Equinox – an Itachi & Sakura story
By: MitsukiShiroi

Disclaimer: Naruto and all its characters belong to Masashi Kishimoto.


ARC II

Chapter IX
WATER & RAIN, part I


Then you realize that wherever you go, there you are.
Time won't stop, so we keep moving on.

One Ok Rock's "Be the Light."


The skies were glistening with bright, white stars which looked down upon the frostbitten trees. They stood together as a pack, as if huddling together to shelter themselves from the cold wind. Mountains loomed to her right, blocking the moonlight that would otherwise shine down on the dry, powdery snow that coated the path she walked on.

Haruno Sakura pulled Itachi's scarf closer, trying to ignoring the wintry chill. Inhaling deeply, she could still smell the scent of embers that clung to the fabric, though it was far less noticeable than it had been the first day she put on the scarf. A reminder, a memento he left behind.

"Captain Haruno," Shikamaru's voice softly drifted over the wind.

She looked over her shoulder, her porcelain mask in place. Shikamaru tilted his head a little in Naruto's general direction and she immediately noticed how tired the blond seemed, trekking through the snow. Nodding, she searched for a place for them to rest and found some shelter under the frozen shrubs farther ahead. "Time for a break," she said calmly, pointing at the open spot she had located. The three men behind her nodded and trudged to the clearing, sitting down on one of the fallen branches.

'Captain Haruno, huh?' she thought to herself, sitting across from her team. Briefly wondering if she would ever get used to the title, Sakura rummaged in her bag, pulling out some of the bread she had saved for their short reprieve and tore a piece of it off.

Following Uchiha Itachi's defection from Konoha, the Leaf had been momentarily stunned to have lost one of their best shinobi. The research on Akatsuki had come to a standstill and any attempts to retrieve Uchiha Sasuke to honor Itachi's wishes had been abandoned. As far as the Leaf was concerned, the Uchiha clan was over and done with. It had been a hard reality and she had fought valiantly to get them to send out a search party for Sasuke anyway, but they had refused. The allotted time had passed and by now, Orochimaru had most likely taken over Sasuke's body. Half of Itachi's dream was over and done with. 'Not that he ever told me what the second half of it was.'

The Sixth Hokage had been forced to start over. First order of business was the reformation of Team Uchiha. Prior to his defection, Itachi had sent in a notice he wanted to promote Sakura to ANBU captain, praising her tactical insight and her abilities. Kakashi had respected his last request and Sakura had taken over their old team. As Itachi's position of Captain-Commander of the Akatsuki tracking division had now been abandoned, she had been forced to take over that particular part of his job too.

'Ninety-five days,' she calculated, absent-mindedly drawing the number into the snow that had piled on the branch she was seated on. Ninety-five days since Uchiha Itachi had confessed to massacring his clan, aiding a criminal organization and being an Akatsuki spy. Ninety-five days since she had lost all feeling inside of her and returned to the hollow shell she had been before meeting Itachi.

She opened her water bottle and took a large sip, looking up at the star-shot sky.

The mission Kakashi had given her was clear to her. Every day Akatsuki survived was another day of endangering Naruto. There was no way she would ever let harm come to him, Sakura would rather die herself. Kakashi knew that and had tasked her, Hyuuga Neji and Uzuki Yuugao respectively, to track down the remaining members and end this war they were waging.

She had no idea who she was chasing—all the information said was that two Akatsuki members had seemed to roam the Water Country and they had followed up on the lead, returning to where it all began. It was a mission beyond the standard S-Class missions, mainly because of the lack of information, but Team Haruno had gladly accepted the challenge.

Glancing around the perimeter, Sakura couldn't help but notice how every surface of every tree, rock or grass had been covered in a coating of sugary hoarfrost. 'We're easily traceable with all this snow. I'd rather not be taken off guard again by an Akatsuki member,' she noted, slightly annoyed.

Across from her, Naruto sighed softly, stretching his long legs in front of him while he pushed the hood of his cloak off and took his mask off his face, looking up into the night sky, his breath coming out in white clouds. Sakura observed him momentarily, noting how much older he seemed to have become ever since the news of Itachi's betrayal had reached them. Though she still refused to believe all of it, Shikamaru and the rest of Konoha had listened to the story and drawn their own conclusions. Perhaps that was the wise thing to do, but both Naruto and Sakura felt like they couldn't let go, not just yet. 'What do you need, Haruno? To hear it from the man himself?' her inner persona chimed in.

'Yes,' she admitted.

