A/N: Wow..Thanks so much for the reviews! Thanks to them I have a GREAT idea on how the story is going to progress..i'm not going to give any spoilers. Hehe!

Warnings: Sorry for not making that clearing in the last chapter, but Itachi and Sakura have reached the headquarters for the Akatsuki Nine, well at least in the area. They all decided to meet there, but they didn't know Itachi was going to bring Sakura with him, she was resting in his room last chapter

Also, sorry I know in the earlier chapters I said that all the Akatsuki were alive in my story, but I decided to just leave Sasori dead. So the Akatsuki currently has Seven Members, since Kisame and Sasori are dead.

IMPORTANT: I decided to make up who the leader is. I have many beliefs on who he could actually be with plenty of proof to back it up. But who he is in this story has nothing to do with who I think he is in the anime/manga. So, I'm not going to spoil who he is in this story, but you'll soon find out!

Disclaimer: If I owned the Naruto series, Itachi would have a hella good reason for killing the whole Uchiha clan other than to test his "capacity". Sorta like the reason I gave in the last chapter, but more in depth. I like Itachi…but not more than Sasuke! MEEP!

Behind The Smile

Chapter 18: Sakura-sama?

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Uchiha Itachi stood in the forest at the break of dawn. The green leaves attached the the many tall trees were still dripping from the nights non-merciless rain. His eyes were closed, but as usual, his senses sharp as ever. He was very aware of the presence to his right, watching him intently. After a moment Itachi's eyes opened and sharply traveled to the figure beside him, signaling the figure to speak.

"The bodies are no longer there, Itachi. Konoha ANBU must have all ready come. You best be on you guard." The holder of the voice was Zetsu. His childlike appearance not matching his deep voice.

(Akatsuki Member Nine: Zetsu, Ring:Kai(boar))

"Hn." Was all Itachi said as he closed his eyes again. Zetsu still didn't retire from his side.

"That woman..the one you have up in you room. She better not be a hindrance to our mission. If so I'll kill her myself-." Zetsu let out a startled, yet constricted gasp when a mysterious hand shot out, cutting off his oxygen supply. The Venus flytrap around his head did nothing to stop Itachi's hand.

"Do not touch her." Itachi camly said with his emotionless voice, he need not change his voice to get the point across. Zetsu glared at the calmer Akatsuki member that was cutting off his oxygen supply. Itachi released his grasp. After taking a second to regain his breath, Zetsu glared at Itachi, watching his back as he walked away.

..ooo000ooo000ooo..

Itachi, still keeping up his emotional facade, made his way over to his room, where Sakura had been resting. As he walked down the hallway, nearing his room, he observed that there was no sound coming from inside. He didn't need to open the door as he sensed no one inside. He was easily able to detect Sakura's chakra. He didn't know why though.

Itachi still walked into his room, confirming the fact that Sakura was gone. Itachi contemplated for a moment. It was no order for him to bring Sakura here. He was about to walk out the room and look for her, until another figure appeared in his room.

"Itachi." Itachi looked into the eyes of Kakuzu, an Akatsuki member he was not all too familiar with. The last few days when the whole Akatsuki came together again, was the first time he had seen other than Kisame for years.

(Akatsuki Member Six: Kakuzu, Ring: Hoku(North))

"Zetsu and Deidara have been sent to capture the Kyuubi's jinchuuriki, something you surprisingly failed at. Zetsu has also found the whereabouts of your brother.." Kakuzu kept his eyes trained on Itachi, looking for any sort of reaction, which he did not get. Itachi's eyes stared straight into his, unlinking.

"Kakuzu-san, do you know where she is?" Itachi asked. Kakuzu almost forgot how well-manered Itachi was, always using "san" at the end of someone's name. Nonetheless, he knew who Itachi was referring to.

"Ah..the woman. Why did you bring her here, Itachi? I know she's from Konoha, with those other shinobi. Why did you not kill her?"

Itachi did not answer. Kakuzu laughed.

"Don't tell me you have a heart Itachi…your not known to lust after woman either..but she is rather a very pleasing sight. She's got a temper on her as well."

"You know where she is?" Itachi stated this more than asked. He assumed with the last statement that Kakuzu knew exactly where she was.

"The leader has called for her presence." Itachi's eyes snapped to the Akatsuki member, he said nothing, but anyone could see the change in his stature and stare. Kakuzu had his attention.

"Don't tell me you didn't notice the resemblance, Itachi. They must be of the same clan… he had asked for your presence as well. This is what I have been sent here to inform you." With that Kakuzu disappeared.

Itachi disappeared right after him.

..ooo000ooo000ooo..

Sasuke was literally flying through the forest. His body was screaming at him for rest, but those unimportant sensations were pushed to the back of his head, something he learned to do long ago. Something he was not able to do the same with were the rage of jealousy and anger coursing through his veins, swelling up inside of him. It was something he did not understand though. Jealousy? For what? Sakura? The rage consuming him prevented Sasuke from scoffing at his thoughts.

