Thanks for your reviews! Here is the third chapter of Uchiha Massacre. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own any part of Naruto

Chapter 3

Uchiha Itachi watched the terror and the destruction indifferently. Fires sprouted everywhere, reducing houses to ash while women's screams could be heard. It was dark and the smoke from the blazes covered the starry night sky.

His Akatsuki robe was tugged on furiously. He looked down to discover a little girl with a tear-streaked face holding onto her teddy bear. "Nii-san, please help my mommy! She's trapped in the house! She can't get out! Please, save her!" Itachi crouched to be at eyelevel with her. His hand slipped out from his robe and grasped her firmly by the neck. With a quick flick of his fingers, the little neck snapped.

He carelessly let go, and the small body crumpled to the ground, green eyes wide open in horror, her mouth agape. Seeing the girl's eyes, he uncharacteristically frowned and reached down to close the dead girl's eyes. An image of a girl with pink hair flashed in his mind. His lips tugged into a miniscule smirk as he thought about her. Itachi had seen her two years ago when the Leaf sent a team of chuunins. Sakura was on her knees in front of his brother, pleading him to come back to the village, and when she was camping with her ANBU team couple of weeks ago. He could almost smell the fear radiating from her. The usually, impassive man had experienced a shiver of pleasure when he entered her mind and played with her.

"Itachi, no ones seems to know anything here." Kisame muttered, interrupting Itachi's thoughts.

The elder Uchiha turned his head slightly, his red eye looking at him. "Burn everything."

The shark-like ninja chuckled sickeningly delighted with the command.

Itachi looked down at the corpse of the girl lying at his feet. It was strange, but he found himself smiling, or his own small display of it, every time the memory of Sakura came up. He wanted to touch her, just feel what her pale skin felt like. But the leader of Akatsuki didn't think like that. Women weren't exactly his top priority.

He looked to the burning village. "We are still after you, Kyuubi. The Leaf can't protect you forever."

Same day of the assigned mission:

Sakura sprinted all the way to the Hyuuga mansion, which was hidden from the rest of the village in a dense forest area. "Hinata-chan! Hinata-chan!" She called as she neared her destination.

A bright looking Hyuuga Hinata opened the shoji door to greet her friend. "Sakura-chan, what are you doing here?"

Another form appeared behind her. "Sakura-chan? Did you come to steal Hinata-chan away from me?" A blonde ninja smiled, resting his chin on the person in front of him. "I'm afraid I can't let you do that, Sakura-chan. You see, I promised Neji-niisan that I would look after this pretty girl." He stuck a sly tongue out, while Hinata was blushing furiously.

The petal-haired woman placed her hands on her hips. "You baka, I didn't come to steal Hinata, I came to talk to her. It's important girl-talk, I'm afraid, Naruto. You'll have to go play with Neji-san for awhile."

Naruto looked at her as if she grew another arm. "Are you crazy? Do you think I'm dumb enough to interrupt his "training" session with Tenten? Who knows what they're doing?!"

Hinata looked at him with wide, shocked eyes. "N-Naruto-kun! Don't talk like that about Neji-niisan! He and Tenten don't do anything!"

Naruto winked at her. "How would you know, Hinata-chan?" He pinched her cheek lightly. "I'll leave you and Sakura alone for just a minute. Maybe I will go bother him and Tenten. Just for fun. Ja ne!" He bounded out like an eager schoolboy. The Hyuuga heir stared after him.

Turning politely to her friend, Hinata smiled. "So, what is it that you wanted to talk about?"

Sakura ignored the question for a second. Her green eyes were soft. "You and Naruto get along great, Hinata. I'm so glad for you."

"Thank you, Sakura-chan. Naruto-kun is a wonderful person. He's like my new best friend." She looked down at her hands. "Ever since he's been here, he's given me so much courage, Sakura-chan. I feel like I'm a whole new person."

The jounin smiled at the Hyuuga. "Look, Hinata, I have a favor to ask…"

Hinata sat listening to her friend's words quietly. After Sakura finished, the white eyed woman nodded. "I see. Have you asked Hokage-sama yet?" Receiving a no, she eyed her knees. "If the Godaime will allow it, then yes. I agree."

Green eyes went wide as she squealed with glee. "Thank you, Hinata-chan!" She wrapped her arms around the fragile Hinata in a bear hug. They were broken up by a loud crash outside.

"Naruto, you dirty little pervert!" A high pitched voice screamed. A yelp of pain could be heard. Upon opening the door, they saw a hysterically raging Tenten throw weapons of all sorts at Naruto while a smug Neji stood to one side with his arms crossed.

"Neji-san, what's going on?" Sakura asked.

The male Hyuuga looked a bit surprised to see her but greeted her and his cousin. "Hinata-sama…Haruno…I saw Naruto behind a tree while Tenten and I were training."

