Warnings ( IMPORTANT): The Akatsuki, in my fanfiction, have obtained all the Biju's, except for The Kyuubi ( Nine Tails Fox), and Hachibi ( Eight Tails Snake). Which belong to Naruto and a mysterious peron, to which you will find out soon.. These two Biju's are the most powerful, mainly due to the amount of Tails they have, which is linked to the amount of ultimate chakra they posses.
Disclaimer: If I owned the Naruto series, Sakura would become a kickass kunochi who could give Sasuke what's been comin to him! And she wouldn't be as wimpy and clingy either ..but there it is.
Please Enjoy!
Behind The Smile
Chapter 17: Kisame Falls. Roar Itachi, Roar.
(o)
(o)
(o)
"STOP IT!" Sakura's scream tore from inside her, the bellow echoing loudly throughout the forest clrearing. The crystalline drops of water were traveling down her face in a constant stream; her eyes squeezed shut as she screamed those words with every fiber of her being.
Everything grew silent as eyes traveled to her pitiful form on the ground, her shaking arms the only foundation for support; her cherry blink blossom hair slighly swaying in the wind as her emerald orbs silently pleaded. The cold Sharingan eyes continued to look at her, even as he continued to hold Naruto in an oxygen-destroying grasp; the said person's fists were cleanched tightly onto his arm.
"..Sakura-chan.." Naruto managed to mutter, his cerulean eyes dulling with each moment that passed by, his face continuing to hold that contorted look of pain as he struggled to stay conscious, the oxygen long since gone from his body.
"Please.." Sakura lowered her head, her whole body shaking from the swell of emotions. Tears endlessly dropped to the ground below her.
A good look around the clearing showed the expanze of bodies lying amidst it; the Konoha shinobi, her comrades, were all scattered throughout the forest floor, unconcious if not dead, and suffering from nearly if not fatal injuries. They had been attacked by a very powerful entity.
" Please!" Her head shot up as she screamed her plea once again. It was directed at Uchiha Itachi.
Flashback
All eyes were trained to the middle of the clearing, serious but prepared gazes awaiting the subsiding of the large cloud of smoke. The last few bits of rocks and debree had finally stopped crumbilng to a still, only the sizzling of the dust continuing to fall sounded the clearing.
Her emerald orbs were trained to the middle of the clearing as well, both her hands still planted in the ground. The slight humming of her pink eyes, though hardly audible, was apparent as she kept them reinforced, a sense of foreboding sweeping over her. She wouldn't waste one moment uncautious.
Her feeling was right as all eyes caught sight of a figure jetting out before the smoke had a time to clear, and the finaly dissapearing of the smoke provided no image to the large Akatsuki member once there. Their only warning was bloody body coming towards them at a fast pace. Where Kisame should have been dead, he was not. At least not at the moment. Its seemed apparent that he had planned to take as many of the Konoha shinobi with him as he could.
Sakura shot up as she saw this, letting out a small grunt of pain as she did so; her hand were already eniciated in a combo of seals.
"Shikamaru-san! You have to hold him again!" Her worried eyes looked over to her exhausted comrade who had already been preforming the seals. His very low if nonexistent chakra supply made itself obvious as he seemed to struggle with such a simple task.
"Kage Kubi Shibari no Jutsu!" The shadow hand immediately shot out towards Kisame.
..ooo000ooo000ooo..
Naruto let out a hardly discernable grunt of pain as he met the ground, resultant of a swift kick from Itachi. Immediately the Akatsuki member was upon him, already in aim his powerful fist. In a swift dissapearance Naruto avoided this, reapearing a few feet away.
His deep cerulean eyes burned as we watched Itachi calmly walk towards him.
It seemed to have been in his plans to prolong the time, all the number one loud ninja was doing was avoiding Itachi's attacks. It was in dim hope that some form of the Kyuubi's chakra would come back to him. though it was by far unsuccesful, he could feel nothing. Even as he brought his hand up in a very familiar seal, bringing upwards and parellel to his face, there was nothing.
