In a Name:
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Chapter 1- Introductions
Silent Shadow
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Sakura paused before entering the building; she didn't want to go in. She was becoming all too familiar with the ominous plain building; she remembered that every time she set foot in there, an unpleasant feeling wormed in her stomach. She didn't quite understand what the sensation was, depression- maybe guilt. An ominous feeling indeed.
Haruno Sakura hated hospitals from the bottom of her heart.
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Naruto came back with Sasuke, beaten mentally and physically, dragging his battered body with him. Sakura was horrified at the sight of the two most precious people to her barely clinging to life. She ran to help Naruto with his burden, but all he did was give her his usually big goody grin.
"Eh, Sakura-chan look," he wheezed happily, "I kept my promise. Promise of a li-"
He fell unconscious and both Sasuke and Naruto's dead weight tumbled down on her, pinning her helplessly to the ground.
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Sakura had to shake the memory off and force herself back to the present. Daffodils still clutched in her small hand, Sakura took a deep breath and stepped inside the swinging doors. One step... two steps... three steps.
This wasn't so bad. It was eerily quiet, but that was sort of comforting.
"Ne ne, Sakura-chan!" a loud obnoxious voice rang.
She twitched with annoyance as a boisterous blond shinobi, dressed in hospital clothes, came dashing up to her. Naruto literally bounced his way to Sakura, waving his arms in the air enthusiastically trailed by a bunch of anxious nurses trying to shush them. They had long since attempted to get him to sit still; he always was a fast healer and full of energy.
"Naruto," she scolded, "be quiet!" But Sakura couldn't help it when she let a little smile peep through her annoyance. It was nice to see that Naruto was OK.
"Pft. Anyway, you here to see Sasuke?"
"Yeah. Oh right," she gave him one of her flowers she held, "this is for you."
"Eh? Flower?"
"Right."
"Thank you!" he said happily- his Sakura-chan had given him a gift and it was only out of fear of more injuries inflicted on him by his childhood crush that he didn't give her a bear hug.
Naruto's demeanor changed, "That Sasuke-bastard. With friends like him, I don't need enemies."
Sakura didn't fully understand what he meant, she had a silent agreement not to press anyone too hard on the details. Naruto began to guide Sakura to the hospital room where Sasuke laid.
"How's Sasuke-kun?"
She kept the honorific in habit, but it crossed her mind to drop it as Ino had. However, every time she thought of him, she couldn't get rid of the feelings she harbored. Letting go would be... impossible.
"He got his head back, after I beat it into him again. And the old-hag hokage reverted him back to his normal curse level, so he isn't as crazy as before. A curse like that messes with your head sometimes," he said sullenly. Sakura noted that he rubbed his stomach protectively.
They stopped outside of his door with the number 301 in thick black paint. Sakura was a bit timid about entering but Naruto, being his blunt self, nearly kicked down the door.
"Hey Sasuke-chan!"
Sakura sighed and followed him in.
"Sasuke-kun. Are you all right?"
He gave her the 'look', but said nothing. Which was OK, she didn't really expect one. They stood in silence for a long time.
She could really use an apple right about now.
"Is it going to be held soon?" Sasuke finally asked.
"Held?" Sakura tried to feign ignorance.
"The funerals."
Sakura winced. She knew that now Sasuke was sane, he finally began to comprehend his deeds he inadvertently had made...
Neji...
Choji...
She stopped her train of thought before it went too far.
"No. Old hag hokage wants to wait until Shikamaru and the others get better. Thinks it will be better if they could participate."
"Hn."
Another long silence. Sakura busied herself with placing the daffodil in a vase beside the bed.
"Sasuke-kun."
"...Hn."
She faced him, "I..."
She didn't know what she was going to say to him, "You're welcome."
"..." A memory flashed of when he left Konoha.
Another uncomfortable silence, it was like the new Team Seven theme song. Then, something interrupted it was a swift "puff" and a swirl of smoke.
"Kakashi-sensei?!?" Naruto cried out in relief. Sakura could see that, while Kakashi was safe from whatever his mission was, he was in pretty bad shape since he did not get to heal properly before he left. But thought of his condition dissipated when he looked at Sasuke sternly.
