she let the tears fall silently and unrelenting, thoroughly soaking the pillow her face was currently buried in.

"Oy, Sakura, do you—" Deidara walked into her room, forgetting to knock. He was going to give her a cup of tea to help with the headache he was sure she would be having. The blonde nin realized she was crying and placed the tea on the bedside table before sitting on the side of the bed to rub comforting circles on her back. He stayed silent, because really, there were no words that could ease her heavy spirits. He had been through something similar and he knew saying something like 'It's going to be alright,' was not what she'd want to hear. At this point, she believed it would be anything but alright and having someone say it was would undoubtedly anger her. They remained that way for a long while until Sakura lifted herself of the bed into a sitting position to look at Deidara.

"Sorry I didn't knock, yeah, I thought you'd like some tea," He smiled sheepishly, hoping to lighten the mood, if only a little.

"It's fine," she smiled back sadly.

Sakura's tears began to fall again no matter how much Sakura tried to hold them back. Deidara looked at her for a few seconds before pulling her into his arms and stroking her hair comfortingly. This only caused the tears to fall harder because it reminded her so much of Naruto. He would always do this with her, even if she wasn't crying. Naruto had always just known when she needed him and he would be there, even at three o'clock in the morning. She had a feeling that Deidara would become her Naruto here in the Akatsuki, resembling not just the boy's looks, but also his personality. Sakura gripped onto Deidara's shirt with a white-knuckled fist as her sobs racked through her body.

"It's okay, just let it out," came Deidara's soothing voice.

"G-gomen, Deidara … I'm getting your … sh-shirt all wet," she said between her sobs

"Don't be sorry, yeah, I don't care about this shirt anyway"

Sakura nodded as she buried her face deep into the crook of his neck. Eventually, Sakura cried herself to sleep and Deidara tucked her into bed, leaving her room silently.

That night, Sakura made a silent vow to herself never to cry again. She would never show weakness in that form again as long as she could help it. She would be strong for herself and for anyone around her who may need it. Never again would she let these silent tears fall, nor would she burden anyone like she had Deidara, Naruto, Kakashi, or anyone else.

-

"Sakura, Leader has called for us," Itachi informed his partner from his spot across the table as they ate their dinner.

"You think he has a mission for us?" She asked, staring thoughtfully into her tea.

"Perhaps."

"What kind do you think we'll get?"

"It depends."

"Hm…I hope we don't get an assassination mission…"

"It is always a possibility."

"Yeah, I guess it is."

Silence.

"You need to learn some conversational skills, Itachi."

"Such skills are unnecessary. What would I use them for?"

"Talking to people."

"As I said; unnecessary."

"Well it's going to be necessary if you're going to be my partner."

"Hn."

Sakura huffed and finished her meal in silence as Itachi smirked at her childish behavior. He seemed to find her current displeasure amusing. She noticed his smirk and stuck her tongue out at him, causing his smirk to grow.

'Insufferable bastard,' Sakura thought to herself.

'That insufferable bastard is our new partner, so you better learn to live with it.' Her inner self reminded her.

'Great, this is going to be a long partnership…' she thought grumpily.

'But we'll love it!'

'Shut up, no we won't.'

'… Sure ...'

-

Itachi knocked on the wood of the office door to announce to their Leader that they were there.

"Come in," a deep voice called from the other side of the door. He walked in and Sakura followed, closing the door quietly behind her.

"Good evening Itachi, Sakura," Pein looked at the two ninja in front of him, clearly pleased. They nodded their greetings and waited for him to continue. "I have a mission for you. Two squads of sound nin have been tailing us and trying to track down this base for the past two and a half months. It seems Orochimaru has taken an interest in the scroll we salvaged from that fire in Mikawaya a while back. They are currently in Katsuya in Bird country, gathering information about us. Do what you can to discourage our friends. It will take three days to travel to the town of Katsuya and it shouldn't take more than two days to deal with the problem, if you do it quietly. Overall, this mission will take just over a week, but it is fairly simple. This way, you two can get used to each other and synchronize your movements, think of it as training, if you will. You will leave tonight, in two hours. Use that time to prepare your things"

"Hai," Sakura was eager to get out of this stuffy office and away from Pein. Itachi simply nodded and with that, they left the dark office.

They prepared their things and left when they were told to. Sakura put her cloak and ring on, revolted at the very idea, but she walked to the living room to meet Itachi.

"Looks good, yeah," Deidara said, trying to cheer her up when she walked by.

"Thank you," Sakura tried her very best to smile.

Itachi went over the plan and they left the base for their first mission together. They travelled through the forest to Katsuya for the whole night and a majority of the next day, stopping only to eat before dashing through the trees with renewed vigor. They travelled at what felt like a relaxed pace to Sakura, but she knew that before her training, this speed would have been grueling and she would not have been able to keep up. On the second night, they found a place to make camp and rest.

"Ne, Itachi, I can start healing your eyes now, if you want," Sakura sat down beside her partner as they both stared into the fire.

"Very well," came Itachi's expected response as he turned to face her.

