'thoughts'
"talking"
'inner Ryuu'
'dragons talking'
The sun rose above the tree tops and let its golden rays grace the world with their warm light. Sakura was awakened by the warm rays hitting her closed eyelids. Sakura opened her eyes and found Itachi still holding onto her waist.
'I need to shower, but how can I get out of bed without waking him?' Sakura pondered. She slowly pried his arms away so she could move to the edge of the bed.
'Phew made it!' But her moment of victory was cut short when a voice spoke:
"Where are you going?"
Sakura looked towards Itachi and saw him propped up on his elbow looking at her.
"I was going to take a shower." Sakura answered rather coldly, still a little angry at him. Sakura stood up and made a move towards the bathroom but was pulled back onto the bed.
"You can do that later." Itachi said calmly wrapping his arms tightly around her waist again.
"Hey! Who are you to decide that?" Sakura exclaimed angrily while trying to get out of his hold. Itachi just closed his eyes and buried his nose in the crock of her neck. Sakura stiffened slightly, but didn't stop her struggling.
"Be quiet and lay still if you don't want to get 'punished' again."
Sakura immediately stopped moving and became quiet. She knew that he would do it. Itachi smirked at this. They both lied there silently drifting off into sleep once again.
Later that morning
Sakura woke up a couple of hours later finding Itachi still sleeping.
'This time I won't fail.'
Sakura did some hand seals and switched places with one of her clones. She walked over to the dresser and took out her red kimono with the dragon embroidered onto it, some accessories and other necessities before walking into the bathroom to take a quick shower before dressing into the kimono. When she walked back inside the room she found Itachi fully clothed on the neatly made bed reading a scroll, no sign of her clone. Sakura ignored him and took her brush and sat down on the windowsill staring out through the open window. As she was brushing her hair she heard a faint chirping. She stopped and looked down and saw a small nightingale lie in the drainpipe (A/N: I don't know if that's the right name but… xP)
"Poor thing…" Sakura whispered. She gently took it into her hands and noticed that it had a broken wing. Sakura gathered some chakra into her hand and healed the fracture. As soon as it was healed it started flying above Sakura chirping happily. Sakura couldn't help but give a small laugh.
Itachi looked up from his scroll at Sakura at the sound of her melodic laughter. He saw a small bird land on her outstretched finger.
Sakura petted the small bird softly.
"Fly away, far away." Sakura whispered to the small nightingale, giving it a small kiss before it flew away. Sakura followed it with her gaze until she could no longer see it. With a sad smile Sakura closed the window and turned around only to run into Itachi. She made a move to step away but he grabbed her wrist in a firm grip, but not so hard that he was hurting her.
"What's bothering you?" He asked in a demanding voice.
"Nothing." Sakura answered simply and tried to jerk her hand out from his firm grip but it only resulted in him tightening his hold. Itachi spun her around so that she was looking him in the eyes.
"Don't lie. I know when you do." Sakura averted her gaze.
She refused to admit that his words had hurt her deeply yesterday, but he is stubborn and wont give up that easily.
Just then there was a knock on the door.
"Itachi-san, Leader wants to see the girl." A voice said from the other side of the door. Itachi held onto Sakura a little while longer before he let her go and opened the door. Sakura followed Itachi, walking a couple of steps behind him through the familiar dark hallway to a pair of double doors. Itachi opened the door without knocking and walked inside. It was a big room lit by candles. On either sides of the room sat at least 50 Akatsuki-members, clad in the familiar cloaks. Sakura recognized Deidara, Sasori, Kisame, Hidan, Kakuzu, Zetsu and Koichi from the crowd.
At the other end of the room sat a grey haired man. He had red eyes (A/N: NOT sharingan) and his grey hair was cut short. He seemed to be in his forties.
'That must be Leader.' Sakura thought.
When the door closed Leader looked up from the papers on his desk and straight at Sakura and Itachi, who were approaching him. Itachi sat down on the floor next to Kisame, who was sitting near the Leader, while Sakura stood in front of him.
"Haruno Sakura I presume?" Leader asked in a deep voice.
"Hai." Sakura answered calmly.
"I have heard a lot about you." He said. Sakura didn't answer.
Leader opened one of the files that lied on his desk and started reading aloud:
"Sakura Haruno. Trained under the Godaime, Tsunade, and the copy-nin Kakashi Hatake. Team-mate of the Kyuubi vessel, Naruto Uzumaki and the sole survivor of the Uchiha clan, Sasuke Uchiha." Leader paused for a moment before he continued:
"First Anbu-captain at the age of 16. Strongest kunochi in Fire country and as of lately a missing-nin." Leader looked up from his papers at Sakura who stood silently in front of him listening with an un-readable expression on her face.
