Hmmmm. Thanks for all the reviews! : D It's nice to see so many people reviewing my fanfic. ^_^
I have summer school in college, and I'm doing the impossible. I've been actually doing my home work every single day, which is a feat for me. : D
Disclaimer: If I owned Naruto, Itachi would still be alive. Sadly, I don't own it, but I own this plot and Kazumi.
Chapter 9
"Sakura, now that you're finally sixteen I can reveal something to you." Sakura looked up at the red haired man who was sitting next to her, both of them staring out into the Haruno gardens. The Haruno clan wasn't a well dignified clan. They never had much say in anything that was going on Konoha. Even if they weren't the greatest ninjas in the world, they still were a clan made up of thirty people, not like the Hyuuga clan that had over three hundred people or the deceased Uchiha clan with two hundred. Only few Haruno children were born each generation, making the clan very small. Her clan had only two born in the last sixteen years of her life.
"Hai, Outo-san?" Sakura asked, giving him her sweet smile. The man wore a jounin vest. He blinked his jade eyes at her, putting a hand on top of her head.
"You're growing up so fast, Sakura-san." The pink haired girl tilted her head in amusement at her father's statement. He was feeling sad that eventually his little girl would be an adult.
"Is that what you wanted to say, outo-san?" Her okaa-san was in the kitchen making dinner for their family.
"No." He let out a breath of air. "Do you ever hear a voice in your head?"
"Nani?" Was he implying that Sakura was crazy?
"I don't mean that you're crazy, Saku-chan!" He chuckled, ruffling her hair. She growled when he let go, fixing her tousled hair back to its fine look. Every Haruno had pink or red hair. Didn't matter what their spouses had, it would always be the pink or red hair. Never had this unspoken rule been broken. Her cousin who was only a few years older has to deal with pink hair which in turn caused a lot of teasing since he was a boy.
"Then what do you mean?" Sakura pondered. It was true. She did hear a voice in her head, but she tried to block it out all the time.
"Do you?" She sighed.
"Hai, outo-san." He smiled at her and patted her knee, telling her it was nothing to worry about.
"Well, don't fret. There is absolutely nothing wrong with you," he explained. She pursed her lips, trying to understand what he was implying. "The Haruno clan has a special secret." She raised her eyebrows. So there was a cause for the voice? "The Haruno clan has a Kekkai Genkai." Her jade eyes instantly widened, turning her gaze back to their garden. She watched cherry blossoms gently float through the air, softly landing on the dirt.
"A Kekkai Genkai, outo-san? How come I'm hearing about this now?" Sakura could smell the rice cooking in the kitchen. Her mother would be calling for them soon to come eat dinner.
"Because we never registered it with Konoha. It is a secret. Not even your okaa-san knows." Not registered with Konoha? "Registering it could put our clan in danger of being targeted by organizations that would want the Kekkai Genkai." His jade eyes glowed with seriousness at her. Green eyes were another trait that was prominent with the Haruno clan. Sometimes a child would be born with a different color, but it was rare.
"What is our Kekkai Genkai?" She wondered what it could possibly be. What kind of connection did it have with her inner self?
"We have control over what tries to enter our mind. We could never be interrogated with mental threats. The Kekkai Genkai makes it easy to sense most genjutsu." That explained why she was so gifted with genjutsu, why she was able to kick Ino out of her mind in the chunnin exams. "The voice is called our other selves. They empower our will power. It is what gives the Haruno clan our perfect chakra control. It is what gives us our high intelligence." He smiled at her. "Your Kekkai Genkai seems to be the most powerful of the Haruno clan, Saku-chan." She opened her mouth to speak, but no sound came out. She was shocked. Hers was the most powerful?
"What do you mean?" she asked, staring up at the grinning old man.
"Yours is developing at fast rate. Your cousin doesn't even have the ability control his full chakra or overpower genjutsu yet, and you know he's twenty-three years old. I didn't activate it fully until I was twenty-two. Yours is already fully activated. I'm sure you could even mold that ability to enhance your skills even more. You have the best control I have even seen." Sakura was so confused by all this.
"But-…"
"Saku-chan! Mikio! Dinner!" She almost swore at her mother for not allowing her to further the subject.
