Disclaimer: Naruto and its characters are created by Masashi Kishimoto, but the new plots (meaning the ones you don't recognize!) are mine. This fanfiction has been written for entertainment purposes only and without intention of infringing upon any copyright.

A/N: First of all, many thanks to Imanewme for proofing this chapter. The help is greatly appreciated. Thanks to her, this story is one day early, lol. And next, thank you for all the wonderful reviews you all left me. So big hugs to: Kinkatia, ArjunaAnja, Goatis, dumdeedum, DevilsAnimeAngel, Sesshomaru20, Jester08, animal.cracker.assassinator, PodRacingprincess, AkatsukiSakura73, supersillee06, Dark Darianna Minamino, S. T. Nickolian, SweetAssassin, MiMi, Blueberry Babe, crystal teardrops, Nara Merald, GaaraFreak, Hao'sAnjul, SparklyTea, Reimei Hoshi, maila89, belle, Ita-ta, aznkitty180, Luka1Sakura, animeismyname, Mokulule, weasles 'n cherryblossoms, nekokigin, Passionate Crow Rat, iLilPiggYyAaiLove, troublesomefemale, MaiomilovesShikamaru, Assassinator.Bunny, Anvira, CrystalHeart27 and ironidji.

And here's the next installment to this story…

The Contentious Heart by elle6778 – Chapter 14

Sakura's throat went dry as a shiver ran through her.

He couldn't…

He couldn't be thinking of…

Her breath suspended in her chest, Sakura found herself completely locked in his eyes as the concept of time slowly lost its meaning. She knew that she had to do something, but she was hard-pressed to think of what it could be. So she continued to stare.

Itachi's eyes flickered then, and Sakura thought she could see a hint of annoyance in them. And then the annoyance was gone, to be replaced by his usual unreadable expression.

"Is there something you require, Sakura-san?"

The question was delivered in his usual smooth tones, with an unmistakable undertone of amusement, but took her a few seconds to digest his words.

Then panic slammed through her, jolting her out of her stupor. Sakura instantly jerked away from him, tumbling backwards onto her hands in her rush. Her fingers dug into the cool sand as she tried to catch her breath, her eyes not leaving his. The heat in her cheeks told her that she was blushing.

He only regarded her with that unnervingly indecipherable expression of his, but this time, his Sharingan was activated. His quirked brow reminded her that she had yet to respond to his question.

Jumping to her feet abruptly, she replied in a strained voice, "No. Nothing."

"Hm."

Feeling acutely uncomfortable, Sakura forced out, "Well, I'm planning to catch up on some training today. So I'd better start. Now."

"Hm."

With that, she sprinted madly to the other end of the beach, all the while sensing Itachi's eyes boring into her back. She knew what it looked like. So what if he thought that she was running away from him? It was true, wasn't it? She was really running away from him.

But maybe she was just overreacting. Maybe he was not going to kiss her and it was just a figment of her imagination.

But his lips had been so precariously close. And what was worse was the fact that she had almost, almost, given in. Was she truly attracted to him in that way? But why? She could not have picked a worse person to have this type of attraction towards, even though the most it could be was just a crush. She was used to crushes, right? After all, she had a bad one on Sasuke, followed by a tiny one on Naruto, and even on Kakashi a few years ago. If she had remained in Konoha, who knew who else would she have a crush on?

Sakura closed her eyes and let out a groan. This was an impossible situation. But like all crushes, it would go away, right? If she ignored it, it would definitely go away. So there was really nothing for her to be worried about.

Stopping finally when she reached the high rocky cliff at the end of the beach, she forcefully pushed the entire incident to the back of her mind, vowing not to think about it. Entire posture set in determination, Sakura began to go through a set of exercise, trying to blank her thoughts out.

Once done with the basic moves, she decided to move on to improving her wind jutsu, intent on keeping her words to Kakashi. It would be nice to show her sensei that she managed to develop the jutsu into something more.