"That's quite a record." He stated and closed the file.
"Itachi told me that you also inhabit a creature."
"That is correct."
"Could you show him to us?" He more demanded then asked.
Sakura closed her eyes.
'Are you ok with that?' Sakura asked.
'Hai.'
The Akatsuki watched with interest as a blue, transparent dragon appeared and swayed protectively around Sakura with a promise of death in its eyes if anyone dared hurt her. After a while it "melted" back inside her.
"Impressive." Leader said.
"How'd you obtain it?"
Sakura thought for a moment.
"He was a gift."
Leader raised an elegant eye brow.
"A gift?" Sakura nodded.
"From whom?"
"That is none of your concern." Sakura answered smoothly. Leader gave a small chuckle.
"I believe that you are in no position to deny me answers Sakura-chan." He said leaning his head on his folded hands. Suddenly a small red dragon with golden eyes and mane appeared by Sakura. Itachi looked at the small dragon with curiosity.
'What is that and how did it enter without me noticing?'
'Aka. Did you find anything?' Sakura asked. Aka climbed onto her shoulder and Sakura closed her eyes, soon images started flooding her mind, images of nins.
'They are rough-nins, S-class.'
'How many?'
'400-500, possibly more.'
Sakura inwardly cursed but remained calm on the outside.
'Where are the others?'
'I ordered them home while I came here to inform you.'
'Excellent work Aka.'
She opened her eyes and looked directly at Leader who was watching with curiosity.
"You have visitors." Sakura informed.
"What do you mean?" He asked, but before Sakura had a chance to answer an Akatsuki-member appeared beside him and whispered something into his ear.
"We have trouble, everyone go outside." Leader commanded.
They nodded and disappeared. Now there was only Sakura, Leader and Itachi left.
Leader got up from his seated position and walked over to Sakura so he stood in front of her.
"How'd you know that there were rough-nins here?"
"Aka told me." Sakura replayed while petting Aka who was lying comfortably around her neck.
"We'll continue this conversation later." Leader said before he teleported outside where the other Akatsuki-members were waiting.
'Thank you for your help.' Sakura said to Aka.
'It's always a pleasure.' Aka said before he disappeared.
"You didn't tell me you could summon dragons." Itachi said as he came to stand beside her.
"You never asked." Sakura said and looked at him.
"Would you have told me if I had?" Itachi questioned.
"Probably not." Sakura said before she did the necessary seals and disappeared in a swirl of sakura-petals. Itachi smirked and followed suit and appeared beside Sakura outside the HQ. He followed the others' gazes to the forest.
In front of them, at the outskirts of the forest, stood the rough-nins.
"What're you doing here?" Leader asked in a serious tone. A man stepped out from the mass of nins. He had brown hair and cold green eyes.
"We're here for the woman." He said pointing at Sakura. Leader glanced at Sakura who remained impassive.
"What do you want her for?" He asked.
"We have been offered big money for her, so give her to us now or you'll all die." The man said with a grin on his face. Leader snorted.
"I don't follow orders from idiots like you." He said.
"Then die." The rough-nin said and as on queue six big snake summonings appeared. Sakura's eyes widened a fraction.
'They can't kill the roughs AND the snakes. One snake is as strong as 10 S-class criminals.'
'Let's help them.' Ryuu suggested.
'Hai.'
Sakura bit her thumb and did some hand seals.
"Kochiyose no Jutsu." And six, 12 feet big dragons appeared around Sakura.
'Mistress, how can we serve you?' Aoshi, the "leader" of Sakura's second summoning asked.
'Aoshi, Shinta, Souta, Kohaku, San and Houji I need you to take care of those snakes.' Sakura told them. (A/N: I'll tell you again a little how the dragons look)
Aoshi: fire orange eyes and mane
Shinta: light green eyes and mane
Souta: purple eyes and mane
Kohaku: red eyes and mane
San: yellow eyes and mane
Houji: bronze eyes and mane
They nodded and flew over to the giant snakes. The Akatsuki looked at Sakura with questioning eyes, but Sakura just shrugged.
"Kill those nins." Leader commanded and second's later cries of agony filled the area. The roughs were slaughtered by the Akatsuki. It was clear who was going to win. When the last snake was killed the dragons returned to their mistress' side.
'Anything else?' Aoshi asked. Sakura gave a warm smile. Some of the dragons were quite injured.
'Hai. Let me heal your wounds.' Sakura said doing some hand seals and six green chakra balls appeared above each dragon and sunk inside them, instantly healing all their wounds.