"Remember, it is the Haruno secret." Mikio pressed a finger to his lips to make a point. Not even her own mother knows about this. She was not a true Haruno after all. She was only married to one.
Kazumi sat up on the patient table. Her eyes were forcing themselves to stay open at the expression on the Hokage's face. She hated that expression. It was the grim look Hinata and Shino had given her that fateful day when she learned the thing she never wanted to hear come from anyone's mouth.
"Tsunade-sama?" she politely questioned, feeling the tears well up in her eyes. Here she was in the hospital, getting her monthly routine checkup that she needed after the news she learned three months ago.
"You're pregnant." Kiba and Kazumi's eyes almost bulged out, making a grin appear on both of their faces.
"You've had a miscarriage." Kazumi's eyes widened in shock, tears making their way down her cheek.
"How did this happen?" Kiba asked, holding his beloved future bride's hand. He gave her a wide grin.
"Why?" Kazumi said, holding her hands on the bump on her stomach. The bump would soon be gone. Her child was dead.
"Well, you know what happens when a man and a woman come together to express how much they love each other, right?" Tsunade retorted, earning a blush from the expecting parents.
"Stress, I'm afraid." Kazumi's face paled. Kiba's death had taken its toll on her and had taken away the one thing she had left of him.
"Congratulations!"
"I'm sorry."
"So a baby?" Kazumi asked, squeezing her husband's hand with happiness.
"Are you sure?" Kazumi croaked. She wished Tsunade would check, just to make sure.
"Yes. You're one month along right now."
"Yes. It seems the fetus died around the time you found out about... him."
"This is so wonderful. Now our family will be complete!" Kiba exclaimed. Kazumi giggled.
She said nothing. All that came out of her mouth was a sob. She had lost everything in one month. All she had left now was Kiba's best friend. He never left her side, even though he would hobble around since he only had one front leg. He was here even now. He was large enough to lay his head on her lap even though she was up on the patient table.
The dog in the room barked happily.
Akamaru whimpered at his master's fiancé's discontent. She petted his head in return.
Tsunade put a hand on Kazumi's shoulder. Kazumi couldn't hold it in anymore. She screamed as loud as she could. She was losing everything she loved. Why was this happening to her? She was only a civilian. She didn't deserve so much heart break. Tsunade squeezed her shoulder once, letting Kazumi know that Tsunade would be there for her to cry on. Kazumi opened her mouth again, screaming again. The baby was gone. The man she loved was gone. Now she wanted someone to blame.
Sakura made a few hand seals, focusing chakra into her eyes. She had nothing to do. She was bored. Itachi would never let her out of the room. She activated her eye jutsu that she had created, enhancing it with the one thing only she had. It was why it was able to deflect any techniques use on her to alter her state of mind. This was her eye jutsu and no one else's.
Itachi came into the room, watching her perform the hand seals. "What are you doing?" She looked at him with her glowing green eyes.
"Practicing since I have nothing else to do." She could see his chakra pathways. She could see every wound he had ever had. He raised an eyebrow at her scanning his body.
"Is it wise to use your jutsu around me? I could learn it if I wanted to." She smirked. There was no way he could copy it even if he knew all the hand seals to it. "Enhance the Sharingan if I wanted to." She scoffed, looking away from him and at the door he had come in from. Sakura could see the chakra flowing through the door, plus the chakra throughout all four walls surrounding her, the reason why she never got out of this room.
"You could try, but you would never be able to," she mocked. Sakura looked at each wall, trying to see if there was any weak points, anywhere for her to put a hole into. She sighed and looked down at the floor. She smiled a little when she saw the blue chakra in her abdomen. The baby kicked at her, obviously feeling the shift in Sakura's chakra pathways. She looked at Itachi, snickering instantly when she saw what he was doing.
Itachi was trying the jutsu. He was going through every hand seal he saw, putting chakra into his eyes, but nothing happened. It didn't activate or enhance his Sharingan. It was absolutely useless to him. "Explain it to me," he muttered, sitting on the chair, turning it to face Sakura who was standing in the middle of the room. She puffed her cheeks in annoyance.