Pulling up the blue scarf so that it would cover her mouth and nose, Sakura watched her team members for a bit longer, noticing how Shikamaru was pondering over something of his own, his fingers folded together in that particular way of his while he stared off into the distance. Naruto was in the process of flattening his blond hair, but noticed too and peeked at her to see if she had seen it. She nodded to confirm and waved at Sai as he came back to the clearing, holding a large bottle of water. "The water is frozen but it's pretty easy to make a hole in the ice," Sai said calmly, seating himself beside Sakura. "We should have enough water to last us for a day more."

"Thank you, Sai," she said softly, allowing him to refill her bottle. She took another sip and shivered when the icy water streamed down her throat. Watching him as he walked over to Naruto and Shikamaru to return their water bottles too, she smiled lightly. Though he hadn't wished to enter ANBU, Sai had reconsidered the second she was promoted to captain. According to him, he still wanted to continue to being in a team with both her and Naruto and learn more about friendships and bonds. Socially awkward, yes, but she couldn't help but feel a little flattered.

"Okay," she said, standing from her place. "Are you ready to leave?"

"Yes Captain," they said dutifully, though she could see they were cold and tired.

"Just a little longer," she said apologetically before moving her weasel-shaped mask back over her face. Another memento she had trouble letting go of—his mask had been abandoned with all of his gear except the uniform he had been wearing that particular day. She had held his scarf in her hands, hugging it to her body as she cried her heart out, finding his mask and rediscovering the silver necklace he had left on the pillow the next day. Unconsciously, she raised her fingers to her throat, feeling the trinket secured around her neck. 'Idiot,' she reprimanded.

The road ahead of them twisted and turned, the path completely covered with snow, as well as the overhanging branches and the shrubbery that lined the route. Aside from the brown of the denuded trees, the only other color visible was the vivid crimson in which the lampposts had been painted. The wind picked up, blinding the night with icy dust. Behind her, she could hear Naruto groan loudly, mumbling something about a promise he had made a year ago to avoid any missions that would lead to the Water Country during winter time.

Sai caught up with her, his oval shaped mask not resembling anything she had ever seen before. It strangely suited him, she decided. "Captain Haruno, when I was still in ROOT, I remember this area as being close to one of Orochimaru's hideouts."

"Orochimaru?" she wondered out loud.

Halting her constant plodding through the snow, Sakura turned around and faced the two other men. Naruto had already pushed his mask up his face and was looking at her with an expression of grim determination. "Ero-sennin might have been wrong," Naruto said calmly, keeping his temper in check. "Sasuke might still be alive."

"There are a few too many 'might's," Shikamaru said, removing his own mask. His intelligent, russet eyes captured hers and he lifted an elegant eyebrow. "Even if we find Sasuke there, what good would it do?"

"Shikamaru," Naruto said, grabbing Shikamaru's cloak as he turned to him. "Captain Uchiha was fighting to get him back. Don't you think we should at least check it out?"

Sai, now also devoid of his mask, turned his dark, impenetrable stare to her and for a moment there, she wanted him to look away. His eye color was too similar to Itachi and the tranquility that rested in them even more so. 'So, derail the mission to see if Orochimaru is here and if Sasuke is still alive, or keep going and check the vicinity if there are any Akatsuki members here and if so, if one of them is Itachi?' she sighed. 'Definitely a lose-lose situation.'

"Let's continue our mission," she said decisively. "If we come across any leads to Orochimaru's hideout, we might as well check it out, but as it isn't our mission, I want us to keep moving. Akatsuki is our primary target."

Shikamaru and Sai nodded and replaced their masks but Naruto kept his eyes on her a while longer, sadness and perhaps a hint of betrayal in his eyes. 'It's for your own good Naruto. Sasuke isn't alive anymore. If he had been, Itachi would've brought him back to the village.' Her inner persona reared her ugly, blunt self. 'Unless he lied about that too.'

'No.' He may have lied about a whole lot of things and he may have been capable of the most horrendous things she had ever heard about, including killing his own family, but the look in his eyes whenever he talked about Sasuke or looked at one of the pictures, that couldn't be faked or imitated. That love was real. She absolutely refused to believe anything else.

Naruto broke his gaze and replaced the fox mask back over his face, though his displeasure and disappointment was visible to her even through the porcelain. After so many years spent together, he was an open book to her and right now, he was sad. She didn't blame him—she wasn't the only one who had lost something when Itachi left and Sakura wasn't the only one who desperately tried to find it again.