'Thank you mistress.' They all said.
'No thank you.' Sakura said and walked over to the dragons and stroke each of their manes before they disappeared.
When the dragons had disappeared Sakura noticed that all the rough-nins were killed. Everyone of the Akastuki had some kind of injury, Sakura sighed.
'I'm glad I have such big chakra reserves.' She thought and did a new set of hand seals. She started glowing a light green and suddenly a green wave of chakra shot out from her and flowed out over all the members and healed all their wounds. Some of the Akatsuki nodded their head at Sakura in a 'thank you' gesture then they all teleported back inside. When they were all seated again, except for Sakura, Leader continued his questioning:
"First of all, who gave you Ryuu?"
"He was a gift. That is all I can tell you." Sakura said. Leader sighed in frustration before he proceeded to the next question:
"Why did you help us?"
"The roughs were here for me so I felt responsible." Sakura answered truthfully. Leader nodded.
"What did you do to become able to summon dragons? I have never seen anyone else summon them."
"Dragons are proud creatures and therefore won't let just anyone summon them. To be able summon dragons one most show that they are worthy of it." Sakura explained. Leader nodded again and then was quiet for a while.
"We would like you to join Akatsuki." He then said.
"What would it mean for me?" Sakura asked taken a little aback by the question.
"You would have to give us your loyalty and fight side by side with us."
Sakura was quiet for a while.
'Well it's not like I have anywhere else to go.' Sakura thought.
"I'll join Akatsuki, on one condition." Sakura said.
"And that would be…?" Leader asked.
"That you will stop hunting the tailed beasts."
"And why would we do that?" Leader asked.
"Because I'm much stronger then the beasts." Sakura told him in a serious tone. Leader eyed her wearily
"Prove it." He said.
"Let me fight one of your strongest members. If I win you will stop hunting the beasts."
"And if you lose?"
"Then I will join Akatsuki without protest."
Leader thought about this for a moment.
"Very well, who'll fight her?" Leader asked the members.
"I will." An all too familiar voice said. Leader turned to the one who had spoken.
"As you wish Koichi."
"We will meet at the training grounds in one hour, those who wish may attend." Leader informed before he dismissed them. Sakura walked back to their room to try and find something comfortable to fight in but when she got there she found everything lied out on the bed. A black cross-strap top, a red skirt that came to her middle thighs with slits on both sides and on the front, a pair of black tight shorts, a pair of matching red legwarmers and a pair of black gloves. Sakura changed into her new out-fit and put her hair in a high ponytail. She also found a kunai pouch and leg holster on the bed.
'All I need is a katana.' Sakura thought and did some seals and a katana materialized in her right hand. It had a black sheath with three red strings tied around it and an equally black hilt. Sakura drew her katana. It was beautiful. It had a shining blade with a black dragon carved into the blade looking very much like Ryuu.
'Seijyru (sp?). It has been a long time since I've used it.' Sakura sheathed the sword after a while and glanced at the clock.
'45 minutes left. I think I'll go down to the garden and meditate while I wait.' Sakura decided and transported outside. Sakura appeared on the bridge and walked over to a tree and sat down beneath it and closed her eyes.
'Ryuu could you create a barrier around me while I'm meditating so that I'll be able to go into deep meditation?' Deep meditation was when you went into a deep sleep like state that allowed you to focus your chakra and prepared your body for a fight, but it left you open for attacks. Sakura seldom meditated like this but because it had been such a long time since she had fought she decided to perform it.
'Of course.' A light blue bubble surrounded Sakura. If anyone touched it, it would give off a small amount of electricity, not a lethal amount but enough to refrain you from touching it again.
'Arigato Ryuu.' Sakura said before going into deep meditation, becoming
completely oblivious to everything around her.
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Itachi was walking towards their room to retrieve Sakura. Her fight with Koichi would start in five minutes, but when he entered he found no one. He sensed her chakra in the garden so he went outside. When he came there he found her under a tree, a light blue barrier surrounding her. She was dressed in the clothes he had gotten her. They fitted her perfectly. As he was looking at her she opened those beautiful eyes of hers.
She looked him straight in the eyes.
"Is there something you want?" Sakura asked.
"It's time."
Sakura nodded and Ryuu deactivated the barrier and Sakura got up and walked towards the training grounds, Itachi following close by. When the training grounds came into view she saw that many Akatsuki-members had gathered and Koichi at one end of grounds. Itachi leaned onto the house wall while Sakura continued to walk through the crowd. While making her way through she met Deidara.
"Hey Sakura, I want to wish you good luck and be careful, yeah." Deidara said with a little concern in his voice. Sakura gave a meek smile.