"Why would I want to explain something that could help me escape?" Sakura replied, giving him a cocky grin. Itachi rolled his eyes at her childlike ways. She then gawked her eyes at him. He had displayed emotion! "He feels!" she stated, clasping a hand into her mouth in mock surprise.
"Hn." I have no emotions. Well, that's the way she translated it.
"Of course you have emotions. Everyone does." He raised an eyebrow in surprise.
"Hn?" She pouted. She couldn't understand that one.
Sakura sat down on the bed, releasing her jutsu. It took only a bit of her chakra. She wasn't using it in battle. "Itachi-san, are you ever going to let me out of this room?"
"You're avoiding my question. Explain your jutsu to me." Sakura frowned, giving a glare at Itachi.
"It's a secret, Itachi-san, only a few people in the world can use it," she said, staring into his piercing red eyes. She shifted uncomfortably under his gaze.
"And those few people are?" he inquired. She chuckled and gave him a smirk.
"Not you." He didn't like this answer. "Now, can I leave the room someday?" Sakura was tired of sleeping in the same bed on Itachi. She remembered the first night they had spent here two weeks ago.
"Can't you sleep on the floor or something?" Sakura shrieked, annoyed that he had got into the bed with her. He was under the covers just like she was. She saw the famous Uchiha smirk.
"It's my bed and my room, Sakura." He stressed every syllable of her name. She groaned. "You could sleep on the floor instead if you wanted to."
"You would make a pregnant woman sleep on the hard floor!" He shrugged, not even letting the fact that she had even confirmed that she was a pregnant woman affect his emotionless demeanor. "You're cruel, Itachi." She scooted a little bit farther away from him, so she wouldn't have to touch him once.
"Hn." Itachi shifted a little bit closer to Sakura. It was his way of torturing her. She had very little space now, and if she wanted to move away from him, she would have to fall off the bed.
"Bastard," she hissed, closing her eyes as sleep overcame her. He chuckled evilly.
He had done that every single night she slept in his bed, taking up as much space as he could, so that she couldn't move at all. Only a couple times had she woken up to find her arm wrapped around his waist, snuggling into his chest. When she caught herself to do that, she jolted away, wishing to wash away what she had unconsciously done, and the smirk on his face when he knew that she had caught herself doing this made it even worse.
"Only if you tell me why only you and a few people can do the jutsu." Sakura glowered, pressing clenching her fists on the comforters under her. He continued to sit on the chair. He was bribing her. "Tell me and you can have your own room." Get her own room and give away her secret or don't give it away and continue to sleep next to Itachi. Be selfish, or keep her clan safe. Decisions, decisions.
"Only the Haruno clan can do it." She would not go any further. She refused to. She would not talk to him about the fact that the Haruno clan had a Kekkai Genkai.
"Interesting," Itachi said, watching the guilt that was already written on her face, making him think there was even more to it. If she had been in Konoha right now, she would probably be teaching the eye jutsu to her cousin who had finally mastered the Kekkai Genkai after so many long years. She had told him before she left that she would teach it to him.
"Now can I have my own room?" Sakura growled, wanting an answer at the moment. Mood swings. She knew it. It had to be mood swings. Another part of being pregnant. The fact that she already had a temper would probably make it even worse. Her patience with being stuck in this room for two weeks was wearing thin. She didn't even know how she had managed to survive the first three months being cooped up in the dungeons. Well at least she could have explored since she broke down her own door, and she had Neji for a month to keep her occupied.
Now she had absolutely nothing to do. Plus she was stuck with the Uchiha when she didn't even want to be. Even if he was keeping her company some of the time, all he did was either stare at her, read, or work on some scrolls. They never broke into a full conversation. Sakura had had enough. The smirk that popped onto Itachi's face annoyed her to a boiling point. "You were already going to get your own room."
"What?" So she never even had to answer him in the first place. She growled, lunging at the Uchiha who was sitting there calmly without a care in the world. She missed of course. He saw her move before she even made it. She stopped herself before she crashed into the chair and the desk. Sakura glared at Itachi as he clicked his tongue at her rash move. He was now sitting on the bed.
"You should learn to control your emotions, Haruno-san," he replied, mention her surname only to remind her that she had given away a part of her secret.
