Read "Why Does This Keep Happening?" first. Please don't forget to visit my website at www. freewebs. com/ animemangafanatic or just go to my profile and click my website link. Naruto does not belong to me, only original characters and themes. Also, please give thanks to my new beta Michi. All beta positions for "Blood of the Cherry Blossom" are now filled. If you're interested in another position, please let me know.

Something was pulling her awake. Sakura wasn't certain. She was certain that it had nothing to do with being transformed again. Taking extra precautions around Tsuki and Deidara, Sakura had double-checked everything. Perhaps it had something to do with what happened just over night. Leaving the warmth of the bed, Sakura looked out the window at the first snow of December. The month had just begun. A noise coming from the bathroom caught her attention. Maybe this is what pulled her awake, but Itachi getting up this early never disturbed her before. So why...?

Sakura opened the bathroom door as Itachi was pulling on his shirt. There was a deep uncertain feeling in the pit of her stomach; almost as if Itachi would disappear before her very eyes. Slowly moving forward, Sakura grasped onto him. Itachi turned in surprise, he hadn't heard her. It was truly the ability of an elite shinobi for one to be able to move without detection against an Akatsuki member. However, he could read pure terror in her eyes. Why?

"Sakura."

She was jump started by him actually using her name outside of those intimate moments. Her eyes had widened in surprise. Taking a few steps back, Sakura slowly let go of him. Turning fully around, Itachi stared down at her.

"What is it?"

"Itachi... you..."

He raised one delicate eyebrow. Whatever had her so spooked, finally released its hold on her. She blinked a couple times, as her composure finally came back. After she recomposed herself, Sakura looked backup at Itachi.

"Are you leaving?"

"Yes."

"Mission?"

"Yes."

She nodded her head and turned to go. Itachi pulled her back.

"Wait."

Sakura looked at him confused. Itachi walked into the bedroom, bringing Sakura with him. Sitting on the edge of the bed, Itachi looked up at her.

"I need you to check my eyes."

Sakura frowned.

"What did you do to them?"

"Nothing. I'm just planning ahead."

"For what?'

Itachi didn't answer. Seeing that she wasn't going to receive an answer, Sakura sighed. Pushing chakra into her hands, Sakura did as she was asked. Moving throughout his eyes, Sakura saw no real damage. However, taking extra precautions, Sakura laid some barrier layers that she'd been meaning to lay out. Once done, she wiped the sweat off. He focused on her.

"Was there something wrong?"

"No. I just put some protective coats to make the damge done by the sharingan to either be nullified or slowed. It will depend on the amount or length of use."

Itachi nodded his head in understanding. He finished preparing, and then pulled on his cloak. Taking out his straw hat, he turned it over. Glancing back at her, Itachi then left without a word. Sakura glared at the door.

"Someone's moody today."

Itachi calmly walked towards the compound's entrance. Hearing the slow and calculating steps, Kisame turned to his partner. He had already pulled on his hat, so Kisame also pulled on his own. What Kisame couldn't see was the cold tint to Itachi's hardened gaze. Sakura's earlier behavior had confirmed what he needed to know. Their time was finally reaching its end, and Itachi could no longer hold onto her.

Tsunade rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. Happy birds chirping irritated Tsunade, who had a hangover. Her late night visitor made her go on a bender afterwards. Was it true though? Just because Sakura hadn't been born in or firstly raised in Konoha, that didn't mean that she didn't see this as her home right? The female Hokage shook her head. No, this was Sakura's home. With determination, Tsunade got up to knock down her handover headache.

After it disappeared, and Tsunade took a hot shower, a knock came at her door. Knowing who it was, she bid her visitor in. Shizune walked in, carrrying, Tonton, the pet pig.

"Good morning Tsunade-sama. Are you ready to hear your schedule?"

Tsunade nodded her head as she drank a cup of water. Hearing the usual crap, Tsunade looked outside to see the world still moving forward.

"The world won't even stop for you, huh, Sakura-chan?"

"Did you say something Tsunade-sama?"

"No, don't worry about it."

Pulling on her robe, Tsunade left her place with Shizune two steps behind. Taking the usual path to the office, they passed Sakura's apartment complex. Shinrai and Yuu were just leaving. They all raised their hands in greetings to each other. She stopped to talk with the married couple.

"How's the training going?"

