Ok, I'm back with my major update. When I say major I mean the size of 4 normal chapters major! And so I don't get killed, HUGE MANGA SPOILERS!! Now with that out of the way, just to let you know that there will be more chapters after this, so stay tuned for more chapters! I'll get to typing them eventually!
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"Almost there." Sakura breathed. She had traveled all the way from the Marsh Country to the border of the River Country in a week and a half. At the part of the border she was at, though, was Akatsuki territory. It didn't look any different than any other part of the border; it was a thick forest with brush covering the ground, making it perfect for hiding. It was a bright forest; the sky was always visible through the canopy of leaves. She held her left hand out in front of her while she walked. She had been admiring her, yes her, ring ever since she had escaped from Orochimaru. "What will Leader think?" she wondered. "What will Itachi-kun and everyone think?" Just to be safe, she took off sora and put it back in her pocket. She wasn't sure whether or not she had yet to earn the ring.
Sakura suddenly snapped her head to her left and threw a shuriken. She had heard a twig snap and you could never be too careful, especially when you were a missing nin. She went over to where the shuriken had landed to find it embedded in a tree, with no sign that it had hit anything alive. She narrowed her eyes. 'I know I heard something.' Despite thinking that, she pulled the shuriken out of the tree and stuck it back in its pouch. She suddenly leapt into a tree and took off towards the base. 'I have to be more careful.' She scolded herself mentally. 'I keep having this eerie feeling that I am constantly being watched.'
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Sasuke, Kikimandai, Shikamaru, Chouji, and Ino were crouched in a bunch of thick bushes, hiding. Thankfully, the River Country was full of places to hide from animals and people. They had all sensed a strong chakra nearby, though they weren't close enough to see who it was. As far as they could tell, the person hadn't noticed them yet. All they knew is that this person was not the type to mess with; they had an enormous amount of chakra. Secretly, they were hoping that it was Sakura, since nearly half of their allotted time to find her was up.
Ino was practically shaking with nerves. 'Sakura, you'd better show yourself!' she thought angrily. 'You are in big trouble when I find you and drag you back. I'll personally make sure that Tsunade-sama is in a bad mood when she assigns you your punishment.'
Though she couldn't be sure, Kikimandai thought that this chakra felt familiar. It felt different from the Sakura she knew, but she hadn't seen Sakura in nearly six years, so her chakra signature was bound to have changed in that time. Ino had also sensed that it was a familiar chakra, but neither said anything for fear of being caught. Luck was not on their side, but they had been right.
"What are you guys doing hiding in the bushes?" a familiar voice asked from behind them. They all turned in surprise. It was none other than the number one knucklehead ninja that never fails to surprise people. The said ninja was smiling in an impish sort of way.
"Naruto!" They all screamed at him. He jumped back in surprise from his not-so-warm welcome. "Nani?" he screamed back. The others just sweatdropped. "What are you doing here?" asked an annoyed Ino. He never ceased to annoy her, even after all this time.
"Yeah, I don't remember Tsunade-sama saying you could come." Chouji added suspiciously.
Naruto put his arms behind his head and grinned wider. "Oh, well, Tsunade-baachan was getting worried, since she hadn't heard any news from you guys, and I was annoying her so much that she sent me after you." He explained.
Flashback
"Can I be Hokage now?" Naruto asked for the billionth time. Even though Team 7 and 10 left, Naruto still hadn't broken his routine of asking Tsunade thirty times a day whether or not he could be Hokage. Tsunade just clenched her fists. "For the last God damned time, no!" she yelled. Still, the answer hadn't changed. Unfortunately, he no longer fell for the ramen trick anymore. Naruto fell silent.
After about five minutes Naruto asked again. "How about now?" "No!" Suddenly, Tsunade got an idea. Not only would it get rid of Naruto, but it would also help her out.
She smiled. "You know, Naruto, I haven't heard any news on how the mission is going to find Sakura." She started. "Aren't you worried at all?"
Naruto just stared at her. "Of course! She's my team mate and one of my best friends, dattebayo!"
"Well, I need to know how the mission is going, and since you are concerned too, I would like to send you after Team 7 and Team 10." She told him. " Do you accept your mission?"
End Flashback
Sasuke was still suspicious. The reason had made sense, but he knew that the Akatsuki were sometimes in this area, so it might be genjutsu. "Naruto, remember in the Chuunin Exams, in the Forest of Death, when I made a password?" Sasuke asked slowly. He knew exactly what the correct answer was, even though it was several years ago, and he had taken the exam more than once.
Naruto nodded. "Can you tell me what you said when you found me again?"
Naruto knew the answer too. "Sorry, Sasuke, I forgot the password." Ino, Shikamaru, Kikimandai, and Chouji kneeled into attacking stances, and pulled out their kunai. Sasuke, on the other hand, relaxed. "Don't worry, this is the real Naruto." He assured them. They relaxed and lowered their weapons. 'Idiots. I can't believe I used to like him.' Ino thought. 'What kind of a password is that, anyway?'
"Naruto, you'd better of brought food." Chouji threatened viciously. Naruto began to laugh nervously. "Well…Chouji…you see…she didn't give me a lot of warning and…"
Chouji interrupted him. "Don't worry about it. I was only joking." Naruto sighed in relief. 'But I wish I wasn't.' he thought, slightly resentful.
"So, you guys find any signs of Sakura-chan yet?" he asked. Shikamaru glanced at Sasuke before answering. He didn't do anything, except look at his feet. "No, but we have been getting closer to her." Shikamaru replied. Then he filled Naruto in on everything that had happened while they were away. Naruto actually was quiet, nodded occasionally, that is, until he got up to the part with Orochimaru.
"Sakura-chan killed Orochimaru?!" he yelled. Ino hit him on the head. "Baka! Do you want the whole world to hear?" she scolded. "Gomen, gomen." He apologized. "But, are you sure it was her? Kakashi-sensei, or even the old Sandaime couldn't defeat him."
"It had to be her, since she was planning to leave him and we didn't find her body, only his." Chouji explained.
"And Kiki saw Sakura traveling, though she said it was very hard to distinguish what was what." Ino added.
Kikimandai continued. " Yes, although I couldn't see her clothing, I could tell that she was alive and unharmed. The images have also gotten clearer in the past few days, so she is nearby."
Sasuke finally spoke up. "We should get moving, since we don't know when she will be moving again."
Naruto punched the air in delight, "Yoshi, ikimashou!" Shikamaru tapped him on the shoulder. "Because Kikimandai is the only one who knows where Sakura is, meaning you don't, she is going to lead us." Naruto slowly lowered his hand. Kikimandai jumped into a nearby tree.
"This way."
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Tobi was sprinting as fast as he could to where Pein was in the base. Seeing her had got him excited enough, but having a shuriken thrown right at your face at a high speed didn't help. He ran right past Hidan and Zetsu, leaving them surprised. He usually annoyed them the second he saw them. He didn't even greet Deidara as he passed. In fact, he was so worked up that he nearly crashed into Pein himself.
