A/N: Be nice! Your dearest author wrote this in two days! Just kidding haha. In all seriousness, an update within a month? Absolutely insane. But then again, I am now finished with almost all of my shows for this school year and will hopefully be writing much more often.
The deep, malicious chuckle shocked those present in the room. Instead of the light, feminine giggle that would normally emanate from the small woman, the chuckle that had sounded from that same body was cruel and masculine.
But it was one that she recognized.
"K-Kabuto?" She stuttered. A whirlwind of questions surged into her brain, and she found herself at a loss for words, watching as the fellow medic before her transformed back into himself.
"Ah, so you now realize that it was me all along," The male smirked, pushing his glasses up.
"What did you do with Shizune?" Kakashi demanded as he applied more pressure as he practically shoved the man's face into the wall.
"Fuck," He cursed under his breath. "If you want to know so badly, why don't you try to find out?"
"He doesn't know where she is," Itachi gathered, his eyes hardening.
"But if he replaced her body, then shouldn't he have been the one to take her?" Shikamaru asked, sending the grey-haired man a glare.
"Yes, but she was moved to someplace he doesn't know," Neji responded, frowning. "He's telling the truth from what I can see."
Sakura turned to the Hyuuga, his byakugan activated. She pursed her lips in annoyance as she impatiently strutted towards Kabuto. Lightly pushing Kakashi aside, she twisted his body so he was facing her as she locked his body between his arms, ignoring the indignant grunt from behind her.
"If you don't know where Shizune-nee is, then who the fuck does?" Wrapping a hand around his throat, she felt his pulse beneath her fingers, smirking as the rate quickened as she dug her nails into the delicate flesh.
"What if I were to tell you that your precious Shizune-nee might not even be here anymore?" He whispered into her ear, ensuring that nobody else heard his words.
A short gasp escaped her lips as her hold loosened, her eyes widening. Her head snapped up to lock their eyes together.
Taking her distress as an incentive, Kabuto effortlessly chi-blocked her legs, letting her fall ruthlessly to the floor as he disappeared.
Sakura swallowed, the thick saliva not budging in her throat as she coughed. She looked towards the flaming, yet ice-cold chakra by the window. Feeling the anger within her surge, she made a mental promise to give him hell when she got her shit together as she watched him cockily salute them goodbye.
A moment of silence took place as they took in what had just ensued.
An instant later, Itachi was by her side. "Sakura, what happened?"
The underlying worry and stress warmed her heart, but she couldn't forget about the way Kabuto had uttered those horrific words. Not being able to handle the heavy gazes on her, she looked away, and towards her clock.
11:47 pm.
"Neji, was he lying at all during what happened today?" She asked, willing her voice not to shake. It was a miserable attempt, but it was all she could do to hold her pride intact. She let him go. She let the man who heard all of their plans get away.
"...No. He was not lying. Was there something disturbing that he mentioned?" The pearl-eyed boy inquired, and she could feel the curious look he was giving her.
"N-no. No, nothing. I was just wondering," Sakura muttered, sending healing chakra to her legs.
"After what happened tonight, I think we should let Sakura rest and get back together at a later date," Kakashi patted her head in reassurance.
"Forehead, let me heal you," Ino's usual blunt manner of voice was gone, replaced with a kind tone.
She was pitying her.
Sakura shook her head. "I need to think about some things for a while. I'll meet with you all soon."
As they all slowly left, Sakura's gaze crossed the entire room, paranoid as if Kabuto would pop out at her again.
It had been a long time since she had last encountered Kabuto, and while still present in the world, she had hoped that he would never be back in her life again. Especially with what had happened right after the Chunin exams.
No. She's moved on from that now. It's been six years since that incident, she wouldn't ever allow it to resurface again. She took in a deep breath as she shakily raised a hand to her ankle. Feeling the cool chakra flow into her body, forcing the closed pathways open, she sighed in relief as the feeling of her legs came back to her.