The wind picked up further, howling through the leafless branches. "We're going to run the rest of the trek," she suggested. "The inn we're supposed to stay at is not far from here. Let's go."

"Yes Captain!" they called out in agreement and followed her as she hopped gracefully from branch to branch through the ice-covered thicket and to their destination for the night.


Sakura woke in the middle of the night with tears in her eyes. Since the man that slept next to her, comforting her and loving her had abandoned her, the threshold between dreams and reality became one that she just couldn't bear crossing. It left her with tears in her eyes every single time she did. 'Life goes on,' she repeated the mantra over and over in her mind, but it would never stick. 'Life goes on, but it's without him.'

She silently rose from her futon and sneaked out of the room without waking the three men, closing the shoji door behind her without making a sound. Walking through the hallway aimlessly, she reached a large, circular window and lifted herself until she could sit in the framework, propping both her legs up and hugging her knees as she watched the winter wreak havoc outside. Clumps of wet flakes drifted down, landing on the glass where they would slowly make their way down. She followed the watery trails with her fingertips, enjoying the cool glass against her oddly heated skin.

If she allowed herself to think about him, she could immediately hear his deep, dulcet voice in her ear, whispering sweet nothings to her. Or how his fingers felt calloused and strong, but the skin on the palm of his hand would be like silk. She could still remember how his smirk felt against her lips, how his hands felt on her body, how his breath felt when he—

"Sakura-chan," Naruto's quiet voice came. She opened her eyes, instantly aware of her surroundings and looked at the blond as he came another step closer, his usually vivid eyes slightly dulled. "Can I sit with you?"

She waved a hand at the open space across from her and watched him as he carefully clambered onto the woodwork with her, attentively placing his feet in a way that wouldn't bother her. It struck her how much he looked like the saddened, lonely boy she had known before graduating from the Academy, instead of the boisterous and cheery Jounin he had become.

"I'm not going to give up on him," Naruto said, staring out of the window rather than meeting her eyes. She sighed heavily, but he continued anyway. "He… He was like an older brother to me. I lost track of what I was doing, thinking I'd become Hokage when I would be strong enough so that I could finally be acknowledged by the village. Do you know what he told me when I said that?"

"Tell me," she whispered.

"'No matter how powerful you become, do not try to shoulder everything alone. If you do, you'll surely fail. Your father, Minato, was able to fulfill his duty as the Hokage because he had your mother, Kushina, and his comrades by his side. You share your father's dream, don't you? Then remember this; becoming the Hokage doesn't mean people will acknowledge you,'" he quoted. "'But when the people acknowledge you, you can become Hokage.'"

She forced a smile. "That sounds like something he would say."

"That's not all," Naruto sighed. "He also told me… to never forget my comrades."

Sakura resisted the urge to cry.

"He might've been a spy, he might've joined Akatsuki, he might've killed his clan," Naruto shook his head, running a hand through his blond hair. "And he's done terrible things if that is the case. But… I just can't believe it. I have to see it. I have to see him and I have to hear it from him before I'll ever believe it. And even then, I won't give up." He looked up, meeting her eyes, the determination from earlier still set in them. "I'm going to bring him back. And he can use that Tsukuyomi of his to capture me in whatever illusion he wants or use Amaterasu to burn my body till it's nothing but ash, whatever it takes."

"Naruto… He has joined Akatsuki," she said weakly.

"He'll be coming for me then," Naruto replied, extraordinarily calm.

"He's going to try to kill you," Sakura leaned forward a little.

"But I still care for him," Naruto said, slamming his fist down on his knee. "He is like an older brother to me and I… love him. He's my family now. I won't ever forget that or leave him behind." Then he stared at her with that incredibly confident expression lighting his electric blue eyes. Grabbing her hand in both of his, he smiled. "I'll bring him back. It's a promise of a lifetime."

'I'll help you… I want to make your dream come true… or at least half of it. It's the promise of a lifetime,' she remembered, fighting back her tears. 'I haven't forgotten Itachi. I won't ever forget.'

"I promised him… I would help bring Sasuke back," she confessed, hanging down her head. "I failed."

"It's not over yet," Naruto said quietly, squeezing her hand a little, smiling encouragingly at her. "The timeframe for another transfer… It was just an educated guess. Besides, I can't believe Itachi's little brother would do something so rash."

She swallowed in an attempt to remove the lump that had formed in her throat but found herself unable to. "Naruto, I…"

"You love him, don't you?" Naruto asked, a smile curling his full, masculine lips. "You guys all think I'm ridiculously dense but I know what you look like when you're in love."