"Sasuke..."
Sasuke didn't reply to Kakashi, but he looked away in shame. That seemed to soften Kakashi a bit, but he still stood rigidly.
"You all have missions to do. You three are to mobilize and capture Mrs. Deushi parakeet," he handed Sakura the scroll.
"All three? I thought they were moving Genins in pairs."
"Well, we want to keep a close watch on somebody..."
Sasuke grimaced.
"I understand. What about you sensei? You're hurt."
His eye crinkled in a smile-like fashion as a way to comfort Sakura; "I'm fine. Just need a little rest."
And then he was gone in a less than dramatic puff of smoke.
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"God damn bird," Sakura heard Naruto swear in the receiver of her headset, "This sucks. We'll never find it."
Sakura grunted in his receiver, mostly as a way to agree with Naruto without actually admitting the idiot was right.
"Let's just do this," Sakura said exasperated. She was tired; she hadn't had a decent nights sleep since Gai-sensei came back with Sasuke over his shoulder. Now that Sasuke was well, or better than he'll ever really be, Sakura finally could feel the effects of sleep deprivation at its fullest.
"Yeah, yeah. Whatever," Naruto said.
Sakura continued her fruitless findings around the suddenly-a-lot-more-large forest. It bugged her that Sasuke was on a mission, she had originally thought that he would go under twenty-four hour observation, or at least be disallowed any mission for awhile. It was as if his betrayal never happened.
Maybe that's just the way post-war shinobi villages are like.
"I think I've spotted it," Sasuke's monotone voice said, "I'm only a few meters North East from the house."
"Right," Sakura and Naruto chorused as they quickly changed their courses to meet up with Sasuke and catch that god-forsaken bird.
"Hey!" Naruto smiled jovially when he caught notice of Sakura, who was currently leaping on the branches underneath him.
Sakura smiled and then called Sasuke on her receiver, "How's the bird?"
There was no reply but she could hear heavy breaths coming from the other side.
"Sasuke-kun?"
No reply. Not even a 'hn.'
"Naruto I think there's something wrong with Sasuke-kun."
But it was already obvious to him, and he was speeding up to Sasuke's location.
"That bastard can't stay out of trouble."
Sakura didn't say anything but she pushed off the branches of the trees harder, gaining more momentum.
"There he is," Sakura thought to herself in relief when she could see the silhouette of his body.
Coming closer she noticed to other shadowed figures, curious she sped up even more before landing next to Sasuke. Naruto also landed beside him on the other side.
"Who are they?" she asked Sasuke, but then stopped. There was a look on Sasuke's eyes that she hadn't seen since he challenged Naruto to the battle and tried to spear him with the Chidori.
Pure, unadulterated anger. His eyes seethed it, his body tensed. His impassive mask broken and showing what he truly felt.
But that didn't compare to the look on Naruto's face. Fear. He was shaking, and whatever confidence Sakura had was gone. Naruto... was scared?
She looked at the two figures in the distance.
"Tch. Only two genins? This is going to be boring. You can do this yourself, right? No need for me to get involved"
Sakura felt her heart sink, the man that was talking looked powerful. Too powerful, he didn't even look human- almost like a shark. He grinned menacingly, sharp teeth glistening, and he swung a large bandaged sword from his shoulder to resting on the tree limb before sitting down.
The other didn't even nod in agreement, he just stood there. Unlike the other, his stature didn't seem to as dominant, but he was different. He didn't look power, but he breathed it. He reeked of strength.
She felt her through tighten. She never saw him before knew who this one.
"Get it done in a hurry, Itachi."
Uchiha Itachi, the calm stolid figure, his face showed less emotions that Sasuke's. Everything he did was so subtle, but it full of malice.
"Can we run?" she asked Sasuke uncertainly.
He frowned, "No. He'd catch us. All we can do is fight."
Sakura didn't know if he could give an objective answer, especially not since he looked like he just wanted to jump in and give it his all. And not the way that his hand unconsciously reached for his neck.