Flexing her ankle, she made sure that it moved properly before starting on her other leg, wincing. When Kabuto had first blocked her, she fell ruthlessly on her right side. Her right ankle was definitely sprained, if not broken.
Out of almost every injury, Sakura hated broken bones the most because even when healed, the bone would still be weak, meaning she'd pretty much be useless for the next week.
She pursed her lips together as her eyebrows knitted together.
"This whole time, I had no idea. And now he's scot-free again with all of our plans. If only Kakashi had figured it out earlier… No, I can't blame him. Shizune's my sister and I didn't even recognize that she was different," Sakura murmured, limping towards the coach, launching herself face-first into the soft and cushiony padding.
"This is all my fault," She moaned into her pillow, feeling a stray tear soak into it. Allowing herself a quick sniffle, she shot back up.
"How are we going to get Shizune back?"
Sakura felt all the blood in her face drain as she stared wordlessly at the affronted blonde.
"Sakura, I saw Shizune this morning and she seems to be just fine. What are you trying to say here? That I can't recognize my own students?" The woman before her barked before taking a tentative sip of her tea.
"That's exactly what I'm saying! Just because Shizune-nee seems to be fine doesn't mean she is!" Sakura argued, exasperated.
It was a hopeless cause and she knew that Tsunade wouldn't budge. However, if there were even a slight chance that her mentor would awaken from her stupor at the knowledge of one of her students being in danger, she would take it.
"I am so sick and tired of all this nonsense that you have been spewing ever since Orochimaru came back. Are you not happy for him to atone for his sins? Are you not happy that I finally have my friend back?" Tsunade's rhetorical question was like a punch to the face.
"Of… Of course I want you to be happy," Sakura said. She internally slapped herself. She knew that it was the fake Tsunade speaking and that she could do more, but what could she do?
"If you want me to be happy, then you wouldn't try to complicate things anymore," The Hokage sat back down in her chair, pouring herself a new cup of tea. "Dismissed."
Rubbing her temples, Sakura whirled around and stomped out of the room, only stopping to softly shut the door behind her before walking gingerly on her right foot, taking extra care to not apply too much pressure on it.
"How did it go?" Itachi's smooth tenor rang in her ear as he practically materialized beside her, wrapping an arm around her waist to help support her ankle.
"I don't know what to do anymore, Itachi. Every time I try to talk to her, it always ends with her guilt-tripping me. I hate to admit it, but it works every time. This Tsunade knows it as well and uses it to her advantage," Sakura looped her right arm around his waist and propped her side against his.
"At the moment, Hokage-sama is not our top priority," Itachi stated as he stopped to sweep her up into his arms. "It's much easier for both of us this way, but we need to find Shizune-san."
"Yes, of course," Sakura agreed, mindlessly biting her lip.
Craning his neck down so he could look at her, Itachi noticed that she was still troubled. "You appear to be unsettled. What's the matter?"
"We can't leave the village to go find Shizune-nee without the Hokage's permission. And- well, we both know what's happening with her right now," She sighed, plopping her cheek against his smooth, hard chest.
"If we can't leave the village, we have to start within the village," Itachi hummed thoughtfully as he stepped out of the Hokage tower, wincing slightly as the bright sun suddenly came into his vision.
"But there's nothing we can do in the village! How are we going to do anything with everyone being so weird?" Sakura momentarily lifted her head to look at the raven-head holding her.
"What is the source?" Itachi asked as he decidedly avoided the busy markets and chose to walk along the river on the far edge of the village.
"The source?" Her eyebrows furrowed together in confusion.
"Perhaps the question isn't 'what is the source', perhaps it is 'who is the source'," Itachi mused before setting his girlfriend at the base of a tree, leaning her against the trunk.
"Kabuto!" Sakura exclaimed before dragging Itachi by the hand down to sit with her.
"No," Itachi shook his head. "He may be one of them, but he is also too far away from the village for us to consider him as a factor."
"But who else could be causing this much trouble?" Sakura thought out loud. "Oh."
