In a Name

Silent Shadow

III: Time Decay

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

"You can go see the cherry blossom tree if you want... but it's already dead."

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Kisame was irritated, and rightly so. He was an elite member of the infamous Akatsuki. He was a fighter an assassin, not some damned carrier. But here he was dragging the lifeless body of Itachi around. His job was not to baby-sit his soulless partner.

He had a half a mind just to kill Itachi.

Then again, he knew half the reason why he got away with half the fun he had on a mission is because no one in Akatsuki would dare mess with Itachi. And even when he was his partner; Itachi didn't really pay attention to what he did and let him go on his business. Besides, he didn't know how he was going to explain how one of the most prized members of Akatsuki just disappeared.

"Tch. Whatever," Kisame muttered, walking down the dusty street of some poor some strange poor village. It didn't take long for him to reach an Inn, the streets were littered with shabby last-attempt shops and small businesses. Ignoring the strange glances of the passbyers, he made his way into the inn and the stairs towards the rooms. The first door he could he kicked open, forcing the door to spin on its rusty hinges and slam into the wall.

"Hey!" so the room happened to be occupied at the moment, "Get out of my room you freak!"

No matter.

Kisame swung his sword toward the gentleman's body, successfully shredding him and leaving his pieces to adulterate the already dirty floor red. He didn't mind the smell of death, and Itachi can't complain.

Kisame dumped his unmoving body lazily on a bed.

"Just wake up soon," Kisame snarled.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Sure enough, the tree was dead, bur Itachi didn't mind dead things. Besides, it was the only other object in the field that was not flowers or grass.

"You see? It's dead," Little Sakura told him matter-o-factly, "Nobody likes looking at a dead tree."

"Better than looking at nothing."

The strange thing about being near the tree was the wind that blew around it. Everywhere else in the field was a painfully dead-still, here the wind didn't let anything stay stationary. The wind didn't feel better than the still though. It was sharp enough to make his hair slap irritatingly around his pale face, but it didn't have a cool or refreshing feeling. He noticed large red ribbon tied around the trunk of the tree; hadn't the child said something about giving back a ribbon?

Not like he cared for a child's physiological needs.

Little Sakura looked at him with curious green eyes while he went to lean his back on the rotting bark of the tree.

How long had he been walking towards the tree? Days? Time was hard to tell since everything was always the same, no sun to set or moon to rise.

He settled down uncomfortably with his back leaning on the tree, closing his eyes. He wondered if he would be able to sleep when he was already in a dream-like state.

He heard Sakura walk softly towards him and kneeled at his feet, and he feel her eyes stare at him. If one thing he had to admit, it was that her eyes were unusually piercing for a child. He was use to stares and generally could shake them off, but now it was bothering him, it was as if they could bore their way strait through his head and see anything that was inside.

This place was breaking down his mask.

"What are you looking at me?" he asked, eyes still closed.

"Because it's better than looking at a dead tree."

"..."

"Do you like being alone?" she asked him.

"More than being with people."

"Just like... Sasuke."

At the mention of his brother's name Itachi opened an eye, "Oh? He's alone a lot."

"Yeah. He likes to train."

Something about that satisfied him, his little avenger was growing up the way he planned.

"I really like Sasuke, you know."

He didn't care about the crushing of a child.

"You want to know why?"

"Why do you feel the need to tell me everything?"

Little Sakura blinked and then seemed to ponder the question, "Well, usually I don't like too but it's like I have too here."

It made sense, if this place was her mind, then her thoughts roamed freely. If she were to think of something, then she would say it.

Little Sakura began her story,

"At first I didn't have a lot of friends, actually I didn't have any. Then I met Ino, and she had other friends, and they were nice to me but..." she clasped the part of her shirt that was right above her heart, "I was still feeling lonely. Like there was something missing, I still felt lonely. That's when I saw him, Sasuke. People liked him, and he was strong, and he was cute, and they wanted to be around him, but he didn't want to with them."

Both Itachi's eyes were opened, curious.

