"stares" wow. 11 reviews? You guys really want me to continue eh? Thank you guys so much! I'm so happy everyone likes it so much, but Itachi could have something to do with it too. Well, to answer you all…
Animelover5.6: Aaaw, thank you. No, no! By all means, tell me what your odd feeling is! If you have an idea of what's going to happen, please do tell me, I might use it! And now you made me curious.
RaeVenn: Hahaha, thanks! I'm glad you think so.
The16thday: You did? Yayness! I'll keep doing my best.
StrawberrySakuraChan: Well… I can only say I hope so too. You never know with me. "whispers" for a very sly moment I even thought about something between Itachi and Sakura, but then I kicked the crap out of myself. It's just that while I was writing about Itachi, I found him so much more appealing then Lee, which is why I made him say those horrible things, to make me hate him again. Heheh. Thank you.
xoSweetEscape: Argh! "freaks" You're right!!! What a dumb mistake of me to make!!! What did I do?! Thanks for pointing that out to me! Thanks for the compliment
Gothic Saku-chan: Hahaha, don't you know? I always update soon! I'm glad you're impatient though.
Bobalu: The next few chapters? One at a time please! Hahaha, lucky for you, I update every day. I hope I don't disappoint you.
ifTheFlameConsumes: Great! I'm glad you liked it.
The ruby wolf: "blink" wow. I wonder how many things that would've changed. Sasuke wouldn't be such a prick and he would probably accept Sakura, which means Lee never has a chance… DON'T KILL ITACHI!!!! Hahaha.
Troublesome writer: A twisty twist eh? I love twists… and cliffhangers! Yeah, Sasuke suffered indeed. Aha, you notice something very important! Good! But I won't tell you the answer yet, you'll find out as soon as I write about that. And what he wants with Sasuke… well, you'll have to wait for that too I'm afraid. Thanks, I am proud of my twisty twist, it gives me much more ways in how to continue from this point, yay!
Panther eyes: Nah, no sake, I can't do the same thing over and over again, can I? Indeed! An empty vessel! Still handsome though. He is very much of a threat, to anyone really, does he have any friends? Well, if he had, he'd kill them for his sharingan-upgrade. Argh!
A reviewer pointed this out to me, and.. I'M SORRY!!! It's a cloud that's on the akatsuki coats, not a flower! Forgive me this horrid mistake please… "cough" and now…
On with it!!!
The search
A hand suddenly appeared on Lee's hunched shoulders. Lee looked up to see a very concentrated Neji stare in the distance, his byakugan activated. "I can still see them." Neji said, squeezing Lee's shoulder a little. "We can catch up to them." Lee wiped his teary eyes. "Thank you Neji." He said, more grateful to him then he ever had been to anyone. "Thank me later." Neji said. "For now, follow me." Lee nodded and stood. And then Neji and Lee both jumped up high in the trees, pursuing Sakura and her captivator.
"How did you know?" Lee asked, as they hurried forward. "I came searching for you, but when I found you in such deep despair, I could guess easily what was going on. But tell me, who are we persuading?" Lee held up the cloth he was still grasping. "Someone from Akatsuki." He growled. "What?!" Neji yelled a bit too loudly. "Do you know how powerful they are?" Lee jumped to another branch, examining Neji. "If you do not want to fight him, you can tell me which way to go, and I will not blame you." Lee said.
He thought Neji was a bit scared, and truth be told, Lee was scared too. But he had a lot more to loose by letting the guy go then fighting him. Neji on the other hand, could loose his life for no reason. Neji though, simply shook his head. "That's not what I mean." He said. "But what would someone from Akatsuki want to do with Sakura?"
"Simple, because she is beautiful and wonderful and.." "Lee, that's stupid." Neji interrupted. "There is no reason for Akatsuki to want any girl like her." Lee was wise enough to shut up right now, though his insides were screaming at Neji about how wonderful Sakura truly was. "I think we have to think this over." Neji grasped Lee's arm, not letting him go any further. "Neji, what if he kills her, or hurts her?!" Lee protested. Neji shook his head. "I think Sakura is being used to lure out someone else. "But who?"