"Oh?" Itachi turned to look at the pink-haired kunoichi.
"Oh. Orochimaru."
"I'm so glad that we finally get to have a girl's day out!" Ino cheered, linking her arm with her pink-haired best friend's. Sakura let out a weak grunt as the blonde plowed through the busy streets and straight into a boutique.
The familiar scent of roses filled her nostrils as an employee greeted them.
"So when are you going to finally hook up with someone? The relationship part isn't there since you're so, you, but maybe someone will overlook that and fuck you until you pass out!" Ino rambled as her hands quickly pushed through the lines of lingerie.
"You- I- what?" Sakura sputtered furiously, her cheeks warming to a flaming red. "You can't just say that out in public, there are other people here!"
"Oh, yeah? Like who?" Ino challenged, pausing her shopping just to rest a hand on her hip.
"Them!" Sakura cried, waving her hands at the other occupants in the store.
"As far as I know, forehead, that couple over there is making out and I don't think they'd mind if we talked about having sex when they're literally about to have sex," The blonde rolled her eyes before merrily continuing on, already holding a pair of lacy white underwear set in her offhand.
Sakura took a moment to look around, ignoring the couple eating each other's faces, of course. She blanched at the two teenage girls comparing sex toys before laughing, trading, and walking up to the front to pay for their items.
"Hold this," Ino demanded.
Before it could hit her face, Sakura caught a dark, emerald green pair of underwear with a push-up bra to match it.
"They don't have many A-cups here, but the ones they do have are at least push-up bras!" Ino then snatched the set back out of the pinkette's hands and held the bra up to her chest.
"Kami, this would look so bomb on you. It would definitely take the attention away from your forehead," She nodded sagely in approvement.
Sakura's eyebrow twitched, but she took the set anyway. Her mind was reeling with imagination. She thought about how Itachi would react. Would he be embarrassed by the scene she would create, or would he pin her against the wall and-
"Forehead!" Ino snapped her fingers in front of her face and she blinked back to life as if being let go of a trance.
"Sorry, pig," She muttered, taking back the green set.
"I haven't actually gone on a mission in so long," Ino sighed in disappointment. "Let's go checkout, I only have enough money for this and the lunch date we had originally planned."
"I'll pay for lunch, don't worry. You picked this out for me," Sakura offered her best friend a small smile.
"Oh, really? Well, why didn't you say anything before!" Ino grinned, forgetting her original dilemma.
"How do I get conned into this every time?"
"Ramen again? Don't you ever get tired of it?" Sakura groaned, looking at the whiskered blonde skipping in front of her.
"Tch. As if," Sasuke moodily responded in place of his best friend as they shared a knowing glance. This Naruto was still a ramen freak.
"You got that right, Sasuke-teme!"
"I would kill to go to that little tempura stand again," Sakura mindlessly whined, punching the duck-haired man next to her, who grunted, rubbing the sore spot on his arm.
"Ne, ne, Sakura-chan! Why don't you make some hotpot like that one time, and we can throw instant ramen in there again!" Naruto turned around and waited for his two best friends to catch up.
"You mean the hot and sour tomato hotpot? I supposed I can do that," Sakura tapped her chin before smiling. "I'm in the mood for some tofu anyway! What do you think, Sasuke-kun?"
"Just save some tomatoes for me," Said man simpered before turning back around. "Do you need anything from the market?"
"Oh, yeah! I'm just going to pick up a few ingredients to make the soup base. Are we doing it at my apartment?" Sakura asked, jutting her thumb out in the direction of where they were walking.
"Isn't Yamanaka staying over because she got into an argument with her parents?" Sasuke raised an eyebrow.
"She is. As much as she loves you and hates Naruto, I don't think she wants any company right now. I should've known something was wrong when we had lunch earlier today. I brought her some dumplings earlier though and I'm just planning on letting her sleep it all off. It's best if I don't bother her…" Sakura trailed off, her eyes suddenly becoming very interested in her toes.