"The Kyuubi won't come, Naruto-san… " Naruto's eyes slightly squinted in speculation at Itachi, his wavering eyes holding the Akatsuki member's as he slowed to a halt, a few feets distance seperating them. "A technique, in which reduces and reverses the Kyuubi's transformation. It now just awaits an extraction that will happen once you are immobile, dead if necessary." Naruto let out a grunt of frustration as he eyed Itachi, his fists clenching even tighter.
"Why?" His first word was spoken slowly, with a deep and low rumbling tone. "What do you want with the Kyuubi?"
"The Akatsuki has been hunting down the tailed beasts of this country. There is a total of nice, and they posses the ulitmate chakra, increasingly more so with each tail they have." As always, his words flew out in a cool, monotone hum, his voice indifferent and unemotional. "We have obtained obtained seven of these beasts: Shukaku, Nibi, Sonbi, Yonbi, Gobi, Rokubi, and the Shichibi. We have yet to attain the remaining two, the Hachibi..and the Kyuubi."
"The Hachibi?" Naruto inquired. " Eight Tails?"
"One of the most powerful beasts, second to only the Kyuubi. But that hardly matters if the containers of these creatures are weak." He was referring to Naruto, and the other containers of the beasts before them, who could not use their powers to the full potential.
(Song: Orochimaru's song)
"The Hachibi, is a snake. Although it is not as powerful as the Kyuubi, it will be the most challenging one to capture, and the last. It is sealed in Orochimaru, although we do not know if he is aware of this, we have never seen him use it before, but it explains his ability to survive in the most unlikely of situations."
"Orochimaru.." Naruto muttered. Naruto found himself frozen trying to harvest all the information. He flashed back to all the encounters his team had with that man, if he could still be called one. And it also cleared up on thing that had still confused him to this day.
Flashback ( in a flashback )
"Rather than a ninja fight... shouldn't we call this a fight between monsters?" Kabuto analogized.
End Flashback( in a flashback)
Orochimaru and Naruto had been in battle, and Naruto was using his Kyuubi form. He hadn't thought deep into Kabuto's meaning of "monsters", but now everything was crystal clear. Even from the first time they met.
"But aren't you, yourself, stronger than him?" Naruto questioned.
"Orochimaru is afraid of me, he made the mistake of not killing me long ago, when he would have stood a chance. Though with the Hachibi, battle may prove to be difficult. We would rather not risk confrontation until we have the Biju's."
"How the hell," Naruto brought his cerulean eyes up once agian to meet Itachi's. "Do you plan on controlling all these beasts? You expect to do this with no mistake?" Itachi seemed to ignore Naruto's question as he in turn stated another.
"What is your decision, Naruto-san? Will you die trying to keep the Kyuubi, or will you surrender, and learn to live relying on your own power, as all other ninja do?
The Konoha Leaf's shinobi obscured his face from view, his body deathly still as his fists remained clenched.
(Song: Naruto: Rising Fighting Spirit)
"Everyone always tells me that.." Naruto muttered."Everyone always tells me that I'm not a true ninja, that I rely on the Kyuubi's power too much…that I have none of my own. They find ways to doubt me, even now…If it weren't for the Kyuubi, I would be dead right now… I wouldn't have ever made it this far.." Naruto brought his free hand up to his face, using the back of his hand to wipe the trickle of blood from this forehead.
"I don't believe that. I never will. My life has been changed by the Kyuubi, in more bad ways than I care to list. But I have learned to live with that, learn to use and control that power, facing the new challenges everyday, becoming stronger. This Kyuubi within me, is anything but a burden. Something that has become as vital to me as my heart. It has lent me it's power when I needed it the most, without me asking. Allowing me to help my friends… This..Beast within me..the Nine Tails.. is something that I will not give up! I will not run away…that, is my way of the ninja!"
Itachi closed his eyes. Grunting in amusement, and understanding.
"So be it."
..ooo000ooo000ooo..
Kisame seemed to be in berserker mode, stronger and faster than before. He easily broke out of Shikamaru's jutsu the moment the shadow hand wrapped around him.Letting out a curse, Shikamaru preformed another set of handseals, determined not to stop until he suceeded. It was either keep tyring, or wait to be attacked, wait to die.
"Chikuso!" Shikamaru cursed. He had failed again, and he had preformed hand seals again, though they were slightly different than before. The differences were clearly seen, and realized too late, when the jutsu's name was spoken and displayed.