Shinrai smirked in confidence. Holding his hand out, Tsunade and Shizune looked confused. Suddenly the wind picked up around his hand, the orb flickered in and out for a few seconds before it finally solidfied. They whistled in amazement. After five minutes, it disappeared.

"Huh?"

Both women were confused. Shinrai and Yuu laughed.

"I haven't gotten it perfected yet."

Tsunade nodded her head in understanding. Then a thought came to her. These two were childhood friends of Sakura's right? So maybe they could answer her question.

"Shirnai-san? Yuu hime-sama? May I ask you a question about Sakura-chan?"

They looked at each other before slowly nodding their heads.

"Does Sakura-chan consider Konoha her home?"

Shizune looked at her mentor in confusion. Yuu squeezed Shinrai's arm.

"I don't want to give you the wrong impression Hokage-sama, so really you should ask Saku-chan that question. However," Shinrai closed his eyes before reopening his them, now held steady. "Since her mother's death, Saku-chan has not considered any place her home."

Tsunade's eyes widened before they shrank with disappointment. Her anxiety on this situation was becoming too much.

Sakura speared another piece of apple with Itachi's kunai. She growled in anger. The dagger gave a loud thump against the wood cutting board. Her angry aura was scaring Tsuki. It wasn't just the fact that Sakura had gotten up before her, but that she could be this angry at such an early hour. Tsuki could hear her mumbling torture techniques against Itachi. Giggling at Sakura's behavior, she continued stirring the miso soup.

"Oh yeah..."

Tsuki turned to her.

"Huh?"

"I should give some people a more proper punishment for what happened to me just a while ago."

Tsuki felt her blood drain. She already had both of her cheeks pinched. There were red for three days. Deidara had been bedridden for five. Sakura didn't look sorry it happened, and both of them decided not to pull another prank against her for a while.

However, today was obviously not her day. Sakura looked angrier than ever, and as if she needed an outlet. She had just volunteered them as well. The deep look of concern and concentration is what worried her though. Tsuki had never seen Sakura this deeply upset about something. Placing a cup of tea in front of her, Tsuki took a seat across from her friend.

"Is Itachi-sama the cause of your worry?"

Sakura took a sip, not bothered that Tsuki had noticed.

"Your eyes are sharp, that's good."

Tsuki smiled at the compliment. Sakura twirled the kunai as she sighed.

"It's nothing probably. Most likely Itachi read my behavior wrong."

"A misunderstaning?"

"Ah. Even for a so-called prodigy, that man is dense."

Tsuki chuckled.

"Aren't most men, Sakura-sama?"

Sakura smirked.

"She's also intelligent."

Tsuki's smile broadened.

"Your soup is boiling over."

Tsuki quickly scrapped her chair back as she turned. Sure enough, the soup was boiling over the top. The younger girl quickly jumped to her feet to save the food. Sakura took another sip and sighed. Her earlier behavior would explain for his this morning. However, it didn't explain for his earlier behavior. Since the last transformation prank, Itachi was growing a distant. They previously had a talk about it.

"Did I do something wrong?"

"No."

"Is it something I said or did?"

Itachi had looked at her before going back to his sketch.

"It is!"

Sakura jumped onto him and grabbed him by the collar. Her glare flared against his own. He pushed her hands off.

"It isn't."

"Then what?"

"It has no meaning if I tell you."

"Was it something from when I had transformed?"

Again, she was met with that silence that held more than what wasn't being spoken.

"Itachi."

The older Uchiha son, picked Sakura up and threw her on the bed. When she turned to look, Itachi was leaving the room.

Thinking back on it pissed her off. Sakura's grip on the tea cup tightened so much, it shattered. Tsuki turned in surprise. Then, she went back to cooking trying to wave off the rising heat.

"I'm going to kill him..."

Itachi watched as another guard fell to the ground because of his genjutsu. He scoffed in disgust. His sharingan wasn't even needed for this mission. Kisame walked over a fallen man as he shattered the iron doors with his word. Both men stepped inside the room, only to find what they had come for not there. After performing the transportation jutsu, they both walked to a bar to get a drink.

"Should we head back afterwards?'

Kisame knew that Itachi usually liked to get right back. He always had this unspoken anxiety over Sakura. The man was caught off guard by his partner's reply.

"No, we'll rest here for the night."

"Huh? You sure?"

"I won't repeat myself."

