I do not own Naruto, only the plot! And if there are any grammatical errors, please forgive me. I didn't double check because I wanted to update as soon as possible, enjoy! – VZ
To say Sakura was angry was a severe understatement. She had long past that level of rage and was now teetering to the point of livid. For the second time this evening in less than two hours, Itachi Uchiha had appeared out of nowhere and whisked her off to yet another destination. It was vexing to say the least. He acted so high and mighty, as if he owned her. And that he must be made aware of where she was and whatever she planned to do.
First he had ordered Deidara to fly her away from his own partner and now he had grabbed her and jumped off the giant white bird with an irate expression on his face. As if she were the one causing troubles here! It's not like she wanted to be kidnapped by the red head. Well, in truth she didn't really object either. But what else should she do? Scream her head off for help? Then what? Sasori didn't seem threatening so she didn't respond accordingly.
An S-ranked criminal wanted to speak with her alone and had almost kissed her. As strange as it sounded, it was true. And the odd thing was, Sakura wasn't the least bit frightened. Okay, she was shocked by his words and actions however she never had to fear if he would hurt her. Yes, it was a possibility that she could get wounded or even killed. Yet she was not afraid. Because deep down, she had seen in those hazel depths, that he would not hurt her.
And now here she was, carried over Itachi's shoulder like she was a sack of potatoes.
Her eye twitched in irritation.
This was really pushing it.
As much as Sakura wanted to yell, kick and punch the man holding her, she couldn't. It's not like she didn't have the anger or strength to do so. No, she those two things in abundance.
It's because of the expression on his face.
He just looked so…pained.
As if he was in pure agony.
Now how could she punch someone who already looked so hurt?
Her green eyes narrowed at the sight of the dark haired man holding her, curiosity gleaming in those viridian orbs.
He must have felt her gaze because the next second, he glanced at her.
Inky black met with a brilliant green.
Even now, the pinkette was still startled by the amount of trust he had placed in her. By not activating his sharingan, he was exposing himself. True, he was still perfectly capable of protecting himself but still….
This was a vulnerable position for the Uchiha.
"Itachi."
Her voice was hesitant, the anger slowly fading at the expression on his face.
Suddenly, the sullen look was gone, and the famous sharingan eyes had returned.
In it's place was a dark mask that was...empty.
Void of any emotion or feeling at all, like had shut the doors to his reactions, locked it and thrown away the key.
"Silence, we will arrive at the inn shortly."
The order was harsh and cold, a perfect Uchiha response.
And just like that, all the wrath that had abated moments ago thanks to his interruptions tonight was back full force. Increasing in strength due to the demand she had just received from the stoic man.
Sakura bit her lips from letting out all the anger that she kept bottled up inside her. Curses and fowl words desperately wanted to leave her tongue but she wouldn't allow it.
She would try and question Itachi. Ask him what the hell is wrong with him. And if he still acts like a total prick, then she would have no choice but to unleash all her fury on the man.
Naruto and the others were still on their search for Sakura. They had not bothered to rest or take a break in fear that the trail would go stale or the blonde would lose his temper. He had been quite volatile since the day they had found that long strand of hair that could only belong to his lost teammate.
The four was working twice as hard going thrice as fast, if that was even possible. However the length of the strand did raise debates if it truly was hers. But He would have none of that. As long as he was concerned, if it was pink, it was hers. Who else had bright bubble gum pink hair anyways? True, his logic was not sound. Yet his group understood why he would feel such anxiety and hurry. Sakura was his best friend and family. They knew that he would go to hell and back if it meant getting one step closer to her.
And this thin strand of hair was evidence that they were on the right track.
Naruto could only hope.
"Hey guys! Look at what I found."
Kiba's loud voice got everyone's attention immediately.
Three pairs of eyes followed both dogs, which were crouched around a massive clearing.
The area looked like a battlefield.
There were trees broken at the trunks; branches laying everywhere and the ground itself were uneven.
The blonde surveyed the vicinity, which might have been rather peaceful before, appeared like a combat zone. He assumed it used to be covered in grass. Instead, only patches of green could be seen.
It was as if a nuclear bomb had been dropped in the area.
"Oh Kami." He murmured to no one in particular.
"You got that right." The canine barked, agreeing with its master.
"Kiba, sniff out the area and tell us if you smell even the smallest trace of Sakura." Shikamaru's laid-back voice was quiet but in the silent clearing, it was quite loud.
"Sure thing." And with a long whiff of the black panties, Kiba's favorite play thing at the moment, he sped off. Running like the animal he was, he circled the entire area in less than a minute. Returning with a cautious yet interested expression on his tanned face.
"Well?" Naruto asked, anxious.
"I've got good and bad news. Which one do you want to hear first?"
He didn't hesitate, his patience was thinning rapidly and he was already beyond tired.
"I don't care, just say it."