Unable to say anything, she just confirmed by bobbing her head up and down, biting on her lower lip to prevent herself from sobbing. How was it that she was fine living like a ghost from day to day and one serious talk with Naruto made her accept the hole in her heart that was now permanently etched inside. He leaned forward, placing a hand on each side of her face and clumsily kissed her forehead. "I'll bring him back, Sakura-chan, I promise."

"Okay," she said softly when he relinquished his hold on her and jumped from the frame. He wouldn't hold her and comfort her because it wasn't what she needed and Naruto instinctively knew that. What she had needed was for someone, anyone, to feel the same as her, though driven by other emotions and thought processes and here he was. "Thank you, Naruto."

"Go to sleep soon," he said, waving a little. "We need you to be fresh as a daisy tomorrow, Captain Haruno."

"Yes sir," she replied jokingly, wiping away her tears with the back of her hand. She looked out of the window for a brief moment longer, faintly wondering if he was looking at the exact same scenery before sliding away from the frame and walking back to the room she shared with the rest of her squad, intent on catching at least an hour more of sleep. Naruto smiled at her when she entered, his pearly white teeth almost reflecting the bright moonlight outside.

She settled back into her futon, curling up on her left side like she had always done when sleeping with Itachi and allowed herself to remember his warmth, only if for one night.


The snowstorm had settled, she noticed, though that didn't make the cold any more bearable. She wrapped her cloak tightly around her body, tied her mask over her head and lastly wrapped Itachi's scarf around her. The whole building was engulfed in the delicious warmth of its heating system, but she could hear the freezing wind howling outside and her three subordinates looked at her like they were being sent off to their early deaths. "We'll run the rest of the way but once we reach Fukuurajima Island, we're suppressing our chakra again so the enemy won't spot us ahead of time," she spoke softly.

"How much longer till we reach the island?" Naruto said, placing the mask in front of his face.

"One hour, give or take," she said. "Let's go."

Despite her show of bravado, Sakura wouldn't help but long for the comfortable warmth of the inn as soon as she set a foot outside, the icy wind instantly chilling her whole body, her fingers feeling like they would fall off at any given moment.

The path they were traveling on to Fukuurajima was reasonably crowded, civilians and samurai alike slowly lumbered forward, but they passed them quickly, too fast for their regular eyes to see as they soared from tree to tree. A small dust of snow would fall from every branch they landed on and Sakura couldn't help but be slightly annoyed by the tell-tale track they were leaving. The sky above them was still grey and dark—if they were lucky, snow would cover up their tracks before anyone would notice them.

They reached the crimson bridge within her time estimate, the cold fueling them to go even faster to keep their bodies warm, and landed at the beginning of it. "Fukuurajima," Shikamaru said, walking beside her as they started the last part of their long trek. "A pine covered island with an area of about twenty kilometers. This bridge is supposed to be only entry to the island, though shinobi can obviously cross the water."

"We're not sure who we can find on this island, if anyone, correct?" Sai cut in from behind them. "Any educated guesses?"

"Last time we encounter Akatsuki in the Water Country, it was Hoshigaki Kisame, a ninja from Mist and Uchiha Sasuke, from Konoha," Sakura said, tuning into the chakra levels around them. So far, so good. "It isn't a stretch to assume we might run into Kisame at the very least—Sasuke has abandoned Akatsuki and we have no new intel whether Hoshigaki got a partner replacement or whether he is on his own."

"Which means there is also a slight chance of Itachi being his new partner," Shikamaru commented, stroking the anxious feeling in the pit of her stomach even more.

"Who else is left?" Sai queried.

"Pein, Hidan, Kisame and there have been reports about a woman in Rain working with Akatsuki called the 'Lady Angel'. We can safely assume she is a member. A masked man who remains unconfirmed and an Akatsuki spy who hasn't engaged anyone in battle but has been spotted during numerous battles, hiding himself in something that resembles a fly trap," Sakura summarized.

"And Uchiha Itachi," Sai added.

'No,' she thought. Out loud, she said, "And Itachi, yes."

Shikamaru sighed. "Seven members still left, huh?"

They reached the end of the bridge. "Take your masks off but keep the hood on," Sakura instructed carefully. "They'll know right away that we're ANBU if we keep them on and it's not like we can travel through the forest without arousing suspicion."