"T… Tobi saw S…Sakura-hi...! Tobi saw Sakura-hime!" he panted. Before Pein could react, the said girl walked up to him. "Leader, I have completed my mission." She told him. She stuck her hand in her pocket and was about to pull out sora, but Pein stopped her. "Matte. Tell everyone to go to the meeting room now, and tell me then." He ordered. "Hai."
It had taken hours to explain what she had done when she was with Orochimaru. No one really said anything, but Pein would sometimes ask for more details. When she got to the part about the ring, she gently took it out of her pocket and placed it on the table. Everyone looked at it in disbelief.
Sakura pretended not to notice and continued. She left out the jutsu she had learned until the end. "Despite what you might think, Orochimaru was a good teacher. He taught like Tsunade did, by not going easy on me. That forced me to learn how to heal faster and using less chakra to do so." She took a sip of water from a glass next to her before she continued. Talking that much really started to hurt her throat.
"So, healing will be much faster from now on. Also, I'm guessing I don't need to explain the diamond on my forehead?" she asked politely and for her throats sake. Kakuzu nodded and gestured for her to continue. 'This is taking much too long.' He thought, now annoyed. He was happily counting his money when he had to come and listen to Sakura rant on and on and on, and Pein kept asking questions, for whatever reason.
"Leader, Itachi-kun, I wrote down some ways that allow Doujutsu users to use up less chakra when using Doujutsu." She placed the scrolls she had written the information on next to the ring. Deidara held in a groan and settled for merely frowning. 'Great,' he thought angrily. 'Now Itachi's Sharingan will be even more powerful. But,' Now he was thinking more on the optimistic side. 'Maybe this means he'll lose his vision even faster since he'll be using it more.'
Sakura interrupted his thoughts. " And Itachi-kun," she paused and looked him straight in the eye, before continuing. He looked back at her with no emotion in his eyes. "I've found a way to repair your vision…permanently." A look of pure happiness crossed Itachi's face for a moment, only a moment, then went back to its usual emotionless expression. Deidara, on the other hand, had a look of horror on his, which he quickly suppressed. Luckily, no one noticed, as they were looking at Sakura, or in Kakuzu's case, he was too busy imagining he was with his money.
Pein slowly picked up sora and walked towards Sakura. She just looked at him in surprise. He held out the ring for her to take. "Take it. You have definitely earned it. That is, as long as I can read your handwriting." He said with a small smile. Sakura took the ring and slid it back on her left pinkie. She felt an overwhelming sense of accomplishment.
'I am now an official member of the Akatsuki!' she thought happily. It had taken many long years, but this was the first time the pain in her heart had truly begun to fade away.
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Naruto and the others had stopped for the night in yet another clearing. They lit no fire, as not to attract attention, and were now gathered around Kikimandai. She was going to check on Sakura again, since she had the feeling that Sakura was in the area, but as if her presence was being hidden somehow. She had already set up the bowl and had begun gathering chakra to her eyes. The others, even Naruto, were watching in silence. They were almost afraid to talk, for fear of distracting her. She looked into the water and gasped. Naruto ran over to see what had surprised her and, being Naruto, knocked over the bowl, spilling all the water.
"Naruto!" Ino shouted at him. "Now how are we supposed to find her?!" She walked over towards him and was about to hit him when Kikimandai put her arm out in front of Ino to stop her. "No, it's alright." She said quietly. Everyone just looked at her as if she were nuts. "Don't look at me like that!" she told them. She paused before continuing quietly, "I know exactly where she is now. Her presence felt as though it was being muffled, but we are so close now that I can see the general location, though not clearly."
"How is she doing?" Shikamaru asked her.
Kikimandai hesitated before she answered. "Well, she seemed to have just finished some very strenuous work, and is very tired. It looked like she was trying to regain her strength."
Sasuke had been quiet during all this. He couldn't sense whether or not Sakura was near them, but he had an unexplainable feeling that something was horribly wrong. "Where is she?" he finally asked.
Kikimandai's nervousness was obvious now. "Ano…I'm not exactly sure how to say this."
"It's okay, just tell us." Chouji urged gently. She sighed. "You do know that the Akatsuki are sometimes in this area?" Everyone nodded, not liking where this was going. "I saw her…in the center of Akatsuki territory. I don't know if she was with them or not, all I know is that she is in a very dangerous place. We need to find her quickly, now more than ever."
Sasuke leapt to his feet, followed by Ino and Naruto. "Then let's go!" Naruto shouted. Shikamaru sighed 'Troublesome.' "We can't go now, it's too dark to see anything. It's troublesome, but we have to wait until the morning." Sasuke, Ino, and Naruto sat back down, looking embarrassed. " We should probably make up a plan, in case they show up." He didn't bother to explain who they were, since everyone knew who he meant. Sasuke began to pick at his nails absentmindedly. Truthfully, he was definitely worried again. First, Sakura is with Itachi, then Orochimaru, and now possibly the whole Akatsuki. 'Is she ever with anyone that isn't an S-rank criminal?!' he thought, almost in desperation.
His thoughts were interrupted when Shikamaru began to explain the plan. It was mostly to avoid fighting and run away once they had Sakura. It sounded more like a kidnapping than a rescue mission.
"Did you guys understand all that?" he finally asked them.
'I have no idea what he meant,' Naruto thought. 'So I'll just pretend I do! That always works!' So he nodded his head along with the rest of them. "Good, so we can leave early tomorrow morning then." With that, they all crawled into their sleeping bags and tried to get some sleep. Chouji and Shikamaru fell asleep fairly quickly, while Ino, Kikimandai, Sasuke, and Naruto were still wide awake.
Ino was too excited that she would be seeing Sakura again after five and a half years. She knew that when Sakura came back, everything would go back to normal, since Sasuke had come back too. She didn't fall asleep for another hour.
Kikimandai was much too nervous to sleep. When they got near the spot she had seen, she could only guarantee that Sakura was within a square mile or so. To completely search that area thoroughly, it would take about a week. She was also worried that she might've seen wrong and got everyone excited for nothing, and now, courtesy of Naruto, she had no water to gaze with, since normal water was not as powerful. She rolled over on her side and tried to think relaxing thoughts to help her sleep. She drifted off after about twenty minutes of that.
Sasuke refused to accept that Sakura would be found tomorrow. He wouldn't dare himself to hope, to only have those hopes crushed. He promised himself that since this was all his fault, he would be the one to make this right again. His hand had found itself in his shorts pocket again, and he began to stroke the small box inside. 'I might actually get to give this to you tomorrow.' He thought jokingly. 'Hope you don't mind that it's a bit late.' More seriously, he was worried about the Akatsuki being near her. Though he could only judge them based off of one member and one ex-member, he knew that they would not appreciate people being in their territory. If they had taken her captive and forced her to be their medic nin…no, he didn't want to even think about what horrible things they might do to her. Naruto was thinking along the same lines as Sasuke, though he wasn't blaming himself.
About an hour and a half later, they fell into a light sleep.
