Senko: Hello everyone! I apologize for the lateness of my update. My school just ended and I didn't want to update my story as the school year was ending because the teachers were piling work on us so I was overloaded. Not to mention that I had high school and college finals all in one week :( so yeah. But now that school is over, I am updating lol

And school ended on May 26 for me so I'll have to admit that it's my fault for not updating asap after school ended. I was too lazy to type lol but you know what? ;D I've got everything planned out for this story already! I just...have to get un-lazy and type it lol

Responses to Reviews

Heartless Ghost: I couldn't log in OR review at all lol I could only read stories.
EnV: No, I don't know how Shisui looks like lol I don't think they've shown him in the anime or manga at all lol hmm they should, though.
Doctor Meowzie: MY BAD! T.T OMG I didn't even see that mistake lol thank you for telling me!
Ninjaxbunny: Yay! Thanks for always reviewing! –gives cupcakes-
Sakura's Hope: Yes, they are slow. But…you're getting impatient, right? Mission accomplished! –evil laughter- lol
Angelism DNA: Ahaha really? Lol
Psychochild22: Uh… o.O
Lilmisssushi: Hi hi, Sushi-chan! Thankiez so much for reviewing! Anyway, hm…well, you already know what's going to happen so I don't have to tell you the answer to your question ;D ahaha annnddd I am very, super-uber-duper-mega-ultra-hyper that you've finally posted your stories! YAY! Eheheh :3
Neon kun: You are having trouble predicting:D hmm well I could spoil everything for you lol
Sekiryu: Your review is so nice and awesome! And I totally agree with you about the whole Sakura getting kidnapped. Since I've decided to discontinue my other ItaSaku fic, I was thinking about making a new fic where Sakura gets kidnapped but I was like, "Nah…too cliché." I mean, most of the fics already deal with her getting kidnapped. I used to love SasuSaku but after a while I got tired of it cause the stories get so cliché now and have the same or similar plots. Thank you so much for reviewing!

Thanks to sillymail, The Squabbit, The Violent Tomboy, Ivory Black aka Torri-Chiob…, Reviews, DevilsLittleSister, Itachi's-Gurl41, animemistress419, inuyashaHELP, ItaItaParadise, Mistress DragonFlame, theoneandonlydarkpowderpuff, SweetAssassin, Siy, .H.P.I.A.L., iezebel x3, Sylvok, Noyesgirl, hinako89, stealth67, sasuke101, Rhonda21, huffpuff, Riley-Mayori, Tiasha, sakura5584, hel, Sakura0890, Earwen Telrunya and A.B34UT1FUL-Lie for reviewing!

Disclaimers: No own. Duh.

Chapter 11

Cherry blossom petals swayed left and right.

Itachi's eyes remained intensely focused on the movements of the cherry blossom petals. He had just finished another training session with Shisui and had lied down beside a tree to rest. For a long time he was unaware that he was staring at the flower petals, but soon enough he came to realize his actions. Why he couldn't keep his gaze off the petals, he didn't entirely know the answer. But perhaps he felt drawn to them because they reminded him of his fiancé. Fragile, beautiful…and pink.

Getting up from his spot, he exited the training area and made his way through the bustling streets of Konoha to return to his home. He was well aware of the familiar chakra that sped towards him, but he only slowed down his pace instead of turning around. A pair of small arms quickly wrapped around his waist from behind and a petite body collided into his.

Sakura giggled, "Itachi!"

She quickly let go of him and he turned around to be met with her bright smile.

"You're happy," he stated.

"Yep!" she beamed. "Tsunade-shishou said she wants me to be a temporary teacher for the ninja academy! So…"

"Yes?" he asked.

She stared at the ground and blushed, resembling Hinata, "I was wondering if…you would like to work with me? Uh, that is, you can just work with me when you have time."

He stared at her for a moment before replying, "Sure."

"This is so wonderful!" she beamed with a wide smile on her innocent face. "Oh, from now on the academy will be starting class at 10 A.M. to 2 P.M. instead of 9 A.M. so we have an hour before class begins. Let's hurry to the academy so we can get to talk to our students who arrive early."

"I will have to leave at 1 P.M.," Itachi informed her.

Sakura glanced at him, "You have a mission?"

"No," he answered, "Godaime-sama has placed me on the interrogation team that will be questioning Kisame."

"Oh, but why? She never places someone on the interrogation team like that."

"Since Kisame wanted me to join Akatsuki, she thinks that I will stand a better chance of getting information out of him."

"I see," Sakura muttered, "but that's OK! Let's go!"

Grasping his hand gently she began to pull him towards the ninja academy, a wide smile on her face.

It had been a couple of days since the kissing incident and the couple never brought up the topic again. They continued on with their daily lives, pretending as though it had never happened. But they both couldn't deny that they just can't erase that incident from their memory at all.