Neji started thinking about it. Akatsuki couldn't do anything with Lee either, he was a kid, only able to use taijutsu, nothing too valuable for a criminal organization. Neji inspected Lee who was jumping up and down the branch, wanting to go onwards. The waiting was killing the boy. "What about Sasuke?" Lee suddenly said. Neji stared at Lee in awe. Why didn't he think of that. Of course, Sasuke would also go after Sakura, but who would want Sasuke? Other then Orochimaru, there was… Itachi. Sasuke had told everyone he had killed Itachi but on the other hand, he had lied about Orochimaru as well.
Neji was pretty much on target, but on the other hand so very wrong about something, so very wrong about the way Itachi thought, and wrong about who was to lure who out. But he was on to something, and that was enough. "Maybe we should sneak a little bit closer, but not attack him yet." Neji suggested. Lee nodded, eager to catch even the slightest glimpse of his cherry blossom, wanting to know if she was alright. "But, you are not going to attack alone, and you will listen to me." Neji told Lee, letting his jounin side show.
Lee bowed his head in defeat. If Neji had a plan, he'd best listen before he screwed anything up. He looked at the sky. The rain was still pouring down. Oh, how he hoped his cherry blossom was alright. "Let's go, Lee." Neji said, and continued onwards, Lee following close behind him.
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"Let me go, you jerk!" Sakura screeched. Itachi ignored her, holding on to her arm. Why this girl kept on fighting him, he didn't know. He'd have to knock her unconscious if she kept it up. "Ah, they finally started moving again." Itachi said. "Then we can continue too." He jumped in the trees, dragging Sakura still. Her legs were no longer numb, but this didn't mean his speed and grip on her didn't cause her to crash against a tree or a branch occasionally. Itachi never stopped though, he kept dragging her, ands soon, Sakura's entire body seemed battered and broken.
She could heal herself, but doing that while she was still being hurt would be rather pointless. So she decided to keep her chakra and just endure the brutal beating for now. She would try and stop her crash with any body part but her stomach though, seeing how her condition was. She would never forgive herself if anything happened to the twins. Thus she already had a broken wrist, bruised limbs and numerous bloody scratches on her face, all over her body actually.
"Please, stop, this hurts." Sakura begged. She tried not to be too loud though. If Lee came to find her, who knows what Itachi would do to him. All she wanted to do now was protect her precious people and Lee was one of them! Itachi glanced at her and her battered body. No expression was shown, not even an evil smirk or grin. He didn't care at all. But then he did stop and jumped down onto the ground. "Quit your complaining, we're here." Itachi scolded.
Sakura looked around her. They were in a vile, dark and gray area. Rocks were the main decoration of the place, not providing much comfort. A cave was embedded in said rocks. And that was exactly where Itachi was dragging her to. She stumbled a little bit behind him, trying not to fall. Itachi just took the big strides his legs allowed him to take, as if he was not carrying a burden of any kind. As they entered the cave, Sakura couldn't help but think about how lucky she was that they were going to hide in a cave. Chances were that Lee was going to overlook this place.
"Lucky for me, he can't overlook this place." Itachi answered her unspoken thoughts. Was he still reading her mind? The jerk. "Someone wielding the splendid eyesight of the Hyuuga-clan is with him." Sakura gulped. She was sure it was Neji. Indeed, if he was with Lee, they probably already tracked her. But…if Neji was really with Lee, wouldn't that interrupt Itachi's plans? "No, it won't." Itachi once more answered. "I'll just dispose myself of the other one." Sakura growled. "Why don't you just leave both of them alone?" She couldn't help but think Neji and Lee, combined together could surely take on Itachi, but once more, Itachi read her like a book.
"I'd like to see them try." He said. His face still showed no emotion. Sasuke would've smirked at the comment. Ah yes, the topic of Sasuke. She decided to try and find out more. After all, if she ever got out of this alive, she could provide the hokage with much needed information that might help the Konoha-village. "What do you want Sasuke for?" She asked boldly. Truth be told, she didn't expect an answer, but Itachi seemed bored enough to answer her, probably thinking he wouldn't let her live to tell anyone else. "I need to get rid of him now." He answered.