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Sakura was sitting in the medical room with a clipboard in her hand and was, once again, scribbling down notes on how the surgery went. This time, though, she wasn't sitting beside the bed of some grimy prisoner; she was sitting beside the bed of Itachi. It hadn't taken much to convince him, in fact, he practically asked her to fix his eyes. She didn't have to clamp him to the operating table, since she was positive he wouldn't try to leave. The surgery had taken much longer than the last time, and for good reason. For starters, if it went wrong on a prisoner, it didn't really matter. With Itachi, she would never forgive herself and she would have the whole Akatsuki (except for Deidara, he probably wouldn't mind that much.) after her. It also wasn't just normal eyesight she was dealing with, since it wasn't his normal vision that was causing the problem. She had to try and repair the Sharingan, and it wasn't even the normal one; she had to fix the Mangekyou Sharingan. Basically, not only did his normal vision have to be repaired, his Sharingan had to be too, and it still had to work afterwards. So, she obviously took her time and proceeded carefully.
She was so busy writing that she didn't notice Itachi's head facing her. She had put bandages over his eyes, just to be one the safe side, and, besides, he should be able to take them off right after he woke up.
Itachi noticed that she wasn't paying any attention to him so he blindly reached out and grabbed her wrist. He felt her jump in surprise. "Oh, Itachi-kun, you scared me." She said as she put a hand up to her chest. Since he had been under anesthesia for several hours, she hadn't expected him to wake up for at least another two hours. "How are your eyes feeling?"
"I don't feel anything."
"Nani?!" she said loudly in alarm. 'Oh, no! I've damaged the nerves in his eyes!' she thought with a look of horror coming to her face.
"No, no I meant that I don't feel any pain." He said quickly. "I didn't mean to scare you."
"It's alright, I think that didn't get a heart attack." She replied teasingly. "I think if your feeling well enough to try and get me to have a heart attack, your eyes should have healed enough for a test."
Sakura then reached over and began to gently remove the bandages around Itachi's eyes. When she had removed them, Itachi slowly opened his eyes, then looked at Sakura. She immediately went into professional mode, and pointed her index finger towards to ceiling. "Follow my finger and don't move your head." She commanded. She slowly moved her finger back and forth across and past his face. To her delight, his eyes followed it perfectly. She held up a small medical flashlight and shined it in his right eye, which he narrowed at the sudden light change.
"No, Itachi-kun, don't squint at me. Keep your eyes opened normally."
"That's not easy to do when someone is shining a bright light in your eyes!" he replied, sounding annoyed.
"Can you try? Please?" she asked. "It's for your own good, you know." 'Note to self: Itachi-kun is grouchy when he first wakes up.' She thought with slight amusement. Despite his mood, he did as she asked. Deciding that his eye was healthy and was healing perfectly, she checked the left eye.
"Well, your eyes seem to be working fine and are healing the way they are supposed to, Itachi-kun." She told him cheerfully.
"Can I leave now, then?" he asked, sounding as if his mood had worsened.
"Don't worry, there's only one more test for today." She assured him. "It is a very simple one too." Using both of her hands, she held up eight fingers. "How many fingers do you see?"
"Juu." He answered simply.
"Juu?!" she yelled confused. 'Why is he seeing ten fingers!?'
Itachi kept talking before she could yell at him anymore. "You're only holding up eight, though." He had a victorious smirk on his face now.
"Damn you, Uchiha! If you mess around, I'll think that I destroyed your eyes!" she shouted, a vein popping from the side of her head. "And if I think that, I'll tell Leader and he will find no use for you if you are blind, meaning that Kisame will need a new partner." She held up eight fingers again. "How many?"
Itachi sighed before answering. "Hachi."
"That's what I thought. Now how many?" She held up three this time.
"San."
"Ok, now?" Now she had six fingers held up.
"Roku." He answered sounding rather bored. "Are we done yet?"
Sakura smiled. "Yes, Itachi-kun, we are done for today. You can go now." Itachi sat up and swung his feet over to the side of the bed. Then he stood up and made for the door. Sakura stuck her arm out in front of him to prevent him from leaving. He just stared at her.
"But, I expect you to be back here at eleven tomorrow morning." She said in a serious tone.
"Fine." After hearing that, Sakura lowered her arm and let Itachi pass. He went out the door without a backwards glance. "Oh, dear, I seem to have ruffled Itachi-kun's feathers." She said with a giggle. "I really feel bad for Tobi if he catches Itachi-kun when he's in this mood now!" Naturally, after she said that, she heard the sound of glass smashing and running footsteps after that, two sets of running footsteps.
"Tobi just wanted to know if you were having a good day!" she heard Tobi call back to his pursuer in a nervous tone. She could tell by the way his voice was carrying that he was running from, best guess, Itachi.
"Stupid irony." She muttered.
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True to his word, Itachi showed up at the medical room on time the next day. He cooperated with her and answered her questions truthfully and was more patient with her than he was the first day. He didn't try to kill Tobi immediately afterwards, either. He was the same the day after that, and the day after that, and the day after that. During that time, the other members had left for various reasons. Kisame left with Zetzu, since he didn't want to wait on Itachi. Eventually, Sakura performed all the tests in her ability to make sure that his vision had recovered from its deteriorated state and that it would not deteriorate again. For the final test, she needed Itachi's help.
"Itachi-kun, that's you done for today, but," she paused uncertainly. She wasn't sure how he would take this news. "For the final, and most important test, I need your help."
"You want me to use it on you." He said. He had suspected for the last couple days now that she would ask him to do that, and, after all, it did make sense. It was the only way to know if his eyes were truly healed.
"Yes, it is the only way." She answered, sounding a little remorseful. "I have thought it all through, though." She continued more cheerfully. " If you use the Tsukuyomi on me, and don't put me through any horrific torture, we can see how your eyes are, and I should be unharmed…for the most part."
Itachi looked worried now. "Are you sure you want to go through that? You do remember what happened to Kakashi-san?"
Sakura nodded. "I still remember. I trust you not to put me through something as horrible as that, and I am a medic nin after all, so I could just heal myself in that Tsukuyomi world of yours.
Itachi just shook his head. "Not if I don't allow you to. In that place, I control everything. I could put you through a weeks worth of pain while only a second passes in the real world."
"I know that." She replied sharply.
"Then why do you offer yourself up as a test subject?" he asked her.
"Genjutsu doesn't work on bunshin of any type. It is the only way. And," she looked him straight in the eye before smiling warmly at him. "I trust you with my life."
Itachi studied her expression. Her eyes were shining with determination; her brow was furrowed slightly, and she had a small smile on her face. She looked completely fearless of what was to come and of what could become of her. After checking, and double-checking, that he had read her expression correctly, Itachi responded.
"Alright, I'll do it."
"You will?" she sounded pleasantly surprised. Her eyes now widened with hope.
"Yeah, but I still don't like the idea." He replied grumpily and defeated. He would much rather test this on Tobi, but sadly, he and Deidara left earlier that morning. He was pretty sure no one would've minded if he had 'forgotten' that he wasn't supposed to put Tobi through real torture. That would've saved everyone a lot of hassle, and the general mood of everyone would have probably improved.
