A/N: Thank you for the reviews! It helps motivate me to write. Not that it wasn't at first, but it makes me excited to see what viewers think.
Back to Sakura in this chapter.
Constant tossing and turning caused blue sheets to spill over the side of Sakura's bed. Gripping the pillow at her side didn't relieve the pain conjured within her dream.
It was foggy again. The mountains facing the village were crumbled in the distance. With different justu's clashing on either end of Konoha it was hard to decipher what the person in front of her was saying. His blue eyes screamed a warning she couldn't see. His mouth repeated words she couldn't hear. Naruto was about to die again.
Looking to her left the Mother of Chakra kicked Kakashi away; like a bug being flicked off her shoulder. Those pearl eyes turned on Sakura and everything changed.
Hell Fire.
Every eye able to see watched the skies light up in flames. The moons eye was watching again.
Balls of fire rained down on all of them. No one was spared from the meteor sized hell scolding the earth, blackening the ground with cremated bodies.
Taking a peak, hoping her best friend hadn't perished, Sakura couldn't stop a sob from escaping.
Burning from the inside out the blond slipped to his knees. His usually bright clothes were now burned away from the blaze, a crater, the opium of Uzumaki Naruto's death.
Blue eyes usually swimming in glass or mischief were hollow. A sudden darkness creeped from there depth. They were pale appendages crackling with electricity.
As if the blond boy's body was a second skin the flesh was ripped away revealing the avenger and betrayer. Covered in blood head to two the Mangekyou was trained on her. Sakura tried to take a step back but couldn't move.
Yet Sasuke could.
Flash stepping forward a crackle of electricity invaded taunt flesh piercing through the abdomen to the other side.
Her screams in the last hour caused the neighbors to call security. From there it went down the latter until it landed back in Itachi's lap. No one could get into the apartment at first. Civilians couldn't unlock the door without setting off traps left by the clan heir. When Itachi appeared at the apartment building at the request of the Hokage a few onlookers had gathered outside Sakura's window. Some even crept outside the front door.
Walking up the stairs the muffled screams in the distance only became louder. It was a blood curdling scream only heard when they have experienced or seen too much. When he entered the apartment, the screams had climbed to another level. He heard the insistent plea for someone to 'stop'. Twisting the handle on the door to Sakura's room Itachi winced at the volume. Everything inside the room was the same except the tossing and turning of the girl on the bed. Walking forward he reached out shaking Sakura's shoulder. Her form lashed out in kind.
In the next moment Itachi found a hand around his neck. With a hand clamped on his throat and the other gripped within his palm Sakura's thrashing became violent. A leg hiked upward kneeing Itachi in the gut while another was held down by the weight of his own. He paused long enough to catch his breath ignoring the pain that would soon leave a bruise. Snatching the hand from his neck both her wrist was pinned to the bed. Even though Sakura's face was overflowing with tears, betraying the internal anguish inside, she was fighting her outer defensives surprising Itachi.
Checking if the silver bangles were still around each wrist, Itachi pressed two fingers to Sakura's forehead sending a pulse of chakra to rouse her from sleep. It took a moment, in truth Itachi was unsure if he wanted to know what would happen if she continued to sleep, but Sakura did wake from her nightmare. Her eyes peaked opened as if unsure then opened wider with some clarity before freezing again. She was looking at him in a slow churn of terror.
Itachi stared back in confusion. He had his mask on so what-
"Sh..sharigan."
Oh fuck.
He must have activated it when defending himself. Normally this didn't faze Itachi in battle, but this was inside his village from a girl he didn't know. Maybe she encountered another Uchiha at some point. From the way Sakura kept staring at him, eyes becoming wider by the second, it was not a good encounter.
Swallowing his nerves Itachi tried her name instead.
"Sakura."
This seemed to do the trick. Whether the fist hitting his face the next moment was another form of irony, Itachi hadn't appreciated the pain that followed it. The top of the ceiling blew away from the impact of his body flinging through the floor, then outside the roof of the upstairs apartment.
When Itachi open his eyes again a light was flashing across both irises for a response. Startled that someone took off his mask while donning an anbu outfit he reached for a kunai. None graced his palm from the empty weapon holster. The person looking into his eyes had backed away by then calling someone. In the background he heard hushed whispered as a tan blur ventured closer.
