Equinox – an Itachi & Sakura story
By: MitsukiShiroi
Disclaimer: Naruto and all its characters belong to Masashi Kishimoto.
Chapter VIII – 365 days
The cold October wind rattled her single-paned windows and woke her just as a flash of lightning seared through the dark skies, followed closely by the deafening crash of thunder. Sakura shot up straight in her bed, instinctively reaching out for Itachi, only to find the bed empty. She breathed heavily in an attempt to slow her heartbeat while running her hands over the now abandoned place beside her. 'Still warm,' she ascertained. 'He should still be here.'
Slinging her legs over the bed, she ignored the second lightning flash and combed through her hair. The second she left the bedroom, she could see him.
Seated beside the glass doors that would lead to her balcony, Itachi sat on the wooden floor, one knee propped up while the other one stretched out in front of him. His head was tilted back and leaned against the wall while he listened to the thunderous deluge outside that seemed to build up more and more as seconds ticked by. The howling of the wind grew unbearable for her and she carefully padded closer to him. Without looking at her, he spread his legs, signaling for her to find comfort in his embrace.
Smiling gently, she sat down on the floor and crept closer to him until he pulled her against his chest, her head resting in the nook of his neck that she adored so much. He stroked her head absentmindedly, all the while keeping his eyes on the scene that unfolded outside. Rain pelted against her glass doors but Itachi opened them despite the ominous clouds outside and inhaled the rain-laden air, his chest rising against her back. "You love the rain, don't you?" she said softly, her hand finding his. As her fingers intertwined with his, she gave him a gentle squeeze.
"Don't you?" he breathed into her ear.
"I guess so," she whispered back, wrapping her arms around his waist.
He had been cold and distant during the last couple of weeks. Ever since they got the news about Sasuke's impendent demise, his visits to her had lessened, his gentle ministrations had all but ceased and he was always far off in thoughts—not that she could blame him. But it was enough for old ghosts to come back to haunt her and to taunt her about not being enough, not being able to bring Sasuke back, no matter how much she wanted it.
Orochimaru's whereabouts were a mystery and though Jiraiya's informants were extremely good, they had absolutely no idea where Uchiha Sasuke could be found. As the days ticked by, so did the last minutes of Sasuke's life… and with every second that passed, Uchiha Itachi grew a little colder. And Haruno Sakura a bit lonelier.
But the way he was holding her now was comforting. It was exactly how she remembered him to be ever since the first night they spent together. That same old Uchiha Itachi was still in there, even if he wouldn't show much emotion when confronted with that fact.
"Itachi…" she whispered against his skin, wondering how it had ever been hard to pronounce his name instead of his rank. She loved the way the syllables sounded and the look he would give her whenever she would say it. "Don't leave me."
It wasn't what she had meant to say—she had meant to say she realized today was October 11th; exactly a year had passed since they had first met and she wanted to reflect on that moment. Instead she had slipped up and revealed what she had kept bottled up on the inside, her worst fear and nightmare; to one day wake up to a Konoha without Uchiha Itachi in it.
"I won't," he said softly, kissing her temple tenderly.
"Please don't," she said, a lump forming in her throat as she clenched the fabric of his shirt into her hands tightly, like she could force him to stay just by holding on. Her tears couldn't be stopped now and flowed freely down her cheeks until they gathered on her chin and dripped down onto his clothes. He held her tightly, rocking her ever so slightly back and forth while stroking through her hair exactly in the way she loved. "We'll find a way to bring him back, I promise."
"I know we will," Itachi said, brushing her tears away with his calloused thumb.
He tenderly grasped her chin and kissed both of her eyes softly before moving down to the corner of her mouth, brushing his lips against her sweetly. It wasn't enough for her though and she pressed her lips against his with a certain kind of urgency she was sure she hadn't displayed before. Sakura sat up straight, burying her hands in his recently cut hair, saddened that it only reached his shoulders now while nudging his lips with hers, silently asking for him to deepen the contact.
He complied and she gasped softly as his tongue started to explore her mouth. His taste was unique and tasted a little spicy today, mixed with the faint taste of oranges. She moaned as his hands roamed around her body, leaving a tingling feeling behind wherever he touched. He kissed her feverishly, overloading her senses as he pulled her against him, pressing the line of his body against hers. She broke the kiss when she ran out of air, feeling his hot breath fanning around her neck as he gently laid her down on the wooden floor and trailed kisses from her ear down her throat to her collarbone.
