-Meltdown-

I know there's quite a few questions being asked now but I did that on purpose.

Harhar I am evil.

You guys have no clue as to what I'm gonna do.

Things might clear up or get worse in this chapter.

Sorry for such a belated chapter, Inspiration is hard to come by now days.

Stay tuned.

Ch.5

"Hey Itachi-Chan, you okay over there?" Jun whispered to his captain in the dead of night. He got no response for a long while until a quiet voice spoke.

"No. We lost a teammate to the hospital and we are low on rations. If we do not recover the scroll we need then the mission is a failure. Understand?" Itachi's voice was barely audible but Jun heard him.

"I bet that old guy is fine, your medics can heal him. Besides he just got in the way." Jun wrapped his jacket tightly around his torn clothing, the wind got to him after sleeping in tree's for so long. He had no idea how Itachi could do it all the time.

"Kakashi was a valuable member of our team. Now we have to work twice as hard without him." Itachi ground out, he had little tolerance for the man.

"Hush... enemies nearby." Their medic Hoshi whispered to the two men.

Akatsuki members. Itachi recognized their chakra signatures before he even saw the cloaks. His two teammates heartbeats quickened and held their breath, Itachi noted. He made no movement to reveal their makeshift campsite in the trees, Itachi knew that he could have taken them on but he couldn't risk his teammates lives. They had to steal a scroll, no fighting required. Itachi planned to keep it that way. The Akatsuki he recognized as Kisame and Deidara walked by them without noticing the three other ninja. Jun shifted on a tree branch, hoping to make it sound like a bird or squirrel. Kisame paused and sniffed the air.

"Smells kinda like Dango." Kisame's gills flexed on his face, he turned around and scoured the trees. Itachi glared at Jun who had a sheepish look on his face.

"What? No it doesn't Fishcake. We gotta get going." Deidara smacked the back of Kisame's head in irritation.

"Hey! Just because Itachi had other agendas and left the organization with Pinky and Tobi actually was the Leader doesn't mean you can boss me around." Kisame growled. "You touch me one more time and I will bite that hand off."

"Touch." Deidara poked Kisame's gills, the fish man turned a shade of purple and glared at his new partner.

"Tonight you die!" Kisame pinned Deidara to the ground and began to strangle him, the clay artist was not prepared for his partners attack so he became helpless to the other.

"Sharingan." Itachi whispered to himself and glared at Kisame. Moments later the fish man got off Deidara and brushed off his cloak.

"Sorry man... My mistake." Kisame shivered and directed his eyes towards the group on ANBU in the trees.

"What was that all about?" Deidara punched Kisame square in the face, it didn't seem to affect the man. He kept his eyes on the few trees diagonally across from them.

"Nothing. I just remembered my mission." Kisame's eyes conveyed a mysterious emotion to the blonde but they went on their way.

"How did you do that?" Jun asked Itachi, he looked shocked beyond compare.

"It's nothing." Itachi spoke and glanced at Hoshi, she looked happy. Her tan skin had a blush across her face even visible in the black of night, her long black hair reminded him of Sakura's unbelievably soft tresses, piercing sapphire eyes glowed within the night appreciatively at her captain. Itachi changed his line of sight back to Jun, he made himself a note not to inwardly describe his field medic to himself no matter how beautiful she happened to be and reminded him of his love.

Jun looked irritated now, obviously frustrated with the fact that he couldn't get an answer out of his superior. Itachi felt their spot had become unsafe now and leaded his team closer to their goal.

"What? I cant take a fucking nap now?" Jun growled and followed Itachi's path.

"Its because you wont learn to shut the fuck up. Maybe if you did we would get some sleep." Hoshi jabbed her partner in the side, the rewarding curses afterward gave Itachi a small smirk. She was definitely like Sakura.

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The horrible feeling in her gut wouldn't go away with all the tea and bread she ate, Sakura curled into herself onto her bed and laid there for hours. The rising sun told her that it was morning, the pinkette slowly trudged to her bathroom to get ready for another day of work. Her stomach churned and she almost wanted to call in sick, but decided not to for Madara could easily come find her in her home. It would be harder for him to grab her in a public place without causing alarm. Sakura sighed as she shut her front door shut and set foot on the street for the hospital.

She wondered how the man had been able to watch her, ANBU were patrolling at all hours at a time. Madara had to know that the baby wasn't his didn't he? If he had been watching her all this time and how did such monumental news slip by him? Or did he just refuse to acknowledge that he was wrong and Itachi was the true father of her child? Sakura had no clue, but what she did know was that she already missed Itachi. It had only been a little more than a week, she didn't like feeling so vulnerable without him there. The time that they had spent together in such close quarters all the time she got used to, now that he was gone Sakura felt helpless. She knew she could take care of herself with most people but Madara scared her, she couldn't protect herself against him. He had his claws deep within her, if he tried anything against her Sakura wouldn't know what to do. She tried to kill him but failed, Sasuke and Itachi also. Her pregnancy would only make her weaker, with her baby draining her of all of her nutrients stored within her body and warping her physical form. Sakura was helpless and she wanted to cry again.