Obediently taking their masks off, they walked off to one of the frozen benches near the bridge. Clearing the wood of snow with her cloak covered arm, Sakura rolled out a small scroll that contained a map of the small island. She pointed at their current position at the south and then at the rugged landscape of the northern side. "There are three inns near the northern side of the island and six near this bridge," she said, pointing at the locations. "Other than that, this island is mostly nature and due to the current season, it's not exactly favorable for them to stay outside. Seeing as this quite some distance from the hidden village of Mist, any news regarding missing nin and international criminals wouldn't reach the people here and would give Akatsuki ample opportunity to hide in plain sight."

"So, we're checking the inns first?" Shikamaru said.

"Seeing as we need to get to the other side of the island quickly without leaving tracks in the snow, I suggest that you use your jutsu to make a bird and fly there, Sai," she said. The pale man nodded. "Shikamaru, I'd like you to go with him. You know the drill, at any sign of danger, raise your chakra, we'll come back you up. If you find him, send us a bird, Sai, and we'll rendezvous here," pointing at the center of the map, she stood. "There is a small tea house there called 'Zangetsu-tei'. Come find us there."

"Yes Captain," they said in unison. Sakura watched them as Sai quickly drew up a bird and summoned it, grabbing Shikamaru's wrist to pull him up. With a quick wave, they flew up higher and higher until they were just a dot in the sky.

"Naruto," she said, grabbing a list of addresses from her pouch while rolling up the scroll again. "Our first stop is the Hiiragiya ryokan," she said. "It's close by. I need you to suppress your chakra as much as you can though. If they have a sensor with them, you'll be spotted immediately."

Naruto nodded.

Walking down the path with him to the inn reminded her of the old days they spent together. Briefly, she wondered if Naruto felt the same way and if he ever missed Team Seven. A quick glance at him told her he was thinking of exactly the same thing. 'He's always been such an open book,' she thought with a tiny smile.

"Sakura-chan?" he called out. With another smile, she realized that he was sticking to the rules and always called her 'Captain Haruno' in front of others, but he'd invariably slip and call her 'Sakura-chan' like he always did. "How are we going to check the inns?"

"Hmm," she said. "First, I'd like to scout out the area and see if we can pick up on their chakra sources. Most people around this area are civilians so there wouldn't be much need for them to mask their chakra… but our opponent is Akatsuki after all."

"Yeah… It's not as if we can walk up to the innkeeper and just ask if Akatsuki is staying there, but we can always try that route," Naruto shivered under his cloak, crinkling his nose a little. "Next time, I'm really keeping my promise to avoid any missions in this country during winter."

"I never realized how much you whine until I became your captain," she chortled softly.

Naruto huffed. "We're from the Fire Country. Temperatures never go this low back home."

"Yes, yes," she said in response, her smirk only widening. The path started to wind and in the distance, Sakura spotted a couple of houses and dark smoke rising from the chimneys. "It's that little town over there. Remember to mask your chakra and make sure your gear is completely hidden underneath your cloak. I don't want them spotting us before we spot them.

"Right," Naruto replied, pulling his hood even farther over his head until the shadows masked everything but his mouth. Making sure all of her bubblegum colored hair was hidden from view, Sakura mimicked his movements and fastened her mask to her belt, checking her gear one last time before walking through the gates of the town.

Several of the townspeople looked into their direction when they entered, not used to strangers apparently, but looked away again when they bee lined for the inn. "Hiiragiya," Naruto said, tracing the jet-black colored kanji on the wooden outpost. Expectantly, he looked at her while she concentrated on the chakra levels inside. "And?"

Sakura shook her head. "Nothing really."

"Do you think they put a jutsu on the innkeeper to keep them quiet?" Naruto questioned, straining to peer inside the inn.

"Probably not. Like I said, it's an area with lots of civilians and there wouldn't be any need for them to be overly cautious."

"Okay then," he said, walking up to the front door. She followed him inside and rang bell located on the desk. Immediately an attendant appeared from the backroom and rushed to the desk, a smile so large on her lips that Sakura was afraid she might rip her face right through the middle.

"How may I be of service to you?" the smile increased further.

'Please stop smiling,' she thought and a quick peek in Naruto's direction revealed he apparently thought the exact same thing, looking absolutely revolted as more teeth became visible. "We're looking for our comrades. Tall, black cloaks with red clouds?" she conjectured, hoping it would be vague enough.

The attendant leaned over the desk, her bug-eyes widening to the point where Sakura was worried they might pop out of her skull at any given moment. She continued to stare and Sakura couldn't help but fidget under her cloak, feeling extremely uncomfortable with the whole situation, until the woman slowly shook her head. "Black cloak, red clouds… no, they haven't checked in here!"