Itachi's powerful hands fanned open against the small of her back, his warm fingers pressing against her gently. Her heart hammered in her chest as she felt his cheek brush past her breasts and when he lifted her shirt to gently kiss her tummy, she was lost. She whimpered softly when Itachi stopped his onslaught only to smother her moans with his mouth, overwhelming her. Passion shot through her veins, throbbing deliciously while she snaked her arms around his neck, arching her back a little to press herself against him. Sakura could feel herself slipping more and more into the depths of desire as his smooth tongue stroked sensuously against hers.
His hand slipped down towards the crest of her hips, his thumb lazily stroking her ribs as their kiss came to an end. Out of breath, the two of them parted and Itachi took a moment to observe her with those endless dark eyes of his.
"Don't stop," she whispered, a blush staining her cheeks. A year since they met, nine months since she realized her attraction to him, six since they started sleeping next to each other, three since their first kiss, one since she realized she loved him. She had waited for twenty-two long years for someone to love her and she had found him. Though he had never told her so in words, his actions spoke volumes from the first moment they fell asleep in each other's arms.
He hovered above her, not speaking, just taking her in with his midnight blue eyes, moving from her sea-foam colored eyes to the blush on her cheeks, down to her chest and eventually to where his fingers curled around her hip. "Sakura…" he spoke softly, turning his eyes back up.
She simply waited, biting her lip in anticipation, waiting to see whether his self-control would finally slip and whether he would finally allow her to be with him. When he at long last lowered his mouth to hers, no words could describe the explosion of emotions she felt.
His soft lips pressed against hers and his usual tranquil and calm eyes now blazed with emotion she had never seen before as his tongue delicately swept over her bottom lip, making her shiver in sheer delight. He tenderly bit down on her lip, sucking on the soft flesh.
Sakura's hands roamed over his still clad torso, admiring his strong build and the iron muscles underneath. Impatiently, she grabbed his shirt and yanked it over his head the moment he relinquished her lips, letting her hands wander over his naked chest. Loving the feel of the soft skin that belonged to the dark haired Uchiha and the way he flexed his muscles whenever she hit a particularly sensitive spot, she smiled broadly.
She wrapped an arm around him, raking her fingernails over his spine, eliciting a groan from Itachi. He captured her lips again, instigating another toe-curling kiss while lying down beside her, moving the hand that had previously been trapped under her body to her cherry locks to pull her in closer while his right hand slowly stroked her side. Her whimper was not missed by him as his hand started to roam her body, first drawing circles around her stomach before tracing the outline of her breast with his knuckles.
Arching her back in an attempt to feel more of his ministrations, Sakura sighed when his hand finally cupped her breast. Only a small part of her cared that the floor against her back was rather uncomfortable as her shoulder blades and vertebrae were starting to strain from the unkind surface, but to say anything now would be to ruin the moment. In an attempt to distract herself from the discomfort, she stroked his chest with her fingertips again, over his well-shaped chest down to the flat plane of his tummy and the dark trail of hair on his lower abdomen.
He pulled back a little. "Sakura… Are you sure?" he asked.
Itachi watched her carefully as she nodded silently and complied, tucking his fingers underneath her shirt. She raised her arms to help him remove the garment while sitting up straight, Itachi moving to his knees in front of her. The way he was looking at her was mind-blowing, desire so clear in dark eyes. Almost feeling like her heart would pop out of her chest, Sakura licked her lips in an attempt to moisten them and inadvertently drew Itachi's attention. Looking at her like she was an instrument and he was learning how to play it, his hand stretched out to her, maneuvering her until one of his knees was between her parted legs.
She bent forward, taking his head between her hands and pressed kisses on his jawline. In return, Itachi moved his hands over her sides as if memorizing the contours of her body before moving to her back. When his fingertips touched the soft material of her simple black bra, he looked at her one more time, searching for permission. She simply nodded and he unclasped the garment, his hands dragging over her shoulders and arms to remove it.