Almost involuntarily, Sakura glanced backwards. The tiny spot in the distance told her that Itachi had not moved from the spot where she had left him. But now she could see that Kisame had joined him. She felt a little uncomfortable by the fact that Itachi and Kisame were there, even though it did not seem as if they was watching her. After all, this jutsu she was practicing was supposed to be one of her surprise attacks, something she kept up her sleeves for emergencies.

Trying to ignore Itachi, she slowly tested out a few wind seal combinations. It was for the wind jutsu she had been attempting to improve. However, luck was not on her side. It looked as if the wind was going to continue hitting only that narrow target area because of the nature of the spikes. If she could get the wind to spread out a little, it should work. But it was easier said than done. Each time she tried it, the attack range was too short to be of any use.

Then she remembered a jutsu she had seen recently. Itachi was the one who had performed it.

Subtly, she glanced out of the corner of her eyes.

Itachi was still back there.

Did she dare to walk back there to ask him?

The Mist shinobi had joined him shortly after the kunoichi's abrupt departure. For a long while, they had simply observed the kunoichi as she began her session. Then Kisame broke the silence.

"What the hell is she doing?" he asked.

Itachi did not remove his eyes from the kunoichi. "Training."

"Too early for all that," Kisame muttered gruffly as he stared at the kunoichi at the other end of the beach.

"Hm," he responded absently, his attention focused on her movements.

There had always been a certain traditional view towards shinobi skills.

There were shinobi who were born with certain advantages in terms of skills, and there were those who were just average. If the more advantageous ones chose to hone their skills to perfection, then those shinobi would easily excel in their field. Those without the so-called advantages may decide to hone whatever skills they possessed, but it would not always be enough.

Itachi was not certain which category the kunoichi fell in.

From what he could tell, she possessed no bloodline limit. In fact, he could not recall a shinobi clan by the name of Haruno, which suggested that she might be from civilian stock, though it did not necessarily mean that she was an inferior shinobi. After all, it was the individual who mattered, not the clan.

Itachi allowed his eyes to follow the kunoichi's movements as she performed yet another seal, varying it slightly from the one before. She was obviously gifted, because unlike normal shinobi who trained with an established set of jutsu, this kunoichi was attempting to modify a known jutsu, if not create something of her own. This was obviously the norm for her, considering that she had done the same to the extraction jutsu.

What surprised him most was that her method of practice was eerily similar to his own, particularly in the earlier days. A number of his jutsu was unique to him and no one else, a result of years of work.

Perhaps this was the answer to the question which had occasionally presented itself to him recently. Perhaps this was the underlying reason for his awareness of her. That he noticed her because she was different from the general shinobi populace.

His brows furrowed in consternation. He had only begun to acknowledge this awareness during the week they had been on the fund collection missions, in particular, after she had landed on his lap. From what he could tell, the strength of this affliction was only increasing. And just a few days ago, his response when he had accidentally brushed his lips against hers was enough to confirm the fact.

He was hard-pressed to explain the oddity of the situation. His lack of female companionship could not be the reason for his reactions, for he refused to believe that he was that shallow, therefore it must be something else. And yet, he could not pinpoint what it was.

These occurrences were no longer as amusing as it had once been. It was growing to be rather unsettling.

What was more unsettling was the fact that he had allowed himself to truly fall asleep beside her. Perhaps it could be attributed to the state of his body after the extraction process. His chakra had been low after the technique and two days without sleep must have affected him to a certain extent.

He should have pushed her off when he had woken up to find her snuggling against him. Instead, he had simply remained still, almost basking in her comforting warmth and her decidedly female scent. It was puzzling, to say the least. He did not crave that sort of comfort, or any other useless emotion like that. The only form of comfort he ever sought out on occasion, like any other healthy male shinobi, was the type he could only get from a willing female's body.

Was he considering Sakura as such a female?

He smirked at the thought of Sakura's probable response to this. She would most likely be outraged by the notion, even though her past actions had proven to him that she was clearly attracted to him. After all, she had almost kissed him once in the cave almost a week ago.

The way he had almost kissed her this morning.

It had not been an accident. He had every intention of kissing her until the subtle signs of Kisame's approach stilled him. But now that he thought about it, Itachi did not know what had possessed him to do so. If Sakura had not jumped away like a frightened kitten, he was certain that he would have tasted her lips. In fact, he was mildly aggravated that he had not succeeded in doing so.