Kiba shrugged uncaringly and crossed his arms.
"I found Sakura's scent all over the place…."
His blue eyes brightened-
"…and I found Sasuke's as well."
-only to dim at the sound of his old teammate's name.
"Their scents constantly blend and mingle together. Which means they must have been near each other."
He continued, watching Naruto's eyes darken even more.
"If that's true, then there is a possibility that the Uchiha and Sakura were the ones who had done this." Shikamaru gestured to the clearing, a contemplative glint in his calculating eyes.
"Hn…I'm not surprised. She does have her mentor's strength to accomplish such a task."
Neji added, placing on hand on his hip and shifting his weight so that he was leaning on his right leg.
Kiba hesitated before speaking, not used to comforting or anything of the like.
"Listen, I said 'bad news' because Sasuke is considered a missing-nin now Naruto."
When the blonde didn't reply, he kept going. Ignoring the presences of the Nara and Hyuuga entirely.
"He's a bad guy. At least, that's what everyone's been saying about him. I didn't know him that well and I know you did so…." He trailed off, scratching the back of his head nervously.
"It's alright Kiba."
He muttered darkly, understanding his friend's attempts to cheer him up but they all knew that it wasn't working.
Naruto was glad that they were getting close to the pink haired medic, yet he was conflicted by the fact that Sasuke had been with her. Yes, he still wanted to bring his friend home. No, he did not believe that the youngest Uchiha was beyond saving. However, the question was…. who would he go after? His long lost friend or the one who had stayed dutifully by his side?
If he were still going to honor his promise to Sakura, then he would have no choice but to chase after Sasuke. Yet he wanted to desperately find her, who knows what happened to her? Did it make him a bad person for even thinking about this?
His friends could see the clash of emotions in the blonde's eyes.
For a while it was quiet, not a single sound broke the heavy silence. That is, until a lazy Nara heir spoke up.
"Geez, this is too troublesome."
To this, Neji crossed his arms and rolled his eyes and Kiba tilted his head back and laughed.
"Is there one time in your life when you're not so damn lazy?"
Shikamaru raised a dark eyebrow.
"It's not being lazy, it's conserving energy."
The canine grinned and flashed a fang.
"For what exactly?"
The pineapple haired brunette linked his hands behind his head, a smirk on his face.
"What do you think?"
Realization shone in Kiba's eyes immediately, catching onto his friend's drift.
"Ha! You must be shittin' me!"
"I shit you not."
Naruto could feel the tense air around the four of them lift and even he was starting to smile. In the corner of his eye, Neji seemed less tense as well.
It appeared that slightly perverse banter was just what they needed to lessen the strain on his shoulders.
"Wow Shikamaru, who knew you were saving up energy for that?" Naruto exclaimed.
He shrugged, not at all ashamed with his bold confession.
Kiba suddenly swung an arm around Naruto and whispered loudly in his ear, as if he were telling him a secret but it was obvious that Neji and Shikamaru could hear them exchange words.
"I wonder who he's spending all his energy on then."
His blue eyes twinkled with mischief.
"Yeah, do you think it's Temari? Or maybe Ino?"
Next to them, an amused expression appeared on the Hyuuga's pale face.
While Shikamaru slouched even more and shoved his hands into his once more.
"I say it's both. That must be why he's so sleepy all the time. He's got two girls keeping him bust all night long."
Both boys shared perverted grins as they watched Shikamaru for his reaction, who merely shrugged.
"I'm not ashamed."
"Wait…so it's true?!"
"Are you serious?!" Kiba and Naruto yelled at the same time, making the two other brunette's shake their heads at their childishness.
"I guess you'll never know."
But before Kiba could ask another question about Shikamaru's love life, a breeze blew his way. And with it came a familiar scent that one again mingled with a certain pinkette's.
"Guys!"
Three pairs of eyes instantly locked onto his tattooed face.
"I smell…."
They waited.
"Sasuke…and….."
He took another long whiff of the air.
"…he's getting farther away….."
To this Naruto sighed.
"I know Sakura would want me to o after him but..I can't. She's much more important right now. And if we can still track him down in the future, I'd want her by my side. She should be with me when team seven will be reunited."
Shikamaru yawned and Neji nodded.
Kiba petted his dog briefly before standing up and readied himself to run at breakneck speed once more.
"Well? What are we waiting for? I'm sure Sakura misses us already."
And after Naruto grinned, hoping that she really was hoping to see them soon, they vanished. Disappearing into the trees and cloaked in the night, they ran, in hopes of finding their lost blossom.
Itachi had brought them back to the small inn, where he dropped her on the bed flat on her ass.
She huffed and fixed her dress. Which was still, thankfully, fine.
She decided to smooth out all the wrinkles and creases on the fine silk, using it as a reason not to meet his eyes and a distraction from his very presence.