"Tajuu Kagemane No Jutsu!" A shadow shot out from Shikamaru's feet, locking under Kisame. There was no wasy breakage from this one. And as it worked better there was also a secret behind this technique, a hindrance. It of course allows the user to manipulate the movements of the opponent, but when one party sustains damage, the other sustains that same damage as well. If one party dies, so does the other.
"Fool!" Kisame started, his deep voice bellowing to a nearly discernable sound.
"Nara Shikamaru! Don't you dare!" Ino screamed, pleading with her comrade.
As Shikamaru held his seal, Kisame's own hands were held up in that same sea, though it was clear and evident his struggle to break free. It was clear the strain being forced upon Shikamaru as she shook, more beads of sweat perspiring on his forehead.
"Ah..troublesome," He muttered, however in strain, under his breath. He then slightly glanced behind him to adress his comrade. In the distance it was seen that Kisame was forced to do the same. "You do know I plan to break contact as soon as it's a guaranteed hit, right?" The way this lie was spoken brought into speculation its truth, made it highly beleivable. He would indeed try his best to live, but if it by any chance greatened the possiblitly of Kisame escaping he would not take it. He already knew that he would get caught in the explosion; the damage sustained depending on when and how he released his jutsu.
..ooo000ooo000ooo..
There was a small area amidst the surrounding forest to the clearing, its lenghts not being greatly disturbed the by numerous sounds occuring around it; sounds in which only reached it through echoes. It was past the foliage of recently broken trees and disturbed wildlife; covered in rock and debris that a familiar figure was found. Resting on his stomach, the recent screams and large echoes of explosion reached his ears, awaking him from his unconciousness. In his pre-wakening turnings, his face moved to the side, revealing his handsome profile, revealing him to be ANBU member, Tenshi.
More distant yells sounded his ears.
"Shikamaru you bastard! You don't have to do this!" (Chouji)
That last yell made Tenshi stir even more, and he groaned in pain.
"Sakura! Tell him to stop! Don't you dare use that technique Sakura! Don't kill Shikamaru!" (Ino)
The mention of Sakura invaded Tenshi's ears, causing him to open his eyes. Using his last bit of strength and will, the ANBU member pushed him self off of the ground, doing all he could to overpower the pain that tried to consume him. He managed to stand on his two feet, using the tree to keep his balance. Tenshi looked in the direction of the yelling, getting a clear view of Sakura, and what he assumed were the reinforcements.
Judging by the looks of things, it was a very bad situation. And it sounded like some fool was going to try and play hero. With determination, Tenshi tried his best to block out the pain, and sprinted towards the clearing.
He left a trail of blood behind him.
..ooo000ooo000ooo..
By now, everyone was yelling at Shikamaru. Telling him to stop. He looked over to Sakura who seemed to be silently panicking. They were yelling at her too, telling her not to use her technique. But he himself was yelling at her to use it. He couldn't hold Kisame for long. And Sakura was the only one who could finish him. Shikamaru tried again. He spoke calmly.
"Sakura! Do you want everybody to die? You know me, right? I'm not one who tries to play hero.. " He winced as he continued to hold Kisame in his jutsu, "You know that I wouldn't do this unless it was the only way, I'm not that stupid-"
"Baka! You are stupid! Look at what you're doing!" Ino interrupted him. By now, it looked like she was about to cry.
Shikamaru closed his eyes and opened them, once again looking at Sakura.
"Sakura, listen to me. This is the only way. We're not in any condition to fight any longer." They both looked around at the Shinobi around them.
Sakura's eyes watered as she looked at her comrades, they were all looking at her and Shikamaru as well, and they looked exhausted. Her head bowed down, her bangs obscuring emerald eyes from view. The chakra was begging to accumulate around her, slowly, but surely. She looked up to Shikamaru again, the accumulation of chakra had stopped, though her fists were glowing pink with stored with focused chakra. All she needed to do was slam her hands into the ground...It was then that she started to tremble.
"Sakura!" Despite all the yelling going on around them, she could still hear him.