"Hello!" Sakura smiled.

The young girl, about seven years old, with short brown hair looked at Sakura for a second before shyly turning her head a little to the side, "Uhm…h-hi."

"I am your temporary sensei!" Sakura exclaimed happily.

"Sakura, you're scaring her," Itachi said.

That was definitely a fact. The poor shy girl seemed so frightened of Sakura. Upon realizing this, Sakura let out a small nervous laughter. The two of them were now in their classroom at the ninja academy. There were only a few students there and Sakura decided to greet them.

"Sensei," said a voice from amidst the few students.

Sakura and Itachi looked at the source of the voice; two girls sat together at a desk and a boy sat in the desk behind them. There was a girl with blonde pigtails, a girl with black braids, and a boy with messy brown hair.

"Are you two together?" asked the blonde girl.

Sakura and Itachi glanced at each other for a split second. Sakura answered, "Um…yes, we're engaged."

"See, I told you!" the blonde exclaimed. "I win!"

The girl with black braids and the boy with messy brown hair each handed the blonde a dollar.

The two stared at the three peculiar students. The rest of the time progressed in much silence, with the exception of Sakura starting small conversation with any students that arrived. It was odd; so far, four groups of students (ranging from two to five students) have made bets on whether or not Sakura and Itachi were together. Time passed by and it was now 10 A.M. and the classroom was filled with enthusiastic children.

"OK! Class, settle down!" Sakura ordered from amidst the confusion and the chattering. After a couple of minutes, she was able to earn the students' undivided attention. Itachi was not much help since he wasn't very talkative or loud. "I will now be telling you a bit about myself. My name is Haruno, Sakura, and I am your temporary teacher. I like flowers, especially cherry blossoms, and cute things that are pink. My favorite color is pink and I am a medic-nin at Konoha Hospital. Okay, Itachi-kun, your turn."

"Uchiha, Itachi," he said.

Sakura turned her attention back to the class, "Um, so any questions?" A girl with long, straight dark-blue hair raised her hand. "Yes, the girl with the dark-blue hair."

"Are you two together?" she asked.

"Um…yes, we're engaged," Sakura answered.

"YES! WE WIN!" half the class exclaimed.

"NOOO!" the other half cried.

Indeed, this was a strange bunch of students.

"Wow! Haruno-sensei, you're so cool!" a girl with red hair exclaimed as Sakura performed a healing jutsu. The class was divided into boys and girls and Sakura and Itachi would show the students a little about their careers. The class was now outside in one of the academy's training grounds. Sakura started with the female students and were showing them medical jutsus and chakra cotrol. Itachi, on the other hand, began with the male students and focused on power, stealth, genjutsu, and bloodlines.

Sakura smiled proudly, "Thank you. To be a medic-nin, you will have to be able to control your chakra well; don't use too much or too little chakra. It may seem difficult to perfect your chakra control, but practice makes perfect."

The red-head smiled admiringly at Sakura, "Haruno-sensei, not only are you so powerful and cool but you have a gorgeous and strong fiancée!"

Sakura blushed.

"Yeah!" a brunette agreed. "Hey, Uchiha-sensei is so powerful…did you see him throw that shuriken?"

"Yeah, it was a perfect shot!" said the red-head. "Haruno-sensei's children will be pink-headed sharingan-using healing prodigies!"

Sakura's blush deepened as the conversation between the two girls continued.

"Sakura," said a familiar voice from behind. Sakura turned around to see Itachi behind her, "it's time for me to leave now."

"I'll see you later then," Sakura said. With that, Itachi stalked off.

"And you two live together!" exclaimed the red-head, once Itachi was out of sight. "How romantic!"

His footsteps echoed in the cold, dark room with only a single source of light and warmth radiating from a candle placed on the desk in the center of the room. Making his way to the desk, Itachi sat down across from Kisame. Kisame was bound to a chair and Itachi could clearly see he was drained of his energy and chakra.

"Itachi…" Kisame whispered, his head slowly lifting up to meet Itachi's. He let out a weak chuckle, "This is unbelievable. Such power…you will let such power go to waste?"

Itachi only stared at Kisame as he remembered what Kisame was referring to.

Flashback

"Test my capacity?"

"Yes. Kill your clan?"

A moment of silence took place and only the rustling of the leaves could be heard. Should he it…again? A splotch of pink flashed in his head for a split second. Just when he finally found a reason to spare the life of his clan, his inevitable fate chased after him and caught up to him. None of this was even real, so why would he even care? Why?

Itachi closed his eyes, regretting what he would say, "…no."

Kisame blinked, "No? Heh, I see. But know this: you will regret your decision."

End Flashback

"You would choose a pathetic family and fiancée…over power?" Kisame said. "I said it once and I'll say it again…you will regret your decision."