"Great! Let's go now!" she said enthusiastically. She grabbed his hand and started to drag him towards the door. He couldn't help but notice how her hand was delicate, soft, and small, when the rest of her body was tough and strong. It was like her personality; very strong, and sometimes violent, but with a soft, sensitive side that no one knew about. He tried to plant his feet into the floor, but there was no stopping her monstrous strength.
"Now?"
"Yeah! That is, unless you aren't feeling up to it." She added sweetly, while giving him a challenging look. She knew he would never admit weakness flat out like that.
"Let's go." He snapped, and he began to lead her by the hand towards the arena. In her mind, she let out a giggle. His grip on her hand was very strong and, maybe she was imagining it, protective. She hoped she wasn't blushing in front of him, she could never live that down, and she needed to focus if she was going to get through this unharmed, or even alive. The fact that her hand was tingling really wasn't helping her concentration.
They arrived at the arena much too fast for her liking. She did trust Itachi, but she wasn't sure about how just him using the Mangekyou Sharingan would affect her mentally. Ignoring her worries, she walked to the opposite end of the arena that Itachi was on. She didn't even bother to get into a fighting stance, as it would be pointless.
He turned so he was facing her. He didn't tell her to move closer, though it would be harder for him to use his Tsukuyomi with her farther away. Despite her assurance, he was worried that she would get hurt, and the closer she was, the more powerful the Tsukuyomi would be. He activated his three tomoe Sharingan and looked Sakura in the eye.
"Ok, Sakura, look at my left eye. Only my left eye." He instructed her carefully. She did as she was asked, then she suddenly jumped in front of him with her arms stretched out in a protective manner with her back facing him.
"There are some shinobi coming. About six of them, all from Konoha. I recognize five of the chakra signatures. Uzumaki Naruto, Yamanaka Ino, Nara Shikamaru, Akimichi Chouji, and Kaguya Kikimandai." She explained quickly.
"I sense them too. I recognize Naruto-kun's." he replied, not mentioning that Sasuke was also with them, because that would confuse her. He had expected people to come looking for her, but much earlier, not five years after she left. He figured Sasuke had only come to kill him and had no idea that Sakura was even there. Itachi wasn't really worried. He knew that Sasuke had been training under Orochimaru for several years, but since Orochimaru was weaker than himself, he felt that he had nothing to fear.
"A signature that I don't recognize, and Kikimandai are the two closest to us. The other are farther off and Naruto is even farther away than the others." She said rapidly, and with good reason.
Suddenly, the far wall of the arena began to shake and muffled pounding could be heard. Rocks came flying off the wall towards Itachi and Sakura. Seeing as Sakura was in front of Itachi, she punched the rocks that came at them into dust. As quickly as she could, Sakura briefly described Kikimandai's abilities and the fact that she had been too frail to become a shinobi.
She did that just in time too, as the second she stopped talking, the wall was smashed open, with an explosion of rocks following. Clouds of dust and dirt rose from where the hole was, making it hard to see anything. Two figures stepped from out of the cloud with kunai ready in their hands. Sakura recognized one of them as being Kikimandai, though the identity of the other one was a complete mystery to her. He was very attractive with black hair that was curiously spiked up in the back and had large onyx eyes. His skin was like porcelain, the color very close to her own. He was wearing a baggy black shirt with a loose, high collar. He wore baggy shorts of the same color, and his sandals were also black. He looked quite a bit like Itachi, she decided. He seemed to be studying her, while she studied him, which proved to Sakura that they had never met.
Kikimandai was wearing the typical Konoha jounin outfit and vest. She seemed to have finished scrutinizing Sakura and now looked like she was trying to piece the whole situation together.
Sakura wasn't wearing her Akatsuki cloak, she didn't have sora on, and she had also forgotten to paint her nails that morning, so she didn't even look like a member of the group. She wore a red sleeveless shirt with a small collar and a zipper that was straight for about two-thirds of the shirt, then jerked rapidly down to the left. She had a small, red loincloth type thing over black tights that went to mid-thigh. She also wore black sandals.
It was a very deafening silence until Sasuke spoke up. "Uchiha, Itachi." He said, hatred evident in his voice.
Sakura turned to Itachi. "It seems you have yourself an mortal enemy." She whispered, so only he could hear. "Who is he anyway?"
Itachi answered her question loud enough for everyone to hear. "Sasuke."
'Sasuke?!' she screamed in her head. 'This is the one that wants to kill Itachi-kun? This is his brother?' She had a look of determination on her face again. 'Then this is the man I must defeat.'
Kikimandai instead focused her attention on Sakura. She didn't appear to be part of the Akatsuki, since she lacked the telltale cloak. She guessed that she was taken prisoner, or she was under some sort of genjutsu. "Sakura-senpai."
"Kikimandai." She answered. Itachi wasn't familiar with this girl, but she had stayed inside for most of her childhood, so most older people didn't. He had heard of the Kaguya clan and how they had been wiped out do to their own stupidity, though. It was said that their Kekke Genkai, Shikotsu Myaku (Corpse Bone Pathways), was frightening to watch.
Sasuke didn't look as though he was going to say anything to Sakura anytime soon, so Kikimandai cut to the chase. "Sakura-senpai, we are taking you back to Konoha." She said commandingly. Sakura just laughed in response. This got Sasuke's attention and he narrowed his eyes. "What is so funny, Sakura?"
Sakura wiped a tear of laughter from her eyes before replying. "Just that you thought that I could be forced to do what you say." While Sasuke glared, Kikimandai sighed. "So you're not going to come without a fight, are you?" This caused Sakura to start tutting. "Now why wouldn't I? Looks like you're not going to leave without one." She commented. Now Sasuke spoke up. "We aren't going to leave without you."
Sakura was now genuinely confused. 'Why would someone I never met, and the person I have to defeat want me to leave with him?' Making sure her face showed none of her inner confusion, she asked, "Now, now, now, why would you not leave without me when we have never met?" Kikimandai and Sasuke just stared in disbelief. She didn't remember him?! After all they had been through? All the joy, happiness, pain, and heartbreak? "You don't…remember me?" he asked slowly, sounding a bit hurt. She just shook her head in response. "Itachi!" he shouted, "What have you done to Sakura?!" He shot him a look full of venom.
"Nothing that didn't help her in the end." He answered calmly. Despite his calm demeanor, Itachi was starting to get nervous. If Sasuke said something that would spark her memory…it would be over for him. The fact that seeing him alone hadn't sparked her memory was a miracle in itself, and extremely fortunate for him. How long it would last, he couldn't say.
Sakura just blinked in a confused sort of way. Itachi's answer hadn't made sense. He could've just said training, since that was all he had done to her in the way of gaining power.
Kikimandai realized almost immediately what Itachi meant and gasped. He smirked in response. "I…Itachi-san, that's just going too far!" she exclaimed. "I was merely helping a friend with a pain in her life." He shrugged.