"Arigato Deidara."
Sakura walked to stand opposite Koichi. Leader stepped out of the crowd.
"You will fight each other until one of you is knocked unconscious or gives up. No killing, understood?"
"Hai." Sakura and Koichi said in unison.
"Good, now begin." Leader said and stepped back into the crowd. Sakura and Koichi got into stance. No one moved at first but then they charged at each another. A clashing sound was heard when Sakura's kunai and Koichi's katana collided.
"Why don't you give up now? It's not like you'll win anyway." Koichi said. Sakura snorted and pushed Koichi back and did some seals.
'Kagebushin no Jutsu.' And seven Sakura's appeared. They all charged at Koichi with their kunai's. Koichi cut all the Sakura's and every one of them disappeared in a 'puff.'
'She wasn't here.'
Suddenly a hand shoots out from the ground and wrapped around his leg.
'Damn! KAI!' The hand slowly disappeared.
"I'm impressed you broke my genjutsu." Sakura's voice echoed trough the grounds.
"You call that a genjutsu? It was weak. It couldn't do me any harm"
"Oh, I wouldn't say that."
Just then a blinding pain shoots through his leg. He looked down and his eyes widened. Where the hand had gripped his leg was now a big bruise.
"But it was only a genjutsu." Koichi said confused.
"Correct it was a genjutsu, but the genjutsu was so powerful that it literally convinced your brain to copy anything that happened to you within the genjutsu, in this case creating a bruise when I had a hand grip your leg. I could also easily kill you with a genjutsu but refrained from doing so. Very few can do this but it is possible."
'I didn't even know you could do that!' Koichi, as well as many other Akatsuki-members thought. Koichi was pulled out of his thoughts when a wave of shuriken and senbon needles came flying at him. He deflected them with his katana but one needle cut his cheek. He then swiftly turned around to block Sakura's kunai.
'She's fast!' Kochi thought. He noticed that Sakura had jet to use her katana.
"Why haven't you drawn your katana?" Koichi asked.
"I won't have to." Sakura said and suddenly Koichi couldn't move.
"W-what have you done to me?" Koichi demanded.
"Those shuriken and senbon had a paralyzing poison on them. Just a small amount of the poison and you'll be unable to move for the next 24 hours." Sakura said before hitting a pressure point on his neck, making him fall unconscious to the ground. Sakura walked over to Leader.
"Will you stop hunting the tailed beasts now?" Sakura asked.
'She knocked Koichi out, one of the strongest in Akatsuki, in less then 15 minutes!'
"I will stick to my and of the deal." He said and did a simple seal and an Akatsuki cloak and ring appeared in his hand. He gave them to Sakura. She looked at the ring. It had the black kanji 'Midori' (green) written on it with a green back ground.
Sakura slipped the ring onto her finger.
"You have a mission tomorrow. All the information is in here." Leader said as he gave Sakura a scroll.
"Your partners are Deidara and Itachi." He said and turned to walk away but stopped.
"And welcome to Akatsuki."
Sakura bowed slightly
"Arigato." When Sakura stood straight Leader and most of the Akatsuki had left. Deidara, Sasori, Kisame and Zetsu walked over to her.
"So welcome to Akatsuki, yeah!" Deidara said in his happy tone.
"Arigato." Sakura said smiling.
"Is Koichi going to be alright?" Zetsu asked.
"Not that I really care, he's such an a$$." Sakura gave a small chuckle.
"He'll be fully recovered in one or two days." Zetsu nodded.
"Now, could someone show me around this place?" Sakura asked.
"Me!" Deidara, Kisame and Zetsu said in unison while Sasori just stood silently watching.
"I'll show Sakura-chan around, yeah!" Deidara said.
"No I will!" Zetsu said.
"No I will!" Kisame shouted. Sakura felt the urge to sigh.
"Well all of you could show me around." Sakura said, interrupting their glaring match. They nodded before they started their little tour of Sakura's new home.
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A/N: YAY CHAPTER 8 IS UP!!!
I want to apologise for taking so long to update, I've been having so many tests. I'll be having free from school in about two weeks so I'll try to update by then or during that week.
Thanks again all you wonderful people for reviewing and for your support it means a lot!!! I'm so happy!!! xD –smoothers you all with hugs- I WUV U ALL!!!!! 3
SpeedDemon315: thank you for your review
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ItaSaku BanKag: well I didn't intend it to be but I guess it turned out that way xP thank you for reviewing
tri17: thank you for your review. Well I'm not sure jet if Rin and Kenji will return but it is possible and to answer your other question: no Itachi does not know about what Sasuke did to Sakura.
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-Wounded angel