However, it occurred to him that perhaps he should cease to entertain these thoughts. The kunoichi was his partner after all, and any awkwardness could be detrimental to their working relations.

Deciding that he should return to the building, Itachi stood up. It was then that he noticed the kunoichi walking back from her end of the beach, looking somewhat tense. She appeared to be heading straight for him.

So he waited.

When she reached him, his gaze immediately went to the slight redness tinting her cheeks, telling him that she was still uncomfortable about what had almost happened earlier. Idly, he wondered how she would react if he made another attempt.

"Itachi-san." Her tone was painfully formal.

He raised an inquiring brow at her, not missing the flicker of uncertainty in her eyes.

"I need a favor." She paused briefly before continuing, "If you don't mind, can you teach me the wind jutsu you used when you were fighting Suna's ANBU?"

Her request was certainly unexpected. "A wind jutsu?"

She nodded.

"Describe it."

"It was like a big gust of wind."

Itachi immediately knew which jutsu she was referring to. It was the one he had copied from Pein. "Fuuton: Reppushou."

"Must be that one then."

He regarded her silently as he mulled over her request. It was not his habit to impart techniques to others. In fact, any shinobi would be foolish to do so. However…

She must have sensed his reluctance, for her expression sank almost imperceptibly. "Come to think of it, it's okay. Don't worry about it, Itachi-san."

"I agree on one condition."

A wary look entered her eyes. "What condition?"

"Fuuton: Reppushou in exchange for your extraction jutsu."

Her eyes rounded. "What!"

He simply waited as she fell into a contemplative silence. What he had seen of her session earlier now made sense. The kunoichi was missing one crucial jutsu to manipulate. So, just how eager was she to learn the wind jutsu?

Much to his surprise, her eyes took on an odd gleam and all signs of her earlier discomfort disappeared.

"Itachi-san. I'm not stupid."

"I never implied as such."

"Then you should never have offered such an exchange. Your wind jutsu is a B-ranked ninjutsu at the most, while my sealing jutsu is an A-ranked fuuinjutsu." She smirked as she shook her head. "That's hardly fair, is it?"

"Hm."

Itachi kept his expression impassive, hiding his amusement. So, the kunoichi wished to negotiate, did she? He should have expected it, considering her reputation with money. However, she had not rejected the notion outright.

"Perhaps another B-ranked ninjutsu would make it even," he offered calmly.

"How about this? We'll exchange the wind jutsu and the fuuinjutsu for now, and when I see another ninjutsu of yours that I like, you'll teach it to me?" she rebutted.

The notion of such an open-ended pact did not appeal to him. However, her sealing technique would aid significantly in his plans. It was worth the risk. Therefore, the choice was clear.

"Very well."

She beamed smugly. "We've got a deal then."

"Aa."

It did not take long for him to impart the necessary information to the kunoichi. In fact, she succeeded in learning the jutsu completely in the two hours they spent on the beach. Having satisfied her thirst for the wind jutsu, she finally consented to teach him her sealing jutsu.

However, much to Itachi's displeasure, the ring on his finger began to flash before they could commence. Tapping into it, he realized that Pein was calling for him.

"You're being summoned?" the kunoichi asked curiously, eyes drawn to his ring.

"Aa."

She smirked. "I guess we'll have to postpone the fuuinjutsu."

He was not pleased, but it could not be helped. "Only until I return."

"Of course."

Itachi gave her a nod before he walked away. A short while later he found a secluded place along the beach to settle down. In moments, his projection was standing in Pein's study in Bird Country. Storing the information of Pein's location for future use, Itachi glanced at the Akatsuki leader.

"You called?"

Seated behind his desk, Pein nodded, his expression not giving away his thoughts. "There is something I must discuss with you."

Itachi raised an inquiring brow.

"It's quite curious how Konoha appeared during the hachibi extraction, don't you think?" Pein remarked slowly.

Itachi frowned slightly. The Leaf shinobi had turned up during the Shukaku extraction as well. Pein did not say things without reasons, so this must mean that there was something on his mind. The most obvious thing was that he suspected a leak from the Akatsuki.

