Hey everyone. I'm so sorry for the delay. my laptop.died and I haven't been having the best of luck getting time to write. Everything that can go bad has gone bad lately but I tried to get as much out as I could for this chapter. I hope you like this chapter. Let me know what you think.
Pakkun knew what scent to look for as he remembered the distinct scent that Sakura and her mother had that mixed with their chakra, many clans have such a scent that is mixed in their chakra and blood that makes it easier to differentiate between clans and non-clan shinobi. The nin dogs took a sniff of Sakura and Konan with their noses' locked onto trying to find the same light scent of fresh cut grass the two girls' chakra carries. The dogs set off in all three directions and the three set up camp a few miles down in the woods from the tunnel they had emerged from. Konan went off in the woods to get some supplies.
"Sakura, you are a smart young lady. I helped train you to grow to the feets you have and I worry about you." Sakura held her tongue at his words because she had practically been ignored by him so he could train Sasuke. "Should we really trust her?" Kakashi stared at his young ex-student. He felt that Sakura wasn't thinking straight. The knowledge of Konan not only being alive but also being family seemed to be getting in the way of logic… at least that's what Kakashi believed.
"Don't worry, she won't betray us." Sakura said as sure as her own name was Sakura that Konan would never betray her.
"Everything will be okay." Inner, Sakura, and Pastel said in unison. This surprised both Sakura and Kakashi as the words came out a perfect blend of all three voices. They sat in silence for a while until Kakashi broke the silence.
"So what exactly are we dealing with?" Kakashi asked as he and Sakura went to check the perimeter of their camp.
"I'm not entirely sure." Sakura admitted as her ears picked up the sound of crunching leaves that soon revealed an elderly rabbit pop out of the bush. Sakura flung her wrist towards it from her side and a kunai lodged itself into the rabbit's eye. Sakura grabbed the rabbit and gestured to it. "Dinner." This earned a sigh from Kakashi. "I've been doing through time and each trip lasts for varying amounts of time. The times have decreased though. The first stop lasted for months but I was booted out as soon as I got ahold of an orb that Pastel seems overly attached to. She won't tell me what it is so I plan to ask Konan. I also dont understand how the Akatsuki is still alive. How is this possible. I know that they had been brought back during the war but they couldn't possibly still be alive." Sakura then began to ramble as she tried to sort out her emotions and thoughts. She muttered about possible genjutsus and crossed them out as she pointed out their faults. Then she theorized that it may be puppets much like the one Sasori of the Red Sand had used but his jujitsu couldn't possibly be the one because his human body was no longer around as he had abandoned it many years before his death.
"Sakura now is not the time to think about that. It will all come to you with time." Kakashi said as he began a fire at the center of their camp so they could cook the rabbit that Sakura had in her hands. "How are you taking everything?" Kakashi asked. Sakura focusing on a subject and analyzing it, and any subject connected to it, in such an obsessive nature only happened when her emotions became too much for her. Kakashi had noticed this in the young girl over the years. She bottles it up until she vents it through obsessing over something else until she feels calm which doesn't occur until she has broken down the subject. It's like when Tsunade had first introduced poisons to Sakura and she hadn't known much about poisons and how to counter them. She spent 2 weeks reading every scroll and report on poisons. Scoured the village for everything on poisons and sat in the labs with every poison they had until she had them all in her memory. From how different kinds are battled, to uses, and then to making them herself. She even went so far as to find 10 basic plants that would be able to prevent the most commonly used poisons from progressing until the victim was brought to a medic who could help as long as they were given the herb periodically.
"I'm fine…" Sakura said as she flipped the rabbit over so it be cooked evenly on both sides. She looked up and saw the insistent look in Kakashi's eye. "I'm working through all this the best I can." Sakura replied more honestly. "With this ability I could do anything I could go back and save everyone. Rewrite history…" Sakura looked up at the sky. "I could right so many wrongs…" There was silence between the two for a moment.
"But do you really think it's right to do such a thing. Things happen for a reason." Kakashi said as he stood up and walked closer to the young woman in front of him. " You are the most caring and selfless woman I have had the pleasure of knowing but some things are meant to be." Kakashi's words echoed and Sakura's vision went fuzzy.
"Find them. Plea-" everything was gone in a fraction of a second as Sakura felt her chakra surged and drained completely out of her. The sound of birds chirping and the wind rustling the trees around her woke Sakura back up. Kakashi was gone and there was no sign of the camp that was once there ever being there.
'I'm really beginning to get fed up with this shit.' Inner growled in Sakura's head. If she had control she probably would have destroyed a tree nearby… or seven.