"Are you alright, Itachi?"
The Hokage's low tenor interrupted the young anbu's current thoughts. When Itachi's vision cleared completely, he found himself laying on the familiar beige couch inside the Hokage office. Raising himself up on an elbow he slowed down enough to notice half his face was covered in gauze. From the pain to his left cheek Itachi knew upon impact Sakura had knocked him out.
"How long have I been out?"
"A good hour. You gave the neighbors a scare."
"Where is she?"
Hiruzen moved backwards turning to the other side of the room. Laying on another couch, sedated and sealed again without a scratch on her was Sakura. Itachi touched the gauze on his cheek wincing from the small graze. Hiruzen felt relief that one of his top anbu's was alright. He didn't think this sort of problem would arise so quickly. Shifting towards Itachi's lounging form the Hokage's cane was the only sound moving across wooden flooring.
"Tell me what happened. There's a lot of paperwork going into both her and the upstairs neighbor's apartment."
"When I arrived Sakura was still screaming. I approached with caution to wake her up. Then, I was punched in the face."
Hiruzen simply stared fighting down a smile. Itachi was a tough opponent. A surprise attack requires much skill and it seemed this girl had many. The Uchiha heir scowled at his leader, watching the Hokage fight for the right expression. Itachi decided to continue instead of dwelling on the small smile peaking out from under Hiruzen's Hokage hat.
"She has seen the Sharigan before."
The building smile dropped in an instant, "How? She has never been in the village."
"Yet, she has seen it and reacted to it. It was not a pleasant encounter."
"The Uchiha have not attacked anyone since Madara and Hashirama-"
"As it is written in history, we do not have any rouge Uchiha." Itachi snapped.
Hiruzen's gaze softened understanding the error in his words. He overstepped his position.
"You found her outside the village gates and brought her back. She has never been to Konoha. The Sharigan is only known in Konoha. "
Itachi lowered his guard from the Hokage's admission. He knew defending his clan was a double-edged sword waiting to be broken. Waiting to see which side it would land on in the aftermath. Easing back into the couch, Itachi thought back to Sakura's reaction at the hospital, then the incident in her apartment. Every reaction was to protect herself from something else that was not them. Like the rose-colored girl laying on the other side of the office had seen non-stop war.
Then something clicked, "Do you have any information on Danzou?"
A stone dropped into the Hokage's stomach, "We still have not found anything incriminating against him."
"Root is evidence enough. What if she was one of them? The children that were found react the same way."
"Your theory is farfetched." Hiruzen leaned into his cane not liking where this conversation was headed. Itachi thought it was the only plausible explanation. She could be one of the few children who escaped the organization. They would need to work on her memory to prove it though.
"Then how do you explain a thirteen-year old girl laying in a crater of blood and ash?"
"You are accusing a village counsel member of child abuse, neglect, and potential murder, Itachi."
Silence enclosed itself around the Hokage office with a tight embrace. Neither male moved to correct the other. Itachi could accuse and scheme, but evidence is what he was looking for. He still remembered the look in Sakura's eyes. They were filled with so much fright.
Hiruzen sighed understanding Itachi would not budge on the subject.
"I'll look into it. "That was the only answer Hiruzen would give Itachi. Limping back behind the Hokage desk he set the cane aside before sitting down.
"Give her another chance." The words slipped out before Itachi could stop them. He was thinking it rather than feeling it. Now, the village needed more people on its side then ever before. If they continued putting Sakura in induced comas, they could lose a potential ally.
"She is a danger to people around her."
" Then give her time to explain. Her reaction to the Sharigan unveiled enough information about her strength."
Hiruzen swiveled in Sakura's direction still unclear what the point would be to let her walk around.
"Then your new mission is to house, cloth and rehabilitate her."
When Itachi was being generous, he didn't expect to be a baby sister too. From the look and set tone Hiruzen was giving him, backing out was not an option.
A/N:
And popped that out half asleep with a glass of wine. Don't ask why but that is how I was feeling/am feeling.
- NuteWelt01