"Okay, well that's all we needed to know, thank you," Sakura replied hastily, grabbing Naruto and escaped from the inn as quickly as she could. When the both of them stood safely outside and the door had closed behind then, she grabbed Naruto, her eyes wide as she shook him a little. "I've never been so freaked out in my life!"

"Did you see her smile!" Naruto added, grabbing her shoulders. "I thought her skin would just rip at some point!"

"And those eyes," Sakura said, shivering a little. "She didn't blink even once!"

"I'm not going to return to that place, ever," Naruto said, determination lacing his tone. "Even if the whole of Akatsuki is staying in there, that lady was enough to scare me away for good."

She laughed softly, smacking him on the shoulder. "We're terrible people."

"They put a scarecrow there as a receptionist, what did they expect?" Naruto replied indignantly.

Her laughing increased as they traversed down the steps that led to Hiiragiya. She grabbed the paper slip and checked the second address on the list. "Suimeisou," Sakura said out loud. "Should be just down the street."

Naruto walked slightly ahead of her and nodded when he noticed the smaller, dark inn. "Looks criminal worthy," he chuckled. "Any chakra levels you can detect inside?"

"No," she replied. "Let's go inside and ask."

Both Suimeisou and the third inn they looked into turned up nothing. Sighing heavily, they walked into a teahouse with a view of the reasonably crowded town square and ordered something warm to drink. She leaned back in her chair, downing the brown liquid quickly, loving the way it warmed up her frozen limbs. "We have three more inns to search," she announced, watching Naruto over the rim of her cup. "If we don't find anything there, we're going to send out a message frog and meet up with Shikamaru and Sai at the rendezvous point."

Naruto simply nodded.


"Yes, I've seen them," the receptionist said with a shy smile, looking into her books. Sakura's eyes widened slightly and from the corner of her eye, she saw Naruto balling his fist, grinning. The dark-haired girl behind the counter searched for a little longer until her finger stopped at on one particular name. "Ah yes, the room is under the name of Sasori, is that correct?"

Not allowing surprise to filter through her carefully crafted expression, she nodded. "Yes, that's right. What room is Sasori in?"

"Eleven," the girl said, leaning a little over the counter to show them directions. "Just keep on walking down the corridor and turn to the left, it's the last door."

"Thank you," Naruto replied over his shoulder as he made his way into the corridor. Sakura took a moment longer, casting a genjutsu she had learned from Itachi to prevent the girl from remembering them before rushing after Naruto. She found him in the hallway, opening one of the doors that led to the courtyard.

"I'm sending them a message," he whispered to Sakura just as she closed her eyes, trying to feel who their opponents were. "Do you think it's Sasori?"

"No, he's dead," Sakura said confidently. "They're just using his name."

Naruto nodded, closing the shoji screen to the outside world as he released the frog. "That's one of the fastest. With Sai's flying ability, they'll be here soon. Any idea who we're up against?"

Sakura shook her head and pressed a finger against her lips when they turned around the corner. At the far end, she could see the number '11' written in curly handwriting. There were definitely some chakra sources, though they were suppressed and try as she might, it was impossible to tell who they were. "I don't think nobody we know," she signaled to Naruto, crouching down at one side of the corridor.

'Okay, now think Haruno! Two Akatsuki members surrounded by rooms with civilians inside of them. How are we going to lure them away?' Briefly she glanced at Naruto, but dismissed that option immediately. 'He's not bait.'

Just as she was about to signal something to Naruto, a man appeared from the room adjacent to number eleven, running a hand through his short raven hair. Looking at his profile, he seemed to be in his late thirties, early forties, and his masculine face handsome. When he turned into their direction however, Sakura had to stifle a gasp—the right side of his face was horribly disfigured, covered with scar tissue that seemed to droop a little.

He walked towards them, a smile blooming on his lips, giving him a rather boyish charm if not for his horrible scar. "Good morning," he said, his voice deep and charming.

"Good morning," the two of them greeted in return.

He disappeared around the corner, and Sakura couldn't help but peer around the wall to watch him walk past the receptionist and leave the inn. When the door slid shut behind her, she turned back to Naruto. "Doesn't he look familiar?" she gestured, using their sign-language to convey her question.

"Pretty sure I'd remember him if I had seen him before," Naruto shrugged, moving his fingers quickly. "It's not a face you'd forget."

"I know… But still…" she motioned. Naruto simply raised an eyebrow and she shook her head.