Sakura was thinking hard. None of this made any sense! She couldn't piece together what they were talking about and it was making her frustrated. "Shut up! Just all of you shut up!" she yelled. Everyone was so surprised at her outburst that they did as she had asked. "Now, I have no idea what is going on, but if you don't leave, then I will force you to." She growled.
Sasuke just glared. Something wasn't right with her, he could feel it. The fact that her memory had been erased was bad enough, but she now refused to leave with them and wanted to fight was too much. Seeing someone he cared about that much in a state like that nearly broke his heart. Having to fight someone you love is just too cruel, but he had no choice. If she had been with Itachi all these years, then there was no way Kikimandai could handle her. Sasuke still glared to keep his thoughts hidden. When in doubt, just glare…or say "Hn." Was his philosophy.
Sasuke took a step forward to fight, but Kikimandai stuck her arm out in front of him. "No, I will fight her." She said with confidence. He shook his head. "You can't, I have to fight her." He made to push her arm away, but she grabbed his wrist. "If you fight her now, you will be in no condition to fight Itachi." She reminded him. "And that is one of your ambitions, right?" he relaxed and stepped back while she stepped forward.
"Itachi-kun, I don't know what they think you've done to me, but you will tell me everything when this is over." She said in a low voice. She started to walk forward, but he grabbed her wrist. " You don't have to, I can handle this." She jerked free of his grip and kept walking forward. When she was opposite of Kikimandai she looked over her shoulder at him. "Besides, they are here for me, not you. It is my fault they are here in the first place, so I should be the one to fix it." She said with a small smile. He nodded and also stepped back to give Sakura enough room to fight. He looked over at Sasuke and mouthed "Matte."
Sasuke understood and nodded. He could not fight Itachi while Kikimandai and Sakura were fighting. The arena wasn't large enough for that, and he would inevitably hit an ally. He had waited over ten years for this moment, so he could wait for another couple minutes.
Sakura and Kikimandai both kneeled into fight positions. They looked each other in the eye and gave a sharp nod before flying at each other. Sakura gathered chakra to her fist and took a powerful swing at Kikimandai, who dodged gracefully. This infuriated the already angry Sakura who then leapt into the air and, this time, gathered chakra to her foot and aimed to crush her from above. This time, Sakura's foot hit her mark, only not the way she had expected. Some spiky bones had grown out of Kikimandai's shoulder and had taken hold of Sakura's foot. Sakura struggled, but to no avail; the bones had a strong hold on her. 'Duh,' she thought while mentally slapping herself on the forehead. ' She specializes in taijutsu, so I'll have to do something else. I've got it!'
Sakura slammed her hands into the tiger seal and began to mold her chakra. From her foot all the way to her head, she began to disappear into thin air. Itachi smirked from the edge of the arena. 'Looks like she has trained with Kurenai-san.'
A tree grew thousands of times faster than normal right behind Kikimandai. Its branches grew around her and trapped her to the tree. Sakura then began to grow out of the tree with a kunai in hand, ready to kill. "This is the end." She said plainly. She made to stab Kikimandai, but the bones stopped her again. "You cannot beat me, Sakura-senpai," she told her. "With my Kekke Genkai, you will never be able to hit me."
Sakura looked deep in thought. "That maybe be true, but every Kekke Genkai has a weakness." She said more to herself than Kikimandai. Sakura then exploded into a shower of sakura petals. 'It seems I will have to resort to that.'
"Baku Siushoha!" (Bursting Water Collision Waves) she shouted. She opened her mouth and looked down. She looked as though she was going to throw up, but vomit didn't come out her mouth. Gallon after gallon of water came pouring out of her mouth onto the floor. After a couple seconds, the arena was completely flooded with water.
"Doton: Doryuu Jouheki." (Earth Element: Earth Style Rampart) she said immediately after the water had flooded the floor. The ground below Itachi and Sasuke began to shake and move upwards. This lasted until they were about ten feet above the battle and standing on small, but sturdy, pillars of earth. "So she plans to go all out." Itachi commented. "So she put us out of the way."
Sasuke was in shock. He hadn't even seen Sakura use hand seals for that last move, it was much too fast. The fact that she could use two elements was news to him also. He heard Itachi comment on it and asked him. "All out? What is she going to do?"
Itachi smirked yet again. "Hope you weren't too attached to that girl." Then Itachi directed his attention back to the battle. Sasuke kept looking at him, but when he realized that he wasn't going to say anymore, he too looked back. Sakura now had raised herself about a foot out of the water. Before Kikimandai could react to the arena changing, Sakura began to form seals again.
"Raiton: Raikyuu!" (Lightning Element: Lightning Ball) she shouted. A ball of lightning formed into her left hand. It was crackling and spitting, it looked like it would cause a lot of damage. It made Sasuke think of a non-Sharingan Chidori. Sakura then plunged her hand into the water. Electrical current spread out everywhere, because water conducts electricity. The lightning spread out until it reached Kikimandai. When she had seen Sakura use a lightning element, she started to grow her bones out of her body, until they formed into a sphere with her inside. When the lightning came it sparkled and crackled as it hit bone, and under other circumstances, would have been thought to be a beautiful lightshow. The lightning kept hitting the bone, but it refused to crack. Sakura lifted her hand out of the water, and the lightning stopped. Kikimandai had her bones shrink until they all returned to her body. "Well, Kikimandai, I underestimated you." Sakura said.
Kikimandai wasn't fazed. " Have you forgotten that I am from the Water Country, Sakura-senpai?"
"No, of course not." Sakura hadn't forgotten, but she had overlooked it. She knew about Kikimandai's Kekke Genkai, but she didn't know whether she could use Suiton ninjutsu or not. Either way, this made it harder for Sakura, since her chakra was water and lightning based. She could use all five elements, but wind was extremely difficult for her to use, seeing as that was her weakest element. Clearly, this strategy wasn't going to work. She needed to disable that Shikotsu Myaku. Suddenly, and idea hit her, she had to get close to Kikimandai for it to work, though. That would be the tough part.
Sakura formed hand seals yet again. "Suiton: Mizuame Nabara!" (Water Element: Starch Syrup Capture Field) she yelled. Then she opened her mouth and began to spit a sticky liquid onto the floor. The liquid mixed with the water, making it spread even faster, and in five seconds, the floor was covered with the strange liquid.
Sakura looked over at Kikimandai, and to her delight, her feet were stuck in the liquid. She was struggling to free herself, but nothing was happening. Sakura gathered chakra to her feet and jumped off the rock and onto the liquid. She was able to walk over it normally. She walked over to Kikimandai in a victorious fashion. She gathered chakra into her hand and quickly changed it into electricity. Then she pushed her hand roughly into Kikimandai's shoulder and let the electricity leave her hand.
Kikimandai fell backwards from the force of the push, which resulted in all of her being stuck in the liquid. 'Until this sticky stuff goes away, I can't attack. At least I can defend myself.' She thought.