Itachi's eyes remained indifferently focused on Kisame, countless thoughts running through his mind. But soon he broke out of his stream of consciousness and remembered his purpose, "Where is the Akatsuki hideout?"

Kisame chuckled, "You would know had you answered differently to my proposal."

"What is your reason for attacking the Kazekage?"

"You expect me to tell you?"

Itachi stopped his questions for a moment, knowing that Kisame would not answer. There was a few seconds of silence, until Itachi stood up from his seat. His footsteps grew faint to Kisame as he exited the room.

Sensing a familiar chakra, Ibiki looked up to see Itachi before him. He bristled, "How did it go? Did you get any answers?"

Itachi shook his head, "No. Kisame refuses to speak."

Ibiki sighed, "Oh well. We'll try again tomorrow. Itachi, will you do me a favor?" Itachi looked at him, waiting for him to speak. "Today is my niece's birthday and I ordered her a gift. The gift is ready at the antique shop on the intersection of Fire Street and Leaf Street. I have too much work to do and I don't have the time to go there. Will you go there and deliver the gift for me?"

"Yes, I can do that," Itachi replied.

Ibiki grinned, "Thanks a lot, Itachi. My niece is in the hospital right now; she was hurt from a recent mission. Her name is Morino, Keiko."

ANTIQUE STORE

Itachi looked around to confirm that he was in the right place. Fire Street and Leaf Street. He was indeed in the correct place. He gently placed his right hand on the door and pushed it open, causing a tiny ring to sound.

"Good evening," greeted an old lady sitting behind the cash register. She was perhaps in her mid-fourties and wore a single shirt and skirt along with an apron. Her hair was messy and tied back into a lose ponytail.

Itachi approached her, "Morino, Ibiki has sent me to pick up his gift for his niece Keiko."

"Ah, yes, yes. I will go get it right now," the old lady said. She got up from her seat and entered the back room. Itachi looked around and examined the place. The room was dark and there were a good amount of vases and jewelry. Something on a shelf caught his eye, though: a thin, black hard-covered notebook with the word 'WISH' carved in the center. He walked over to it and took it in his hands, turned it over and looked at the back.

'Write a what-if sentence and it shall come true.'

"See something that has caught your attention?"

Itachi turned to the cash register to see that the old lady had returned already and she held a present in her hands, "No. I was just looking around."

The old smiled, "I see. Here is the present."

Itachi walked up to her and took the present, "Thank you. I have a question."

"What is it?"

"That book with the word 'WISH' on it…it sounds very interesting."

"Ah yes…that book is indeed very interesting. I heard that it was made by a Leaf ninja some couple hundred of years ago."

"I am just curious but…if what the back of the book says is true, what happens?"

"My mother, the one who gave it to me, told me that you are sucked into a realm where what you wrote comes true."

"I see. How would you be able to get back into the real world? Or are you stuck there for eternity?"

"Ah…I never tried it before so I am unsure, but my mother told me that it is like real life. The only real way to escape…is death."

"Thank you," Itachi turned and started for the door. He could hear her mutter a quick, "Come again" before leaving.

Death…

Would he do it?

Would he die…hurt himself for once and die…to escape this beautiful nightmare?

"Morino, Keiko, please," Itachi said to the nurse at the front desk of Konoha Hospital. The nurse flipped through some paper quickly before responding.

"Room 208," she answered.

"Thank you," Itachi said before leaving for room 208. Within minutes, he arrived in front of room 208 and entered. Much to his surprise, Sakura was there tending to a teenage girl with brown hair.

"Itachi-kun!" Sakura beamed.

"Sakura," he greeted and then turned to the girl. "Are you Keiko?"

"Yes," the girl nodded.

Itachi handed her the present, "This is from Ibiki-san for your birthday."

The girl took the present and smiled, "Thank you. Sakura-san, so…when will I be free to use my right leg?"

"About a week because the damage to your leg was pretty deep. Just be careful and you'll be alright in no time!" Sakura smiled. "Itachi-kun, are you going to head home right now?"

"Yes," he answered.

"Great, we'll go together since my shift is done now," Sakura said. She turned to Keiko, "See you, Keiko."

Sakura trotted happily, a smile on her face, as she walked beside Itachi. It was clear that she overjoyed, like she always was. Her emerald eyes glimmered marvelously and the necklace he had given her a couple of days ago dangled on her smooth neck. Her pink strands of hair swung slightly to the side and back, due to the gentle breeze. There couldn't be a sight more beautiful.

She turned to Itachi, meeting his eyes, and her pink lips curved to form a smile, "Do you finally think of me as a friend?"

"No."

Death…

Would he die…hurt himself for once and die…to escape this beautiful nightmare?

Senko: Yay! I've finished the chapter! Wellz, anyway, I'm estimating there should be about 3-4 chapters until the end of "Worlds Apart" :)

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