"It might feel a little weird to have my chakra in such a sensitive place at first, so you'll have to just wait until your body adjusts," she informed.

"Hn." It was very hard to trust himself completely to someone else, and he didn't like the weak feeling of vulnerability. Having to lower his guard completely to a young girl was not something he wished to do, but he trusted her and somehow, it didn't feel quite as unsettling knowing just who he was trusting his most treasured ability to. He closed his eyes and felt Sakura's warm chakra prodding through his eyes; it was … strange at first, just like she said it would be, but he grew accustomed to the feeling and soon found it to be soothing and comfortable. She asked him to switch between the regular sharingan and the Mangekyou and to turn it off completely to see the differences.

It was worse than Sakura had initially thought. Every time he used the Mangekyou sharingan, he was sending amplified amounts of chakra to his eyes and when he deactivated it, it left chakra residue along the optical nerve which hindered his eyesight. If he left it untreated for much longer, there would have been so much chakra build up that the message from his eyes to his brain would have been delayed and he would get a slow reaction. The only thing worse than no eyesight at all, was having delayed eyesight; he'd still be able to see, but everything would be a second later than what the rest of his senses were telling him. When he was in danger, he'd hear it, smell it, touch it, even taste it, but he wouldn't see it until it was too late. Thankfully, he could be healed and have his old, perfect vision again, but it would take a few sessions and he'd need periodical checkups as long as he continued to use his Mangekyou, which wasn't a problem.

"I can fix it, but it'll take a few sessions a week, and I can relieve you of the headache such stress on your optical nerves must be causing you," she informed her patient.

"Hn."

They began their session, which took a few hours.

"Okay, open your eyes."

Itachi did as told and blinked a few times. It was amazing what she'd been able to do in one session. He never realized just how much his eyesight had deteriorated and it seemed to him that this new eyesight she'd given to him was as good as it got. But she said it would take a few weeks and if it got better and better every time … well he couldn't wait till she finished her job. He surveyed the forest to see that the outlines of trees, rocks, bushes, even their camp area was much sharper than he had seen before he closed his eyes. Even in the dark, the world seemed much more… alive through his new eyes. He felt like a child in a candy store, amazed at everything he was seeing around him. Had he been a regular shinobi, and not Uchiha Itachi, his mouth would have been agape at his amazement. Sakura could see it though; she could tell he was pleased with her work by looking into his dark ebony eyes.

"How is it?" Sakura looked up at her partner

"It is much clearer, thank you."

She smiled at him, "No problem."

Itachi said he'd take first shift so she could get some rest, but Sakura knew that he wanted to look around some more and get a feel for his new eyesight.

-

They reached Katsuya with no trouble and detected the sound nin easily. Itachi suggested they lure them out into the forest to prevent being seen by the civilians. Sakura did as told and they engaged the enemies in battle. Sakura took on four and Itachi was left with the remaining five.

"Help!" Sakura heard a little voice call.

She looked over to the source of the voice and failed to dodge the katana that swung at her, which left a long, deep gash on her dominant right calf in its wake. She concentrated her healing chakra to the wound to numb the pain; she'd have to heal it later. She saw a little boy, no older than 7, a few meters to her left, stuck under a fallen tree; she knew she needed to save him, but what about her opponents? Sakura threw several kunai with explosive tags attached to the end at the sound nin and used the dust and debris from the explosion as coverage to go over to the little boy.

"Help!" he cried out again.

"Are you hurt?"

The little boy shook his head, "Just stuck."

Sakura used her massive strength to pull the tree off the little boy. Where was she supposed to put him now? They were too far from Katsuya to send him off on his own, but if she left him here, he would definitely get caught in the battle and get hurt. She molded her chakra into a bubble around the boy, hoping it would hold up until the battle was finished.

"Go hind behind a tree until I come get you okay?" she bent down to his height. He nodded vigorously and ran off.

Sakura turned around and narrowly avoided the Katon justsu aimed at her heart. The chakra she used to make the shield around the boy had taken a lot out of her and she knew she'd have to finish this quick if she wanted to survive her first mission.

Itachi and Sakura killed off the last of the sound nin and brought the little boy to safety before making their way back to their hotel.

-

"You endangered our mission for the sake of a little boy." Itachi spoke to his partner coldly.

"Did you expect me to just leave him there to die?!"

"In case it has escaped your notice, Sakura, you are a criminal now; you cannot save every single person you come across," he continued in his infuriatingly calm voice.

"We didn't fail the mission, the boy is safe with his family and everyone's happy so what's the big deal?"

"The big deal is that this will affect our teamwork and trust. How am I to trust your judgment next time we go on a mission?"

Sakura sighed, "I'm sorry, Itachi, I'm still getting used to this whole thing, so I just need some time to adjust. Just give me some time?" she asked tiredly. She hadn't been able to close her wound because she was already low on chakra and the blood loss was tiring her out.

