Akatsuki no Sakura

by Sekhimet

Sakura has lost her memory and was found by someone unexpected. When she is sent on a mission to massacre Konoha village, she finds something she left behind... and someone... but just how much has her heart changed? Rated for violence and implications.

2. The Nightshade and the Avenger

Akatsuki no Sakura

Rating: PG-13 (may change later due to some... scenes...)

Category: Romance/Angst/Action

Pairings: SasuSaku, ItaSaku, a little NaruHina

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto so STOP CHASING ME!

Chapter Two: The Nightshade and the Avenger

Sasuke, Naruto, Kakashi, Hinata, Jiraiya and Tsunade searched for a glimpse of Sakura's hair, the exotic cotton candy pink locks that had drawn so many to her, or her eyes of emerald jewels, or some other sign she was there- her black and gray ANBU uniform she still wore even after quitting ANBU itself; her hunter-nin mask she had substituted with the mask of the ANBU uniform; or even her katana, held in its polished black-and-gold sheath.

Sasuke couldn't understand. Had his flower suddenly been cut in battle? Or was something else keeping her away from home? The six shinobi met back in the town square at dusk, and none had seen Sakura. Naruto could tell that Sasuke was worried, even though Sasuke was as stoic as ever. After being around him so much, Naruto could read Sasuke like an open book. Naruto was worried about Sakura as well, but Sasuke was probably the one most affected by her mysterious disappearance. He was more withdrawn, back to his 12-year-old-self.

The six Leaf Ninja were taken to Ichiraku Ramen as a treat from Naruto, and of course Naruto ate more than anybody else. Sasuke only ate about two bowls, as did the other ninja. Sasuke had too many things going on in his mind at once...

:Sasuke's POV:

Sakura... how do I really feel about her? All I ever did was watch her try to win me over, along with the million other fangirls that chased me every day. She was always...there for me though, and helped me through whatever obstacles I had to pass. I couldn't just ignore her absence. What should I do..?

Mystery Akatsuki Member's POV:

"We should be arriving soon," I said to the two black-cloaked Akatsuki patiently awaiting my report. "We will be there in half an hours' time if we walk, and probably five minutes if we run the whole way." "Excellent, is my brother there?" The one on the right peered at me with his blood-red Sharingan eyes. "Yes, Itachi-sensei, he is at the ramen stand with five others," I say, trying to avoid eye contact with him. Every time I look at those eyes, I feel light-headed and I always faint, much to my disdain. Itachi-sensei said before that he wasn't surprised, many had fallen to the spell of his Sharingan and had died because of it. At least I had learned to resist it to the point where I didn't faint immediately. He had told me there were only two others in the whole world that had the Sharingan; his younger brother Uchiha Sasuke and the famous (infamous? Depends on how you look at it) Copy Ninja, Hatake Kakashi. Itachi-sensei only seems truly interested in Sasuke, but I am intrigued by the both of them. The Hokage interests me as well, for he has the legendary Kyubi sealed within him. If any one of them are anything like Itachi-sensei, I would love to be able to defeat them in battle.

As I reminisce, Itachi-sensei and Kisame-sensei stare at me. I think that Itachi-sensei is listening to my thoughts because he just smirked. "We ought to get going now, blossom," he says, breaking me out of my thoughts. I nod and turn to face the Hidden Village of Leaf. "Remember, this is only to test your power as my student, and to test my younger brother," he said. "The Leaf ninja are a force to be reckoned with, in your case. Be careful, I do not want to have to save you again." The memory of the incident at the Sand Village is still fresh on my mind, and apparently on his and Kisame- sensei's as well. I had run into that bloody Sand Shukaku, Gaara, and he almost managed to kill me (I know, I know, Gaara is dead, but pretend he was alive in this, okay?). He would have, had Itachi-sensei not intervened and killed the Shukaku himself. He and Kisame-sensei were doing the Sand Village a favor by ridding them of Gaara, for Gaara would ravenously prey upon the villagers whenever his appetite got worked up. Itachi-sensei saw this as an opportunity to test my strength, but I was still not strong enough. He had been watching me and seen my fatal mistake in battle- I had carelessly let fly a fire jutsu in the wrong direction, leaving me wide open, and Gaara took this opportunity to try to crush me with the sand. As punishment for this incredibly amateur blunder, I had to endure a week straight of rigorous training, with no sleep and no meals. Fortunately, Kisame-sensei was somewhat sympathetic and sneaked me a bit of food and some extra water from time to time. When I was finally finished and completely exhausted, Itachi-sensei kindly allowed me to rest and relax for a whole day. After that, I reassumed my regular, intensive training routine and Itachi-sensei and Kisame-sensei harshly drove me to finish my goals. I didn't care though, they had made me stronger, and they had rescued me countless times. I'll never forget when we first met...