Once five minutes had passed and there were no more lines to straighten in her kimono, Sakura had no choice but to meet his gaze.
They had a stare down which lasted for almost another five minutes before she cracked. Patience was not her strongest point in life.
And so, she steeled herself and hoped her voice would not betray how nervous she actually felt.
"What did you do to Sasori?"
His red eyes flashed dangerously when she said the artist's name.
"I merely punished him for touching what is mine."
Anger bit at her after he declared her, his again. Sure it can be a sort of term of affection at some point yet right now, she felt like it was a shackle. Weighing her down and preventing her from making her own choices, from even being around her other friends.
Yes, she considered the other males in Akatsuki her friends.
Too bad they want to be more than that, and the poor girl was practically oblivious to their advances.
Besides...
Who gave him the right to do such a thing? To chain her down so that she would be close at his reach? She certainly didn't give him the 'okay' to call her, his. Sakura merely tolerated and maybe even liked it, but she never agreed with it.
"But why?"
"He deserved it."
This time, her volatile emotions were starting to leak out of her heavily guarded vault. Slowly but surely, it was coming out.
The pinkette was always known for her quick temper, however she chose to reign in her anger for the sake of letting him explain. She knew that Itachi was never an impulsive man. He always listened to the voice of reason while she did the complete and polar opposite. She listened to her heart, where a fiery passion burned so brightly that everyone around her could see it plain as day.
"Why the hell would he deserve a beating from you?"
"Why would you easily assume that I physically hurt him?" He answered her question with one of his own.
Sakura honestly didn't have any solid proof that he would hurt his partner. Yet she could tell. In those red eyes, under moonlight and on the branches of the cherry blossom tree, he looked like the murderer his younger brother so readily claimed.
"I can see it in your eyes. You wanted to kill him." She grit out, hating the words that left her mouth.
At this he nodded slowly, taking small but measured steps towards the bed where she was currently sitting on.
"You are correct. I wanted to see him dead, by my hand and my hand alone."
She inwardly flinched at his tone, arctic and cruel, just like the rest of him.
"Then he's right, I should have never defended you."
There was curiosity shining in his gaze but she refused to look him in the eye any longer.
When she was busy watching the happy people enjoying the festival and sorely wished she was down there enjoying it as well, a gentle hand grasped her chin, moving it until her vision was nothing else but Itachi.
"Whom have you defended me from?"
"I wish I never did! It was a waste of my breath."
His fingers tightened on her jawline, but she would not allow her discomfort to show.
"Answer my question…now."
Although his voice was quiet, there was the menacing undertone that made her reply.
"Sasuke. He said you were a murderer and I-I….I never believed him until now."
Itachi was now less than a foot away from her perch on the edge of the bed, her kimono pooling around her form.
"Did you really hurt Sasori just because he touched me?"
He nodded once more.
The rage that had been steadily leaking out was now a rapid flow, coating her words in fury and ire.
The medic-nin stood up, powered by the negative emotions in her system, held her stance against the Uchiha.
"Then what happens when another man comes near me and accidentally brushes his skin with mine? Will you kill him as well?!"
When he opened his mouth to speak, she cut him off rather brutally.
"I can't believe this ! I can't believe you ! Why the hell would you make someone suffer like that? And just because he touched me!"
She knew that she was getting hysterical but she was far from caring.
"Do you have any idea how cruel and idiotic that sounds?!"
"You are mine. It's within my power to-"
"No, you have absolutely no right to dictate who can and can't touch me!"
Her green eyes blazed as she glared at him, spitting green fire.
Itachi clenched his hands, fisting them so hard that they turned white.
As he reached out to touch her, she flinched away.
"No..."
"Sakura-"
"I do not and will never belong to a murderer." She muttered darkly, angry at herself for saying such hurtful words but...he hurt Sasori. It was a ruthless and mean thing to say, however Itachi needed to hear it.
The pinkette knew it was hypocritical to say that when she herself had killed before. Yet the situation was entirely different. Those men were evil and had done heinous crimes. And what did the red head do? Touch her? Did that deserve a beating?
No...
Her heart ached for the hazel eyed boy who had kissed her so fondly on the forehead.
Itachi actually winced at her words.
And as if that tiny bit of human emotion had poked a hole through glass, his whole uncaring and cold façade began to shatter.
Sakura could see that her words had hurt him greatly, and a bitter part of her was glad for that. He had hurt or maybe even killed Sasori, making her feel partly responsible for his injuries or death. And since he was made out of wood and metal joints not skin and bones, how could she possibly heal him?
The silence between them was deafening until he spoke. His voice was not as cold as before, in fact, it sounded almost…tender.
What the hell?
Suddenly, the great prodigy, the powerful and dark man that was Itachi Uchiha, dropped to his knees before her.
"Itachi?"