"You-"
"Aaaagh!" Everyone's head snapped to Kisame as it seemed he was breaking out of Shikamaru's jutsu. Shikamaru was covered with sweat, and it looked as if he couldn't hold it any longer.
It all seemed quiet to Sakura, she couldn't hear anything anymore. She could hear her deep, desperate breaths, and hear her heart thumping in her chest. Her emerald eyes gazed hesitantly around at each one of her comrades, seeing their desperate looks, pleading with her not to do it. She looked to Kisame who was breaking free of Shikamaru's hold, he was begging to move. Her eyes then traveled back to look directly into Ino's eyes.
She felt the most guilty when looking into Ino's eyes. She knew that her friend had deep feelings for Shikamaru, though it seemed very unlikely she would ever admit it. And she had a feeling Shikamaru felt the same way. What he was doing now was an example of this.
"Sakura do it!" Shikamaru yelled. Sakura could barely hear him, she felt dizzy. Sakura had no time to think, with tears in her eyes, she took one last look at Ino. She must have seen the look in her eyes, her mouth immediately twisted with the word "no". Her body immediately started to run towards them.
With a cry, Sakura squeezed her eyes shut and slammed her fists into the ground.
The ground in front of Sakura split as the blinding light of the chakra traveled underneath, making it's way towards Kisame. Kisame saw this, and tried even harder. Shikamaru fell down to one knee. Only a few more seconds, a few more seconds and it would all be over. He watched as the blast grew closer and closer to Kisame.
This is it.. Shikamaru thought. Heh, he had wanted to live longer. ..though if that happy place did exist..he could be lazy all he wanted, and that wasn't so bad.
He eys lazily traveled to Kisame, percieving that blast about to consume him. Just as it looked like it did, he felt a weight collide with him, with enough force to bring him to the ground. He accidentally let go of the seal, releasing Kisame, who barely managed to dodge the explosion. He got nicked a bit. But as soon as Kisame dodged he was already advancing on them. He didn't have much time left to defeat them.
Shikamaru looked at Ino on top of him, realizing what just happened.
"Idiot!" He yelled to the blonde. Ino was crying, and holding on to him for dear life. Everything went in slow motion as Shikamaru saw Kisame advancing on them. Mustering all the strength he could, Shikamaru turned, his back facing Kisame. He was covering Ino, hoping to protect her. Kisame was on them, in the motion of swinging his sword.
Instead of feeling his skin tear apart, Shikamaru felt himself flying, as he was kicked very hard by someone. He turned his and Ino's bodies so that she landed on top of him. They skidded to a halt, Shikamaru's back breaking the fall.
Everybody's eyes widened as they saw someone standing where Ino and Shikamaru had just been. He was the one who kicked them out of the way, saving them from Kisame's sword. He set a few blow tags on Kisame, which blew up immediately. It was slowing him down.
The savior fell to one knee, trying to catch his breath. Even as blood dripped to the ground before him, his eyes were trained on Kisame..
Sakura's eyes widened. "Tenshi-san!"
The ANBU member raised his head, and looked over to Sakura who looked relieved and worried at the same time. He gave her a slight smile, masking his pain very well. He had no time to speak as he was forded to dodge another attack.
"Sakura-san! I can hold him off, try that technique once more!" Tenshi dodged another one of Kisame's swings.
"But you'll get caught in the explosion!"
"Don't worry.. I've also called for more reinforcements." He knew he would get caught in the explosion, but he didn't want to let Sakura know this. Another man playing hero. Sakura noticed the condition he was in, she didn't know who Tenshi could even stand.
"Trust me, Sakura-san.." Sakura wanted to believe his words, she convinced herself that she believed him. But deep down, she knew he was lying. " Promise me! Promise me your not gonna die!" Sakura still wanted to try anyway. Tenshi stopped and looked at Sakura, he gave her a slight smile.
"You can do it Sakura-san. I believe in you." Tenshi pulled out a few more blow tags, these one intending to stop Kisame long enough for Sakura to land a hit. Sakura did the long series of handseals, and looked at Tenshi before performing the last one. She noticed the look of pain on his face. Sakura closed her eyes and slammed her fists into the ground. As soon as she did so, Tenshi infused chakra into the blow tags, and put them on Kisame. They exploded, damaging Kisame more. Tenshi summoned up the last bit of his chakra, literally, and did a few handseals. He placed both of his hands on Kisame, and immediately a bright blue light surrounded both of them like a second layer of skin. It prevented both of them from moving.