Deciding to remain impartial until he had more information, Itachi murmured, "They often appear when they are not wanted."

Pein's lips quirked. "That's true. However, it is too much of a coincidence when one takes into account the situation in Tea Country."

Itachi waited for him to explain.

"Deidara and Tobi had carried out what was necessary to instigate problems there. For a while, things appear to be moving in accordance to our plans. With the country's low income, the Daimyou was unable to call for help and was struggling to cope with the increasing number of crimes and outbreaks of fights. This changed when Konoha and its ally, Suna suddenly appeared to offer their assistance."

Frowning in disbelief, Itachi asked, "They volunteered their services for free?"

Pein shook his head. "Not quite. But the fee they charged was apparently low enough for the Daimyou's depleted budget." He grimaced. "There was no reason for Konoha and Suna to do so, unless they are aware of the consequences if Tea Country was left without aid. Which suggests that someone is leaking information."

"Do you have a suspect?" Itachi asked carefully.

Pein gave him a meaningful look. "You have been a part of Akatsuki since the beginning, and I know it is not you. In fact, no one knows about this conversation aside from the two of us."

"Hm." Itachi immediately wondered if Tobi knew, seeing that he was most likely to be the one pulling the strings from behind the scenes. However, the way Pein worded it, it was possible that Pein suspected everyone.

"I do not like to ask this question, but it is necessary."

Itachi had a feeling he knew what was coming. His suspicion was confirmed by Pein's next words.

"Did Sakura leave your company for any amount of time?"

It was inevitable that she would be the first suspect, considering that she was the latest addition to the Akatsuki. Still, Itachi was not certain that Pein was right in suspecting her. When could she have found time to impart information back to Konoha? At that query, Itachi cast his mind back over the last few months.

"She leaves to tend to her… personal needs. Or she would be in her room. Other than that, she trains alone occasionally. As far as I know, she had not left us for a significant amount of time."

Pein nodded. "That's good to know. Still, since she is our newest member, I want you to watch her closely. Just as a precaution."

"I understand."

"We will make a move on the kyuubi in a few months, but keep this between us. I don't want to risk anymore leaks."

"Aa."

"In the meantime, you may tell Sakura that she could commence with scouting out the side missions and to report to me when she found some."

Itachi forcibly suppressed the urge to twitch at Pein's words. What he recalled of their last bout of missions made him wish that Pein would reconsider sending them on these missions. The kunoichi had managed to arrange sixteen missions in an impossibly short span of time, only three weeks. This time, Itachi wondered how long they would spend carrying out those missions.

Masking his displeasure, Itachi pointed out, "She would need to know the available time span."

"Tell her she has three months. And Itachi, do not speak of this conversation to the other members." Pein gave him a meaningful look. "Not even to Tobi."

Itachi stilled. It was rather odd that Pein wished to keep his suspicions from Tobi, seeing that Tobi was pulling the strings behind the scenes. Unless, of course, Pein had a separate agenda from Tobi. This could pose a problem.

"You do not trust Tobi?" he ventured cautiously.

Pein cast him a contemplative look before he spoke. "You know as well as I do that Tobi is not what he seems."

So, Pein was aware of his interest in Tobi after all. Did that mean that Tobi knew as well? Did it matter? It was beginning to appear as if everyone in Akatsuki had their own scheme aside from the organization's goals. Somehow, now that he considered it, it did not surprise Itachi in the least.

Eyes hardening, the Akatsuki leader added, "At this moment, I don't trust anyone. But I'd like you to keep an eye on Sakura. I hope I'm wrong, though. We do not need anymore disruption when we are so close to our goals."

"Aa."

Once Pein inclined his head at him, signaling the end of the meeting, Itachi immediately dismissed his projection. He opened his eyes to be greeted by the dense trees and plants surrounding him. With Pein's words ringing in his head, Itachi stood up to made his way back to the building.

Tinkling laughter filtered through the air as he approached and Itachi's eyes narrowed slightly at the sound.

Was she truly betraying them?