"You can stay at my apartment tonight, Sakura-chan! And Sasuke-teme!" Naruto started jumping excitedly at the thought of having a sleepover.
Sasuke shot Sakura another look, unsurprised at the fact that she was already looking at him. She moved her pupils from left to right, as if to say no.
"How about my house? It'll at least have the pot for the soup and any spices that you need," Sasuke convinced.
"It's also a lot more spacious, no offense, Naruto," Sakura gave him a small smile, patting him on the shoulder.
"On the other hand, we can't go wrong with more tomatoes! How about you two head over and tell Mikoto-san about our plans so she doesn't have to wear her poor hands out cooking for everyone!" Sakura shooed the two away and in the direction of the Uchiha compound.
"No need to push, Sakura-chan! We're going!" Naruto exclaimed, dragging Sasuke by the wrist as he broke out into a sprint. "Take your time shopping!"
Sakura turned back to the tomato vendor, smiling sheepishly.
"Twenty tomatoes, please."
"Did you like the hotpot?" Sakura grinned at her boyfriend as he pulled a plain, black t-shirt on.
"Aa. There may have been a few too many tomatoes, but it was delicious," Itachi rubbed the top of her head as she basked in the praise like a kitten in warm sunlight.
"I don't know what happened! I only had five tomatoes in the base but when I came back from the bathroom, there were twelve in there!" She pouted up at the raven, removing his hand from her head.
I was going to make tomato-eggs tomorrow morning when I woke up, but the other eight tomatoes will surely be gone by then and it'll all be Sasuke-kun's fault."
Itachi chuckled, the warm vibrato made her eyes soften as she peered up at the man before her.
"It really wasn't because of me! It had to be Sasuke-kun because he was annoyed by all the ramen packets that Naruto brought out!"
She was silenced by a soft, chaste kiss.
"Sasuke-kun?" He whispered in her ear. The action normally would've made her shiver, but…
"Sasuke-kun? What about him, Itachi?" She inquired, looking at him through her lashes.
"You call him so endearingly, but what about me?" He murmured, trailing kisses up her neck and across her jawline.
"So you want a nickname? Because you're jealous?"
"Not jealous." His voice sharpened.
"Sure, whatever you say, Itchy-kun."
"Itchy…kun?" He repeated incredulously. Never, in the twenty-three years of his life was he ever this humiliated.
"Sorry, sorry. I won't call you that," She giggled. "Do you forgive me, Itachi-kun?"
Letting out a grunt of satisfaction, he planted another kiss upon her lips.
"Or maybe, just maybe, you would like… Itachi-nii?" Her voice raised an octave as she widened her eyes, placing her hands behind her back, slightly swaying her hips from side to side in order to make herself cuter.
Shockingly enough, this caused a reaction. A light pink blush was dusted across his cheeks as his eyes shot open, becoming painfully aware of how utterly adorable she was at the moment.
"Oh, so I guessed right, Itachi-nii? Hmm, I didn't think you would be into these kinds of things, Itachi-nii! It feels so… naughty," Sakura winked, twirling a strand of hair between her fingers as her other hand snaked its way up his bicep.
"You already turned in for the night, correct?" Itachi asked, his voice dangerously deep and hoarse.
"Yep! The boys think I'm asleep in the guest room. Don't worry, I left a clone there just in case!"
"Don't think you're leaving my room tonight, then," He growled, pinning her against the wall.
It was just how she imagined in the lingerie store with Ino. And maybe, a few days ago, she would've welcomed this intimacy with open arms. However…
"Itachi-kun, I don't want to ruin the moment, but I'm not ready to, you know, take things a step further."
Backing away from their current position, Itachi slowly led her to his bed, where he laid her down, tucked her into the heavy-weighted blanket, and settled in beside her.
"Is it something that you are willing to share? If not, then I will wait. If I have to wait twenty years, so be it. If It is for the rest of my life, then I will die happily by your side," He warmly stated as he pushed away the hair hanging in the front of her face.
