"You know, I'm a big girl, I can stand without your help," Sakura grumbled as she was being carried through the forest on Itachi's back. His face remained a stoic mask, looking forward. She rolled her eyes, of course, he was 'too cool' to answer. She remained silent for several minuets more, her eyes glued to the canopy of trees. They must have been traveling for 3 hours now, and not once had anyone mentioned where they were going, or what the mission was even about. For a moment, she let her eyes gaze upon the side of his face. He was a very attractive man…wait, what? She shook her head, ridding her mind of those sort of thoughts.

Kisame, to Itachi's and Sakura's right, observed the pink-haired woman's staring and that bashful look playing on her face. It was like this with every girl that came into contact with Itachi. It always started with realizing how 'attractive' he was…it actually got very annoying after a while. But, what did he care? That pretty kunoichi would be dead in a matter of months…

"So what is the mission about?" She asked, facing herself to speak to Itachi. But it was Kisame who answered.

"Sorry, Akatsuki matter," he smirked, loving to be the bearer of bad news. Sakura rolled her eyes for what felt like the hundredth time that day, and swallowed a sigh. Who would she tell? She decided not to argue the matter, convincing herself she didn't care. What she did care about was why she was being carried around on Itachi's back.

"Seriously, put me down!" Kisame looked at her from the corner of his eyes, thinking how unwise it was for her to be ordering Itachi around. That was a good way to get yourself killed. Surprisingly, he didn't respond…at all! The shark man's eyes narrowed, engaged in thought. 'He must be planning something.'

An hour later they had stopped by a boulder for a quick break and to eat lunch. Itachi stood, nodding towards Kisame, silently telling his partner to watch over Sakura. Kisame was sitting a couple of feet from the kunoichi, chowing down, but keeping a close eye on her. Sakura had watched Itachi leave with three canteens, so she assumed he was looking for a stream to fill them in. Perfect, she had a chance to escape. Though he was strong, Sakura would rather take her chances with Kisame than Itachi.

The pink-haired girl pretended to 'accidentily' brush her leg against an extremely sharp rock. Blood began oozing from the deep wound. She smirked, knowing when she began molding chakra he would simply think she was healing herself. In reality, she was molding a chakra scalpel. She put on an innocent, and what she hoped to be frustrated face and glanced over at Kisame, scalpel completely formed.

"Kisame, could you help me? The wound doesn't seem to be healing and I'm loosing a lot of blood." The shark man grumbled as he was forced to stand up and see what was wrong. He crouched by her side, waiting for her to show him the wound.

With the swiftness of a skilled medic nin, she used the scalpel to successfully slice his leg muscles. His face contorted in pain, and he collapsed on his butt. She smirked, seeing he was now immobile, and darted off into the thick forest. She had to act quickly, there would be no stopping Itachi. Her eyes were wide with fear as she flew through the trees and began suppressing her chakra. She felt the warm, sticky blood continue its trek down her calf and drying on her ankle.

Shit!

She suddenly felt Itachi's chakra closing in on her. She pushed herself to run even faster, though, she was already pushing herself to her limit. Her calves now burned, and her chest was sore as her heart began rapidly beating to supply her body with power. She was now desperate, frantic, and in a panic. She needed to get away. She couldn't go back, she wouldn't go back! She would take a kunai to her throat, but this time, she would succeed. She couldn't allow the Akatsuki to get a hold of the Kyubi chakra within her. Who knew what they would do this it!

"She!" She cried as her Akatsuki cote got caught on a passing branch. She paused, taking the time to untangle the material. The smallest shred of cloth could lead them right to her. She continued running like hell when she overcame the small issue. It now just phased her that she couldn't sense Itachi's chakra anymore. 'Just keep going,' she willed herself. She swallowed a startled scream as she stopped dead in her tracks. Itachi was on the tree directly ahead of her, boring his crimson eyes into her own. She turned to run the other direction, feeling extremely winded and helpless. But before she could take a step, the eldest Uchiha was suddenly right behind her. She felt her eyes water with the tears of failure, and she took a nervous step backwards. His hand shot out and grabbed her wrist.

"Let go!" She defied. His grip tightened as he pulled her closer until they were face to face, their noses nearly touching. His eyes were blazing with what could be fury if he let it take control, and his lips were in a frown.