"Jerk. Jackass. Asshole," she began, listing off every insult she could pull off the top of her head. She hadn't even noticed her standing right in front of her since she was so wrapped up in every bad word she could think of. Only did she stop when he had cupped her face with both of his hands. Her eyes widened. She tried to pull the hands away from her, tugging on each of his wrist.
"You're so intriguing," he whispered to her. He placed his lips on hers. She dropped her arms to her side, shocked by his bold move. He was kissing her! Uchiha Itachi was kissing her. Why? He tried deepening the kiss. It took a moment for reality to set in. She refused to return the kiss. She put her hands on his chests and pushed him away, surprising him a bit when he no longer had contact with her lips.
Sakura glared at him, walking over to the door. "Please take me to my room, Uchiha-san," she hissed, her jade eyes showing her discontentment with the situation. Itachi snorted.
"Alright, Haruno-san." Such formalities. What happened to first names? Itachi opened the door for her, allowing her to walk out. She noticed the chakra barrier had been dropped. Should she run? Absolutely not. She had no idea who was here, and she knew that the moment she showed any interest in escaping Itachi would put her back in his room. Itachi motioned Sakura to follow him. She complied, making light footsteps as he led her to a door. The door was as ordinary as any other door in the hallway. He opened it for her. This man acted liked nothing happened between them just moments ago. She almost felt like it had just been a dream.
She set foot into the room and noticed it was just like Itachi's. A private bathroom door was in the corner. A desk rested against one of the walls. The bed was a simple blue comforter and white sheets. It was a nice room for a prisoner, compared to her last room.
"Arigatou, Itachi-san," she meekly said, not looking at him for fear that everything would fade away.
"Hn." She stepped into the room, eyeing much brighter it was than her old dungeon room had been. Itachi's room had been the same as her new one, but it was decorated with black color. This room was bamboo floors and white walls. It was a bit soothing to her. "I'm assuming you will not want to be cooped up in the same place forever?" Itachi called. She turned around to look at him and nodded reluctantly. By place he meant room. She was not leaving this place as long as she was still a prisoner to Akatsuki. "Come." It was only one word, but it commanded her to follow. He was already walking down the hallway with the door to her room open.
He showed her where the kitchen was and where the lounge was. The kitchen was plain and hardly ever seemed to be used. She supposed that most of the time Akatsuki brought in takeout, though not very often. They seemed to buy prepared food in large amounts to last them for two weeks at least. A table that sat ten sat on one side of the kitchen. The lounge contained a few chairs and couches. She found Kisame there, drinking Sake.
Where the other members were was not known to her. She supposed that all the members had ways of entertaining themselves hidden in their own rooms. He specifically said that she was not to enter any room except for her own and his. Treading on another Akatsuki's space could mean danger if she was not careful. Kisame probably wouldn't mind, but that didn't say much for the others.
"Itachi, do we have tea?" Sakura asked, knowing the tour would not go anywhere else. Tea would calm her nerves. She saw the front door but already sensed the chakra placed on it. If she touched that door, everyone in the base would know, and she didn't know what else the door would probably do. Most likely it would try to paralyze her before she could try to even turn the handle. Itachi nodded.
"What kind of tea would you like?" Itachi led her back into the kitchen. He began to boil a kettle of water on the stove. The flames under the kettle danced as it heated up the water. She had only asked if they had tea, not for him to prepare her any.
"You don't have to make me any, Itachi-san," Sakura said. Itachi smirked.
"I was making some for myself, Sakura-san. It would only be convenient if you would like some as well." His answer was full of smugness, making her scoff.
"In that case, I would like some rose tea."
"Hn." It only took him a few minutes before he poured the boiling water into two cups. He pulled out two tea bags from the cupboard, dipping one each into the two cups. She noticed his was a lemongrass tea. Once both tea bags had soaked long enough, Itachi discarded the packages, handing the cup of Sakura's tea to her. "You can go drink it in your room if you would like." There was a hidden message behind it. You must go to your room. It seemed like a suggestion, but she knew it was an order.