"He was always by himself. And one day he was swinging by himself and I walked up to ask him if he felt lonely. He didn't answer first, so I asked again. And he told me... no. That's when I wanted to be like him. He didn't feel this pain, even when he was by himself. So if he started to like me, then maybe I can learn to be like him, and I don't feel so lonely anymore. I didn't think it would matter if the world turned their back on me, as long as he acknowledged me, I'll be happy."

It made little to no sense to Itachi; drawing strength from other people was nothing he ever considered.

"That was at first, now I like him for a whole bunch of reason and it's kind of scary."

"Why?"

"Because I'll always like him a lot- maybe too much. And I'll always be missing something. I found out the real reason I'm lonely, and it's something no one can take away from me. My name... it gives me this sadness. My name is the Kuroko curse."

"Just because of a name."

"I told you it was important."

"..."

"The Uchiha's have a curse too..." he didn't want to speak, but he realized that his thoughts were also roaming around freely. He had kept such a strong hold on them for so long, he didn't know how to react to his own words now.

"You do?"

"It's called the sharingan."

There was a long pause before Sakura chose to speak.

"But... it makes you so strong, it makes you better."

"Yes, I guess it does make me better," Itachi stared off in the distance, "It gave me so much power."

" Why is it a curse? Sasuke likes it a lot."

"Of course he likes it, he wasn't able until he was older."

"It's only bad when you are younger?"

Itachi struggled with himself; he didn't want to talk about it anymore.

"When you're younger, you have almost no control over yourself. I was able to use the sharingan when I was eight, but I felt the effects of them much sooner."

"effects?"

"Sharingan is closely linked with your mind. My father... wanted me to become the best and from an early age he taught me how to use it. I don't think anyone ever tried the use of such a bloodline at a young age, so no one knew what would happen?"

"What happened?"

"I don't really know. It just... happened."

The little Sakura tilted her head, as if the angle gave her a better view of his soul. Her eyes were filled with a pity that he never seen in anyone's eyes before. He didn't know if he liked it, he didn't know if he hated it.

It was hard to see her face though her bangs that littered all around her face so he couldn't read her. The wind didn't really help matters either and her hair blew wildly around.

"The winds harsher out there."

"I hate this tree, I rather be in the wind."

"Hn."

"Aren't you going to tell me what it did to you?"

"No."

"Oh... ok."

It was strange. He never liked conversing, about himself or anything else. He liked action and liked power, but here there would be none of that. He had a feeling that he would be here for awhile, he's already been here, how long?

Days? Weeks?

He would have gone crazy, assuming there was some sanity left in him already.

"How long do you think I'll be here?" he asked.

"Long? I don't know. I've been here all my existence, but that's because I want to stay."

Here gave her a dull look, "Want to stay here?"

Sakura flushed, "Because... it's better than being," her voice dropped to a whisper like she was scared that someone would hear her, "out there."

Itachi paused, not really knowing what to say.

"You can't hide from it forever," he finally said, surprised at the encouragement what came out of his mouth.

"I'm doing a pretty good job of it now."

To that he really could say nothing.

"Everybody lives so busy, they don't need me anyway. I just get in the way."

Itachi had no real opinion on the outside. He didn't care about the people or the places that he been. Here, there was no where to go, and only one person to meet.

And...he was relaxed.

Itachi was never relaxed. He was always wandering or fighting or killing or training or thinking. Now, he couldn't do anything but rest under the dead cherry blossom tree with a child at his feet asking him questions.

Life was strange.

x-x-x-x-x

Tsunade sighed heavily, shifting through the mountains of papers that threatened to topple over and drown her. She needed sleep, maybe a drink, and something to gamble with. All she got was more paperwork.

She considered getting the two jounins to do the work for her, but they too where out for the Itachi manhunt. Damn her luck.

"S class mission," she murmured as her eyes flipped through the contents. It was a good mission, nice pay, the death probability wasn't too high. But she didn't like how time consuming it was though, she needed her shinobi to do as many missions as possible. She put the file in her "maybe check it out later" pile.

All this reading was making her disorientated, and she took a moment to rub her eyes with her hands, when she heard familiar sounding poof.

"Yo."

Kakashi never had any real manners. Then again, it was better than hearing Hokage-sama every time someone addressed her.

"Hello, I trust you heard the news."

"Naruto and Sasuke told me, that's why I'm here."