"Itachi! You will die, I swear it!" He hissed under his breath. This day finally came, after a great number of years. He never counted them. To Sasuke, it seemed like an eternity. One of great suffering and agony. It was all going to end on this day. That thought made him go even faster.

..ooo000ooo000ooo..

Kakashi was still traveling through the forest with Naruto and Pakkun, following Sasuke's trail, knowing it would lead them to Sakura. Kakashi took a worried glance back to Naruto, who was being carried on his back. His eyes were slightly opened, but his cerulean eyes seemed unfocused, they had no light in them.

Naruto's wounds would usually be healed right now, due to the Kyuubi's chakra. That was another clue that lead Kakashi to believe that something was wrong with the Kyuubi, if it was even in Naruto. But Kakashi was almost positive that the Kyuubi was still in Naruto, he didn't know why, but he didn't know why not either. But then, that lead to another thing that confused the jounin. Kakashi knew all about the Akatsuki's goal to obtain all the Biju's. A technique which reverses the Biju's transformation, but in order to completely take out the Biju from the Jinchuuriku, it required a three-day long technique that usually killed the jinchuuriku.

Kakashi assumed that Itachi was the one who reversed the Kyuubi's transformation, but had he found a way to extract the Kyuubi without killing Naruto? If so, then why? Why did he leave Naruto alive, including all the Konoha shinobi?

"Kakashi, at this rate, it'll probably take another day before we reach Sasuke, or where he's headed." Pakkun's voice could be heard.

"Ok." Kakashi answered. His eyes were trained ahead of them.

"Kakashi-sensei.." Kakashi looked back to Naruto, who was about to mutter something else. But Pakkun opened his mouth as well.

"Kakashi!" That's all he needed to say, as his eyes snapped to the forest in front of them.

Two cloaked figures appeared in front of them, causing them to slow down to a halt.

"Hey, you with the silver hair, that's the Kyuubi's jinchuuriku, yeah?" Deidara was looking at the person on Kakashi's back.

"That's him." Zetsu agreed.

(Akatsuki Member Five: Deidara, Ring:Sei(Blue/Green))

..ooo000ooo000ooo..

(Akatsuki Member Nine: Zetsu, Ring:Kai(Boar/Gen))

" Let go of me!" Sakura yelled, as she struggled to break her arm free. It did nothing to help as the figure adorned in a black cloak carelessly dragged her along side him. They were traveling down a long, dimly lit, hallway. A huge door could be seen at the end. Sakura bought her free hand up and started pounding on his arm, she found it very hard to do as she was still exhausted.The figures free hand came out and grabbed Sakura's face, they stopped moving down the long hallway.

"Your quite the aggressive little flower aren't you?" His voice was teasing and seductive at the same time. It was then Sakura got a good look at him. He had blond hair that was seemingly brushed back. It barely reached down to the end of his neck. His black cloak was slightly unbuttoned, showing his toned, bare chest.

(Akatsuki Member Seven: Hidan, Ring: San(three))

His deep blue eyes traveled down, taking a good look at her body. He seemed to be undressing her with his eyes. Sakura's face grimaced into a look of disgust. Her face was still scrunched together by his free hand. With a sly grin on his face, Hidan's other hand removed itself from Sakura arm and slowly traveled to her face. He gently stroked her cheek. Sakura's eyes, glared into his, slightly moving away from his touch, but again her movements were limited due to his grasp on her face.

Hidan's grin grew deeper, as he looked into Sakura's eyes again. Her eyes were daring him to touch her further.

"Oh..you don't like this?" He stroked her cheek once more. "Or this?" His hand slowly traveled down her neck. Sakura's whole body tensed.

Sakura brought up her leg, kneeing the Akatsuki member in the gut. She brought up her hand and slapped him in the face. Sakura immediately took the opportunity to run. She was in no shape to fight, her body screamed at her for rest. She kept running, but found herself colliding with something hard. It was Hidan's body.

His hand immediately came out and slapped her across the face. Sakura's head moved a full one hundred-eighty degrees, from the impact of the blow. Her pink hair fell messily over her face. Her lip had been busted from a simple slap. Sakura's emerald orbs, glared up at the figure, her hair still covering most of her face. He grabbed her face again, letting his face inch closer.

"Do that again, and I can't guarantee you'll have that beautiful face any longer." Disgusted,Sakura spit in his face. She found herself consumed with pain as she was punched in the gut. She felt the blood start to drip as her wound reopened yet again. Sakura had not time to react or rest, as Hidan grabbed her by the arm and dragged her through the door. Sakura squeezed her eyes shut in pain.

Sakura opened her eyes, sensing that they were in a very huge room.It was cold.But it was dark, even more dimly lit than the hallway. The torches on various parts of the walls provided little light. Sakura looked around, noticing another cloaked figure standing to the side. Hidan still dragged her into the middle of the room. In front of them, were two sets of two-step stairs. She saw yet another cloaked figure walking towards them. A deep voice rang throughout the room.

"So it is true..It's good to see you again..Sakura-sama." Surprised, Sakura looked to the figure a few yards away. As he stepped into the light, Sakura's eyes widened.