"That was unwise," he said, his breath puffing onto her face. She thickly swallowed, her eyes quivering. She knew she was in deep shit. How could she possibly get herself out of this? Then it finally hit her; she couldn't. This was Uchiha Itachi, no way could she escape from him. She bit her lip, mentally giving in, but still struggling to pull out of his painful grip.

Suddenly, his hand removed itself from her now bruised wrist, only to spin her around and pin her arms above her head with one of his hands, while the other one crushed her windpipe as he pressed her against the trunk of the tree. She winced and rasped as she struggled to breathe. With every passing second he squeezed even tighter, slowly calming her into submission. Her eyes glazed over as her breathing shallowed. Her lidded eyes made an effort to look at him, waiting to see what the man would do next.

"Did you think that you could escape?" His tone was skeptical as his eyes flickered and seemingly mocked her. She tried swallowing, but found it impossible with his hand crushing her neck. She closed her eyes to hopefully shut him out. "Now you have to fix my partner." He threw her over his shoulder and darted back towards where Kisame was sitting, and gasping in pain. Sakura, still semi-conscious, watched as the Earth passed beneath her. She was still in a daze, but the blood was now slowly returning to her brain.

Then Itachi finally landed by the boulder and simply let her fall to the ground.

"Heal him so we can leave," he ordered. His voice was that same tone as it always was, but it made Sakura wince. He glared at her, daring her to say no. She uprighted herself into a sitting position, extremely dizzy, and noticed Kisame's cold glare as he sat there, biting back pain. She considered leaving him like that, but she felt Itachi's eyes at the back of her head, and she scooted towards him. Molding chakra into her hands, she pressed her palms against his severed muscles. Both men observed the green glow emitting from her. Kisame felt his muscles repairing, wincing only slightly. Minuets later he was standing and feeling much better, though his legs were still a bit sore.

Sakura sat there pathetically, refusing to look up. Itachi roughly jerked her up by the shoulder, carelessly put her on his back, and once again they were off. Sakura's hair obscured her vision, so she just simply closed her eyes, feeling completely depressed. She now absolutely hated Itachi. She opened her eyes and glanced at this side of his face. But, damn, she still thought he was hot…

Still down and feeling pathetic, the emerald-eyed girl heaved a sigh of relief as Itachi and Kisame both landed in a large, grassy clearing. She gazed around from her place on the Uchiha's back. It was impossible to tell which country they are from all the common plants and animals. The crimson eyed man glanced coldly at her over his shoulder. "Get off," he said. She rose an eyebrow, but couldn't get in a word as he released his hold on her, making her body slide of his back. Turning to his partner, Itachi said "Kisame, watch her." Almost as an afterthought, he added, "and don't get tricked this time." The shark man scowled and folded his arms, shooting Sakura a death glare.

Before she could as him what was going on, he disappeared in an instant. In a daze, Sakura stood in the clearing, not even bothering to brush back the locks of hair flowing before her face. She didn't get it! What was it about him that intrigued her so? He acted so coldly and nonchalant towards her, a thing that deeply troubled her, but the more attention he lacked, the more she was pulled towards him. She could just sit there all day, staring into his eyes, trying to figure him out. "Kunoichi!" She tensed and glanced over to Kisame who had called her. He didn't look too happy. "That jutsu you used on me caused a great deal pain." Not thinking, she rose an eyebrow and turned her entire body towards him.

"So?" She saw his rage flare, but didn't think that it was because of her.

"So," he continued through clenched teeth. "I'm pissed." Her pupils shrunk from fear. What was he going to do to her? Taking a step back, though he didn't advance towards her, she tried making amends with him.

"Sorry." Honestly, she wasn't sorry in the least, but she didn't want to be killed by him. She winced as Kisame gave her a wicked smile, revealing a mouth full of razor sharp teeth.

"Not as sorry as you're going to be, Kunoichi." she gulped, taking another step back. That look he was giving her made her blood run cold…

Sorry, I haven't updated in sooooo long! I don't have an excuse besides the fact that I forgot. People, if you noticed I haven't updated for a long time, just send me a private message to remind me. Well, REVIEW!