As Sakura was walking back towards the bit of earth she raised, Kikimandai tried to turn her head to follow, but could not. She tried again, but all that happened was her ankle turned. "Rashinshou." (Chaotic Mental Collision) she said in defeat. Once arriving at the rock and jumping back onto it, Sakura answered, "Yes, that's right. You aren't able to move anyway, but this will stop that pesky Kekke Genkai of yours." Kikimandai waited for the deathblow. But before it came, she called up to Sasuke.
"Sasuke! Gomen, but you will have to take on Itachi alone." He stared at her. 'How could she be giving up so easily?' he thought. He hadn't heard their conversation, so he didn't know that she was unable to defend herself from the next attack. "What is she talking about?" he said to himself.
Itachi heard him and replied, "Sakura stopped her from moving with a water ninjutsu so she could disable that girl's Kekke Genkai with Rashinshou." He explained. Sasuke stared at him in shock before answering Kikimandai. "It's okay, you did your best, so you have nothing to be sorry for." She smiled at him sadly, one of the few things she could do in her current condition.
Itachi watched the whole fight in fascination. To use water to defeat a water ninja seemed quite stupid at first, but it had worked in the end. He was also curious as to why Sakura, knowing this, had used water instead of the other elements. That thought made it click. Her chakra was water based, that would explain it. It didn't explain why she was able to use all five elements, though. He was going to ask her that when he had a chance. It also appeared that she still didn't remember Sasuke, so at least Sakura was on his side.
"Raiton: Raikyuu!" she shouted as she slammed her hand into the water again. This time, when the electrical current reached Kikimandai, it hit. The lightning took over her body and made her hair all stand on end. She screamed in pain for a second, then fell face forward into the water, and was lost from sight. Sakura sighed. Now she had to drain the water, and she just hated cleaning up. "Doton:Iwa Yado Kuzushi." (Earth Element: Stone Lodging Destruction) she said dully. The rocks below the arena began to shift left and right leaving a hole near the center. The water rushed to the hole and left Kikimandai behind. After the water was gone, Sakura moved the rocks back over the hole and made it look as though nothing had happened. She then lowered the small pillar she was on, along with the ones that Itachi and Sasuke were standing on.
When everyone was on solid ground, Sasuke went straight to Kikimandai. "There's no point in that," Sakura said. "She's dead." Sasuke put his fingers to her neck to check for a pulse and she was, indeed, dead. "Itachi," Sasuke growled. "I'll ask you again, what have you done to Sakura?"
Itachi looked rather amused. "Why don't you ask her yourself?" he replied. "She's the one who agreed to it, and it wasn't my idea, anyway." Sasuke whipped his head to look at Sakura. "Sakura, did you really agree?" he asked gently. She nodded. How could she forget the day when the pain had been numbed? The day when she felt she was really one of them? "What have you done to yourself!?" he shouted, losing control. 'She isn't even Sakura anymore!' he thought in horror. 'I will save you…even if it is from yourself.'
Sakura began to lose it too. "Why the hell do you care so much? I don't even know you! All I know is that you want to kill Itachi-kun!" she screamed at him.
"Itachi...kun?" His eyes widened in horror. 'Itachi-kun?!'
"Oh, don't pretend you don't know who I'm talking about! I'm not stupid!"
Sasuke calmed himself down and tried a new tactic. If she didn't remember him, yet remembered Kikimandai, she had to remember something that would help him. "Sakura, you weren't always like this." He said gently. "You would never kill a person."
"You're right." She admitted. "I wasn't. I was weak, annoying, and miserable, so I went through a change. One that I don't want to undo."
Sasuke sighed. This might be harder than he thought, since she didn't really want to cooperate. "Do you remember being a genin? And the first time you took the Chuunin Exams?"
That stopped Sakura. 'Come to think of it, I don't remember being a genin hardly at all.' She remembered Naruto and Kakashi-sensei, but she just couldn't recall who the other member of Team 7 was. She knew that Orochimaru had showed up during the Chuunin Exams and he must've attacked the other teammate, since Naruto was missing for a while and he had ignored her. She remembered cutting off her hair to save that person from the Sound nin. In the third test, she remembered chasing after that person and standing up to an insane Gaara and risking her life for her team mate, but she had no idea who it was.
Itachi saw the look on Sakura's face and knew that he was in trouble. Sasuke was trying to force her to remember, and, eventually, it would most likely work. "Honestly, I can't remember some things." She said quietly. Then she got enraged. "You're just trying to mess with my head! Now leave!"
"I already told you; I'm not leaving without you."
"Then fight me." She challenged.
"No." he said plainly. Then he looked at Itachi. "Ever since that day, I've done what you said," he activated his Sharingan now. "And survived! The moment has finally come," he powered up his Chidori so much that the skin on his whole hand peeled right off. "For me to kill you!" He charged at Itachi with his Chidori ready to kill. At the last second, Sakura jumped in front of Itachi, and deflected Sasuke's attack and grabbed his wrist. He looked up at her angrily. "You will not harm Itachi-kun." She said darkly. "You are my opponent."
Sasuke glared at her. "Even if you don't remember me, you should know what he," he pointed at Itachi with his free hand. "Has done!"
"Yes, I know that he wiped out his entire clan except for you." She said. "Do you know why you weren't killed?" Itachi shot her a warning look, but she ignored it and gave him a 'Don't-worry-I've-got-this-under-control-and-I-will-make-him-forget-it-anyway' look.
This angered Sasuke further. "Because I wasn't worth killing." His eyes were slits and if looks could kill, the whole planet would be dead.
"Wrong."
"Wrong?"
"Yes w-r-o-n-g, wrong!" she spelled for him.
"How would you know?" he shouted. "He told me that when he killed everyone!"
"I know because he told me the truth." She said quietly.
Sasuke sighed. 'Fine, I'll play your little game.' "Alright, is it because he wanted me to hate him so much that I would want to kill him, which meant I would want extra power, so I needed to kill Naruto, so I would get the Mangekyou Sharingan, then when I came to kill him he would take my eyes to heal his?"
Sakura shook her head. "Even though that actually makes a lot of sense, no."
"Why then, since you know everything about my past, yet don't remember me." He said annoyed. 'Maybe she isn't completely different.' He thought. 'After all this time, she's still annoying.'
"Because he couldn't bring himself to do it." She whispered.
"Nani?" Sasuke shouted. " Like hell he couldn't! If he could kill everyone for no reason, he should be able to kill me without a second thought!"
"Itachi-kun doesn't do anything for no reason." Sakura said. "And, for starters, he wasn't the only one who wiped out your clan."
"Of course he is the only one! I'm the only other one alive, and I sure didn't help!" he screamed at her. His thoughts were much more tender. 'I got home late because I was with you, playing.'
"Wrong again." Sakura sighed. For being Itachi's brother, he sure was stupid. "Uchiha Madara is not dead. He is still alive."
Sasuke laughed manically. "Uchiha Madara still alive? That's impossible! He founded Konoha and he is older than the Shodai Hokage, who is dead. You've completely lost your mind!"
"No, I haven't and the Hokage are no saints. The current one is a gambler and steals money to gamble and doesn't pay back her loans!"
