A/N: 'gasps' Two chapters in one day again?! Gosh:P

Since most of you were unsatisfied with the previous chapter I thought I should make it up to you by posting a longer one. So here it is..


Chapter twelve:

Sakura stepped out of the foggy bathroom and glanced around the room to see if Itachi was still there. She couldn't see him, so she made her way over to the bed, knelt down beside it and let the towel drop to the floor as she picked up her clothes.

She pulled on the same pants she'd worn the day before and was just about to pull the top over her head when the door opened up, revealing an almost naked Itachi.

"Can't you knock?" She asked sourly and turned around so he wouldn't see her naked chest. Pulling the top on she turned around again and gave the Sharingan user a glare before putting on the cloak he'd given her.

Itachi didn't reply. Instead he walked over to a dresser Sakura hadn't seen before, and pulled out a new outfit for the day, which looked exactly like the one he'd worn the day before. He let the towel he'd wrapped around his waist fall to the floor and smirked as he saw Sakura blush and turn her back towards him.

Sakura heard him walk across the room and turned around – coming face to face with the elder Uchiha. He leaned closer to her face; the scent of musk filled her nostrils. "This is my room, kunoichi," He said and leaned in even closer.

Sakura's heart felt as if it was about to jump out of her chest. A wave of fear ran through her body. She was merely inches away from a killer. A psychopathic murdered who could kill her before she even knew it had happened.

Taking a step backwards, her breath caught in her throat as she saw him following. Walking slowly, she finally ended up with her back against the wall; Itachi hovering above her.

"You know," He started and twisted a strand of her pink hair around one finger. He leaned closer to her ear and tucked some of her hair behind it before whispering quietly, "You're cute when you're scared,"

In a quick moment, she felt her heart stop. 'Cute?'

A second later she found herself alone in the room. Itachi was nowhere to be seen. Sakura took a deep breath and slowly made her way to the door. A strange feeling lit up in the pit of her stomach. 'Cute…He thinks I'm cute,' She thought and quickly wiped the smile away from her lips. 'Who care's if he thinks I'm cute? I hate him!'

'Sure you do,' her inner self mused.

"Go away," Sakura groaned and pulled the cloak closer to her body as she headed for the kitchen.


Neji stared at the lifeless form of Shikamaru. He hadn't thought Sasuke would wake up so soon from the hit he'd given him. If he'd known he would have kept an eye on him. The Byakugan user hovered over his team-mate's body and closed his eyes.

"Naruto," He called and saw the blonde teenager jump down from a branch, landing next to him. "I want you to go after Sasuke. Kiba and I will take Shikamaru back to Konoha and inform Tsunade about the situation."

"Hai!" The blonde replied with a nod.

"Sasuke is dangerous, so be careful."

"Don't worry Neji, Sasuke-bastard is going down this time," Naruto replied with a fire burning in his eyes.

The Byakugan user smirked slightly and gave a light nod to his comrade, signalling he could leave. It was obvious the nine-tales inside of the hyperactive teenager gave him power to continue the mission and Neji watched rather proud as the blonde disappeared among the treetops.

Turning towards Kiba, he gave a sorry smile before picking Shikamaru's body up.

"Let's go," He commanded and they continued their journey back home.

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Naruto sped through the forest as fast as he could. Sasuke was fast and had probably gotten pretty far already, but Naruto knew that if he kept up his pace he'd reach up to his friend sooner or later. He hoped it would be sooner than later though. If Sasuke had killed Shikamaru without hesitation, he wasn't sure what would happen to Sakura if he reached her first. His friend had obviously lost it and would kill whoever stood in his way.

"Sasuke, you idiot," Naruto growled with a hint of frustration in his normally calm voice.

Sasuke's hair laid smothered against his skull as rain kept pouring down on him. He was halfway through Rain country – heading towards stone. He had been running for hours, but couldn't tell. His chakra didn't seem to be able to run empty today.

He needed to find Itachi and kill him. He had decided he didn't care about Sakura. She was just a girl he had wanted to use for his own selfish needs. If Itachi had killed her, he wouldn't care. She was, after all, nothing more than an annoying and clingy weak girl to him.

He knew Akatsuki had many hideouts. He didn't know where they were, but the headquarters were in Stone. Orochimaru had told him that when he was there to get power. Orochimaru had, however, fooled the young Sasuke back then. To get power he would have to be Orochimaru's new container, which meant Orochimaru would just take Sasuke's body, and in that way "Sasuke" would get more power.

Shrugging the memories off, he increased his speed. If he kept going he'd probably reach Stone in a day or two. And that meant he would be closer to Itachi and to his revenge.