"Itachi-kun," She whispered, not being able to stop the tears from flowing out of her eyes and down her cheeks. "I'm messing up your pillow cases right now, I'm sorry."
"They have been blessed with your tears. I'm honored," He simply responded, pulling her into his chest, rubbing her back obediently as she softly cried into his shirt.
"Thank you," She sniffed.
He let out an affirmative noise before pulling away, taking in her reddened eyes and the line of snot running down her nose. He bit back a smile but couldn't stop the snort from escaping.
"Hey! Is it that bad?" Sakura frowned, rapidly wiping at her tears.
"No. You're just too cute," He simply said before burying his nose into the crook of her neck. Inhaling the soft scent of peaches, his eyes closed in contentment.
Like a cat, Sakura curled her legs up as much as she could before decidingly throwing them around Itachi's waist.
"I love you," She mumbled.
Itachi's eyes flew open. Surprised, his head jerked back.
She was now snoozing peacefully, her breathing evened out. On the pillow behind her, soft locks of pink spread about just like an angel's halo. Itachi almost had to stop himself from gasping at the marvelous sight.
He then smiled, hugging her closer and tighter than before. "I love you, too."
"Dodge, Sakura. Dodge!" Tsunade shouted at the pink-haired kunoichi as she slugged another boulder at her.
"Hai!" Sakura gritted her teeth as she launched herself out of the way. How long was this going to take?
Sakura was shocked when she had walked into the hospital only to be told that her mentor would be training with her that day. Instead, one of the head nurses would be taking care of her duties today and she would only be summoned for emergencies.
Suddenly, the boulders doubled in size as the speed increased. She could feel the air as she just barely dodged the next.
"Get it together, Sakura! You're better than this!" Tsunade barked, ceasing her throws.
Sakura collapsed. The final boulder had grazed her bare shoulder, leaving a deep gash marring the pale skin. Looking at the dirt and dust that had collected in the wound, she winced. It would become infected unless she washed it out immediately.
"That's enough for today. I want you to focus on your speed and stamina. A medic's duty is to heal their comrades in need. How will you heal your friends if you get injured?" The busty blonde's condescending voice chastised her and she could all but lower her head in shame.
"Hai, shishou," She quietly responded.
With a flurry of her green robe, Tsunade scoffed in disbelief, leaving her to mend her own wound. Sakura let out a breath of air as the tension almost instantly dissipated once her mentor left.
"At least my ankle is better now," She muttered as she cut straight through the woods and headed towards the stream that ran near the training grounds.
Scooping a handful of the cool, refreshing water, she greedily drank the liquid, exhaling loudly in satisfaction. Then, she tended to the wound on her shoulder. Yellow pus had already begun accumulating on the scarlet red skin.
Mentally preparing herself for the sting, she cupped a bit of the stream water onto the gash. She flinched, her hands instinctively pulling back to cease the water flow.
The process continued until she had washed out all the blood, dirt, and grime. All that remained was the skin that had broken open that was already starting to be replenished with tender pink flesh. There were still some parts that were slightly bleeding, to which she raised a glowing green hand to help numb and stop the bleeding of her shoulder.
Once she was finished patching up her shoulder with a roll of bandages she had in her medic pouch, she laid back on the bright green grass and cloud-gazed.
It was one of the habits that Sakura had picked up from Shikamaru that she genuinely enjoyed. Laziness and procrastination was her least favorite habit, although she did appreciate it at the moment. Spotting a duck-like cloud, she sniggered.
She watched carefully as the clouds slowly moved out of her peripheral vision, and as new clouds entered, she found her eyelids becoming oddly heavy.
"Oh, well. A quick little nap won't hurt," She whispered, using her medic's pouch as a makeshift pillow, dozing off quickly.
"Well, well, well. Look at what we have here!"
Sakura's nose wrinkled at the sudden interruption of her nap before relaxing once again.
"If we were planning to assassinate you, you would've been long gone," An amused voice spoke as she physically felt a body looming over her.