As his gaze focused on her now naked upper body, she felt the strong urge to cover herself up. A blush crept back up to her cheeks as she lifted her eyes to the ceiling. 'Flat chested little Sakura, I don't look any different than I did at age twelve,' she thought, despairing slightly. When she felt his fingers touching the gentle swell of her breast, her breath hitched, and she looked down to find Itachi completely entranced by her, his long fingers tracing the outline of her breast.
He brought his second hand up to cup the other, his lips pressing kisses just over her heart and down until he reached one of the twin mounds and left butterfly kisses all over, his skilled hands moving up towards the stiffened, pink epicenter. She groaned harshly as his fingertips brushed over her nipple and softly started moaning when he began to tug and roll it gently between the pads of his thumb and forefinger.
Her legs tightened around his knee while she arched her back a little further. She whimpered and moaned loudly when he finally lowered his head and engulfed the hardened tip of her breast with his mouth, sucking gently. When his tongue started to trace circles around her, her hands started to massage his scalp in an attempt to press herself closer to him.
The feel of his skin against hers when he released her breast and pressed her against his chest to plant another kiss on her lips was everything she had ever craved for and more. When he finally divested the last of her garments and caressed her naked breasts, her tummy, her back and her thighs, she could feel none of the anxiety of the past couple of weeks, -none of the fear, and the loneliness that had haunted her was gone. There was only here and now and she felt incredibly ecstatic just being alive and experiencing this with him.
The time of solitude and sadness was long gone, a thing of the past and forgotten when Itachi finally undressed himself and entered her gently, allowing her to wrap her legs around him. She moaned loudly as he moved within her, unable to keep quiet as the most delightful sensations she had ever felt washed over her. Sakura lost all rational thought as he increased the speed of his thrusts and she tilted her head backwards, exposing the length of her throat to him which he hungrily kissed and laved attention upon.
She called his name, only vaguely aware of doing so as his movements increased further, driving them both closer and closer to the edge. Itachi's deep throaty moans close to her ear were driving her insane and she could only respond in kind every time he drove deep inside her. The feelings only intensified when he capture her earlobe between his teeth and licked it with his tongue.
Finally, it proved to be too much.
Itachi's moan was lost inside the room while Sakura rode the breathtaking wave of mind numbing pleasure with him, exhaling deeply as he collapsed on top of her, panting hard while trying his hardest not to crush her under his weight. He kissed her sweaty forehead before rolling to her side, grabbing her so that she landed on top of his chest, and feeling sated beyond belief.
He held her for what felt like hours, caressing her hair while she kissed his chest and neck, enjoying the feel of his body against her while the sky brightened outside, the windows almost bursting at the seams with the now brightly lit morning sun—the storm had finally cleared.
She grabbed a towel of the rack, leaving Itachi in the shower for a little while longer as she dried her roseate locks, observing herself momentarily in the mirror with a small smile. Three-hundred and sixty-five days had passed since she had gotten to know Itachi and the hollow girl who would stare back at her in the mirror had disappeared, leaving a vibrant young woman with a smile on her face that just wouldn't disappear.
Giggling when Itachi stepped out of the shower and picked out a sea-foam green colored towel, she quickly got dressed and took some leftovers out of the fridge for breakfast. "Sorry, I'm not really housewife material," she apologized to Itachi as he came up to see what they could eat for breakfast.
He simply smiled and picked one of the rice balls she had made for lunch the previous day, pouring some tea for them. Sitting across from him, she simply couldn't believe how ridiculously happy she was and there was no doubt in her mind that reflected on her face too as Itachi glanced up to watch her now and then, an amused expression on his face. "What are the plans for today?" she asked him, supporting her chin with her hands as she watched him happily.
Itachi leaned back and swallowed his bite. "A sparring session with Naruto, some paperwork and a meeting with the ANBU Captains and the Sixth," he summarized. "Is Naruto's party at his house or somewhere else?"
"His house," she said, taking another quick bite of her food while clasping her skirt around her waist. "We're assembling there at six but you can come in whenever you're able to find some time. It'll go on forever, it always does."
"You have a shift at the hospital?" Itachi asked, taking another sip of his tea.
"Yes, Kakashi-sensei wants me to check up on things in the hospital and continue training the medical staff there. The Fifth's training was a bit more extensive than the regular training given to new medic nin."