"Why is she calling Naruto-kun a pervert?"

Hinata's question was met by silence. Sakura stifled a giggle and Neji shot a glare at her. "Oh, I see what Naruto meant by Neji-san's "training" session with Tenten. Naughty Neji-san."

Neji's face grew heated as he heard her comment. "We weren't doing anything, if that is what you're poorly trying to imply, Haruno. Tenten usually doesn't like people stumbling onto her when she's trying to take a bath in the river after training."

Naruto agilely dodged the several kunais thrown. His blue eyes grew wide and sparkly at Hinata. "Hinata-chan, help me!" He pleaded in a soft whisper, inticing something in Hinata.

Obviously, that worked. The woman rushed to help him and Tenten, seeing her friend in the way of her target, had to stop. "Tenten-chan, please stop. Naruto probably didn't mean any harm. I apologize for him." She bowed low. Tenten looked sheepish.

Neji scoffed. "Pathetic, Naruto. Tenten, your aim was quite off."

The brunette glared at him. "Really? Would you like to try, Neji-chan?" She said sarcastically. Neji looked amused.

Sakura looked at the time and knew that she had to go Tsunade soon. "Look, you guys have fun. I need to go see the Hokage." She dashed off.

Naruto's eyes narrowed in his clueless way. "What's her hurry?"

Hinata smiled at him. "Would you like some tea, Naruto-kun?"

"Sure!"

Sakura arrived at the Hokage Tower in an hour and knocked on Tsunade's office door. "Come in, Sakura." She walked in to see her old sensei standing next the desk.

Her face broke into a wide smile. "Kakashi-sempai!" She ran to him and threw her arms around his neck. He grinned behind his mask as he hugged her back.

"Yo, Sakura. How have things been going?" He asked her after she pulled away.

"I should ask you first! Where have you been? Naruto and I have been worried sick about you!" She said, hitting him playfully on the chest.

His one visible eye looked weary. "I've been one of the scouts tracking down Itachi and Sasuke. I just came back to report."

Her smile faded. "You mean, you're leaving again?" Her head dropped and she stared at her feet. She felt his finger under her chin, pushing it up gently to meet his eye.

"Sakura, this is important. You know that, right? This is critical to the mission given to you."

The young woman nodded slowly and hesitantly. She faced the Tsunade. "Tsunade-sama, I've come to make a request. In the afternoon, I met with Shikamaru to start work on a plan. But we came up with a conclusion that we need one more person on the team." She paused, waiting for her sensei's permission to continue. The Hokage nodded. "We need another ninja that can keep an eye on things, a base, so to speak. I want to request Hyuuga Hinata for this position. I went to speak with her this morning, and she as agreed as long as you allow her to."

Tsunade looked thoughtful. She rested her chin on her hands. Sakura had spoken well. "I see. Very well, I will assign her to the mission. But have you considered that she is only a chuunin with no ANBU experience at all?"

"Yes, Tsunade-sama. She will not engage the enemy in anyway."

The elder woman nodded. "Well done, Sakura. You are dismissed."

Sakura bowed and gave another hug to her former sensei. "Be careful, Kakashi-sempai. We need you here."

"I know, Sakura. I'll bring some presents if I can." He ruffled her hair affectionately.

"I'll see you later, Kakashi-sempai." She disappeared with a poof. The medic-nin ended up right outside the Tower and she started towards her apartment. But her feet seemed to have minds of their own and led her in the opposite direction. Soon, she knew where they were taking her. She recognized the familiar trail. In the distance, the Uchiha manor loomed threateningly, daring her to come closer.

The enormous house was quite run down ever since the clan was massacred by…Itachi. She ran her fingers along the soiled wooden structure. Gazing around the outside, it made her curious to see what was on the inside. Sakura carefully slid back a door, taking extra caution to be gentle and accidentally make the door crumble.

It was quite empty. The stale dust made her cough. She went into the next room, and found a closet and a low table. One of the walls was decorated with aged kunais nailed to the wall in an interesting pattern. There was a piece of paper on the low table and she went to it, looking down at what it was. It was a picture of a four-person family. It was done with colored pencils and it wasn't the best drawing in the world. The drawing indicated that a young child drew it. Above each person in the picture, in childish writing, it said: Me, Itachi-niisan, Oka-san, Oba-san. The jounin smiled faintly. Sasuke…You once had so much innocence…if you could see how much you changed, you might be surprised. She laughed softly. Maybe not. You probably know how much you changed. But…Sakura trailed her hand over the paper. Why do I miss you so much? So this was Sasuke's room when he lived here. Her eyes stung at the desire to cry but she suppressed it.

She saw the kitchen next in her exploration. It was untouched, only by age and dust. The kitchen table had a plate set out for four, chopsticks and spoons all in perfect order. Maybe his mother was a very organized woman. A pair of chopsticks was smaller than the others and they had a cute, cartoon cat engraved into the wood. Sakura could help but giggle at it, surprised that Sasuke had ever been this way.