"We will figure this out. " Sakura said as she got up off the ground. Her legs were weak so all she could do was get to the closest tree and sit down at its trunk. She pulled out one of her storage scrolls and placed her headband inside of it. She wasn't sure when or where she was so she was sure it was safer to leave the headband hidden for now.
As she sat at the base of the tree she sensed a chakra signature rapidly approaching her. It was familiar but she didn't drop her guard. She pulled out a kunai from the pouch on her leg and quickly prepared to fight even though she didn't have the strength to lift herself from the grass. The silent figure that stood before her was none other than Itachi Uchiha. To Sakura's surprise, he was not donning the Akatsuki cloak but instead plain black ninja training garb consisting of black pants a short sleeve shirt with a v-shape at the neck of his shirt that was mesh that matched the collar of said shirt. He had a pouch on each leg and one at his hip. His hair was tied back in a simple pony tail. This must not have been long before when he and Kisame were to attack the leaf in an attempt to get Naruto when he was with Jiraya. She remembered how Naruto and Sasuke were after that battle and couldn't help but want to forget the pained looks she saw in the eyes of everyone who was involved. How helpless she was back then was enough to make her cringe.
Itachi's eyes were black and only turned red when he saw the kunai in Sakura's hand. He didn't move but neither did she. She looked him in the eyes showing no fear but instead concern for him. She knew about his disease after his death and couldn't help but wonder if it was already progressing and infecting his healthy tissue.
"If you're going to kill me do it already. Don't think I'll go down without fighting." Sakura said to him. She hoped he'd leave and not look back at her. This wasn't the case though.
"This area is not safe for a woman." He said and came closer by just a step. "Are you capable of standing?" The Uchiha asked. Sakura relaxed her stance and shook her head.
"I just need to replenish my chakra abit and I'll be gone." Sakura said as she slipped her kunai in her pouch. "What do you think you're-" He went and lifted her swiftly into his arms princess style despite her complaint. "Put me down!" Sakura shouted as she went to throw a chakra laced punch but a wave of nausea and light headedness washed over her and she was out like a light.
She came to in a hospital. The white walls and sheets combined with the chemical smell of antiseptic chemical smell surrounding her. Sakura was about to jump out of the bed and out the window when Itachi spoke up.
"Just leave the normal way please. These people don't need the stress of thinking they lost a patient." He said closing the book in his hand from the far corner of the room. His relaxed pose stiffened as he stood straight instead of leaning against the wall like he had been. His eyes were no longer red and he seemed fairly at peace there.
"You should have just left me in the woods." Sakura spat out as she disconnected everything but the IV because a nurse had come in and offered to do it for Sakura. Sakura was discharged under the name Satsuki Mori the cousin of Tetsu Mori, Itachi's alias, and Itachi led her to his house.
"You'll stay here with me only for a week. I really would hate for my cover to be blown, and all these kind people to have to die, because you couldn't wait for a 20 minute check up." Itachi said as he waited for Sakura to walk through the door he held open for her. She really wanted to punch him through the door because of the nonchalant tone he spoke with while talking about murdering everyone. Knowing the truth about the massacre only made her even more angry because as soon as he left he had actually became a cold blooded murder. Hundreds had died by his hands. Some of which were friends of Sakura and the other Konoha 11.
"One week. And that's it." Sakura confirmed and only received a hm in response.
Night feel and Sakura couldn't help but feel unnerved by the constant uninterested look that Itachi's face held. She knew that all shinobi were supposed to be able to mask their feelings with such a stoic expression but she couldn't seem to accomplish such a thing.
The next morning, Itachi had made the two of them breakfast, which consisted of eggs and bacon with a small serving of cherry tomatoes and mozzarella cheese.
"T-Thanks." Sakura stuttered feeling at a loss for words. They sat in silence for a while until Sakura was almost done eating and she slammed her fist down on the table. "Why are you staring at me?" She said through gritted teeth having been tired from not sleeping well the night before. " Your sharingan has been activated for 10 minutes. What is your problem?" She added.
"Do I know you from somewhere?" Itachi asked calmly.
"For the genius prodigy of the Uchiha you sure can't remember lil ol' me?" Sakura let her distaste fall from her lips. Was she really so unimpressive that he'd completely forget about her. She cleared the last bit of food off her plate and cleaned it off in the sink. " I'm going back in the room so don't bother me. " Sakura said and began to head back to the room. "By the way, my name's Sakura." With that she slammed the door and began to exercise in an attempt to vent. She wasn't sure why it hurt so much hearing those words escape Itachi's mouth.