Although betrayal was nothing new to him, Itachi could not help but hope that Pein's suspicion was wrong. Pein's increased suspicion could prove to be problematic, especially considering what he had planned to do over this week. Itachi had every intention of using this time to progress with his own plan, not to watch over the kunoichi, but it was clear that he could not do both at the same time. Still, his own goals were more important than the Akatsuki's and thus, it was his priority.

Besides, Pein's suspicions were merely that; suspicions. So perhaps he should reserve judgment until the truth was revealed.

With that in mind, Itachi stepped through the back door into the kitchen.

His eyes immediately went to the kunoichi. She was seated at the table opposite Kisame, sharing a pot of tea, her entire body damp from sweat and sea water. Glancing up at him, she gave him a nod of acknowledgement before returning her attention to her steaming cup of tea.

"Tea, Itachi-san?" Kisame invited.

With a nod, Itachi joined them, his features betraying nothing of what he had just learnt.

The clacking of heels against the hard floor of the Konoha hospital echoed through the corridor as Tsunade made her way to a certain highly secured room. If Naruto had heeded her orders, he should be there now.

She scowled. The failure of the Konoha teams she had sent meant that the Akatsuki had now obtained the hachibi and was one step closer to their goal. When Kurenai and the ANBU teams had returned with the report that they had not reached in time to halt the extraction, she had been furious. Like the previous incident with the Kazekage, they had not been able to get past the Akatsuki's clones.

But when Kurenai had gone on to say that the rest of her team was in the hospital with the unconscious ex-jinchuuriki, Tsunade had immediately rushed out.

To her surprise, apart from several battle wounds, dehydration and the obvious lack of a demon within, there had been nothing seriously wrong with the ex-jinchuuriki. She had instantly realized that it must be Sakura's doing. However, any attempts she had made to communicate with the ex-jinchuuriki had ended up in her storming out of the hospital room in rage.

Even though Konoha had rescued him from River Country, it was clear that the jinchuuriki did not trust them.

But she needed to know what had happened to him. So she had sent Team Kurenai out again, this time to Tea Country with the instruction that they take over from Team Kakashi so that Naruto could return.

The ANBU guards posted outside the door greeted her politely as she neared the hospital room.

"Is Naruto here?" she asked.

"Yes, Hokage-sama. He arrived just a minute ago."

Tsunade nodded, stepping up to the door to press her ears against it. The voices within confirmed the ANBU guards words and Tsunade began to listen intently to the conversation from within.

"Who are you?" the jinchuuriki asked.

"Call me Naruto."

"So, you're the kyuubi jinchuuriki."

"Yeah. Someone here told you, huh?" Naruto said wryly.

"No. I did my research once I found out that the Akatsuki is after me. Looks like my research didn't help much, did it?" His tone was flat.

A pause followed.

"So," Naruto began awkwardly. "What's your name?"

"Akira."

"Akira, huh."

Another bout of silence filled the air, and Tsunade frowned. She thought they would have more to say to each other than this. Why was that big-mouth Naruto so awkward around this ex-jinchuuriki? He should be shooting his mouth off like he usually did.

"How do you feel?"

"Hachibi is gone. I can't feel him." Akira sounded lost.

Naruto laughed, sounding slightly more relaxed. "Hey, it's okay. At least the Akatsuki will leave you alone now."

"That's true."

"Gaara survived afterwards. He even managed to become the Kazekage, the bastard!" Naruto grumbled lightly.

"The Ichibi's vessel?"

"Yeah." Naruto paused briefly before he continued, "So, what happened back… you know… during the…"

"Extraction?" Akira supplied dryly.

"Yeah, that."

"It was painful. I thought I died."

"You thought?"

"This pink-haired Akatsuki did something to me." After a few seconds, he continued, "Come to think of it, I remember her wearing Leaf hitai-ate. Someone you know, maybe?"

"That would be Sakura," Naruto said almost inaudibly. "So what happened next?"

"Well, I thought I died. Then I felt this surge and when I opened my eyes, I saw her." He laughed darkly. "I must have been delirious, because at that time, I thought that it was strange that she looked so worried."