A sudden noise startled her and she took a kunai, crouched in a defensive position. Her eyes narrowed and waited for the attacker. A soft mew sounded from her left and she snapped her head to look, only to discover a brown, stray kitten. Large dark gray eyes stared at her, almost asking if she could pick it and pet it. Not sensing any chakra, she gently put out her hand, letting it know she meant no harm. The chocolate kitten excitedly rubbed itself against her hand, purring happily. She picked it up, carefully resting it comfortably against her chest, Sakura smoothed out its fur. Looking around, her eyes landed on Sasuke's chopsticks. "I'll name you Sasuke's Chopsticks. Wait," she paused to lift the baby cat a little, checking the underside. "Yup, you're a boy. Then, Sasuke's Chopsticks it is."

She looked around. "Do you want to help me clean this place up? I'd like the help." Sakura was answered by a pleasant mew from Sasuke's Chopsticks.

The pink-haired jounin sighed as she looked around. "Let's go get some cleaning supplies from my apartment, ne, Chopsticks?" She raced out to her apartment.

Several minutes later, she arrived back to the manor, carrying bags of cleaning supplies, rags, and dusters and Chopsticks followed beside her, walking as fast as his four, short legs could carry him.

First thing to start Sakura's cleaning was to open all the sliding doors so that the dust had somewhere to go. Next, she took two feather dusters, one in each hand, and began to dust. Sakura wore a mask to prevent herself from inhaling dust. It was a strange picture: a jounin with petal colored hair, wearing a pink, flower-printed apron, a white mask, and two feather dusters going about with dust flying everywhere. The dusting took a long time. But then, she had to scrub the floors. Sakura touched the wood, wondering what kind of cleaner would be best for it. Deciding on one, she initiated the floor cleaning while Chopsticks slid along the slippery floor. She stopped her work for a minute to soak Sasuke's blankets that she found in his closet. She hung them out to dry as the sun set.

It was well into the night when she finished. Now the house looked as good as new. Feeling proud of her work, she went into Sasuke's old room. Sakura sat down in the middle of the room and smiled. Chopsticks crawled exhaustedly on her lap, and curled up for a long sleep. But it was against interrupted by a loud grumbling noise from Sakura's stomach. She giggled.

"Let's go home and sleep. I need to eat, too." The tired cleaner grabbed the dried blankets and folded them neatly. She trudged out and towards her apartment, the kitten asleep in her arms. Fumbling with her keys, she opened the door and went straight to her room, placing Chopsticks on her bed, and then headed for her kitchen. Sakura decided on instant ramen, since she didn't feeling like cooking anything. After eating, she showered and brushed her teeth, then finally, fell asleep next to her new kitten.

The peaceful morning and Sakura's deep sleep were interrupted by someone. "Oi, Sakura-chan! You awake yet? Hello?!" Naruto's voice called out from the other side of her door.

A frazzled looking Sakura woke up and dragged herself to the door, opening it and seeing Naruto, Hinata, Shikamaru, Neji, Tenten, and Lee. Her green eyes grew in size and slammed the door. Straightening out her hair and putting on her best smile, she opened the door again.

"Ohayo, minna-san. I'm sorry I'm late, but is there something going on?"

Naruto ginned. "It's Neji's birthday."

"Oh! Really, Neji-san? Congratulations!" She exclaimed.

Lee looked at her in a funny way. "Sakura-san, are you feeling ok?" He put a hand on her forehead.

"Of course, Lee-san! I feel great! It is Neji-san's birthday, after all, right?" She said brightly.

Neji scowled. "Naruto and Lee thought it was a good idea to celebrate it before the mission."

Sakura nodded. "Let me get ready first. Would you like to come in?"

The other five standing outside came in and awkwardly stood in her living room while Sakura got ready lightening fast. Chopsticks woke up and wondered what the commotion was all about. He wandered in and immediately spotted a person that he liked. Darting to the person's legs, the kitten purred and rubbed against them affectionately.

Neji's scowl deepened as he felt the brown fuzz ball play with his footwear. Soft mews came from it and it looked at him with big gray eyes. Tenten beside him giggled. "I didn't know Sakura had such a cute kitten. It seems to like you a lot, Neji. Oh, come on, Neji, just pet it. It means no harm."

"I don't like cats." He snapped, his white eyes glaring at the kitten rolling playful at his feet. Tenten picked him up. "Tenten, no. Put that thing down. You don't know where that's been."

"Aw, Neji, look at its big eyes! It loves you!" She cooed, holding Chopsticks out for the Hyuuga. He backed away.