"Hai, Itachi-san." She walked back to her room with the steaming cup of tea in her fragile hands. The heat of it did not burn her. It was only warm. Sakura heard the light footsteps behind her. Itachi was following her. To make sure she didn't make any attempts at the front door? Surely he knew that she wasn't stupid enough to try. So why was he following her? Once she stepped into her room, she knew that he was following her, not simply just following because he was going back to his room. Itachi was now in her room. He set his cup of tea down on the desk for a second, reaching a hand into his Akatsuki cloak. "What?" She quietly gasped at what he pulled out of his cloak. A book.
The book was placed down on the desk. Without a word, Itachi made his way to the door with his tea. "I-Itachi." He paused. This small gesture meant so much to her. A small rattle of a cup was heard as she placed her tea onto her desk. She fingered the binding of the book, scanning over the cover. "T-Thank you." She was never one to stutter, but his action had so greatly confused her. It was his gift to her. She knew Akatsuki would never obligate him to give her whatever she desired. In all her boredom the last two weeks, she wanted something to do. Itachi had noticed it. He went out of his way to get her a gift that would keep her entertained for a long while. "Thank you so much, Itachi."
"Hn." You're welcome. He was gone, her bedroom door closed. She smiled, looking down at the cover of the book again.
"The Tale of the Utterly Gutsy Shinobi by Jiraiya," she read. She had never known Jiraiya could write a book that wasn't perverted, but as soon as she began to read it, she was proved wrong. It brought tears to her eyes. It was very much appreciated gift, a gift that she would cherish. The story of Naruto and the evil ninja.
The Kazekage peered at the four before him. "Come on, Kazekaga-sama! I don't want to do any more D missions!" a purple haired gennin said, causing his jounin sensei to slap his own forehead. "I want to do an S rank mission!"
"Baka Osamu-kun!" a red haired gennin screamed, punching him on top of the head. "I apologize for my idiotic buffoon of a teammate, Gaara-sama!" She bowed to him.
"I accept your apology, Aki-chan," the Kazekage replied. The elders sitting next to him were annoyed at the gennin before them.
"I think they can do a simple C mission for now, Kazekage-sama," the jounin announced, making everyone gawk at him like he was crazy.
"Are you sure, Tamotsu-san?" The jounin nodded. Aki caught Osamu grinning like mad. Their first C rank mission! "Then you can go on a simple exploring mission. There has been mysterious activity in the desert surrounding a certain spot. Our Intel has deemed it harmless enough for a jounin sensei team to do it. You will only have to gather information. Do not engage in any battles unless necessary. All information pertaining to this mission is within this scroll. Takeshi, Aki, Osamu, Tamotsu, do you accept this mission?"
"Hai!" all four exclaimed. A blue haired boy was emotionless as ever.
"Aren't you excited, Takeshi-kun?" Aki said, take a flirtatious pose. The said boy rolled his brown eyes.
"One C mission because of the baka. I think it'll be fine," Takeshi answered, staring into Aki's emerald eyes. Tamotsu took the scroll from the Kazekage, bowing in respect.
"We will not fail." Tamotsu turned to his three gennin students. "We'll meet at the gate in two hours."
"Hai, Tamotsu-sensei!" All four members disappeared from the room.
"Are you sure, Gaara-kun?" A woman sitting next to him frowned.
"I wouldn't have sent their team if I wasn't sure, Temari," Gaara replied, moving onto the next team in the room. It was just an ordinary day for the sand village. They never would have expected that the team they just sent out might never come back.
Sasuke sat in front of a woman who wore glasses. She pushed them up the bridge of her nose. "I need your help." The woman pouted. Of course that was all he was here for. He was never going to be here for her only.
"Why don't you just get Suigetsu or Juugo? I'm sure they're perfectly capable of helping you." She was annoyed. Sasuke would never want her for anything but her powers. Sasuke shook his head.
"Suigetsu is too happy being on Konoha ANBU, and Juugo's happy now that he's got his life under control. He only wants to continue his life as a civilian in Konoha," Sasuke explained.
"So you come to me? The only one who didn't defect to Konoha. Weren't you in prison?" The woman pushed back her red hair.
"I was, but then the Hokage let me out."
"She let you leave Konoha?"