Sasuke stopped laughing and settled for a death glare. "She taught you everything you know! None of the other Hokage gambled!"
"She didn't teach me everything! I learned a few tricks on my own, thank you!" she yelled indignantly. "If you should blame anyone for your clan's annihilation, it should be the Sandaime. He ordered it."
After she said that, Itachi had heard enough. "Sakura, stop! He can't know anymore! I wasn't even supposed to tell you!" he yelled at her.
She turned to face him. "You think I want to tell a complete stranger classified information?" she yelled back. "This is to protect you! If he knew the truth, he would stop hunting you and leave. No one would believe him anyway."
"That's not the point, Sakura! Don't you see? Once they know he knows, you know what they'll do." He snapped at her.
"Well, the same thing would've happened if he didn't know!" she snapped right back. "He'd come looking for you and then, you'd have to do it!"
Itachi sighed. "I was twelve, I didn't think it all the way through. To this day, I doubt whether or not I could bring myself to do it."
Sasuke, temporarily forgotten, Sakura walked over to Itachi to place a hand on his shoulder. "Either way, it would have to be done." She said gently. "If you can't do it, then..." she paused. "Will you let me?" Itachi stared at her. "You can kill me afterwards if you like, but it must be done, unless you'd rather take his place?
This got Itachi's attention. He knew he was going to Hell for his crimes, and would much rather put it off as long as possible. And if Sakura did it, he knew it would be painless. He had no idea what another person would do. He would just have to tell himself that he had done the right thing by sending him to a better place.
She continued. "This way, you can loathe me and still be able to live with yourself. I would be the tainted one."
"O…okay." He said shakily. Sakura nodded and left his side.
Sasuke hadn't heard what they had said, but he could tell by Sakura's actions that she had been comforting Itachi. Couldn't she see that this all was a lie? "Sakura, everything he has told you is a lie!" He yelled at her. "Now let me avenge my clan!"
"You will have to go through me first!" she screamed.
Sasuke wasn't going to discuss it anymore and made the decision that if he had to break every bone in Sakura's body to make her return, he would. "Katon: Housenka no Jutsu!" he shouted as he began to release flames from his mouth, aiming for Sakura. "Suiton:Suijinheki! (Water Element: Water Encampment Wall) she yelled in response. Water flowed out of Sakura's mouth to form a wall between her and the fire. The blaze was put out immediately, and the shuriken hidden inside the flames fell to the ground with a loud clank. Sakura then began to throw handfuls of kunai at Sasuke. These were no normal kunai, though. They had small pouches attached to the ends of them. None hit him, but instead landed on the ground near him.
He smirked. "Who were you aiming at? You missed." The smirk was wiped off of his face when he saw that each pouch had several exploding notes hidden inside. Sakura then threw a final kunai with an exposed exploding note attached to the end. "Sakura Fubiki no Jutsu!" The last note began to burn and cause the others to explode as well, resulting in a huge explosion. The arena was undamaged, as it had been designed to withstand most things. "As if."
Sakura then grabbed her head in pain. She had never used that jutsu since the first time, but her intuition had told her to use it. She remembered how she and Sasuke had been battling the snow ninja and how he had helped her come up with that jutsu. After that, all the memories came flooding back. How she and Ino became rivals over him. How she had devoted all of her time and energy into getting him to notice her. Being put on the same team as genin. Their first C mission and how she felt when she thought he was dead. Coming back and having him call her useless, only to have him recognize her as better than him with genjutsu and saying so in public. The Chuunin Exams and how they had faced Orochimaru together. Orochimaru giving Sasuke that seal and Sakura being forced to protect him. Cutting her hair to save him and nearly dying. Watching him fight while having his chakra stolen from him. His fight with Gaara and chasing him. Finding him and putting her life on the line to save him. Finding him injured again in the hospital and visiting everyday. Hugging him out of pure joy when Tsunade healed him. His fight with Naruto and how he had nearly hit her. The night he left and how she had been left on a bench with tearstained eyes. This memory came back most strongly and tears began to flow down her face. She looked at Sasuke with new eyes. "Oh, Sasuke-kun!"
Sasuke had managed to stand up after surviving the explosion. He had a smile on his face. "Took you long enough." She ran over to him with her arms outspread with tears still pouring from her eyes. When she reached him, instead of hugging him, she punched him in the face with a chakra infused fist. He went flying into the wall of the arena. "You bastard!" she screamed at him with tears still running down her face. "How dare you leave me on a bench?!" Sasuke struggled to stand back up. 'Yup, she remembers everything.' "You betrayed us!" Her face was turning red she was screaming so loudly at him and from cry so hard. "You nearly kill Naruto to go to that…that snake just to get enough power to kill Itachi-kun!" By now he had stood up. "All you ever do is use people!"
"Use people?" he questioned.
"Yes! You used me, Naruto, Kakashi, Orochimaru, Gaara, Ino, Shikamaru, Neji, Kiba, Lee, Tsunade, Kabuto, Sakon and Ukon, Kidomaru, Jirobou, and Tayuya just to name a few! Why would you go so far to rescue someone you've used and consider annoying?!"
"Because," he paused now scared. If he was ever going to say it, it might as well be now. "Ai…Aishiteru." Sakura looked surprised, then disgusted. "Liar, you thought that I would believe that and let you go, well you're wrong yet again."
Sasuke looked at her, shocked. "You don't believe me?!"
"Of course not. You said you wouldn't leave without me and you are trying to trick me into thinking that you actually care about me so I'd go. You made it clear long ago that you don't give a damn about me. The only reason you are interested in my well being is because Tsunade ordered you to bring me back." She said.
"How can you think that? Aishiteru kara kokoro!"
"You don't have a heart!" She screamed with more tears in her eyes. "I said the same thing and you told me your heart chose revenge! You don't care about anything or anyone! All you want is to kill Itachi-kun!"
Sasuke felt as though she had ripped his still beating heart out of his chest. Refusing to let her know this, he looked annoyed. "I'm not going to say it again if it means nothing to you."
"Good, because it was getting annoying. I mean nothing to you, and you mean nothing to me, so we're even."
Sasuke roared and looked ready to kill Sakura where she stood. She definitely struck a nerve and Tsunade said to bring her back; she never said that Sakura had to be alive. He powered up his Chidori again and charged at Sakura. She smirked and prepared to use a moved she knew would anger him even further, if possible. It would deplete her chakra to a mere quarter of its usual amount, seeing as wind was her weakest element.
"Rasengan!" Sakura had a ball of solid chakra in her hand and charged at Sasuke. Before he could touch her, she slammed her hand into his chest and through his heart. He coughed up blood and his Chidori fizzled away. He fell to the floor with a thud. Sakura had started to walk towards Itachi until she heard her name being called faintly.
"S…Sakura." he called. She turned and kneeled down beside him. He seemed to be struggling with something inside his pocket. He pulled out a small box and held it out to her. "Please, take it." He requested weakly. Out of the kindness in her heart, she too it and put it in one of her pockets. "And let me do this." He reached up with both hands and placed his fingers gently on her eyes, closing them. He transferred all of his remaining strength into them. After about a minute his hands fell from her eyes to the ground. His face was emotionless and he no longer moved. He was dead.