Tying her hair in a high ponytail, she quickly checked her appearance in the mirror and walked up to Itachi, leaning forward a little. He wrapped his hand around her neck and stroked her gently as he kissed her, leading them to the hallway where she put on her boots and strapped the rest of her gear to her skirt. "See you later," she whispered, her fingers touching his hand for a little longer until she forced herself to turn around and walk away.
"Bye, Sakura," he answered softly.
As the door closed behind her, she leaned against it, breathing heavily. A thousand emotions twirled inside of her like the autumn leaves outside, winding and spiraling in frenzied little whirlwinds. Unable to stop smiling, Sakura walked away from the small apartment complex, her body aching but in an exquisite and delightful way she hadn't ever experienced before.
She set off to the hospital, reliving every intimate moment she had shared with Itachi that morning, from the lovemaking on the floor to the way he had tenderly washed her under the shower and the kiss goodbye. It was perfect—no other way of putting it.
Her thoughts couldn't help but fly back to Uchiha Sasuke though—Jiraiya had no exact way of knowing when Orochimaru would be able to transfer again but was reasonably certain about the time period. Before the end of the year. 'It's only two and a half more months till the end of December,' she thought, more than a little anxious. 'But what can we do to get him away from Orochimaru? He went there on his own accord, it's not like we can sweep in and convince him to return to Konoha.'
"Sakura-chan!" Naruto's voice woke her from reverie and she turned around to find him jogging towards her.
"Naruto!" she called out, beaming at the blond. "Happy Birthday!"
"Thank you," he said, grinning back at her. She hesitated for only a brief moment but stepped forward and wrapped her arms around the blond, holding him tightly. He chuckled in her ear as his arms came up to embrace her back. "You can do this more often than just on my birthday, you know."
"I'll try to remember that," she said jokingly, pulling back. "Off to train with Captain Uchiha?"
He clenched his fists energetically. "Yeah! He's going to help me improve on my genjutsu breaking abilities." A bit sheepishly, Naruto scratched the back of his head. "I keep getting caught and being unable to break them so it would come in handy if I have to battle some genjutsu user on my own."
Sakura nodded, smiling as she pinched his cheek affectionately. "You can't become the Hokage if they can just trap you in some illusion!"
Naruto laughed. "I've got you by my side, and Shikamaru and Captain Uchiha!"
"True," she smiled. "Captain Uchiha has been working hard to make us all well rounded shinobi, hasn't he?"
"Oh yeah," Naruto nodded vehemently. "He's been working on genjutsu breaking and strategizing with me, taijutsu and ninjutsu with Shikamaru and you've been learning how to cast illusions yourself amongst more taijutsu skills right?"
"Yes," she affirmed.
Naruto flashed that mischievous, boyish grin of his again. "Who knows, we might all end up captains of an ANBU squad if this continues. It's why he's been pushing us so hard!"
She let her smile remain on her face but her insides felt knotted all of the sudden. Of course, Itachi had never made any secret of his intentions to let them all grow to the maximum of their capabilities and to hopefully allow them to be promoted to ANBU Captains at certain points, but Sakura wasn't quite ready to say goodbye to the team they had formed. 'A shinobi life. Team seven was lost when Kimimaro died, team Kakashi ended when Kakashi was promoted to Hokage and Team Uchiha will disband when we become capable enough to be captains ourselves.' She bit her lip, fighting the melancholy that threatened to overtake her. 'I feel like I'm always practicing saying goodbye to people.'
Naruto apparently noticed her little depression and put his hands on her shoulders. "Don't worry. We're always going to be together. Perhaps not in the same team, but you're not ever getting rid of me."
"Naruto…" she said, unable to hide her amusement.
"I have to run, or he'll use his Mangekyou on me instead," Naruto turned to run off, waving apologetically at her. "I'll see you tonight, right?"
"Of course!" she yelled back when he sprinted away.
Sakura giggled as she made her way into the hospital. Greeting the medics on call, she changed into her outfit and prepared herself for another day of healing.
Landing on the top floor of the apartment complex, Sakura quickly rushed to Naruto's door and knocked. "Kakashi-sense—"she cut herself off. "Hokage-sama! What are you doing here?" she asked with genuine surprise when the door opened, leaning back to check the doorpost to see if she had gotten to the correct 's name was scribbled into the wood with what looked like a senbon or kunai. Unmistakably his.