Naruto sucked in a sharp breath. "What did she do?"

"I don't know."

Tsunade closed her eyes. She knew what Sakura had done. That student of hers had managed to complete the research and then taken the risk to test it out on the hachibi jinchuuriki. And she knew why Sakura had done it. After all, considering the circumstances, the choice was between letting Akira die or performing an untested technique on him with the possible chance that he might survive.

It did not take a genius to realize that if this worked on the hachibi jinchuuriki, then it would work on Naruto. The problem was, she was not entirely sure if Sakura had modified anything ever since the last scroll she had left in the pickup point. Hence she had to investigate the wristbands around the jinchuuriki to backtrack on what Sakura had done. Then perhaps, she could remove enough of the kyuubi from Naruto to ensure that the Akatsuki would not ever obtain the full power of the kyuubi.

The problem was what would Naruto think of it? Would he agree to it? From what Tsunade could tell from her study on the hachibi jinchuuriki shortly before he had awakened, it appeared that the hachibi's chakra had melded together with him, being one with him, even though Akatsuki had removed the actual demon. Even Gaara still possess an elevated level of chakra, unnatural to a normal shinobi.

If she succeeded and spread the news, then Akatsuki would not know where to find the kyuubi. Naruto would not be their target then.

Tsunade pinched the bridge of her nose. This move might also ease the council's paranoia. They were growing increasingly insistent that she took Naruto off active duty, due to the risk of losing the kyuubi. And when she had refused point blank, the council began to push her to take out the Akatsuki.

She had told them that Konoha did not have enough information to take them all down, citing what happened when Pein and Konan ran from Rain Country. Even though she had sent out two full ANBU squads, they were clearly unprepared to take down the leader.

But it was clear that something needed to be done.

And soon.

Last night, Sakura had finally imparted her fuuinjutsu technique to him, even though Itachi had noted that she only told him the bare details. It had not surprised him. However, what he had gleaned from her was more than enough for his purpose.

Since then, Itachi had observed the kunoichi intently and yet, he detected nothing out of the ordinary. Sakura tended to spend most of the time training at the beach, only joining them occasionally for meals, during which infuriating bouts of heated bickering would commence between her and Kisame.

Itachi was growing increasingly convinced that Pein was simply paranoid. The leak must simply be a coincidence. After all, Leaf had been able to track them down multiple times even before Sakura had joined them.

In any case, Pein's orders would have to wait as Itachi needed to leave the island soon to handle his own issues. And since there was only one boat available, he could be assured that the kunoichi would not be going anywhere. At least not without Kisame's assistance.

Deciding to leave his cloak behind, Itachi walked out of his bedroom. He would procure a more discreet cloak when he landed in his destination. It would be prudent not to attract unnecessary attention considering his intentions.

He found both Kisame and Sakura outside on the beach, in the middle of a taijutsu spar. Their movements immediately stilled when they sensed his approach.

"I'm leaving," he announced, pausing before them.

Wiping a drop of sweat off her forehead, Sakura cast him an inquiring look. "Where are you going?"

Kisame snorted. "That's not the type of questions you should ask a man, kunoichi."

"Am I asking you, Shark-Face?" she shot back. "I'm asking him!"

Brows raised, Kisame shot her a meaningful look. "Oh? So you want to know even if he's heading out for some company?"

Understanding Kisame's intentions, Itachi smirked inwardly and waited for it to play out, even though Kisame's assumption was nothing further from the truth. Knowing the kunoichi's naiveté, she would fall into the trap and probably end up embarrassing herself. He would take this opportunity to amuse himself before he left.

Her brows furrowed. "Company? What do you mean?"

Kisame bared his jagged teeth in a wide grin. "He's a man, kunoichi. And he had been stuck with you for some time. So where do you think he's going?"

"He's a-" She paused abruptly as her eyes widened. Then she reddened visibly. "Oh."

"Don't tell me I didn't try to save you the embarrassment."

"I'm not embarrassed!" she denied vehemently, even though she reddened further.