"We just have to fend then off until Anbu can arrive," Naruto managed to say.
Sakura adjusted the frequency of her headset, "Come in Konoha, this is team seven. Uchiha Itachi's has been spotted."
"Calling for help?" the fish-man asked, "You won't last that long."
Sakura said nothing. She knew they wanted Naruto, for some odd reason, and would take him alive. And she knew that Itachi would keep Sasuke alive for "who knows why" personal reasons.
She, though, was expendable.
" Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Naruto screamed, making the first move. Thousands Narutos were created, grinning menacingly.
"Henge No Jutsu!" Two thirds of the Naruto's screamed, successfully turning into an army of Sasukes and Sakuras.
"Good move," she thought, "Itachi will have to be careful not to kill since he doesn't know who is Naruto." For all he knew Naruto could be pretending to be Sakura. All at once the clones ambushed, and Sakura felt it was best if she went along so not to look out of place.
They all scrambled to hit Itachi but he quickly disposed of them with some ninjutsu that Sakura never seen before.
"Ryuuka no Jutsu!" the real Sasuke cried and a stream of powerful fire burst from his mouth.
Itachi mimicked him calmly, " Ryuuka no Jutsu." His flame was twice as powerful. Sasuke barely got away before the fire reached where he was, setting clones ablaze, not to mention setting the forest on fire. Free mobility for the clones were lost.
Sakura felt an opening and threw some kunai's with exploding tags, hoping if it didn't hit then at least he would catch them in reflex. Itachi didn't though, and without even looking back he threw his own projectile weapons to meet them, and a few extra to dissipate more clones.
Sakura never knew anyone to casually kill off clones with such nonchalance.
She watched as a Sakura clone bite her thumb, it was a transformed Naruto. She watched as began to do the hand seals for a summoning.
Itachi must have noticed because he also did hand seals, much quicker than Naruto, and there was a clone of him behind Naruto.
"Crap," Naruto jumped away before the clone could explode near him, taking out a few more clones.
Itachi then did another fire technique, Katon Housenka, to get rid of as many clones as he could before Naruto could disappear in the crowd.
Noticing a cluster of leaves around Itachi, Sakura grabbed a fistful of some around her and threw it near the pile. Mentally thanking Ino, she started to create a rope of chakra through the leaves that wrapped around Itachi.
She grinned, she knew that Itachi saw what was happening but chose to ignore it. His own fault for being so damn cocky.
The real Sasuke noticed what she had done, " Konoha Shunshin no Jutsu!" In a flair of leaves he disappeared from where he was to behind Itachi.
"Chidori!" Sasuke pummeled towards Itachi while Sakura tried her best to hold him still.
However his technique only hit a spare trunk, he replaced himself. Sakura swore, she didn't even see him do the hand seals. She should have known that the technique wasn't going to hold him like it held her.
"Sakura, get out of there!" Naruto cried out and a swarm of Naruto's came to protect her as Itachi came after her. Sakura knew that had given away her position and tried to move but she was almost out of chakra. Itachi hit the clones with enormous force, including the real Naruto.
"Idiot," she said, "The real you didn't have to come..."
Itachi looked calm, but she could see annoyance edge in his eyes, and before she knew it, his sharingan changed shape. She gasped, she had never seen Kakashi or Sasuke do that with their eyes.
It was... frightening.
"Tsukuyomi," he whispered staring Naruto dead in the eye, and Naruto seemed to collapse into himself.
"No!" Sakura screamed and she smacked into Naruto, forcing him to break eye contact, Sakura however glanced at his strange eyes and before she knew it...
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"This place... is red?" Sakura asked, and then she tried to move her arms but they wouldn't budge. She was tied down? To a cross?
"Where am I?" she asked becoming alarmed as she tried to squirm around.
"So I got the wrong person? How annoying," Itachi said without any noticeable emotion in his voice.
"Where..." she repeated.
"You are in my own little world," he said coolly. Sakura looked around; there were more of her, all confined crucifix style. Then... there were more of Itachi. A Genjutsu?
"I control everything here."