"No, I escaped thanks to Sakura." The woman tensed when she heard the woman's name. It was taboo around her. The name of the woman who took her Sasuke away from her and back to Konoha. Suigetsu and Juugo had followed them happily after hearing that Sakura would talk to the Hokage about letting them get in without having to go to prison. She didn't save Sasuke from prison though. "Karin, you're the only one who'd be able to do the task anyway." This made the woman a little bit happier. Sasuke only needed her. She took a sip of sake.
"And what exactly are you recruiting me to do?" Karin asked, eyeing Sasuke's demeanor. He seemed… worried. It wasn't something she'd ever seen before.
"I need to find Sakura." The sake cup in Karin's hand broke as she squeezed it.
"And why do I have to find that little home wrecker?" she hissed. She was very annoyed by all of it. Sasuke glared at her little insult. He knew how much Karin disliked Sakura.
"She was kidnapped by my brother," he answered, catching Karin's eyes. "He raped her." Karin scoffed.
"Are you sure that he raped her? She could've been the one who wanted it. She is a whore enough!" Sasuke was already across the table when she said the word whore. His hands clasped around her neck, squeezing the breath out of her.
"Do not say thing you don't know anything at all about! Sakura is not a whore! She would never willingly betray me for him!" The threat in his tone made her quiver all over.
"I-I'm s-sorry, Sasuke-kun!" Karin whimpered. His Sharingan was turned on. The dangerous aura around him had scared her beyond belief.
"I need to find her, and I need to make my brother pay for what he did!" Sasuke exclaimed. He released her, allowing her to drop to the floor. The store owners and customers ignored them completely, knowing it would be stupid to get into their business. "Are you or are you not going to help me?" Karin bit on her lip, standing back up.
"Fine, I'll help you, but I expect some kind of payment, Sasuke-kun," Karin replied, knowing exactly what kind she wanted. Sasuke grunted in return. He would have to deal with negotiations later.
"Whatever." Sasuke paid for the meal and sake both had consumed and dragged her out of the restaurant. He pulled a shirt out of his bag. "This is Sakura's."
"Where did you get her shirt?" Karin asked, peeved that he even had it.
"I took it from her apartment when I left Konoha." He wouldn't say anymore. Karin wanted to rip the shirt in half. He handed it over to her but kept a tight grip on it. He knew how much Karin hated Sakura right now. He wasn't going to let her to destroy the last thing he had of Sakura. "Just get a sense of her chakra." Karin nodded, concentrating on the essence of chakra in the shirt.
"I got it." He was quick to take the shirt back. He didn't want anyone else to touch it, or else the smell will fade, the smell of cherry blossom.
A month went by. Every day she would eat in the kitchen, sometimes with Itachi and Kisame, sometimes with just Kisame, sometimes with Itachi, sometimes she would eat alone. Even when everyone left the base, she never tried to leave. She knew it was foolish. She had to protect herself for her child. Now she was five and a half months pregnant. She didn't know what they would do to her if she tried to escape again. She no longer could hide her pregnancy. Itachi presented her with stretch black pants and a large black t-shirt to fit her enlarging stomach.
Every day she would pour herself into the book at least six hours a day. She had already read it twenty times, but she couldn't stop reading it. She loved the Naruto in the book. It kept her close to the Naruto she knew. It fueled her memory of him, brought back all the old memories. It was her one freedom. Her one salvation. Her one way of seeing his face again, seeing the face of her closest friend. It brought her closer to Konoha.
She sighed, pressing a hand on her stomach as the baby inside kicked her. Sakura was alone now. Everyone seemed to be gone. She walked into the kitchen, looking for something to suit her cravings. She opened the refrigerator, finding a couple of Chinese takeout boxes inside. She began to hum to herself while she dug into one. She didn't bother to heat it up. She just wanted to eat it cold. She strolled into the lounge, laying herself down on one of the couches. Sakura stared off a bit at the door, wondering if it would ever move. She relaxed.
No one would be coming for a while. Itachi and Kisame were either out patrolling or on a mission. She only saw Deidara and Tobi every once in a while, more so Deidara then Tobi. Itachi never left Deidara and Sakura in the same room alone. He was always there as a warning to Deidara. Tobi seemed to have his own business to take care of than have light conversation with anyone. She felt like taking a nap there, not caring who would find her dozing off.
A loud bang came when the door slammed open. She yelped immediately, scared out of her small catnap. "Look what we found!" She recognized the voice.
