Author's Note: Since everyone who reviewed said they wanted to see Itachi's reaction...

The Shape of Change Special Extension:

Face-to-Face! Itachi's Reaction

They stood opposite each other for the first time in eight years, the situation very much altered. Where before there had been an intangible gentleness of regard and a quiet youthful adoration there was now a cold aloofness, and a sorrowful regret.

Sakura's soft greeting hung in the air, and she wondered briefly if the dark-haired missing nin would even recognize her. The chances were good; her pink hair was not an easily forgettable character trait. She waited, frozen into her ready stance.

It probably wasn't a wise move, to hesitate so, but she couldn't with good conscience just attack her personal childhood hero without warning, without acknowledgement.

…And, perhaps, there was some hope there, as well.

Sakura's knuckles were creaking from the force of her grip. One hand clutched a kunai with bone-breaking force, and the other was closed into a fist so tight her short nails bit into the leather of the glove covering her palm.

Please- she thought- please…

She wasn't sure to whom she was pleading. The gods? Uchiha Itachi? Herself? She didn't even know what she was pleading for. There was a sharp spike of despair that jabbed Sakura's heart. And then…

"You have lost your way again," Itachi spoke to her for the first time. His voice was low and deep; it drifted across the invervening space between them and Sakura felt a slight thrill of fear and surprise. Was he asking or informing? she wondered. The peculiar lack of inflection in his voice made it hard to tell.

"Go back home," he said, obviously dismissing her. He began to turn away.

Sakura's temper flared. That was all he had to say? He finally spoke to her, and that was what he said? And to dismiss her so off-handedly.

"Stop!" she shouted, flying over to him, her fist cocking back in preparation… He suddenly wasn't there anymore, seemingly vanishing from under her blow. Speed, or jutsu? Sakura's fist crashed into the ground, throwing large chunks of dirt into the air. Fissures radiated out from the impact site. But she didn't stop to admire the destruction.

Sakura wheeled, eyes searching, chakra extending to maybe catch a flicker of his. But he was so much higher than she, in terms of skill level and experience. He could mask his chakra without even thinking about it, and pairing that with his fantastic speed and his bloodline limit made him terribly formidable. Truly, he was the Uchiha prodigy, the man who'd made ANBU captain at age 13. The man who'd slaughtered the entire Uchiha clan.

Sakura's leg muscles were quivering, tensed and ready to propel her away from any potential threat. But as she twisted around, she spotted Itachi standing calmly to the side, making no move to counterattack. Sakura orientated herself to him, though she kept a portion of her attention on her surroundings. It was possible he'd created a clone to distract her…

A corner of her mind noted that the other Akatsuki and her teammates had moved further away. She couldn't see them any more, though she could hear the ruckus of their fight. She dismissed this. She gave all her attention to the missing nin before her.

"Why?" she asked, a single word for many questions: Why did you leave? Why did you murder your clan? Why did you turn away from Konoha?

He didn't answer, though, unsurprisingly. He wavered in her vision, moving so quickly he seemed to leave a vague afterimage behind. It lingered half a blink and then vanished, and Sakura was left to search hurriedly for the Uchiha.

She didn't find him before the half dozen kunai came flying at her, but she sensed the weapons coming and dodged in time. The blades slammed into the ground as she jumped and darted to the side. More kunai came whistling from the surrounding trees, seemingly from all directions. Sakura dodged most of them, and fended the rest off using her own kunai in her hand. As she landed on her feet from the last round, the forest shivered in her perception. Her eyes narrowed. A genjutsu! But not enforced by the Sharingan… What was he doing?

Sakura formed a handseal: "Kai!"

The genjutsu broke.

"What do you fight for?" the question came unexpectedly from behind her. Sakura swallowed her gasp and turned quickly, on the balls of her feet. Itachi watched her, as calm as ever.

"What?" she demanded. He didn't repeat the question, knowing that she had heard him. "I fight for my precious people, for Konoha, my home."

"You are loyal to Konoha?" he asked. What an odd question…

"Of course!" Sakura exclaimed before she could wonder why she was bothering to answer his questions. Itachi paused, then suddenly was nearer. Sakura started backward, bringing her fists up defensively.

"Good," Uchiha Itachi said. The word surprised Sakura so much, she forgot herself and looked into his eyes.

Crimson… patterned with black tomoe…

Stupid, she berated herself before losing her mind to darkness.

It was startling to come awake to the concerned face of the Demon Fox's container. It was even more startling to come awake at all after meeting the charkra-bright gaze of the Uchiha missing nin.

Her teammates asked her what had happened, but Sakura had been unable to remember anything after they had first become separated. She had only the dim memory that she had faced Uchiha Itachi, but more than that, she could not say.

"Did you fight him?" Naruto wanted to know.

"No. Yes… I don't know," Sakura said confusedly. She rubbed her forehead. "I can't remember. I think I tried to punch him, but I'm not sure."

"It would appear you did attempt to strike him," Sai said, gestureing at the broken ground.

"Oh," Sakura said dumbly.

"Aside from this slight memory lapse, you don't seem to be suffering from any effects from his kekkei genkai," Yamato-sensei said from where he knelt beside her. "We should get on the move again."

"Yes," Sakura agreed. She had run her own tests, examining herself with her chakra, and hadn't found anything wrong with her body either.

Uchiha Itachi hadn't injured or killed her while she was under the influence of his Sharingan.

Sakura couldn't understand why that fact made her feel vaguely hopeful. Uchiha Itachi was nothing to her; she didn't know him. She hadn't even known about him until he had appeared in Konoha and hospitalized Sasuke and Kakashi-sensei. He was just a missing nin, and a threat to her beloved village. He wasn't someone she should feel… fondness for.

I have no basis for these feelings- Sakura thought, annoyed at herself- I've never even seen him before today!

She banished the feelings from her heart and mind impatiently and followed her teammates away from the battleground.

You can't miss what you can't remember.

Author's End Note: Yes, I am aware that this is a bitter ending. But it seemed in keeping with Itachi's character, in my opinion.