Her eyes rolled up; she saw a red moon, and power-lines?
"For the next seventy-two hours, you will be stabbed continuously and tortured by me."
He began to move a sword towards her body, and Sakura cried out in fear.
"LIKE HELL YOU WILL!"
For the first time Itachi's face showed an emotion, surprise. Behind him, not tied down to anything, was a larger, angrier form of Sakura.
"YOU LITTLE BITCH! ALL OF THIS IS YOUR FAULT!"
"What is this?" he asked frowning. This should not happen in his world.
The Sakura strapped to the cross looked at him with anger, "You hurt everyone I care about. Kakashi-sensei, Naruto, Sasuke-kun. And because of you... Choji, Neji. You did this to Sasuke and you drove him to insanity. Ino still can't stop crying."
"BASTARD!"
Her angrier inner-self grabbed a hold of Itachi. Instantly all the other Itachi's ran to help, but her other self brushed them off like they were nothing.
"I've got to end this..."
"HELL NO! I THINK NOT!"
Inner Sakura pinned him down.
"This is my... my world."
"NOT ANYMORE! I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!"
"No! That's only for..."
Itachi began to struggle under the other Sakura's grasp, and the battle of wills began. The red began to haze out and moon seemed to crumble.
"YOU..."
"I..."
And the world exploded.
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He didn't ever remember being in a place that was so... bright. Nor had he ever known the blue or red sky to be pure white.
Itachi struggled to move, he was tired. He rose up with some effort and rested his head on his hands when he noticed how considerable smaller his hand become.
He was... thirteen again. Thirteen when that happened.
Itachi looked around him, his surroundings were a comfortable blur. He could make out that he was in a field of white flowers, there were purple ones in the distance. Nothing else. This wasn't Konoha... or anywhere else he had ever been too.
How... strange.
"Who are you?" a small young voice asked. He looked behind him. It was the same girl as before, but younger, perhaps eight. And she looked sad, with tears forming in her sea-green eyes.
"Who are you?" he repeated without answering.
"I..." the little pink haired girl said timidly, "am Sakura. Kuroko Sakura."
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[A/N] Hell yeah! Inner Sakura rocks my world.
Originally this was only going to be a oneshot, but I lately been plagued with funny images of Inner Sakura beating up Itachi. I couldn't ignore it, and instead of making another story, I just mixed it with In my Name. As you see it doesn't correlate a lot with the other chapter, so I made that into a prologue.
I vary rarely use caps. In fact usually I despise them, but there aren't a lot of ways you can show Inner Sakura. It didn't feel right without them. And normally I don't incorporate so many Japanese terms in this fic, but nothing else would make the fic sound like Naruto.
Before you freak out, I don't plan on making this an ItachixSakura. Sakura's thirteen, he's seventeen. It would be nice if you at least give her a few years. So Sakura is still a toss up for romance, but I just might not right any other than ones that fit their character. Focusing on romance often cheapens characters of my chapter stories.
I don't really plan too make this a long one, just a few chapters. Then I can move on. I don't really want a big obligation before the Naruto series finished (which hopefully will be never!).
I don't know why I chose Itachi, I find the Uchiha brothers a bit glorified, but it was a fun plot. He;s fun the theorize with, plus I could never write Sasuke passed his fanfiction clichés. It's better this way.
All jutsus have been used before in the series. I didn't make them up, but researching them is a bit annoying really.
Dragon's ShadowWell now it's a chapter story... but the plot has totally changed. ;
Maya Amano: Thank you so much!
animEvivvErz: Would you believe that quote was not suppose to be in there, I changed it last minute. Glad you like it.
CheeseKing I'm glad you liked it!
HikaruOfArrow: Thanks.
BurasMew: Short stories of full of fun, but I changed it. I'm so undeceive.
SacredGoggles: No there isn't. That's shy Sakura is so interesting. I'm relieved that it didn't turn out whinny, I tried for it not too. You should write a Sakura fanfiction, not enough in this world!
EmptySanity: Aw, Sasusaku isn't that bad! But I'm glad you liked it.
Hm. Long Author Note.
