Author's Notes: An ItaSaku? I couldn't resist. After reading all of the manga chapters available in Japan and watching a good portion of the anime, I was fairly surprised to find that I didn't even know what a Fanfiction was. After reading a few, I came across the wonderful, wonderful world of ItaSaku. And for those of you who haven't heard of that pairing yet, I'd like to introduce you, because it is my hope that it will capture many of your hours the same as it has mine.
Since this is technically my first story, I want you to know that the crappyness of it shouldn't make ItaSaku any less great. If you want to read a real ItaSaku, leafygirl has a really great one, called "Loophole".
Summary/Preview: When missions go wrong and people turn suicidal, Sakura needs to know why. She needs to find a purpose; and for some reason, she has a feeling the answer lies within Uchiha Itachi. ItaSaku, rated for language.
Disclaimer: Unfortunately, hell no.
They hadn't had time to prepare. People were dead now, and there was nothing they could do. Tsunade had thought their plan to be flawless, but she was wrong. Kakashi was wrong, everybody was wrong. Too many of Konoha's good Shinobi had rushed in too soon.
Sakura could hardly hear the orders being called over the roars of pain and the clashing of kunai. War zones had never been her thing, and she knew that now.
Naruto was busy trying his luck with one of the enemy strategists, and Kakashi was leading a group of Konoha's top Nin. Sakura knew from the moment they were all assigned this mission that they were bringing death upon themselves, but something inside herself told her not to believe it.
This was real. Dozens of people were dying by the minute, and all for the sake of power. Tsunade had ordered them to track the Akatsuki and take them on for everything the village was worth; It was becoming too dangerous to have them running around wherever they pleased, taking some of Konoha's talented ones when the opportunity arose.
So here they all were. Being slaughtered.
She knew Kakashi was yelling at her, knew there was someone behind her. But she didn't care anymore. She didn't care about anything, because there was nothing left to live for.
Sakura could see Kakashi's lips moving as he yelled for Naruto, who was closest. But as the blonde's head turned, a kunai was instantly plunged into his stomach, forcing him to resume fighting. He shot Kakashi a mixture of fear and apology. What a strange combination, indeed.
Sakura knew nobody was coming to save her from this fairy tale from hell. She knew what was going on. She knew, but something inside her just didn't click. She wanted to move, to get out of the way before the heavy blow waiting behind her connected to the back of her head. But she couldn't. It was like she was frozen in time, defenseless and vulnerable to soon becoming non-existent. Noo, she didn't want to die! She wanted to move, she wanted to move!
And then the darkness came, so suddenly she hadn't even sensed it.
The Copy Nin knew that Naruto couldn't get to Sakura in time, perhaps he had known even before he ordered it. But it was a wish…an ungranted, weak little wish. Wishes weren't a part of war.
He thrust his fist into the throat of the man he was fighting, sending him to his knees choking. Trying to get to Sakura away wouldn't be easy; she was too far in the distance for him to even get a good glimpse of her. She was a Medic Nin, the plan was to keep her hidden. Maybe the plan worked a little bit too well. Maybe that was another flaw in their so-called perfect plan.
He hated when things were like this. He hated the fact that the number of people he had lost would soon be running into the double digits. He hated a lot of things right now, but there was nothing he could do.
Kakashi knew the day would come when he would be outmatched again, just as it had come many times before. When Kakashi was too weak to save his teammates, the enemy surpassed him. When his students had aspired to become stronger, two of the three ventured past his limit. The list could go on, but he didn't feel like remembering something as bitter as failure.
Failure sent an odd taste into his mouth, a taste he hoped he wouldn't ever have to come across again. Maybe he should die, and end it all here. Maybe.
The blonde was lost within the battle. Too many people were targeting him, probably hoping to at least capture the Kyuubi if they weren't able to beat the rest.
Kakashi was frozen, and Sakura was down for the count, unconscious somewhere. He could see her, laying on the ground face first. She looked safe, but the number of enemies around her absolutely terrified him. There were more after her than even himself. How was that possible? How many members did the Akatsuki have?
As the color drained from his face, something told him that he just didn't feel like fighting anymore. He couldn't find the will to help Sakura, not even the will to someday become Hokage. This was suicide, it was. He couldn't beat the odds, and for the first time in his life, he just wanted to give up.
Sakura felt blind. She knew people were closing in all around her, and the amount of chakra and radiated anger she felt told her that these people were not her friends. But she couldn't see.
It was…different. She felt awake but knew she wasn't. And then finally, she could see. She could make out the pristine white outline of people that were still fighting, but everything still seemed so dark. If she was unconscious, was this a dream?
Nothing made sense, and yet it did. This could be a Genjutsu; although she wasn't sure it was possible to put somebody that was already out cold into a series of illusionary techniques. Then again…if somebody was using the Sharingan, or another Kekkei Genkai…
Damn. There were way too many variables for anything to be known for sure.
And suddenly the ghostly looking people disappeared. The darkness was still there, and Sakura was positive she was still standing. Then she saw blood, little crimson droplets hailing down from the dark, seamless sky. The blood made a trail, and the pink haired Kunoichi, for some reason, knew she was supposed to follow it.
Kakashi watched in shock. Naruto was quitting, and it was already too late for Sakura. Nothing seemed right with the world…like it wasn't real. Like it hadn't been what fate had planned.
But it must have been.
And then, just as Kakashi managed to catch a glimpse of a dark ponytail, the darkness overpowered him too.
Sakura froze when the trail came to an end. There was another being there, with hair as dark as the rest of the crazy world, and a long cloak, decorated with menacing red clouds. When he looked at her, Sakura could have fainted.
That was Sasuke's face.
But…no. Sasuke did not possess the Mangekyou. Did he?
The cold expression on his face soon turned to a satisfied smirk. That was a trademark Uchiha smirk, Sakura was sure of it. But maybe it wasn't Sasuke's. Maybe…just maybe, this could be something more.
"Sasuke?" She choked anyway.
The smirk on the man's face remained indifferent, but something in his eyes changed as if to tell her the answer. No.
(A/N) Darn… I had intended for this first chapter to be much, much longer, but I suppose I've worn my brain out too much this week. Maybe I'll try again for a second chapter, tomorrow.
Please review anyway, as it would really help me out.
Thanks!
-Love Kad