Kakashi's eye crinkled. "Well, I am his old teacher, he invited me."
Sakura laughed loudly at that, lifting her hands a little in mock defeat. "Oh, I think I forgot all about that."
"How was your shift at the hospital?" he asked when she stepped into the tiny hallway, struggling to remove her boots while keeping her balance amidst the sea of sandals and boots that filled up the hall.
"It was good. They're getting better and better, but antidote making is still high on the priority list in my opinion," she informed him. "I talked to Shikamaru and Shikaku-san about it, the Nara clan has an entire tome consisting of poisons and antidotes to counter them."
The silver-haired Hokage nodded briefly. "Let's talk about it tomorrow," he answered, making way for her to walk to the living room. Opening the door, she was surprised to see most of the shinobi she had counted on were already there.
Kiba and Akamaru sat in one corner, talking to Shino and Neji while gesturing at Akamaru, a big wolfish grin on his face. In another, Tenten and Lee were having a drink together, both of them smiling and waving at her when she entered, though the spark that once lit Lee's eyes had forever been extinguished. Gai's death had hit him hard, harder than the prospect of never being a shinobi again had during their Chuunin exams or any obstacle he had ever faced before.
Taking another look at Kiba, she could easily see through the fake smile he was putting on. Though he had never admitted it, probably because he knew of her endless affection for Naruto, Sakura had noticed how lovingly he would always treat her, despite his rather rowdy attitude. Hinata's death had affected him just as much as Gai's had affected Lee. 'I know exactly how that feels. When Kimimaro died, I thought a part of myself had died with him. What was I struggling for? Why was I still getting up in the mornings? All questions I couldn't have answered back then.'
She took a moment to peek at Kakashi, noticing he kept his sole eye on both boys too before turning his laze gaze to her. Though his eye crinkled in amusement again, Sakura had learned to see through Kakashi's masked face and knew exactly when he was faking a laugh. Gai's death had hit him hard too, though the stoic man would never show emotions. Their inane rivalry seemed like a childish and absurd thing to her when she was a Genin in his team but as time passed by, she came to realize Kakashi didn't have that many friends and Gai playing around with him, whether it was rock-paper-scissors or a friendly sprinting match was the closest he would come to being with another person again. Since he lost his own team, Kakashi hadn't allowed anyone to come close to him except for his students.
In a rare moment of boldness, she grabbed his hand and squeezed his gloved fingers, causing Kakashi to widen his eye in surprise before moving his hand to her head and stroking her hair affectionately. "Don't worry, they're going to be fine," he whispered, oddly reminding her of the time when Team Seven had been under a lot of stress and invisible cracks had already begun to tear them apart. He had said the exact same thing back then. Of course, his prediction never came true and Kimimaro had died not even a week later.
Wanting to believe him this time, she curled her lips upward. "Yes."
The door behind them opened again and Iruka stood in the entrance, still holding his key to the apartment and holding a birthday cake in the other hand. Chouji, Shikamaru and Ino trailed behind him, waving at her when they spotted her. Konohamaru followed, the youngster bringing the rest of his posse and made a peace sign as he looked up.
"Sakura, I passed the Chuunin exams!" he grinned, his front tooth still missing.
"You did?" she asked surprised. In her mind, Konohamaru was always the twelve year old kid that trailed behind Naruto in hopes of learning some more perverted jutsu. Counting the years, she realized he was eighteen now and when he stood in front of her, she had to look up at him. 'Time really does fly by,' she thought, raising an amused eyebrow when Moegi passed her, her orange hair now tamed into a long ponytail, and Udon, who was always such a little dork with a drip of snot hanging perpetually from his nose, had grown to be taller than her.
Sai was the last person to enter, a light surprise in his eyes when he noticed her. "Sakura, it's been a long time!"
"Sai-kun!" she said, walking up to him to hand him a drink. "How have you been? I heard you've been filling in Hinata's spot in Team Eight now and then?"
The pale ninja nodded quietly, looking at his surrogate team members. "Now and then. I fill in for a lot of teams," Sai said calmly. A stab of guilt overcame her—here she was, worried about their team falling apart and losing them when Sai was still going through that. Tenzou, or Yamato as she had known him, had returned to serve as an ANBU member and Naruto and Sakura had both joined ANBU, leaving Sai alone.