"Doesn't count if you weren't masking your chakra and I could sense it," Sakura grumbled, rolling over onto her stomach so she wouldn't have to face the intense sun once she finally decided to open her eyes.
"Sure, let's go with that, kitten," Shisui's voice was now right by her ear.
Squealing, she jumped up and away, raising her arms defensively. "Hey! That doesn't count."
"I think it does," Itachi smirked, flattening her bed hair.
"Alright, alright. Fine. Let's not disturb the disturbed anymore," She swatted his hand away from her head, fixing her hair herself.
Shisui swung an arm around Sakura's shoulder. "On the other hand, cupcake, you're coming with us!"
"Uh-huh, and what for?" Sakura raised an eyebrow, grabbing onto Itachi's sleeve to drag him alongside them.
They walked in a line with Sakura in the middle, which she found to be a trap later on.
"I'm not going to your house for dinner again, Itachi," She frowned, recalling past and current events. "You know what happens every time, and your father being the way he is won't help either."
"Hn, too bad," The long-haired male blatantly disregarded her words, looping his arm around her waist so she was trapped between the two Uchihas' arms.
"Okay, is this really necessary? Fine! I'll go, just let go of me!" Sakura exclaimed, struggling in their tight hold on her shoulders and wrist.
"It doesn't take much to convince lollipop after all!" Shisui cheerfully opted to grab her hand instead, forcing her to skip with him to the Uchiha compound.
"Kitten, cupcake, and lollipop?" Sakura listed off questioningly. "Where did all of these nicknames come from, Shisui?"
"Well, I already told you that your hair reminds me of cupcake frosting, but you look like a kitten while sleeping and your eyes remind me of green tea lollipops, my favorite," Shisui's eyes shone brightly as he thought of his favorite treat.
"I can't believe green tea lollipops are your favorite," Sakura thought out loud.
"Matcha, to be precise! Wait, what do you mean by that?" His lower lip jutted forward into a pout. "What's wrong with that?"
"There's nothing wrong with it," Sakura rolled her eyes.
"She enjoys matcha lollipops as well, it's just surprising that you of all people would enjoy them," Itachi replied for her as Sakura gave an exaggerated nod.
"What he said," She agreed.
"That was definitely a backhanded compliment," Shisui said under his breath. "How do you know that anyway, 'tachi?"
"She eats one every time we gather to trade information on certain missions," Out of the corner of his eye, he carefully watched the guards, ensuring that their conversation wouldn't spill any information to them, and to his father.
"Anyways! Mikoto-san should be ready with dinner by now," Sakura clapped her hands together in excitement, giving a small wink at Itachi as she discreetly changed the subject.
"I can't believe it's been a week since we had that hotpot that you made, Sakura-chan! It was so yummy," The curly-headed Uchiha mimed wiping an invisible chain drool off his chin as Sakura cringed.
"You were just freeloading anyway. Look at what you're doing now," Itachi pinched his older cousin's ear and dragged him into the main compound.
"Ow, damn it Itachi! That hurts!" The poor boy yelped in pain, his pleas of desperation fading as they went further into the house.
"Man, we haven't even started dinner yet!" Sakura slapped a hand to her forehead.
"Itachi-kun, why would you leave dear Sakura-chan outside without anybody to escort her? Shisui, why don't you go retrieve Sasu-chan from his room while I set the table?" The Uchiha matriarch's voice rang out from the kitchen.
"Dinner at the Uchiha's is such a bad thing sometimes," The pinkette sighed as she listened to Shisui's complaints and Mikoto's nagging.
"Oh, Sakura-chan! What did you say, dear?"
TBC
A/N: I liked this chapter because it included more of the side characters that I feel like I haven't been putting into this story. Let me know what you think! I also have a few more ItaSaku oneshots coming up very soon. The inspirations hit me while I was writing this chapter at 2 am last night and I just had to stop and start two new oneshots before I finished up this chapter. Please, please review! They're like my energy bars and I really enjoy reading all of your constructive feedback!
Until next time!