"Sakura-San!" Maomao found her standing in the street, tears flowing freely down her face in fat drops. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah..." Sakura lifted her head a little bit and put on a fake smile, she figured that a bull shit answer was good for an idiotic question. "I'm just caught up in the emotions of my little boy, it's exciting."

"Oh! Congratulations!" Maomao's disposition became chipper. "Can I walk you the rest of the way to the hospital?"

"Sure." Sakura's breathing remained uneven, when her assistant turned her back on her Sakura took the chance to let go of her smile for a more comfortable frown.

The day was slow, unbearable, lonely. Sakura managed to detach herself from her body during her work. Misaki controlled everything for her while she moped within herself. Maomao wouldn't leave her alone the whole day, she kept nagging her about training and she eventually gave in. Sakura took her to a pet store during their lunch and proceeded to teach her how to revive a dead fish.

Her assistant squealed in disgust about the assignment, almost making it sound as if she had no idea as to what her medical field pertained. Tsunade taught her how to revive a fish so it was common sense to teach it to someone who wanted to learn. Maomao didn't seem to agree during the activity, her tan face turned a queasy turquoise and her hands couldn't stop twitching. Too much time went by, the fish would be too old to be revived by the time the girl decided to attempt the Justu.

"Enough. Shut up." Sakura growled, her eyes faded to a deeper shade of green. Irritation fueled her growing hate for people in life, the girl did nothing to help. "Get out of the way."

"Hai." Maomao whispered and jumped back away from the Hokage's apprentice, Sakura healed and revived the dead fish laying on a table in her office. The fish flopped and gasped for air on the table, Maomao screamed in fright and hid behind her mentor. Sakura turned and glared daggers at the woman yanking her medical coat. The look she sent her was enough for Maomao to leave the office in a blink of an eye.

Sakura grabbed her large koi fish that happened to be a bit more pricey than she thought and set it in a small fish tank next to her desk, Sakura made sure to buy some food and water for her new pet. The coming weeks when she had more money Sakura promised her little fish a bigger more luxurious home within her office and maybe a few friends.

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Two months. Two months he had been on one mission. Itachi glared at one of his teammates Jun, the man was the whole reason for this. They had gotten the scroll they were assigned to steal a very long time ago. Jun had been responsible for protecting it until Konoha. Countries were sent after them, it took weeks at a time to loose the search parties. Just when they were home free to enter the fire countries forest- Jun had dropped the scroll as a search party found them. Itachi rolled his eyes underneath his closed eye lids. The coincidence was just too much to bear. Luck was not on their side, for their party fought as hard as they could while trying to relocate the dropped scroll in the middle of the night. Minutes went by and Itachi knew that something was amiss, his thoughts were only answered seconds later by a frustrated scream from Hoshi. He soon learned that the scroll they had spent two months for had been set on fire when everyone had been distracted. Itachi wanted to murder Jun, if they had Kakashi then none of their problems they were facing now wouldn't have been made present in the first place.

Jun had been avoiding him for the past few days, almost taking all of the guard shifts. His absence from the group left him with more than a little time to spend socializing with Hoshi and write a detailed letter to the Hokage of the past two months. Itachi leaned back on the large oak tree behind him, his eyes stung a little at the edges almost as if his Sharingan tried to will itself to be activated. He fought against the urge and sighed. He had sent one of his crows to deliver his scroll two days ago, a return letter should be on its way Itachi noted. The forest was quiet, aside from some few animals scurrying around brush. Jun was nowhere to be seen, he did not even check with him earlier in the day. Itachi could care less though, the man knew how to protect himself and had a small mike on him to get a hold of him if needed. Itachi removed his pack and laid it under his head as a pillow, he laid down on the extremely wide branch underneath him. He made sure to pick a spot on the particular tree for a clear view of the surrounding area. Hoshi was stationed underneath him on the forest floor, their campfire had been snuffed out a long while ago so he had to search for a few seconds to find her through the massive amount of leaves on the tree.

"...Itachi-Chan..." A low whisper erupted underneath a few branches below him.

"Hn." Itachi mumbled, he knew Hoshi was there. Her voice indicated that she wanted something from him, but was hesitant and possibly shy to ask.

"...I'm- I'm cold. Could... could I lay near you?" Hoshi stuttered a bit, he had an idea as to why but shoved the thought away as soon as it came.

"Hn." His head nodded slightly and he outstretched a hand for her to take. He felt no threat to their safety and was confident in keeping them both safe. She could sleep easy and warm, he was not tired but didn't mind resting his eyes.

"Th-thank you." She whispered as she laid down next to him, he didn't mind her spooning his side for warmth or her small hands gripping the side of his ANBU uniform. She was quite cold and needed all the warmth she could take. Itachi pulled out a blanket for her and set it over them. A small mewl of appreciation came from her and he couldn't help but smile a little bit. Her cuteness reminded him of his love, Sakura. His heart felt a little warm at the thought, he hadn't thought of her for some time. The battles that he fought everyday and stress of protecting his team wore him out every night, every night that he was able to rest that is. He didn't like fighting till late morning from the early evening, he didn't like draining Hoshi's strength because he nearly died a few times from small armies of ninja, he didn't like fighting with one less man on his squad, he didn't like fighting beside a cocky Jun that became more injured than him, he didn't like being away from his family.