"I hate the rain, yeah" Deidara groaned and leaned back in his seat.

"I like the rain," Sakura replied with a smile. The two had been sitting in the kitchen for an hour, talking about stuff they liked and disliked.

Rain was still pouring down outside, and it was getting on Deidara's nerves. He would rather be outside, lying on the grass and bathe in the warmth from the sun, but the God's seemed to punish him at the moment, and he hated it.

"Why do you hate the rain?" Sakura asked and walked over to the oven, preparing a kettle with water. "Tea?" She added before he had the time to answer her previous question.

He nodded his head yes as his reply and answered the first question with a, "It makes my hair curly, yeah,"

Sakura burst out laughing at that and looked at the blonde with her eyebrows raised. "You're more of a girl than I am," She giggled and watched a blush paint Deidara's cheeks.

Kisame entered the kitchen at that moment. "Good afternoon love," He winked at her – ignoring the other male in the room.

Sakura playfully stuck her tongue out at the large man, and felt herself getting thrown over his shoulder.

"Kisame, let me down!" She yelled and started hitting his back. "Kisame, I swear if you don't let me down I'll… I'll…"

"Kiss me," He finished with a laugh and let her down onto the floor again. She hit his chest with her fist and walked over to where Deidara was sitting, taking a seat by his side.

"Aww," Kisame cooed. "Seems like I have some competition,"

Deidara's blush deepened while Sakura scoffed and rolled her eyes.

"It's not like that, yeah," Deidara started to explain and got a playful smile from Kisame, letting him know he was joking.

A screeching sound came from the kettle as it let the people in the kitchen know the tea was ready. Kisame walked over to it and poured the warm liquid into three cups before putting them down on the table in front of the other two. He took a seat across from Sakura and sipped his tea quietly.

The pink haired girl tucked a strand of hair away from her eyes and smiled softly to Deidara before she took a sip of her own tea. Itachi entered the kitchen then. His eyes darted towards the blonde who was sitting only inches away from the kunoichi, and a flash of what could be mistaken as jealousy appeared in his eyes for a second before it disappeared and was replaced with the same indifferent look he always wore.

"Sasori's looking for you," His deep voice sounded as he nodded towards Deidara.

The blonde excused himself and left the room in a rush. His partner was a patient man, but the aura Deidara had felt coming from Itachi the second he entered the kitchen made his warning bells go off. Itachi was mad, and Deidara wanted to be far away from him when he snapped.

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"Why aren't you in the room?" The elder Uchiha asked – referring to his bedroom. Sakura gave him an indifferent look and ignored the question. She was not in the mood to play his stupid cat and mouse games right now. He kept his gaze hard on her. "I asked you a question,"

"And I chose to ignore it," She replied, venom dripping from her words.

Kisame glanced at the girl in front of him, amazed she dared to talk back to his team-mate. If somebody else, including him, would have done it they'd be dead by now.

"Kunoichi," Itachi said sternly and got an angry glare from the girl.

"My name is Sakura, not Kunoichi,"

She found herself pinned against the wall after that.

"Kisame, leave," Itachi said in a low voice.

"I'd rather…" Kisame started but left as soon as he saw the dangerous look Itachi shot him.

Itachi stared at the girl. She avoided his eyes, which was a smart move from her side. He watched her for a while, having her hands pressed against the wall above her head. Her bottom lip trembled slightly with fear as she looked down on the floor.

"Look at me," He commanded. She shook her head no. If she looked, she was sure he would kill her. "Sakura, look at me,"

'Sakura?' Both of them thought at the same time.

She lifted her head a little, but continued to avoid his eyes. Some of her pink hair fell into her eyes, shielding the view of him.

'Why are you doing this to me?' He questioned as he continued to take in her features. 'What is so special about you that makes me lose control whenever you're near?' He loosened his grip on her wrists and leaned his forehead against hers. 'Why do I feel this way around you?'

Sakura was afraid to move. Afraid he might try to hurt her if she tried to get away. Glancing up at his eyes, she nearly gasped at the sight. His eyes weren't red. They were gray, dark gray and almost black. They held so much feelings; confusion, hate, pain, and… love?

His breath tickled her lips and his hands found their way through her hair.

'What is he doing? Has he lost it?' She asked as she fought to stay focused. Sasuke had never touched her like Itachi was doing right now. Sasuke had never placed his forehead against hers and just simply looked into her eyes. She bit her lip uncertainly and felt him sigh before he removed his hands from the wall and stepped away from her. He turned around and left the room quietly, leaving Sakura confused and with the same burning feeling she'd felt earlier that morning.

'What's happening to me?'