Kisame guffawed boisterously. "For a kunoichi, you're sure innocent. What? Still a virg-"

"DON'T you dare say it!" Releasing an indignant huff, the kunoichi spun around. "I'm going in to get something to drink," she spat, walking away with jerky steps.

"Running away?" Kisame shouted at her back mockingly.

"Shut up!" reached them before she disappeared into the dense growth separating the sea and the land.

Itachi switched his attention back to the grinning Kisame. However, the grin died down to be replaced with a look of concern when the Mist shinobi turned to face him.

"We should lay low," Kisame pointed out.

"Aa."

Digging the end of Samehada into the ground, Kisame glanced into the distance. "You'll be gone a long time?"

"A few days."

The Mist shinobi nodded. "I'll see you then."

Without another word, Itachi spun around and made his way to the boathouse.

It took a while before she was calm enough to venture out of the house. Still, she frowned as she stomped to where she considered her own private spot on the beach.

Kisame's meaning had been more than clear. She did not know why, but the idea of Itachi visiting whorehouses seemed so wrong to her. He did not seem to be the type to indulge in such things.

'But he almost kissed you.'

No, the whole thing was just her imagination. She had thought through it and Itachi could not possibly want to kiss her.

'Why not? He did not seem to object when we cuddled up to him in our sleep.'

Sakura frowned. But that must be simply because he could not be bothered to move her, right? After all, they were just sleeping, nothing else. Anyway, so what if she had slept against him. It did not mean anything. She could have done the same with Kisame or Deidara. It just so happened that Itachi had been the one there at that time.

'Just wake up and see what's right in front of you, woman! Maybe if you've responded, he wouldn't have left.'

What? Responded? Sakura blinked. There was no way she would allow Itachi to do to her whatever he did to those women. The whole idea was ludicrous. And Inner Sakura had obviously gone completely insane if she thought that something like that would happen between her and Itachi.

Sakura gritted her teeth as she forcibly yanked her thoughts away from a certain distracting Uchiha.

She had better things to do, namely, practice her wind jutsu. Itachi's advice had helped a lot. It was almost done now, and all she needed was a little bit more practice. Kisame was on the other side of the island, so she had some privacy this time.

Yes, she would practice and not think about Itachi.

With that thought, she raised her hands and focused her full attention and effort into perfecting the wind jutsu. It was getting more and more powerful each time she tried it, and Sakura was elated that she had managed to come up with something like this. She could not wait until the day she could show it to Tsunade, Kakashi and Naruto.

It was dark when she finally stopped, breathing heavily as she laid on her back staring up at the twinkling stars. The session had almost drained her dry of chakra, and by that point she could almost swear that she did not want to see another wind jutsu in her entire life.

With a sigh, she rolled over, her cheek pressed against the dry sand. She could not even summon up the energy to blow her hair out of her eyes. It looked like she was just going to stay there until such time that she was able to move.

Closing her eyes, she felt herself drifting between sleep and wakefulness. However, the rhythmic sound of the waves was definitely lulling her to sleep.

"If you're trying to kill yourself, you could have just asked me."

Sakura groaned irritably as the rough voice pulled her out of her slumber. Cracking her eyes open, she saw Kisame's feet stopping right in front of her face.

"So what do you say, kunoichi? Want any help in splitting your skull open?"

"Go away, Shark-Face," she muttered grumpily.

She heard a snort before Kisame lowered himself to sit beside her. "You like to overdo things, don't you?"

"Huh?" She blinked, propping herself up to stare at his side profile.

"I felt your chakra the whole damned day. Distracting as hell, I tell you. Chased all the fishes away."

"Fishes?" she echoed. Trying to wrap her mind around the concept of Kisame and fishes, she finally came to a conclusion. "You were fishing?" she exclaimed incredulously.

"What's wrong with that?" he shot back defensively.

She glowered at him. While she was killing herself training, he was fooling around fishing. Then realizing how unreasonable she sounded even in her mind, she sighed inwardly. Kisame probably didn't feel the need to train because he was quite happy with his skill level. Unlike her.

"But I guess we got to keep sharpening our skills." He smirked. "Akatsuki is to be feared after all."

Sakura blinked in surprise at his words.