"You should ask the Sixth for more missions with Naruto and me," she said rather remorsefully. "We still go out for regular missions now and then. Shikamaru usually joins Team Asuma during those times so we're always a person short."
Sai flashed a genuine smile. "That would be fun."
Naruto was the next to show up, looking haggard and absolutely exhausted from his training from Itachi, but a large smile bloomed on his face when he noticed all of his friends crammed in his little apartment, singing him a song. She was mildly disappointed when Itachi didn't follow him inside, but reminded herself he had paperwork and a meeting to attend to before being able to show up at the birthday bash.
The music was pumping loudly by the time Kakashi left the party, several protests heard as he quickly withdrew himself from the festivities. More people had shown up after Naruto's arrival, Chuunin and Jounin she imagined he had worked with when he was out doing missions beside the ANBU ones he got assigned. She stood in the doorway, flanked by both Sai and Shikamaru and glanced over her shoulder with an apprehensive smile. "I never knew Naruto knew so many people," she laughed a little.
Her laughing only increased when she noticed Ino latching onto a particularly handsome shinobi that resembled Shikamaru a little. A relieved sigh passed from the Nara clan member as he pushed his way through the throngs of people in search of Chouji.
Iruka was asking for attention now, trying to find some higher ground. She chuckled softly as she watched him. Back in the Academy, he has seemed like such a wise and so much older than all of the kids combined. Now that they had grown up he seemed more like an older brother to them, especially when he wrapped an arm around Naruto's neck lovingly and teased him with his ridiculously bad copy technique back in the days. The blush staining his tanned cheeks revealed more than enough regarding his mental state, she noted, moving a hand up to her mouth to stifle her giggles during his speech, trying to understand his slurred words.
While laughing at the anecdote and explaining to Sai exactly how bad Naruto's technique had been, Sakura took a sip from her wine and kept her eyes on the door, checking the time. 'He must be really busy…' she thought, a little saddened. It wasn't like they could do anything here though—apart from Shikamaru, nobody knew they were involved together and to be quite honest, even Sakura was unsure about the official status of her relationship with the Uchiha.
She ended up on the balcony, talking to Sai when a slightly intoxicated Naruto slung his arm over her shoulders and pulled her in close. "Sakura-chan," he slurred, pressing a kiss on her cheek. Normally she would've punched the living daylights out of him but she couldn't help belting out laughter as she looked at his cross-eyed stare, supporting him with an arm.
"Okay, who is responsible for this?" she called out, turning the blond around so that the rest of the party could see him.
Immediately six hands went up, Kiba and Chouji amongst them, laughing hard as they pushed their way through the crowd to retrieve Naruto. "We'll give him some water and some food, he should feel better after that," Kiba chortled, supporting him on one side while an unknown Jounin took the other. "Never thought he wouldn't be the kind of guy to get drunk so quickly."
"The three prohibitions of a shinobi," Naruto garbled, raising a finger. "Women, money and alcohol."
"Hear hear!" the crowd roared.
It was with a big smile that she arrived home hours later, discarding her boots in the hallway and stumbling over the threshold that led to her bedroom. Sniggering a little, she was surprised to find the bed completely empty. Raising an eyebrow, she walked on to the living room and checked the bathroom and balcony before returning to the bed, sitting down on it.
Something shone in the dim moonlight that streamed in through her windows and she leaned in close, finding Itachi's necklace on her pillow. She ran her fingers over the silvery flowers and put the trinket down on the nightstand, crawling under the sheets without bothering to undress. 'Must be a long meeting… Or perhaps he's gone on a last-minute mission?' Fear overtook her for a brief moment, her heart pounding in her chest as she thought about the previous night. 'He's not gone. He promised he would stay.'
She curled up on her side, taking Itachi's pillow and holding it close to her, inhaling hisdeep masculine scent. As seconds ticked by, her eyelids became heavier and heavier until she fell asleep, her legs wrapped around the small pillow.
A loud pounding on the door roughly awakened her just a couple of hours later. Green eyes wide, she looked at Itachi's part of the bed over her shoulder, only to find it completely abandoned. Slightly confused, she called out, "Just a minute!" when the knocking on the door persisted and walked to the front of the house, yanking the door open.