'I'm positive I know him from somewhere.' A frightening thought occurred to her as she went over all the Akatsuki mug shots in her head. 'No. He's not a member. Or a known associate.' Still, she memorized his face.

Focusing her senses on room eleven once more, she noticed the chakra sources weren't suppressing themselves any longer and that there were two sources in the room. "There are two of them," she gesticulated. Sensing two familiar chakra signatures nearing rapidly, she pointed up and signaled for Naruto to open the shoji screen behind him. Moments later, Shikamaru and Sai clambered through the opening, their masks in place. Quickly updating them on the situation, they nodded once her briefing was done. 'Am I doing the right thing? Are they going to die?' she thought, a pang of fear coursing through her veins as she grabbed her mask and moved it over her head. 'We have to eliminate them. We have to. Fight, Sakura. Fight.'

Adrenaline pulsed through her and with her heart beating so loudly she was sure they could hear her on the other side of the thin door, Sakura crept all the way up to the door, signaling for Shikamaru and Sai to enter the chamber through the window. 'Take them by surprise and if that doesn't work, retreat into a quiet location to not hurt anyone.'

"Buttonhook entry," she motioned to Naruto. "In three, two… one."

Using her inhuman strength, she punched through the door, the wood exploding into thousands of tiny fragments. Both she and Naruto entered the room quickly and Sakura noticed Shikamaru and Sai had both entered through the other side, one of Sai's painted tigers behind them, growling viciously.

The pink haired captain momentarily found herself unable to breathe as she looked at the two members in the room. One Akatsuki member stood there, staring at her, a grin forming on his lips as bloodlust reached his byzantium colored eyes. Though it had been almost a year since their last encounter, she could never forget the all-consuming fear that came up every time she thought of the immortal Akatsuki member. "Hidan," she said softly, watching him as he brushed some silver strands from his eyes and picked the dirt away. She cursed herself for not realizing he was in the room.

Another Akatsuki member sat in the middle of the room, his hands covering his ears as he crouched down even lower, as though hiding like a small child. When he looked up to meet her gaze, she noticed a large, orange mask covering his head with only one hole over where his right eye should be. 'I guess we can now confirm him to be an Akatsuki member.'

The third one, a presence she hadn't noticed before, stared at her though his flytrap formed shield while sinking lower and lower into the ground. "Konoha's Team Haruno," he announced, voice deep and gravelly.

"Here's your chance to get the Kyuubi," a lighter, more cheerful voice said.

Confused, she glanced at the orange-masked member, only to find him crawling away from the scene slowly. 'Who said that?' she thought, turning her eyes back to the fly-trap man. 'There's nobody else in this room but the three of them… Was it this guy?'

"Zetsu-san!" the masked man called out. "Where are you going to?"

"I'm going to report to Leader," the light voice spoke again, confirming her suspicions that it came from the same guy. "Good luck!" The bi-colored man kept his yellow eyes on her until he completely sank into the ground. 'So that's their spy huh? Flytrap and able to sink into the ground at will… I wasn't able to sense him either.' A thought struck her. 'He called us Team Haruno… Did he get that information from Itachi?'

"If it isn't the pink-haired bitch," Hidan said almost cordially, taking a step to her. "I recognize you even with that ugly new mask of yours." He turned to his partner. "Stop cowering like a frightened little fuck, Tobi."

"Bu-but sempai!" Tobi sputtered, crawling away from Hidan as Shikamaru and Sai both took a step closer. "They just scared me coming out of nowhere like that!"

'How old is he?' she wondered briefly, never letting her eyes wander from Hidan. 'This isn't too bad of a situation though. We know his moves and we know what he is capable of. The problem is Tobi over there. Severing Hidan's head works, we know that. All we need to do is make sure they're separated from each other so that Tobi won't be able to reach him and reattach his head.'

She momentarily glanced at Shikamaru, knowing he was thinking the exact same thing. He nodded minimally and signaled some signs at Sai, who quickly picked up on the operation. 'He is going to want me though,' she thought. 'I need someone to bind him because he's not going to fall for that illusion again. Shikamaru is my best option… Sai, I'm counting on you to keep Naruto safe!'

"Naruto," she whispered behind her mask, taking a step closer to the blond member of her team. "I'm going to get Hidan out of here and finish what I started last year. You and Sai take Tobi, analyze him and make sure he won't have an opportunity to take you. Stay on your guard, we'll return as soon as we can."

"Sakura-chan…" he said calmly, hesitantly, but then he nodded in acknowledgement. "Yes Captain."