They took a booth in the far back. It turned out that the working girls were already out at the late hour. Many of them gave the two men weird glances since neither had moved to remove their cloaks and hats. A slightly inebriated waitress came to take their orders. After half an hour, Kisame had one of the girls so drunk she couldn't even stand straight. He led her away, leaving Itachi be in his moody state. Waving over for a new bottle, Itachi took off his straw hat. As soon as he did, a woman was instantly beside him, pushing her breasts against him.

"You alone?"

Itachi didn't answer as he sipped down another cup of sake. He really didn't understand why they needed to use such tiny cups. Deciding this woman could help him with his current problem, he paid the bill and dragged her back to the hotel. Sakura was his problem, letting her contaminate him this much. The only option he had was to rid himself of her, possibly with another woman. Sighing, he sank onto the couch, rubbing the bridge of his nose. A headache had formed. Extra weight climbed on top of him.

"So how do you like it?"

"Just shut up and do it."

The woman looked over him lustfully. He wasn't so deluded that he didn't know that women lusted after him. She ran her hands down his strong chest, as she rubbed herself against him. Itachi wasn't feeling a rise at all. This wasn't helping. Sakura wasn't being cleansed from him. Putting her hands in his pants, she became upset that she wasn't turning this man on. Hitting a pressure point, Itachi pried the woman off of him. Placing her down, Itachi left and disappeared into the forest. Slamming his fist into a tree trunk, Itachi yelled in anger.

"Damn it! What have you done to me?"

Itachi slid to the ground, and leaned against the tree. Using this time, Itachi thought about his next course of action, while he let his partner have his fun. Sakura really was the only one to arouse him.

Tsunade sat with Kakashi and Jiraiya at an oden shop, as the trio sipped sake. She needed this to get her mind off her talented student. However, their conversation was about her. One of them was speaking against, while the other defended. They needed to do this to sort out their feelings.

"She's not just going to betray us."

"You don't know that for certain."

"Neither do you. You were once her sensei, where is your faith in her?"

"Currently, lost. Sasuke has seen her willingly giving into his brother. Uchiha Itachi is a deadly enemy."

"How can we take his word for it?"

"How can we not? Those two brothers share a deep connection. Who's to say that Itachi didn't figure out a way to do this? He does love to hurt his brother in any way possible."

"Other than that, what if she has a good motive?"

"Good enough to screw the enemy for?"

"Plus, what other proof do you have that she has possibly betrayed us?"

"Sakura-chan knows a wide range of jutsus. One of them just happens to be an undetectable, barrier-breaking, location jutsu."

Jiraiya turned to Tsunade.

"You taught her something like that?'

"I didn't have to."

Tsunade took another sip.

"She already knew it."

Jiraiya turned back to Kakashi.

"I still suggest we don't put her on trial before she gets back."

"Fine, but if new evidence arises, none of us will be able to deny it."

"That could still go either way."

"You both mean if she comes back."

Both men turned to the intoxicated Hokage.

"If she comes back..."

Itachi calmly walked back into the compound with Kisame behind him. It was mid-morning by the time they finally returned, taking them longer than they thought. However, Kisame was always slow after a full night of drunken sex. He couldn't complain about the matter anymore, because he had been getting some recently from a pink haired girl he was currently avoiding.

As they walked further in, the shouts and screams reached their ears. It sounded like a little girl's. Were they doing something to Tsuki or Sakura? When they reached the destination, it turned out to be neither girl. Sakura had gotten her hands on Deidara's mini bombs, and he was currently dodging them. By the looks of it too, she had plenty to go for quite some time.

"Still enjoy your art Deidara-san?"

Deidara smirked at his partner.

"Of course, yeah."

"Idiot..."

"I don't see Cherry Blossom using any of your dolls, yeah."

The nickname earned him more bombs. Sasori scoffed.

"I'm not the one who pissed her off."

Deidara grew angry.

"That's because you never agree to help me, yeah."

"Now you see why I don't."

"Bastard, yeah!"

"Sticks and stones."

Just then Sakura ducked a back blow from Itachi. It caught everyone off guard. Sakura had moved because of reflex. Her eyes had widened, but then resumed their normal size as she took the sight of Itachi in. His eyes were colder and hard. She knew that this Itachi meant business. Realizing that this wasn't going to end well, Sakura waited patiently for his next move. Within a single instant, Itachi drew a kunai and was behind her trying to stab her. However, it met with the steel of katana Sakura had grabbed off the walkway beside Sasori. Neither of them moved for a moment.