Sakura wailed and held her hands over her eyes. She felt as though her heart had been split in two. She fell onto his chest and cried even louder, tears soaking his shirt. Itachi watched this and wondered what to do. He eventually decided to let her grieve for a while, since he needed to do that too. A single tear ran down his face and fell to the floor.
Xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo
After about twenty minutes, Itachi thought that Sakura had had enough time and needed to be comforted. Just as he was about to walk over to her, Shikamaru, Ino, and Chouji walked in through the gap in the wall. Once Sakura saw them, she stood up, wiped off her eyes and walked over to stand by Itachi. Itachi had placed genjutsu over the bodies so that Shikamaru, Ino, and Chouji wouldn't notice, and in case Sakura still needed more time to grieve.
"Ino-pig." Sakura said quietly.
"Forehead." She responded.
Before Shikamaru and Chouji could do anything, Itachi placed them in Tsukuyomi. The both fell to the ground unconscious in two seconds. Itachi immediately felt extremely fatigued, but not as much as he normally did after using that. His eyes also didn't hurt at all, and the usually were in agony from that. 'Sakura, arigato.' He thought gratefully.
Ino turned to see her fallen teammates, then looked at Itachi. "Sakura, you're…you're with h…him?!" Sakura nodded.
"You traitor!" she screamed. "I don't care what Tsunade said! You're coming with me, dead or alive!"
"I'd like to see you try, Ino-kohai." She sneered.
"You will pay for that!"
Sakura untied her headband in response. She retied it around her forehead. Not failing to notice the scratch through the leaf symbol, Ino retied hers around her forehead too.
"I'm gonna make you do then make you faint this time!" Ino shouted.
"Same to you!"
Both jumped backwards and prepared to fight each other. Sakura knew that Ino had been training to be a medic nin, but had started after she had. Other than medical abilities and Shitenshin, Sakura had no idea what other moves Ino knew.
Ino knew she was at a disadvantage. Even though Itachi appeared to have let them have their fight uninterrupted, she knew that he could jump in at any time. Also, Sakura had been training under the Godaime herself, and Ino still wasn't skilled enough to do that.
Sakura formed seals as fast as she could. "Mizu Bunshin no Jutsu!" (Water Clone Jutsu)
Sakura decided to end this quickly. "Suiton: Suirou no Jutsu!" (Water Element: Water Prison Jutsu) she yelled. Water began to form around Ino in a sphere. More and more water formed until Ino was trapped in a ball of water with Sakura's bunshin holding onto it with her hand. Ino looked up at her and gasped.
"Sakura, your eyes!"
Sakura gave Ino a slight glare. "What about them?"
"Y…You have the Sharingan!" she said, as though she didn't even believe her eyes. 'I have the Sharingan?' she thought confused. She just assumed that Ino was lying, but then she started to think. 'That would explain why I saw Ino move before she actually did. How…?' the realization almost brought tears to her eyes. 'That's what Sasuke was doing! Why did he do that?!'
Ino interrupted her thoughts, "How did you get it?"
" I'd rather not say, but you have lost to me in both ways you said you wouldn't. Ja ne, Ino." She said victoriously. "Raiton: Raikyuu!" She lightly touched the ball Ino was trapped in with the ball of lightning. The result was instantaneous. It turned into a gigantic ball of lighting, and Ino's chakra wasn't lightning based, so she couldn't defend herself. Sakura's bunshin exploded in a shower of sparks.
After about ten seconds, Sakura released the jutsu. She went over to Ino's body and knelt beside it. "You were my very best friend." She said quietly. "That is why this had to be done, because you were also my rival." Sakura began to tremble and seeing this Itachi walked over to her and held her tightly to his chest. She leaned closer to him as if he held the cure for her pain. He rubbed her back soothingly until she calmed down. "A…Arigato, Itachi-kun." She stuttered. He was about to hold her again but she stopped him. "I have to do something first." She began to form a hand seal for what felt like the billionth time that day. "Kage bunshin no Jutsu!" she yelled as a nearly perfect replica of herself appeared with a poof. The only thing it lacked was the lavender diamond on the forehead, and she didn't want it to have that anyway.
"You are to take Shikamaru and Chouji and find Naruto. Go back to Konoha with them and act as though you escaped. Go on missions as normal and act normal." She commanded. "Every night, when you are alone, make another Kage bunshin of yourself before disappearing. Now go!"
"Hai!" The clone then went to Shikamaru and Chouji. She draped Shikamaru over her shoulders and used her superhuman strength to carry Chouji. The clone left through the hole in the wall. "Doton: Doryuu Heki!" (Earth Element: Earth Style Wall) Sakura then spat mud on the ground right along the opening to the outside. A solid wall of earth began to rise from the part that she spit on, blocking the hole entirely. Sakura started to form more hand seals, but Itachi grabbed her hands.
"I can take it from here." He said gently and began to form the same seals Sakura was forming. "Katon: Housenka no Jutsu!" he said as he directed the fire to the edges of the wall, making it melt into the rest of the arena wall. When he'd finished, smoke was everywhere. Sakura was panting from earlier and inhaling smoke was not good. Due to exhaustion, Sakura collapsed.
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After assuring Itachi that she would be fine, Sakura walked to her room, deep in thought. She stuck her hands into her pockets and felt the box Sasuke had given her. 'Oh, I had forgotten about that.' When she was outside the door, she opened it quickly and shut it behind her. She didn't want anyone to see the box Sasuke had given her. She felt strangely protective over it. She strode to the other side of her room and sat on her bed. She turned the box over and over in her hands. It was small, very small like a watch or ring box. It was dark blue felt, and the top was slightly rounded.
"Looks like a regular ring box to me." She muttered. She opened it and gasped. It had a gorgeous gold necklace inside. The charm was a small flower with pink diamonds for petals and an emerald for the center. She flipped it over to see her name engraved on the back of the flower with a small Uchiha symbol carved next to it. A slip of paper fell out of the box. Sakura wiped the tears from her eyes and picked it up.
Happy Birthday Sakura! I hope this isn't too 'forward'.
Sasuke x
The x had been written small, and almost in a shy way. More tears fell from Sakura's eyes as she put the necklace around her neck. She sat there breathing heavily until she choked out, "What have I done?"
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Glad that's over with! I HATE typing out battles, and translating for the people who watch the english anime! Didn't translate the jutsus used all the time. (Honestly, Naruto uses Kage bunshin WAY too much) It was so hard trying to choose between my 2 fav couples! The end bit with Sasuke didn't end up the way I had originally planned but I think it's ok. Review please and tell whether this mega chapter was worth it or not! It killed me to kill Sasuke-kun! Ino...not so much.
By the way, here's some Japanese phrases in English.
Aishiteru - I love you
Aishiteru kara kokoro - I love you from the bottom of my heart
-kohai - Opposite of sensei, used to refer to someone lower in rank, though it is rather rude.