Sakura noticed this and looked at Tenshi, her pink chakra eniciating it's explosion. It seemed to go in slow motion to Sakura, as she saw the bright pink light engulf them both. She made eye contact with Tenshi, who only smiled at her, nodding his head in a sort of goodbye.
Itachi and Naruto both paused at the big explosion they heard, snapping their heads in the direction where it came from. During their battle they had traveled far off from the rest of the group so they had no clue what was going on. But now, Itachi seemed to know. Naruto noticed Itachi's changed posture.
"Kisame!" With that hushed whisper, Itachi dissapeared, his destination very predictable. Naruto did the same, the two paying no heed to each other as they hurried towards the clearing.
The Konoha shinobi were forced to cover their eyes as the bright light blinded them. They could hear the tearing of the ground. When they re-opened their eyes, the Konoha shinobi waited, as the last rock crumbled to the ground, and the smoke cleared. They saw two bodies, lying on the ground, not very far apart from each other. They both looked lifeless, and were still singing from the heat of the explosion.
(Akatsuki Member Three: Kisame, Defeated.)
( Akatsuki Eight)
They watched in pity as they saw Sakura ran over to the ANBU member and immediately put her hands over him, trying to heal him with chakra she didn't have. Tears invaded her eyes as she looked upon Tenshi's face.
Everyone stopped as eyes caught sight of the figure standing at one of the entrances to the clearing. It was eerie in a sense as he just stood there, not speaking a word, his cold, emotionless demeanor still in place as his sharingan gaze transitioned to Kisame, the life stripped from his as he lay there, barron amidst the earth.
It had taken a short while before he slowly transitioned his gaze to the Konoha shinobi.
End Flashback
( Naruto: Sadness and Sorrow)
Itachi looked at Sakura, seeing how utterly miserable she looked. He could feel the life draining out of Naruto. Itachi looked away from Sakura and back to the person who he was choking. He could see the life in Naruto's eyes fading away, yet the guy was still looking at Sakura, as if he was saying sorry. He heard him mutter her name again, despite the lack of air he had.
"Sakura-chan.." Itachi squeezed Naruto's neck harder, watching as Naruto squeezed his eyes shut in pain.
"Please stop it!" Sakura screamed again. She had no energy to move, what-so ever. Despite that, using the sheer force of will, Sakura made her way over to Itachi. The whole time Itachi was watching her. Sakura grabbed onto Itachi pulling herself up, so she would be able to grab onto his arm. Itachi let her. She kept weakly pulling down on his arms, begging him to stop. Sakura knew this was exactly how she used to act all those years ago, the only thing she was good at was crying. But right now she didn't care, right now..it was all she could do.
Itachi looked at Naruto once more, he looked back at Sakura for a moment, observing her tear stained face. He could feel the desperation rolling off of her, as he looked straight into her emerald orbs.
" I was the one who killed him! It was my chakra that made the explosion! I killed Kisame! I did! Not my friends! Not Naruto! I killed him!" She yelled. Sakura found herself with no more energy. " Please…" Sakura muttered one last time, before dropping to her knees. Her hands were still tightly clasped in Itachi's cloak. Itachi closed his eyes.
After a moment, he let go of Naruto, letting him drop to the ground. Itachi just stood there with his eyes closed for a while, when he opened them, he just stared ahead at nothing in particular for a while. He watched as Sakura crawled to Naruto, calling his name out over and over again.
Itachi closed his eyes again, and almost smirked, as he turned and walked over to Kisame. He crouched down next to Kisame, seemingly saying a few words, before taking off the Akatsuki member's ring, and putting it on the same finger which his own ring was placed. He was not allowed to bring the body with him.
Sakura looked over to the remaining Akatsuki member, as he turned to leave. She slowly stood up, watching his back. "Wait." She called. When he did not stop, Sakura called out again. "Wait!" Itachi still did not stop. With a determined look, Sakura forced her weak body to run after him. Before heading out of the clearing, Sakura looked at the group of Shinobi, she remembered Tenshi saying that more people were coming, so they were safe till then. At the thought of Tenshi, Sakura grew saddened. Sakura looked at all her comrades. She couldn't just leave them like that.