Sakura was confused, and partly afraid. Not knowing what to do in such a situation.
"You said that you could see the emotions hidden behind my eyes. Then take a look my dear, lovely Sakura."
The dark haired man, on his knees, placed both hands on either side of her hips. His pale hands clutched the fabric like a lifeline and pulled down.
Having no choice, unless she would rather have her kimono ripped, she bent her body at the waist. Bringing herself closer to those fathomless eyes.
"Look past all the murders I've committed and all the blood I've spilt my blossom."
The tenderness and warmth in his voice was more than evident now, startling Sakura so much that she was lost for words.
Just as she was about to rebuke him and tell him again that she did not belong to him, he opened his mouth and spoke, his words shocking her even more than before.
"I understand that it must be difficult for you to fathom why I call you mine…"
Her green eyes wide, he came closer, pressing the hard planes of his chest against her silk covered legs.
"It is because I feel that you belong to me, that you were made for me."
Itachi turned off his bloodline technique and brought one hand to rest at the nape of her neck.
"You balance the darkness within me, you alone can save me from my agony."
Inner had promptly had a nosebleed and passed out after hearing such intense and heartfelt words. Sakura on the other hand tried not to blush under his inky black gaze.
"Before, I thought you were nothing more than an annoyance yet...you've grown on me. You've changed me. You've made me weak for you. Made me care for you. Made me feel for you."
Who would have thought an Uchiha, the strongest one of them all would be down on his knees, vulnerable, declaring such earnest affections.
"No Itachi, stop this. Stop saying such things and-dammit! Get off the damn floor!"
She had to bring an end to this. First Sasori, then Deidara and now Itachi? What was the whole shinobi world coming to? Not only did this whole night confuse her, it made her heart ache as well and also made her feel like a slut.
Was she?
Oh Kami She hoped not…
"Look My Sakura, look at me and only me."
Itachi's calm voice stilled her raging emotions and baffled thoughts.
Her green eyes tentatively met with his dark ones.
"What do you see?"
The hand on the nape of her neck squeezed encouragingly as she swallowed, nervous.
"I…I see…."
Suddenly, in that moment, everything came to a halt.
The people around her, the confetti falling and the laughter she heard were now so far, far away.
Right now, she was lost.
Lost in his black gaze, as dark as the night sky and just as clear.
"Do you see a murderer?"
"….no." She breathed.
"Then what do you see, love?"
Her heart palpitated at the endearment before looking in deeper, their noses almost touching.
"I see you." She was nervous, that much was clear.
His lips quirked up at her statement.
"Anything else?"
But before she could answer, he started talking, his breath mingling with hers.
"I'm not generous Sakura, and I don't feel guilt."
Her pink brows furrowed in uncertainty, unsure of where this was going.
"What do you mean? Why would you feel guilty?"
"I heard that fool's declaration for you. I know that he feels guilt for wanting someone who deserves better than a common criminal."
Sakura's eyes widened when she finally perceived that he was talking about Deidara.
"But I on the other hand, am selfish."
"Itachi…"
"I know you deserve better, yet I will not allow another man to take what is mine."
"Hey! I am not-"
Itachi's eyes glittered with amusement and adoration as he looked at her.
"But you are. You might not be aware of this, however the moment you healed me…."
His hand put a bit of pressure on her neck, bringing her closer to his face.
"…is the moment you became mine."
As Itachi crushed his lips against hers, the inn's door opened, revealing the rest of Akatsuki, their jaws on the floor and their mouths agape in shock.
More than one heart shattered at the sight of the pair kissing.
"Where is she?" He asked, his hand gripping the hilt of his sword.
"Fifty or so miles from us." The red head of the group replied while pointing east, her eyes never leaving the lean form of the dark haired man before her.
"We leave now."
The rest of his team nodded, feeling slightly better thanks to Karin, who had let them all bite her and suck some of her life's energy. Of course, she allowed her 'future husband' to take a longer bite than the rest. Sufficed to say, Suigetsu got quite irritated by that fact. Juugo merely thanked her for her help.
"Just wait Sakura , I'll find you and I know he'll be there at your side." He hissed at no one in particular.
He slowly raised his head to stare up at the silvery moon, his red eyes glinting maliciously.
"Then I'll kill him, just like how he murdered my clan."
Juugo, Karin and Suigetsu almost trembled in fear of the pure hatred that rolled of their leader in terrifying waves.
"But I'll make him watch first. He'll watch the one person he cares for die at his own brother's hands." Sasuke growled, gritting his teeth so hard it made his teeth ache.
Hope you liked it! Woo! Three chappies in three days, I wonder how long I can keep this up. Anyways, lots of love and thanks to all my lovely readers and reviewers! You all rock XD 600?! Are you kidding me?! Oh and if you're wondering about the whole Karin letting them bite her, it's a power that she has in the anime. Till' next time! - VZ