Sakura, how he missed her. Two months away was too much, especially when he had just gotten home and was safe. He wondered what she looked like now, two months along. Itachi knew it wasn't going to be very noticeable, but he wanted to know. Was it a boy? A girl? His? ...or Madara's? He frowned slightly and leaned more into the tree and Hoshi. It was highly unlikely that it was Madara's for he had been with Sakura first but... what if she did not get pregnant the first time around but the second? The thought of Madara, his ex-mentor- thrusting, fucking, raping, cumming inside of Sakura made his blood boil. He gnawed his teeth together for minutes at a time, his eyes felt like they were bleeding but he knew it was just his Mangekyo Sharingan forcing itself to be activated. He had more control than that though so they stayed a murky charcoal color.

His head hung low as he watched the rotting corpse of Sakura eight months pregnant decay before his eyes. Madara knew that the man could smell and taste the rotting flesh in the air. He had also put in the man's mind earlier of what happened to Sakura before she died. She had been brutally raped in many forms while she screamed and cried out for her love that could do nothing but watch in anguish. Her body was ripped and torn mostly around her nether regions while the rest of her body was sliced, broken, and bruised. Her neck sported a cut all the way on her throat. On closer inspection her whole head was chopped off of her body except from a loose piece of rotted skin that technically still connected her head to her body. The smell of rotting flesh attracted insects and animals of all kinds to come. Maggots filled the orifices of her body, rats nibbled on her hands and feet that easily chipped off from her body, wild dogs ripped open her stomach and fought over the baby's rotten corpse inside, and vultures eventually fought off the dogs and feasted on the remains of her flesh- digging inside the neck cavity to get to the brains and eyeballs inside the skull. Loose pink hair littered the ground, Itachi's face became emotionless but a few tears escaped his eyes even though he knew it was all an illusion.

Itachi uncontrollably shivered, his throat tightened in disgust. He felt the need to throw up, as if the mental image of Madara having his way with a slightly willing Sakura wasn't bad enough. Itachi thought he had banished the thought from his mind after he escaped the illusion, he winced at the memory. Hoshi cuddled closer into Itachi's side and yawned slightly. The feminine touch soothed him, he sighed and closed his eyes. Flashes of a decayed Sakura appeared in his mind, his stomach churned and bubbled sickly. Itachi grabbed water out of his pack and sipped it slowly.

"Sir." A small bird chirped from its beak in the middle of the forest coming towards the Uchiha. Itachi heard the bird easily and raised his arm up for it. The small black crow dropped a white envelope onto his blanket covered lap. Itachi petted its feathers until it disappeared into a puff of smoke. He gracefully opened the thin piece of paper and read its contents.

I see. What a mess. We can still get what we need done without your scroll, it'll just be much more difficult. Thank you for informing us immediately. You're new orders are to report to Anko in the Mist. We are in need of reinforcements there, take your whole team. You are to stay stationed there until further notice. Assist Anko in any way possible.

Tsunade.

P.S. - I felt that it was necessary to give you a photo of Sakura also. She misses you dearly.

Safe travels.

Itachi turned the paper over to see a photo of Sakura taped on the back. It was a wallet sized photo, small enough to fit in the palm of his hand. She looked happy, so vibrant it almost made him feel pained. Her eyes glowed a bright gem green, her hair shined in the morning light bright bubble gum pink looking so soft his hand twitched to run through the angelic tresses, her ivory skin became a sun kissed peach color appearing so smooth and creamy to the eye, her lips a darker shade of pink he noticed her laced with lip gloss and eyes lightly complimented with mascara and eye liner. He had never seen her in makeup before, her natural beauty was enough to send him into fits of sexual induced madness. The light amount of makeup only enhanced her beauty to a new level, Itachi's eyes softened when running his eyes over the photo. She wore a bright pastel yellow dress with a blooming red rose in her hair in front of the Yamanaka flower shop. Her finely manicured hands rested on her abdomen lovingly, her eyes showed that. He felt them boring into his soul. The way they were placed on her stomach, it looked as if she caressed their unborn child. An unimaginable amount of love over powered Itachi, it felt unnatural to him. As unnatural as it was, Itachi accepted the feeling. Sakura looked absolutely stunning in the photo, absolutely glowing. He missed her so much, Itachi lifted the small photo in his hand and kissed the spot where Sakura's bright smile had been engraved in ink on the paper.

"I'll see you soon Blossom..." Itachi whispered inaudibly to himself, a silent promise to survive to be there for her and their child. He knew a promise to himself was needed before he had to put himself on the front lines in Mist, for he would surely die without remembering what he was fighting for.

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Hey sorry again.

This one is shorter than the last.

I hate filler but I gotta do it.

More plot development next.

Hope you enjoyed it kinda.

Reviews on my progress would be nice.

Ideas would be fantastic.

Thanks for reading!

I love you guys for loving my thoughts.

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Much Love, LadyMarrowind.