"Very well." He left her on the bed and went to the washroom. Sakura thought she had angered him and wanted to go and talk to him to make sure they were okay, but the pain from her injury was becoming too much and she wanted nothing more than to curl up in bed and pass out. As she was getting ready to go to sleep, hoping to recover some chakra to heal herself, Itachi emerged from the washroom with a first aid kit handy. He knelt down beside the bed and began to clean her wound.

"Itachi, what are you…" Sakura did her best to hide her blush at their close proximity and Itachi's gentle hands.

"It will be dangerous and painful to sleep with that wound and you are too weary to dress it yourself," Itachi regarded her coolly.

"H-hai, thanks."

'Why was it such a big deal?' Itachi thought to himself as he dressed her wound. They hadn't failed their mission and he was never one to complain about their method, as long as it got done. As for the trust issue, he knew Sakura was soft and that she would save anyone she could so it didn't surprise him, but he still trusted her as a partner. Then why was he so upset that she did what she did?

'Because she got hurt doing it,' a voice inside told him.

'That's ridiculous,' he convinced himself. Since when did it upset him when his teammates got hurt?

'But you could have stopped it,' that same voice chimed out.

Was he mad at himself then? Did he really blame himself for her injury? No, that was her fault.

He began to get frustrated stopped that particular train of thought before he got lost in his own thoughts.

"Thank you Itachi…and..." Sakura looked away when he finished.

"What is it?" he said not unkindly.

"I really am sorry."

"Hn," he nodded. "It is fine."

Sakura smiled to herself and pulled the sheets up, "Night."

"Goodnight Sakura."

-

"Sakura, I believe we have already spoken about this," Itachi regarded his injured partner.

Once again, Sakura had saved someone else and got herself all beat up, and once again, here she was getting lectured by the Uchiha genius.

"Then don't talk about it again, since you hate repeating yourself," Sakura glared at Itachi from her spot on the bed.

"I did not say I hate repeating myself, besides, as you said, sometimes you need to repeat something constantly to get the message." It didn't show on the outside, but Itachi was furious. The way he was bandaging her up with such gentle hands, Sakura would never have guessed his inner rage.

Her glare hardened, if that was possible, "What is your damn problem?!"

"As I said, this brings up issues with our teamwork and trust. Having Kakashi as your sensei, you know how important that is."

"I haven't gotten you killed and we didn't fail the mission this time, last time, and we won't next time! So don't give me your shit about trust."

"You could have gotten yourself killed, Sakura." Through her anger, she didn't realize his meaning behind that statement. He didn't want her to die; he was worried about her.

"Oh yeah, that would be horrible," she rolled her eyes, "then you'd never be able to hear my annoying voice again, what a loss. Or…" realization dawned on her, "Maybe you're mad because if I die, you won't have anyone to heal your eyes. Is that it Itachi? So after I fix your damned eyes, you'll stop giving me hell for doing what comes naturally, right? After that, I can go and get myself hurt or killed then it won't matter. Or even better, you'll get a new partner; maybe you'll get even Kisame back." She continued on, letting her rage loose on Itachi. He let her continue for a while as he finished bandaging her shoulder, but soon got tired of it and decided to end her rant. Before she knew what was happening, Itachi was sitting on the side of the bed and she felt his lips pressed against hers. Sakura's eyes widened into saucers in shock and her hands flew up to his shoulders, ready to push him away, but then he started to move his lips against hers and she decided she really didn't want to. The initial shock wore off and she found herself kissing him back, albeit rather shyly, but Itachi didn't seem to mind. His tongue darted out to trace her bottom lip, asking for permission, which she readily gave him, as her eyes drifted shut. Itachi's hand curled around her waist, careful to avoid her injured shoulder, while the other snaked its way through her hair and rested on her neck. Sakura's hands weaved through his hair, pulling out his hair tie loose so she could run her fingers through the full length of his ebony tresses. His tongue mapped out her soft cavern and coaxed her shy muscle into playing. Their kiss was languid and unrushed, mostly just discovering each other. This wasn't Sakura's first kiss, far from it really, but this was by far the most amazing and she was hesitant to break away. When they eventually parted for air, she looked up at him through hazy eyes.

"Itachi," she practically whispered before he was on her once again. This time wasn't as relaxed as their first. They fought for dominance, which Sakura lost, and she gave in and let him take the lead. She lost herself in Itachi until a sharp pain shot through Sakura's right shoulder. Itachi was much taller than her and reaching her arm up to him must have caused her shoulder too much stress. Sakura gasped in pain and broke away, resting her forehead on his chest as she pulled her injured arm down to rest on her lap. Itachi held her for a while before disentangling himself from her and laying her down on the mattress.

"Rest, Sakura," he pulled the covers up to her chin and kissed her forehead.

Unable to fight off her fatigue any longer, she closed her eyes and drifted into a comfortable sleep.

-

A/N: Okay, so it wasn't as long as I would've liked, but people have been asking me to update, so I thought I would.

OoOoh, their first kiss ;)

Hmm… I wonder what's gonna happen the next morning ?

Thank you for reading

Hope you enjoyed. Reviews are highly appreciated. :D