"Tenten, I told you to put it down." She came closer with the cat. "No, Tenten, leave it. Stop coming closer!" He barked, stepping backwards towards the couch. Tenten advanced swiftly, making the Byakugan genius trip and sit down. Setting down the kitten down calmly on Neji's chest, she took a step back. Naruto, Lee, Shikamaru, and Hinata all had to laugh at the sight. Hyuuga Neji had his back pressed desperately against the plush sofa, his silver-white eyes wide with terror as the kitten snuggled closer to his face. He shut his eyes tightly as he heard Chopsticks purring grow louder.

"Chopsticks, what are you doing to Neji-san?!" The Hyuuga's savior came rushing to the two of them and picked the cat up. "I'm sorry, Neji-san. But he really isn't dangerous. You looked like as if he could kill you."

Neji's cool, apathetic demeanor replaced his panicked look. He glanced at the dejected looking kitten and a pang of guilt went through him. "Can I see him?" Sakura looked, puzzled, and reluctantly handed the kitten to him. To everyone's surprise, the ANBU jounin carefully cradled Chopsticks.

Sakura smiled. "His name is Chopsticks. Would you like him, Neji-san? He seems to like you more than me." Neji looked at her in surprise. "As a birthday present, Neji-san, I'd like it if you would give him a happy home."

He shook his head, smiling at the cat. "No, I'm afraid not."

Naruto put his arm around Hinata. "Should we go then? I'm starving!"

They went to Naruto's ramen place (I forget the name… I'm very sorry! Please tell me in a review!) with Sakura carrying Chopsticks—Neji didn't want to be seen carrying the cat—and they ordered ramen of their preference.

"Happy birthday to Hyuuga Neji!" Naruto announced, raising his drink in the air. People turned their heads to look at the group

"Not so loud, Naruto." Neji hissed, forcefully making the loud ninja sit down. The rest laughed and raised their drinks also and drank to him. Chopsticks wiggled out of Sakura's hold and leapt to Neji. Successfully landing on the person's lap, the kitten purred.

The small party was suddenly ruined when Shizune rushed to them, panting and sweating. "Kakashi is critically injured! You need to leave for your mission now! Tsunade is too busy to see you off, but she sent me to inform you that you need to go now! Here!" She shoved a scroll to Shikamaru. "There is all the information that you need to start planning. Go now!"

Everybody was on their way, but Neji stopped and held out Chopsticks to Shizune. "Please, can you deliever him to Hyuuga Hanabi? Tell her that I need her to take care of him for me while I'm on this mission." The Hokage's assistant nodded briefly and disappeared with the kitten.

The seven that made up Naruto's ANBU team sped off, grabbing their gear and food supplies. While they jumping from tree to tree, Shikamaru explained the plan.

"I read the scroll given to us and it says that Sasuke is in Grass country, too far from our other target to going for him. My guess is Sasuke doesn't know where to start looking for his brother. So, our plan is to speak to him first. We need to get him to follow us to Itachi. We already know of Itachi's whereabouts. Only one of us will approach Sasuke, while everyone else gets in position. Tenten, you will be the one to talk to him. The rest of us will split into two teams: Neji, Sakura, and Lee will be on one team, while me, Naruto, and Hinata is in the other. The Hyuugas will act like our eyes and you two will keep looking for anything suspicious. If any of you see Tenten coming, with or without Sasuke, you need to tell us right away.

"Tenten, you are going to play a pivoting role here. You need to persuade him to follow you to Itachi. If that doesn't work, just straight out tell him where Itachi is and get out of there as soon as you can. Sasuke isn't someone to provoke.

"Now, Tenten, when you come back, you'll be with Neji's team. They will be located in the south, here, " –he pointed to a spot on the map— "and you guys will watch Sasuke engage Itachi. We will be in the north, here" –he indicated to another location— "and we will be watching them too. When the battle seems like it's going to end soon, close in. Naruto, any objections?" Naruto shook his head. "You'll give the signal and we will all follow you. Sakura, did I hit everything?"

Sakura nodded, her face serious and void of any emotion. "If this fails, we will go to plan B. But plan B won't be needed, unless something goes really wrong. This plan is able to adjust. Tenten, the initial start of this mission counts on you."

"Hai, Sakura."

"You need to go west while we go east. Find Sasuke and bring him east. Everyone clear? Alright then, earpieces in, and let's go."

Neji stopped Tenten for a second. "Be careful, Tenten." He embraced her tightly and she hugged him back, not letting go for the hope of seeing him again. "I…I need you to be back." He whispered ineptly.

"I will. I promise. I'll see you later."

The two of them disappeared in a flash…though in opposite directions.

Author's notes: Well, I hope you liked this one! Next chapter will be the actual mission taking place. I'm excited to write it! Neji and his kitten are very cute. I couldn't resist. Sakura looks like she's really eager to kick some ass, and very soon, a new twist will come and intervene in this mission. Keep reviewing!