She made her way over to Naruto, who was unconscious. She used a hand to brush the hair out of his face. Sakura even had to admit, that he had grown quite handsome over the years. Sakura found herself being overcome with tears.
"Naruto.." She muttered painfully. Along with his name came the tears, as they dropped onto his face. Sakura realized that she was crying again and forced herself to stop. With a deep shakey breath, she carefully dragged Naruto over to where to others were.
After a few minutes Sakura manged to put all the unconscious Shinobi in a line next to eachother. She had used the last bit of her chakra to they and partially heal some of their major wounds. She could spare no more. She looked at them all. They had come here to save her, got hurt because of her, almost died because of her. Everything that's happened, it was all because of her. Sakura was relieved at the realization that they were all still alive. They could have easily been killed, which brought her thoughts back to Itachi.
Sakura looked into the forest where Itachi had headed through. With a deep breath, she ran after him, hoping he hadn't disappeared. Luckily, he was just walking through, seemingly not in much of a hurry. By the time she caught up, they were already deep in the forest. Sakura was already tired, and she could feel her wounds reopening. Despite that, she pushed herself further, and made her way in front of him, standing her ground.
Itachi stopped looking straight into her eyes with no emotion. His eyes were cold, but not threatening. He seemed..sad. But he was very good at hiding it. He just looked at her without saying a word. Sakura put her hands on her knees and hunched over, trying to catch her breath. She sensed him ready to move again, but she put her hands up.
"WAIT." Sakura took one last breath and straightened up, looking Itachi in the eyes.
She closed her eyes, and slowly lowered down to her knees. She put her hands and the ground, and bowed, bringing her head all the way down to touch her hands.
"Thank you..You didn't have to stop. You could have killed them, you could have killed Naruto, you could have killed me….Thank you." She kept her head bowed down. She didn't want him to see her tears for the second time. But when Itachi said nothing, she looked up to him, noticing his expression was still the same. He had the same cold demeanor as Sasuke. She bowed again.
" Thank you!" She looked up to him again, more tears in her eyes, she couldn't express the deep gratitude she was feeling. She felt she had to repay him somehow. She bowed down again. "Thank you!" Her head was still bowed down, but she peeked up at Itachi. She watched as Itachi closed his eyes, almost smirking. He walked past her.
Sakura slowly got up, and looked at his retreating back. An image of Sasuke walking away entered her mind for a second, but she forced it out of her head. She ran after Itachi yet again. She wouldn't let this Uchiha get away. She continued walking next to him, trying to get him to make eye contact with her. Whether he objected or not, she didn't know, she didn't care. This was the first time the Sakura actually got a good look at his facial features. He was very handsome, resembling Sasuke very much.
She kept her eyes trained on him, finding herself not able to look away. When she saw his eyes turn towards her, she immediately cast her eyes downward, trying to play it off. She felt Itachi's eyes on her for a while, and she couldn't control that redness that was threatening to invade her cheeks. She let out the breath she had seemingly been holding when he looked away. Sakura's eyes traveled back to him, only to quickly turn away as his eyes traveled to her yet again. They seemed to play a sort of game back and forth.
She didn't feel any sense of danger when she was with this man, she wasn't scared, or uncomfortable. The pain she felt was pushed to the back of her mind, something she didn't feel like worrying about at the moment. Instead, she was overcome with the feeling of wanting to know this man. Not Sasuke's brother. Just Uchiha Itachi.
That day, she grew to respect him.
Sakura looked ahead, at where they were headed, the sun rising into the sky, peaking into the forest. She clasped her hands together behind her, in a thoughtfu, cheerful way, and continued walking. She found herself not able to contain a huge smile that graced her lips.
Thanks for Reading!
Just to let you know...this is giong to be a Sasu/Saku fic, but i'm just spicing it up with Ita/saku
I hope that wasn't confusing. If you have any questions, or w/e just ask. -
A character who hasn't been seen in the recent chapters will make an appearance next chapter!