"What?" she groaned, seeing Shikamaru standing in front of the door, Naruto behind him, looking like death incarnate. She was about to laugh at him when Shikamaru's serious gaze attracted her attention. "What happened?" she asked, suddenly worried.
"Team Uchiha is to report to the Sixth immediately. Get dressed, we'll wait," Shikamaru said.
"Okay," she nodded, disappearing inside again. Quickly changing her clothes into new ones, Sakura grabbed the gear that rested on her table, checking it hastily and attached it to her skirt, pulled on her boots and let the door close behind her. Wasting no time, the threesome accumulated chakra to their feet and reached the Hokage's Administration building in record timing, rushing up the stairs to the audience room.
"Come in," Kakashi's tranquil voice called out.
As they entered, Sakura immediately noticed both Jiraiya and Ibiki in the room, each one on the other side of Kakashi who looked positively bothered while reading a report, one of his summoned dogs in front of the desk.
"Kakashi-sensei, what is going on?" Naruto broke the silence, looking from Jiraiya to Ibiki to the Sixth.
Both older men looked at each other and at the Sixth. Sakura could only dread what would be coming out of their mouths next. Itachi wasn't present in the room—was he gone for a mission or off to do something else? Blood drained from her face. 'Did something happen to Itachi? Is he hurt?' She shook her head. 'It's Uchiha Itachi we're talking about. He doesn't get hurt.'
Kakashi sighed heavily, leaning back in his chair. "A few weeks ago, we received intel regarding the Uchiha Massacre."
"The Uchiha Massacre?" Shikamaru asked, stepping up. "Hasn't that been a cold case for years now?"
"Yes," Kakashi said, carefully picking out his words. "As you most likely know, the Uchiha massacre happened when Uchiha Itachi was out of town for a mission and left Uchiha Sasuke as the sole survivor." He glanced over his shoulder at Ibiki.
The scarred man continued. "Though the case had gone cold, we've been investigating this incident ever since. One of the largest clans of the city had been wiped out and we only had a young boy as a suspect, though we always assumed he had an associate…" Ibiki halted, looking at all three of them. "More recently, following Jiraiya-sama's information, we started looking at the murders from a different angle and we looked into Uchiha Itachi."
"Why?" Naruto asked, not understanding. "He was out of town!"
"Officially, he was," Ibiki said calmly and Sakura could swear her knees buckles under her weight when the implications became clear. "It was a mission that lasted a couple of weeks and Itachi himself was off during those days. He spent most of his free time alone so nobody really thought anything of it, but it's very much possible for him to have left the premises and return to Konoha."
"This is ridiculous," she said, willing herself to keep the tremors from her voice. "Uchiha Itachi is a pacifist. He dislikes killing and conflict, why on earth would he betray his family like that?"
"We followed that exact same thought process," Ibiki said calmly. "Uchiha Itachi had been nothing but a loyal and reasonably gentle shinobi, despite his immense talent. However…" He seemed unsure on how to continue.
Jiraiya spoke up then. "Sakura, as you recall, I told you several weeks ago Uchiha Sasuke had defected from Akatsuki…"
Two pairs of eyes from her teammates focused on her, questioning her silently. She nodded, balling her fists. "Yes."
"My informants told me that this happened because of a rift between members. More accurate information reached me, and this was of a more… disturbing nature." The white-haired shinobi looked from her to Naruto. "As you recall, you've fought two Akatsuki members while you were out for an assassination mission, about half a year ago?"
"Hidan and Kakuzu," Shikamaru answered calmly. "What do they have to do with this?"
"I've been told Uchiha Itachi was chasing Hidan after the fight was over, is that correct?"
"Yes," Sakura answered this time. "But he got away."
Kakashi, who had been silent all this time, interjected. "I've known Itachi for a considerable amount of time. He is one of the most capable and strongest shinobi around, easily surpassing my own abilities. In all this time, he has never failed a mission before, no matter how tough the situation might be."
"Are you saying he purposefully let Hidan go?" Naruto's tone was angry now. Though she fully agreed with his outrage, Sakura placed a hand on his shoulder in an attempt to calm him down. "Are you saying he would let an Akatsuki member live, knowing what they would do to me if they succeed in capturing me?"
He shrugged himself loose from Sakura's hold and walked up to the desk, slamming his hands down. "He's not that kind of man!" Naruto shouted, looking at all three men in front of him.