"Yeah," she responded slowly. Sitting up, she stared at the sea as a question presented itself in her mind. "So, how did you end up in Akatsuki in the first place?"

"Eh? Itachi-san brought me in."

Her eyes widened. "Really? I thought Pein and Konan do the recruiting."

"They didn't in my case." A bark of laughter escaped him them. "Should have seen their faces when Itachi introduced me, though. They sure didn't like it."

Chuckling at the imagery of Pein and Konan staring at Kisame with utter disbelief, Sakura remarked, "Well, you are blue. But I guess they finally got used to you, huh?"

"You could say that."

Curious to find out more, Sakura pressed, "How did you meet Itachi then?"

He smirked at her. "Why do you want to know?"

"Why not?"

"Then you mind telling me why you left Konoha?" he shot back.

It was probably not hard for her to just spin the tale she had been spinning whenever she could not get out of answering this particular question, but for some reason, she did not feel like doing it now. She did not feel like… lying to Kisame, at least not anymore than what was absolutely necessary.

"See, kunoichi? Some things are best left unsaid," Kisame pointed out with a chuckle.

She scowled darkly, but said nothing more.

In the sweltering heat at the south coast of Wind Country, a hut was nestled within a secluded valley. The inside of the hut was devoid of light, the door and windows were shut tight and warded to prevent unwanted interference. Nothing could be heard within the space apart from the heavy rasps of breathing.

Dragging in another deep lungful of air, Itachi keeled forward, trying to keep himself upright as he braced himself up on one arm. The other arm was in too much pain to be of use at the moment. Absently, his eyes strayed towards the scroll which the kunoichi had given him and another older scroll beside it. There was still a little bit more for him to do.

This was the second day of his seclusion, and he had almost completed the jutsu. However, it had taken much more from him than he had anticipated, and right now, he was paying the price. His chakra was almost completely depleted, and he could only hope that the small amount would last long enough to see him through the rest of the jutsu.

Otherwise he would be forced to remain another day. However, doing so would increase the risk of being discovered, for Pein could choose to summon him or the rest whenever he wished. Therefore it was best that he completed this as soon as he could.

Reaching into a pocket, he retrieved a familiar pill, one of the many soldier pills Sakura had given him during the course of their travels. His lips tilted slightly at the recollection of her exasperated expression each time she had passed one to him, even though he had not always eaten them. Her urge to ensure that he had proper sustenance must have come from her medic-nin background, he surmised wryly. Still, it turned out to be useful, he thought as he took one into his mouth.

Steeling himself, he straightened and once again formed the seals for the jutsu before he placed his palm on the older scroll. Hours passed as he focused his complete attention on drawing the technique from the scroll he had created a few years after he had joined the Akatsuki. It was a scroll he had kept all these years to be used at this very moment.

When the black kanji on the old scroll finally faded away from the paper, Itachi lowered his hands and turned his attention to the other scroll. This second scroll contained the chakra he had absorbed from the orb.

He was tired, but the knowledge that he had almost reached the end of his first plan gave him a surge of determination to continue. Inhaling deeply, he formed a series of seals and this time, his palm landed on the newer scroll.

The trickle of chakra from the scroll to the seal on his arm began slowly, as if the chakra contained within was reluctant to leave. As if Pein's and Tobi's chakra were refusing him. Soon, however, the transfer began to speed up, and Itachi could only grit his teeth to keep control as the chakra flooded into the newly formed seal in his arm.

Then it was over.

Breathing heavily, Itachi glanced down at the seal on the inner side of his left arm with weary satisfaction. The jutsu had worked, forming a circular pattern of dark strokes against his pale skin. The seal had been designed to mimic the reproduction abilities of the Akatsuki's initiation orb, and would play a vital part in the next step of his plan.

However, he was far too drained now to attempt the journey back. He would simply have to rest there for the night. Tomorrow, he would return to join Kisame and Sakura.

A/N: I felt a bit bad for the last cliffhanger, so I thought I should end the story on a more neutral note this time, hehe! I hope you've enjoyed the story and as always, please review if you could because I would like to know what you think of the chapter. Thanks!

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