..ooo000ooo000ooo..

Pakkun stood next to Naruto, who was lying on the ground. The small dog had a troubled look on his face, as he turned his head to look at Kakashi, who was fighting the two Akatsuki by himself.

"Torigato Nendo!"

"Torigato Nendo!"

Kakashi and Deidara moved their hands around in a complicated motion, creating clay and infusing chakra into it at the same time. In a matter of seconds, a bird was created on both sides. They clay-molded figures flew into eachother exploding upon impact.

Kakashi's sharingan eye caught the movement of a tree behind him. He flipped to the side, managing to dodge a powerful swing by the thorned tree branch. Zetsu merged out of the tree, and stood next to Deidara.

Kakashi was breathing a little harder than usual. They had been in battle for quite some time now, he had been managing to keep up with them. But not for long.

"So you're the Copy Ninja Kakashi. We've heard about you.."Deidara looked to Kakashi's left eye. He smirked. "Ah..I see. That eye of yours, it's just like Itachi's.Yeah? You've kept up with us this long, how about this?"

Kakashi looked behind him to see a claymold in the form of a snake. He had no time to escape as the snake wrapped itself around him tightly. His eyes widened.

"Bye Bye Kakashi." Deidara snapped his fingers, and the snake immediately exploded. Deidara smirked, waiting for the smoke to subside. When it did, all that was littered across the ground were splinters of wood.

"A replacement technique!Seriously?" Deidara sensed a small amount of chakra behind him, and spun around to see a clay molded snake, jumping towards him. It exploded before making contact with him, only allowing the Akatsuki member to guard against it. The explosion singed his arm a little bit.

"Kuso! That hurt! You've done it now, Kakashi!" Deidara and Zetsu both sprinted towards Kakashi. Kakashi ducked to avoid getting his head bit off by Zetzu's flytrap. He quickly took out a kunai and brought it up to meet Deidara's kunai. Kakashi wasn't able to dodge the venus flytrap-like extensions from Zetsu. They were used more like bats, as they collided with Kakashi. Sending him flying into a tree.

Pakkun watched anxiously as Kakashi was sent flying into the tree. He watched as Kakashi copied more of the Akatsuki members techniques, using it against them. But Kakashi would not last long. He was getting more and more hurt, not dealing very much damage to them. Pakkun's eyes darted to Naruto when he saw him twitch out of the corner of his eye.

All of a sudden blue chakra burst all around Naruto. He twitched more, finally turning onto his stomach. He brought his hands underneath him, and slowly pushed himself off the ground. His eyes were still unfocused, but they were staring in the direction of Kakashi and Deidara.

"Where is his chakra coming from?" Pakkun exclaimed to himself. This was not the Kyuubi's chakra. But then, where was it coming from? Naruto?

Kakashi was down on one knee, breathing heavily and eyeing Deidara. The Akatsuki member was about to make some handseals until he sensed a huge amount of chakra.

Kakashi's head snapped into the direction where he left Pakkun and Naruto. The source where the chakra was coming from. His eyes widened as he saw Naruto standing up, looking in their direction.

"What..is this?" The silver haired jounin muttered.

..ooo000ooo000ooo..

Sakura looked straight into emerald orbs. Most of his hair hung loosely around his face, cut to rest slightly above his chin. The rest of hisemerald hair was held together in a tight ponytail, the hair reaching to his lower back.

Flashback

Euphoria is what it looked like. Beautiful forest, surrounded a hidden sanctuary. A hidden Village, it's whereabouts not known to anyone, but the people which resided in it. Waterfalls provided a fresh supply of water, streams glistened in the sunlight as fish flopped in and out of its depths. Animals scurried everywhere, part of the Nature. Part of this beautiful haven. It was only a part of something greater, something important, and something hidden.

End Flashback

Flashback

It was night time, but the moon wasn't the only thing that lit up the sky. Flames surrounded the whole area.

A scared little girl with pink hair and green eyes was thrown to the stone paved ground. Tears were running down her face and her mouth opened in constant screams as she watched countless people move in front of her, trying to protect her.

She was covered in blood, but it wasn't her blood.

In a spilt second it was all gone., engulfed in endless flames. Among those flames a face appeared in Sakura's mind.Pink eyes mocked her, laughing amongst the flames.

End Flashback

With those images came a name, and a sense of familiarity with it.

"…K-Koizumi-kun."

"Oh..So you remember me Sakura-sama?"

Sama?

Sakura didn't know what those flashbacks were, or how this man knew her name, or how she even knew his. It just strained her head even more when she tried to connect it all.

"Judging by the look in your eyes you don't remember..Has it really been so long as for you to forget?"


Thanks for reading! I hope that wasn't confusing! Hopefully the next chapter will make it all clear. I don't know if i should push this chapter forward, as in make another chapter, and put it before this one. I'm not sure if i put enough Ita/Saku. Because after this chapter, it doesn't leave much time for that. So i dunno. Depends on what you readers think of this chapter!