"Do you want to explain what you're doing Uchiha-san?"

Itachi narrowed his eyes at the use of his last name from her mouth.

"Just defend yourself Sakura."

Sakura was slightly surprised to hear him using her name once again. There was a cold bite to it. Itachi swiped his leg out in an attempt to bring her down. Scoffing, Sakura easily dodged it. He was right there when she landed though. She had to bend back to avoid the fist to the face. His kunai tried to connect with her below, but she disappeared leaving behind a log. Reappearing from behind, Sakura held the katana beneath his chin.

"I see you have enough chakra to perform the subsitution jutsu."

"Ah."

The other members were confused about what was going on. Itachi just suddenly out of the blue decided to attack Sakura. Did she do something to anger him? Was this her punishment for it? Deidara held his chin in thought. Although that would seem like the proper thinking, he could tell the Itachi was holding back. He was intending to just rough her up? Then, something clicked inside, and Deidara frowned in understanding.

"...I see..."

Itachi successfully landed a blow to her abdomen. She recoiled from the hit, and quickly jumped back as a paper bomb denonated. The shockwave sent sharp shards of rock up and cut Sakura. Crouching down, she whistled as she barely missed a blow by Kisame's large sword. Rolling out, she instantly thrusted her fist out as she straightened herself. It met with one of Sasori's doll. All the other members outside were joining in now. Another doll caught her leg in time as another doll punched Sakura's cheek, sending her sliding back. Flipping back up, she blocked a kick by Deidara and the another one from Itachi. Kisame brought his sword down, but Sakura easily stopped its movements. Pushing it away, she moved to punch Kisame. Itachi hit her in the back of the neck, knocking her out. Instantly, she went limp into Itachi's arms.

"So what was that about?"

Kisame questioned his partner, who was lifting her into his arms. Sasori also waited for an answer. Deidara walked off with Tsuki, already knowing what was about to happen. It was time after all.

"Don't concern yourselves with it."

Itachi walked off with the unconscious girl.

The female Hokage rubbed the bridge of her nose. She had woken up with another hangover. Looking outside, she sighed at another day had gone and come. Slowly, she prepared for the day and realized as she was taking some hangover medicine that she was up really early. The sun was now just beginning to rise. It was strange since she had a habit of trying to buy more time to sleep in. So she wondered what it was that woke her up so early?
A five man Anbu squad was finally reaching the Fire border. They should be able to make it back to the village easy after that. Happy with the progress, they quickly sped up since they had been away for a two month mission. Once they were passed the border, they sighed knowing not much danger would await them since Tsunade had cracked down harder on border control. After all, they had just passed two different teams because of the new order. Fifteen minutes passed, and they could see the outer wall of the village. One of the men stopped when something caught his eyes. The others turned feeling him no longer following. Watching as he jumped down, they followed. Seeing what it was that caught his eye, they looked at one another.

"Someone go get the Hokage, now!"

One of the men nodding and disappeared in a puff of smoke. In a few minutes, he reappeared with the cranky Hokage. This couldn't be why she woke up early, right? Seeing them silent and pointing down, she followed what held their interest. As the sun was now halfway up, Tsunade looked down.

Sakura opened her eyes slowly. There was soreness in her neck and stomach. She felt a few cuts from something. A void to her memories unsettled her. Sitting up, she at least recognized where she was, but seeing the calender, she felt her blood drain. The door sliding open instantly caught her attention. Tsunade walked in with her old team and the others. Her eyes looked at Tsunade confused.

"Welcome home Sakura-chan!"

All of the shouting made her wince. Turning her attention onto Tsunade, she voiced what she was thinking.

"I lost half a year. Was I sleeping? If so, why?"

Tsunade and Kakashi became disturbed. Did Itachi erase her memories? Or was it whoever gave her back to them? Sakura looked around confused. She then focused on Naruto and Sasuke.

"When did you get back?"

Tsunade interrupted.

"Don't worry about it right now Sakura-chan. Just sleep for now, we'll talk then."

Sakura nodded her head as she laid back down. However, for some reason, she felt sad. As if her time somewhere was finally over. She felt as if she'd been betrayed. Finally, she was back in Konoha after half a year away, just that she didn't know that.