"I'm trying to sleep, Kisame!" she yelled. She peered at the people walking into the room. A couple of them were pushed into the room.
"Please let us go!" a young girl cried. Sakura saw the insignia on her forehead. The girl was from sand.
"I'm sorry, Aki-chan, but I don't think we'll be going anywhere." Wise words came from the one adult man with the group of sand nins. It was highly likely that they would not live to set a foot outside the base. A purple haired boy began to cry. Itachi followed behind the group with Kisame following behind him. A blue haired boy made no emotions at all, but the fear was written in his eyes. All four sand nin had their hands tied behind their back.
"Itachi! What are you doing?" Sakura exclaimed, standing up when he looked at her.
"Sakura, go to your room," Itachi commanded. They had no dungeon here, no place to store them to interrogate them. Sakura shook her head, seeing the fear in all the sand ninja's eyes.
"Let them go!" Sakura piped up. The sand jounin looked at her.
"Haruno Sakura?" the sand jounin asked. Sakura nodded. "Why are you with Akatsuki?" Sakura raised an eyebrow. He was assuming things about her.
"I was kidnapped six months ago!" Five and a half months, but she felt like rounding up the number. She knew that Gaara would probably not tell lower ranking Sand Nin about Konoha's Head Doctor going missing. Another ninja from a different village was probably not on their priority list.
"Sakura, go to your room," Itachi growled, stepping towards her. He did not want her to see the violence that would happen soon.
"No, Itachi! Let them go!" Sakura answered back, not caring how menacing he looked. She knew what the two Akatsuki were going to do with them. He pinned her down onto the couch. One hand held him up on the back of the couch. The other was placed on the arm rest. His arm on the arm rest shifted. She began to panic when felt a kunai placed against her abdomen.
"Kisame, kill them." Her eyes widened.
"No!" She wanted to thrash around and push Itachi off of her, but the kunai was so dangerously pressed to her growing belly. She began to cry when she heard the first scream. "Stop it!" She couldn't see anything but Itachi's chest.
"Osamu-kun!" the only girl cried out. Sakura could hear the girl's sobs. This is the Akatsuki. They had no mercy. They would go far enough to even kill a couple of thirteen year olds. Sakura put a hand around the wrist that held the kunai. She tried to budge it, tried to move it for at least a second so she could get free. Another scream came from the other boy. "Takeshi-kun!"
"Why are you here?" Kisame asked the only two remaining members. The red haired girl quivered under his gaze. His sword was pointed at her. The jounin sensei surely would not let any harm come to his last student. "Again, why are you here?" Itachi didn't move at all, even with Sakura's hand around his wrist. She didn't have the strength to move the hand. All the strength was going to protecting the child she had within her.
"We were sent on a simple exploration mission. We must report anything we see." The jounin sensei hoped that answer would satisfy the blue shark, enough to let Aki go.
"Tamotsu-sensei," Aki whispered, scared shitless at what would likely happen next.
"Sadly, now that you've seen our little prisoner and that you've seen us, we can't let you live," Kisame answered. Sakura felt adrenaline course through her in that moment. She mustered as much chakra she could, pushing away Itachi's hand and rolling out from under him. She stumbled up, not letting Itachi catch her. There was only one thing she could do for the two sand nin. Only one thing. She jumped over the two bodies of the dead sand nin, running towards the girl called Aki. She wouldn't be able to save the jounin, but she'd at least save the little girl.
Kisame's sword was falling down at a fast pace, falling towards the frozen Aki. Sakura made a few hand signs. This is Sakura's one chance for freedom. She jumped through the air at the little girl. The jounin wanted to move, but he felt too powerless to help anyone. Sakura conjured chakra into her hand. She knew how much chakra this would toll on her, but she had to save Aki.
Both of her hands touched Aki's arm.
OMG What's gonna happen? Let me know how you like this chapter. What does Sakura have up her sleeve that will save the little sand nin? And poor Kazumi had a miscarriage. Sasuke recruits Karin. And some ItaSaku moments!
So what's your opinion on all this? I enjoy reading all the lengthy reviews that comment on some things.
Review pwease! And I'll post on time next time! Reviews make an author a happy author!