It was a snowy, windy day and I was wandering in the forest, half frozen and delirious. All I knew about myself was my name and my age. I hardly even knew which way was which, until finally I gave up and rested against a tree, trying to clear my head. And that's when he came.

He had his usual black Akatsuki cloak on, and had a straw hat on to help hide his identity. He saw me against the tree trunk, and asked me my name. When I gave it to him, he looked as though he were scrutinizing me, the pitiful 15-year-old leaning against the tree. He gave a whistle, low and soft, and another black-cloaked Akatsuki appeared behind him, also with a straw hat on and a large sword strapped to his back. I gawked; I knew nothing of chakra back then but even so, I could feel the raw power that emanated from those two. Then Itachi-sensei (I didn't know him at the time, of course) looked straight at me and I raised my eyes to his. I was immediately knocked out, but that was before I could withstand the power of his Sharingan eyes. When I woke up, I was laying in some blankets in a little cave, next to a fire. Itachi-sensei introduced himself and Kisame- sensei, and then told me to close my eyes. He crouched near me to get a look at my face, silently sizing me up. "Do you know what a ninja is?" he asked me. When I shook my head, he said, "I know how to make you powerful... I have been waiting for a student to come along, one that knew nothing of my identity. You show all the signs of one who wishes to be someone other then yourself, and I can do that for you. Would you like that?" I nodded my head vigorously. "Good, we can travel to our base and we can start your training there. It seems to me that we will have to start from the beginning, but I have a feeling you will catch on quickly."

He was right. In a matter of just a few months, I was able to defeat every ninja that I met that was in the Chuunin level. Next, I began training twice as hard and was soon able to defeat Jounin. I began to spar with my two senseis, and I was able to defeat Kisame-sensei on my third try. I have not yet, however, been able to defeat Itachi-sensei, and I greatly respect him for that. I still respect Kisame-sensei, of course. Of the two of them, he has probably been the kindest to me throughout my training. Itachi-sensei has trained me in every jutsu he knows that does not involve the Sharingan -even that much has given me a wide arsenal of techniques to use- and in summonings and scrolls. Kisame-sensei has trained me in weapons and taijutsu, thus making me now one of the toughest ninja of my generation (or so I've been told by Itachi-sensei, much to my embarrassment). I owe Itachi-sensei so much, and now I need to prove that I have changed, and I can follow in his footsteps. I am no longer a delicate little cherry blossom, I am now a poisonous nightshade flower. Advanced bloodline or not, I will defeat the ninja of Leaf- including the Hokage- and prove that I am strong now. Itachi-sensei has already informed me of my initial role as bait to lure Sasuke, and to make him angry enough to use his Sharingan- even though it made me blush when he told me exactly how we would get Sasuke that mad. After that, while he battles Sasuke, I am to take care of the Hokage and the other ninja, including the hunter-nin and the ANBU.

My fingers are twitching with anxiety. Throughout these past three years, Itachi-sensei and Kisame-sensei have taught me to be like them – filled with the battle spirit and a lust for bloodshed and pain. Whether it be dishing it out or taking it myself, pain is my adrenaline, my natural high. I push my long braid over my shoulder so that it rests on my back, ignoring the fact that my bangs tickle my face as I do so. I lick my lips at the thought of so much death and blood, all to be shed by my hands. Apparently Itachi-sensei noticed and smirks again. "Let's go, my little blossom," he says, dashing off in the direction of the Leaf Village. He and Kisame-sensei slow to a stop about ten meters from the town to get in their positions, while I go ahead to lure Sasuke into the forest.

Sasuke and Naruto finished their ramen and decided to walk around town. They wandered around, scrutinizing every object in their sight. Then something caught Sasuke's eye. "There!" he shouted, running off in the direction where he had seen the flash of pink. Naruto whirled around and quickly followed him. 'Sakura-chan! I'm coming!' Naruto thought. The chase led them past the ramen stand, where Kakashi noticed them whizzing past. Knowing that there was only one thing that could get both of them worked up like that, he dropped his chopsticks, shoved his Come Come Paradise into his pack, and chased after them. Hinata, Jiraiya and Tsunade quickly followed suit, realizing suddenly what must be happening.

'Dammit, Sakura, stop playing and just stop already!' Sasuke thought, as he followed the petal-haired figure into the woods, closely followed by the other five ninja. He heard a loud whistle coming from up ahead, then grabbed onto a brach to swing himself up and dodge the kunai that would have otherwise hit a critical point on his body. The other ninja had their own means of dodging it, Naruto landing somewhat clumsily on his leg. Sasuke and the others jumped to the ground and stepped into a clearing. The young Uchiha frowned. 'Where the hell is she?' he wondered. Almost as an answer to his question, he saw a figure appear in front of him, but it was not who he expected. He drew in a sharp breath as his hand went to his kunai pouch. "Itachi..." he hissed.