"That and to fill out your report."

He shrugged, "Sure."

"Well."

"It was a success."

"Good, because I have another mission for you after you get an hour's rest."

"First Sakura."

"Ah yes," Kakashi always had a one track mind, "She's fine and in no real danger, it's like sleeping."

"Itachi?"

"From what I can tell, he's probably in the same state."

"How long is she going to be like this?"

"Who knows. The longest she can hold onto him is a couple of days, maybe a week, but that's at best."

Kakashi looked thoughtful, "What does Itachi do in her mind?"

"Anything she wants him too. He must be going crazy about now, he's been there for so long."

Despite his mask, she could visibly see him frown, "I thought it has only been a few hours."

"You should know better than anyone how fast the mind works Kakashi. Information and ideas travel much faster in the mind than what we can do in a conscious state. A few seconds could seem like days in the mind. Figuratively speaking, they've been trapped in her mind for months in their perspective."

"So, how will Itachi react to being her mind for 'years'..."

"Hopefully, we'll find the bastard before then. Now go get some rest before your next mission."

"... Has anyone told the mother."

Tsunade cursed, things have been moving so quickly it slipped her mind. Her mother probably just figured that she still was out on missions. With the village in this state, it wasn't rare for genins to not come home for days. They would just eat and rest in the hospital for awhile, then leave for the next mission.

"Could you do it for me? You are their sensei after all."

She could tell the silver haired jounin was hesitant.

"It's not that bad. Just tell her that she's unconscious but she'll be up in a few days in perfect health, nothing more."

"Yeah..."

Another poof and he was gone. Kakashi didn't have manners but he had an undeniable style.

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[AN] It's really hard not to make the conversation awkward, I'm trying to avoid a scenario that makes it seem like Itachi's reclining in a bed and a child Sakura hovering over him asking "So, what was the relationship with your parents?"

So, it's a bit confusing with the time, but I figured if three days in that crazy world of Itachi's is a couple of seconds, then why can't it be like that in Sakura's mind? I mean, the mind really does work at an incredible rate, and in the mind people are not limited by their physical bodies, it only makes sense that a few hours makes it seems like a few months.

I had to write Kakashi in somehow. My only regret is that I can't Shikimaru in it. Shikimaru= coolness with the blazing glory of the white hot intensity of a thousand suns. But, he would do nothing more for my story, and I find it shameful on my part that I haven't written in Ino yet.

Effect and affect are hard for me to differentiate.

Glarg. I have to hunt down and pester good Naruto Sakura-centric writers to see if I could put some of their fanfictions on my Saukra site. What? I haven't shamelessly, almost pitifully, plugged my Haruno Sakura site yet? -abashed- . Go, I assure you that I'm a better site maker than an authoress.

Girl-chama: No problem, you really are a brilliant writer. Sakura might be praised, but then again shinobi are always doing something at risk for the betterment of the village, good deeds are often lost in a time of struggle. So far, not many know of Itachi's presence.

animEvivvErzWith Kisame, it will still be hard to find Itachi. So, better safe than sorry most people say. Thank you.

aik0hI'm glad you like it!

AnimeOtaku313 : Thank you, hopefully the next update will come soon.

rogue solusInner Sakura does rock hard. I'm glad to see that I'm creating a somber mood, I was worried that it was a bit stale.

Youkai RyuuThere is little connection between the body and mind, she could release his soul without knowing his body was dead, and then his soul would just dwindle. Besides it is difficult keeping someone else's independent mind in their mind, Itachi couldn't do it for more than a couple of seconds. Thank you!

Maya AmanoInner Sakura will be making a reappearance sometime in the near chapters too come so don't worry! The review by nunya was deleted because it was bit too rude for PG-13, but you weren't missing much. Thank you for reading.

Yukina:I'm glad you like it and decided to review. While I'll be deepening the ItachixSakura relationship, I'm not sure it will quite go into romantic. Or perhaps it already is, depending how you decide to interpert their interaction. But they'll definitely be getting closer.

L0vEnEkO: I'm glad you like it so much! I like the little Sakura too, she's just so timid it's sweet. For some reason I see a lot of Hinata in what Little Sakura once was.