"Stop your fucking whispers," Hidan said, grasping the pink scythe on his back. "I'm going to settle our little score, pinky."

"Exactly my plan," Sakura said, thanking her lucky stars that her voice was still steady. She nodded to the ground when she noticed Shikamaru's Kagemane had reached his shadow, thankful he hadn't picked up on the Nara clan's secret technique during their last fight.

"What the hell?" Hidan asked, straining to see what kept him in place.

"Go, Shikamaru," she said quietly.

"Yes Captain," he called out, rushing from the room, a profusely cussing Hidan in tow. With another quick glance at both Naruto and Sai, she nodded and sprinted past Tobi, jumping through the hole in the wall. The cold air didn't affect her anymore with the adrenaline pulsing through her veins, effectively numbing her while riling her up at the same time. She followed Shikamaru and Hidan away from the village, into the icy forest. Worriedly, Sakura tuned into the chakra of Naruto and Sai, sensing the both of them had started their fight already, but the fact that she couldn't pinpoint Tobi's chakra level troubled her. 'Don't do anything rash boys. Take your time, analyze him carefully.'

"Oh I'm going to enjoy killing the both of you," Hidan said calmly as they stopped in the middle of a clearing, his feet sinking into the snow. "I'm immortal you know." His cruel eyes focused on Sakura once more when she pushed the mask off her face, allowing him to see her face for the first time. He laughed a high-pitched laugh while his grin increased. "I'll gouge those green eyes of yours out first," Hidan threatened.

"Not going to happen," Shikamaru said calmly, maintaining the shadow bind.

"I'm going to end it here, Hidan," Sakura said softly. 'And you're going to take my nightmares with you.'

His sneer faltered a little, apprehension filtering through. It vanished completely when she lifted her hand, her chakra forming a clear scalpel around her fingers. Hidan let out a string of curses, his unusually colored eyes blazing with anger. "You fucking bitch. You wouldn't dare."

She didn't bother to reply. Sakura sprinted forward, ignoring what he was yelling and screaming at her and severed his head quickly just as Shikamaru released his hold on the Akatsuki member. "No partner to help you out this time," Sakura said softly, picking his head up by his silvery hair, turning it to face away from her when he attempted to bite her.

"It doesn't matter," Hidan snapped at her. "I live forever. I'm going to find you one day, even if you're a wrinkled old hag."

"Don't count on it," Sakura said.

Shikamaru was already onto what she was thinking, quickly forming seals for an Earth jutsu and opened up the frozen ground, revealing a deep hole that seemed to go on forever. He looked at her, taking his mask off. "Put the body in a different hole, Shikamaru. Take it away from here so that not even Hidan knows where it's located."

"Yes Captain," Shikamaru replied, and walked to Hidan's lifeless body, hoisted it over his shoulder and disappeared from the scene.

She waited for a few moments longer and then carefully turned Hidan's head in her hands. She held him on eye height so that she could look at him one last time. "One more thing," Sakura said, oddly calm. "It's not pinky or bitch. It's Haruno Sakura. Captain Haruno Sakura."

With that, she let his head tumble into the pit and stepped back, placing explosives around the walls. Without looking at him again, she let them explode, debris raining down on Hidan's face until all of his profanities were muffled and silenced forever.

Farther up ahead, she could hear another explosion; Shikamaru reappearing by her side not too long after. He nodded briefly and put his hand on her shoulder.

Feeling extraordinarily elated, Sakura led the way back to the inn, noticing how everything looked remarkably calm when she stood in front of the building. Anxiety overcame her and her pace increased until she climbed through the hole in the wall.

The room was empty, save for Sai, who was lying in the middle of the room, a large pool of blood surrounding him. Both Naruto and Tobi were gone—all that was left was Naruto's ANBU mask, staring at her hauntingly from its place on the blood-spattered floor.


A/N: Welcome back to the story that just won't end (I started off thinking this would be 4 chapters long...) The cliffhangers reappear! There's a huge amount of loose ends that continue on into this second arc. For those wanting a good overview on this AU and what exactly led up to the events of the story, I strongly recommend you read through the timeline I supplied on my profile.

I'm in the market for a second beta-reader! If you're interested and you're up to date with the manga (and English is your first language), send me a message! :)

The amazing JeiGoWAY made Equinox' first artwork! You can find the link on my profile and I strongly suggest you go check it out! It's absolutely stunning!

Thank you for your immense and unwavering support. I really hope you'll like this second arc, I know I do!

Until next time!

Mitsuki Shiroi