"Tsk, tsk, Sasuke, I would think you would have better manners than that after not seeing me in three years." Itachi wagged his finger mockingly at Sasuke. Smirking, he snapped his fingers and two more figures appeared. The first was Kisame, Sasuke had expected that. The second was another ninja, dressed in the Akatsuki uniform, also with a sword crossed over their back – it was not a Claymore like Kisame's, but rather the long, slender blade of a katana. Seeing Sasuke's obvious confusion, as well as Naruto and the others looking curiously at the third member of his team, Itachi motioned to the third person. The person slowly walked over to Itachi, almost as if they were afraid, and slowly unzipped their Akatsuki jacket, removed the sleeve from one arm and then removed their straw traveling hat. Sasuke, Naruto, Kakashi, Hinata, Tsunade and Jiraiya all gasped in surprise to see an 18-year-old Sakura press against Itachi's back, then close her eyes as his hand came up to play with her petal- colored braid. As she wrapped her arms loosely around Itachi's neck, Sasuke growled. "What did you do to Sakura!" he demanded, as the others fell back into fighting stances. His eyes began to change color, from onyx to bright red, with the trademark extra pupils of the Sharingan. Kakashi raised his headband up to reveal a Sharingan of his own. Sakura moved away from Itachi and flashed a sardonic grin. "So you're Copy Ninja Hatake Kakashi... and you must be..." she turned to Sasuke. "... Uchiha Sasuke, Itachi-sensei's younger brother, correct?" Sasuke gaped in disbelief, as did the other ninja. What had happened to Sakura? Why was she acting like she had no past relations to them? Naruto ran up and stopped next to Sasuke. Sasuke glared at Itachi. "What is all this Itachi-sensei crap about?" he said, looking straight into his brother's Sharingan eyes. The corners of Itachi's mouth curved into a hint of a sinister smile. "Just what it sounds like. I have trained this little blossom myself, and now she has become a powerful... not to mention curvatious..." (here Sasuke turned red) "... and attractive young kunoichi," he finished, waiting to see the Leaf ninja's reactions. Sasuke just glared, but was very red in the face, and Kakashi narrowed his eyes at Sakura, trying to understand what had happened to her. Hinata looked sadly at Sakura, her first real friend, then glanced at Naruto; Jiraiya was trying his best to look serious, but was failing badly due to the fact that he took one look at Sakura and her body-hugging uniform under her unzipped cloak and spouted a nosebleed, try as he might to stop it. Tsunade looked at the once-innocent girl she had known, who had done so much for the Leaf Village at one time, and asked herself why she had to send Sakura on that last mission- then looked at Jiraiya with his bleeding nose and rolled her eyes. Naruto simply stared helplessly at the powerful kunoichi in front of him and took a step forward. Sakura shot her gaze over to him.

"Sakura-chan, what happened? Just tell us, and we'll try to figure out how to get the villagers to understand... we just want you to come back home... Sakura-chan, please..." he pleaded, looking at her with his beautiful cerulean eyes. Sakura looked at him coldly with empty emerald eyes. "... You are the Hokage, right?" she said, looking him up and down. His coat, which had once been worn by the Yondaime, made him look uncannily like the Fourth Hokage himself- however, nothing stirred in Sakura's mind. Then suddenly she licked her lips. "You are the one with that damn Kyubi sealed inside of you, are you not? I don't know who you think you are and how the hell you know me..." Naruto looked at Sakura, shocked. Her emerald eyes had suddenly come to life, dancing like bottle-green fire and looking hungrily at Naruto, a sadistic smirk on her icy visage. "... but one thing is for certain..." she unsheathed her katana and threw off her Akatsuki jacket, revealing the slightly muscular, slender body of a fighter. "... I will defeat you and I will savor every moment of your demise!"

Sekhimet: O.O Sakura's scary, isn't she? I was trying to make her stronger and less helpless than she is in the manga, but still with a hint of the old Sakura- remember Itachi had to save her from Gaara? Anyway, the next chapter is going to be really violent, and it will be my first time writing a battle scene, so please don't hurt me... I won't nag you to review like some authors do, but a review would be greatly appreciated. As for SasuSaku fans, don't worry, your time will come! The same for ItaSaku fans... but not in the next chapter! Maybe the one after that... WARNING: There will also be slight NaruSaku next chappie! thunder booms Also, any ideas would be appreciated! I'll try to put as many of them as possible into the story, but I can't promise anything...