"Why now all of a sudden, are you scared he's getting stronger then you?" No angry expression flared on Itachi's face, none whatsoever, and Sakura wondered if the guy was even able to feel at all anymore, or if he ever had been. "The truth is, I left him and only him alive." Itachi responded. "But now, he's thinking about continuing the Uchiha-clan." He sighed as if weary. "I don't want anymore trouble with the stupid clan, and so I think the time has come to kill off the last Uchiha besides me."
Sasuke wanted to continue the clan? To have children? Is that why… "Yes, that is why he tried to rape you, though he did not succeed." No expression still. "Which is good." No smile, no expression, nothing. And Sakura was getting pretty frustrated about the man before her being the lifeless puppet that he was. But she couldn't help but curse Sasuke at the same time, wondering why he couldn't choose another.
"It's because he loved you." Itachi said. He turned to Sakura, looking at her, with wonder in his eyes. "He loved where he should hate, and that is why he's weak." Sakura doubted Sasuke loved her though. What could Itachi know? Sasuke was just a jerk. "He also thought you'd be a good mother, to teach chakra manipulation to his children." Sakura growled. That could be a real reason though. "Foolish brother of mine." Itachi sighed softly and turned back to the entrance of the cave. "To go trough so much trouble for that brat."
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"They've stopped." Neji said calmly. Lee grinned triumphantly. "He is tired!" he yelled happily. "No." Neji reasoned. "He's expecting us." He stopped and so did Lee. "Expecting us?" Lee asked. "How?" Neji thought about it. "Perhaps I underestimated his sharingan. He was considered to be the genius of the Uchiha clan after all." Lee frowned. "Should we not confront him then?" Neji shook his head. Itachi wasn't that far away, but he wouldn't tell Lee that, not trusting him to stay put if he knew.
"This is dangerous. I thought he was waiting for Sasuke, so why would he wait for us?" He looked at Lee who was once again impatient. "Lee, how did you say Sasuke took off after you saved Sakura?" Lee blinked at the question but answered sure enough. "He just ran away." Neji frowned. "That doesn't sound like Sasuke Uchiha at all." Neji said, thinking it over some more. "He'll take revenge on you Lee, someday." This was actually a warning for his team-mate, but that's when it hit him.
"He wants you!" Neji screeched. "He doesn't use Sakura to get to Sasuke but to you!" Lee still didn't understand. "Why me?" Lee asked. "To lure Sasuke out." Lee frowned. "Why do that?" Neji couldn't answer that. "I don't know, something must've changed." He sighed. "Either way, it would be stupid to just barge in there now." Lee gasped. "But who knows what he will do to Sakura when he gets impatient?!" He yelled in hysterics. Neji shushed him.
"Quiet Lee!" he hissed. "I will keep my byakugan activated and when I see Itachi raise one hand against Sakura, we'll intervene, how's that?" Lee seemed to be doubting for a moment but he finally agreed. Neji did not mention Sakura's body was already pretty beaten up though. He would keep his promise when necessary, that's what mattered.
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"They've stopped." Itachi mumbled. Sakura sighed. That was a good thing. No response came from Itachi this time though. Had he cancelled the genjutsu cast on her? Perhaps she should distract him, to keep him from going after Neji and Lee himself. At the same time, she should really start healing herself. As she started it, trying not to be noticed by the still staring Itachi. She wondered how he could be so mesmerized by the outside like that, what was he looking at?
"What is the Akatsuki up to?" Sakura asked. She wondered how she could ask this so bluntly but still, she showed much bravery for doing this. "the 9 tailed beasts." Itachi said. "Collecting them." He sighed. "Nothing much to it." Sakura blinked. Nine tailed beasts? She didn't understand. "Where is the Akatsuki now?" She kind of felt like an interrogator, trying to beat answers out of a prisoner, and wondered why this went so easy, especially seeing how she was his captive. Was he so sure she wouldn't tell? Or perhaps that she couldn't tell.
"Here and there, close to Konoha." Itachi answered. Sakura's breath fastened a little bit, seeing how her chakra was being overused. She thought she was healed enough for now, she should really keep some chakra. But Akatsuki was close by? Why? "Why close to Konoha?" Sakura asked. "Our leader has unfinished business with a ninja in that village." Itachi answered. "with who?" "Maito Gai."
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And tah-dum! Anyone an idea why Gai would be targeted? Oh why, oh why? Come on, who knows? Do review please, and tell me what you think, I always love reviews.