"Naruto," Jiraiya said warningly. He waited patiently until Naruto straightened himself and released the desk. "I've received information that Itachi contacted Hidan during the chase and professed an interest in joining Akatsuki."
"No," she said, amazed at how calm her voice was when the rest of her was about to fall apart. "Your information isn't correct, Jiraiya-sama."
Kakashi leaned forward. "Sakura, weren't you the one who told me that he was chasing after Deidara and completely lost track of him after the first explosion?" His voice was hard, but retained the edge of pity.
She glanced at Shikamaru and saw in his eyes what she wouldn't ever be able to do. He was hesitating, taking in all the information and processing it in that genius brain of his. Slowly but surely, she could see him reach the conclusion in his head and he turned to Kakashi to speak up. "Hokage-sama… This all sounds suspicious, but we've worked with Captain Uchiha for a year now. Sakura was there when Sasuke tried to murder him, he protected Naruto from Pein during the attack, and he saved my life when Hidan had almost finished me off… These were all things he didn't have to do if he was affiliated to Akatsuki in any way."
Naruto nodded vehemently, gritting his teeth as he turned his gaze back to Kakashi.
"Itachi was the last person to battle against Pein and Pein managed to get away from him. We learned later on that that particular form of Pein was able to resurrect the dead and he took all of his bodies bar one with him," Jiraiya said calmly. "An infiltration of Rain told us he is still very much alive and is working with six bodies again."
"In addition, information sent to the Akatsuki division of ANBU was most probably leaked to Akatsuki itself," Ibiki added. "Every time we performed a raid or looked for information, the targets were well-informed and any information disappeared."
She shook her head, unwilling to listen to more. This was a lie, one big, massive lie. Itachi wasn't that kind of man—he was the caring, gentle, pacifist captain. The man that held her during the nights to drive away the loneliness that threatened to consume her, the man that built a fire for her despite the danger of getting caught, the man that looked at his younger brother's pictures with unshed tears burning in his eyes, the man that kissed her so passionately on the balcony that summer day, the man that made love to her and made her feel like she finally had found a place she belonged to. It wasn't true.
Sakura turned to walk out of the door.
"Sakura," Kakashi called out gently.
Shikamaru grabbed her wrist and she turned around, tears burning in her eyes as she gritted her teeth. "Let me go," she hissed, turning to face the men. Naruto stood there, unshed tears brimming in his eyes as he looked at her.
'Captain Uchiha is like the big brother I never had,' Naruto had told her once. 'He's teaching me all these cool things and giving me all kinds of insights on what it means to become Hokage.'
"This isn't a development we're happy with, Sakura," Kakashi said softly, knowing exactly how deep his words cut. "That's why we arranged to talk to him yesterday and listen to his side of the story. He confessed."
Her legs finally gave way under her and she collapsed onto the tiled floor, wrapping a hand around her mouth to quell her sobs. "Itachi admitted to the Uchiha Massacre, asking his brother to be cleared from all charges, admitted to letting Hidan, Deidara and Pein go, admitted to leaking information and being an Akatsuki member for the last six months. He escaped the ANBU holding center and ran away from Konoha just before midnight." Kakashi was silent for a moment. "Our information sources tell us he's successfully met up with other Akatsuki members."
All Sakura could hear was the crystalline sound of her heart breaking.
THE END
(or maybe not?)
A/N: Okay, DEFINITELY dodging things now! Hahaha.
I still have an idea for a second and third arc but I need to map it out a little bit and see if I want to continue with this. Open endings are my thing and I think it's a lot of fun leaving things up for your imagination, but who knows! I might just be back next week with a new chapter for the second arc. After all, Sasuke is about to get consumed by Orochimaru, Itachi has left for Akatsuki and Sakura is left alone again. How will this end?! ; )
Props to all of you who thought Itachi was still connected to the Uchiha Massacre! I've left it as ambiguous as I could throughout most of the story with some unclear hints about it, but I was surprised by how sharp your reviewers are! Hahaha. Overall, I really loved writing this—sweet pacifist Itachi was such a welcome relief from the cold, distant Itachi!
I hope you enjoyed this story too, stay tuned though, there might be more! : )
Mitsuki Shiroi
