Senko: Hello! Sorry for the late update! Dang. O.O I got 52 reviews for this last chapter…that's the most reviews I've ever gotten for a single chapter. Thanks to all the reviewers for making it happen –cries tears of joy-
.chie.x.sieka.: Hmm…should I even make Itachi meet Sasuke:D I should huh? Lol. Shi hime: AWW! You are just too…too…UBERLY AWESOME! huffpuff: Of course Itachi-kun will have a bday! ;) scorpiongrl: Read to find out. ninjaxbunny: National Friendship Month! I must remember that for the next April and spread lots of love lol yessh you made me feel really super-uber-duper-mega-ultra-hyper special! You are sooo cool and awesome :D -gives you a 100 pound of cookies and cupcakes- Mareno Mikato: If you keep up with the manga, you'll know what I'm talking about. If you don't, then don't worry about it because it probably won't matter much in this story :P .H.P.I.A.L.: That is for me to know and you to find out :P The Assassin of the Night: Yes, I know it took long for me to update. I was going to update sooner but my updates got delayed for personal reasons. And then after that I was just plain lazy XD Miss Bos-Say: Aww! I'm flattered!
Thanks to itachi-sama a.k.a cathrun, CraZy-AneH-GiRL, pilar-ayesha, SakuraSasuke29, sakura asakura, Iccena, Ali-Baba123, The Magical Whatever, sillymail, Heartless Ghost, kai'sgirl510, Ivory Black aka Torri-Chiob…, animemistress419, Natsu Yukili, ByakuyaBaka, Sakura5584, Kurenai Chinoumi, Psycho Demon-Witch, kagomefaves, BlackAngelBlood, Sylvok, Gina01, Hao'sAnjul, Earwen Telrunya, tirap, theoneandonlydarkpowederpuff, jezebel x3, Yamanaka Ino, Angel of Depression, loves-winged-dark-angel, If-This-Disturbes-You-Then…, Raeshi, itachiuchiaismine, Soelle, Selunchen123, Lady Evelynn, Halfbreed741, blubbleyum, Shinimegami-0f-Akatsuki, MiseriaX, BLUEEEyyy, fallen.lunar.,and Kunai-to-the-Heart for reviewing!
IMPORTANT: While researching things about Itachi, I readsome info on him on Wikipedia. It turns out that he achieved the rank of ANBU squad captain at age 13, but in this story he is ANBU squad captain yet he is only 12. This was my mistake. The solution? We are all going to pretend that he became ANBU squad captain at 12 years old. Got it? Good ;D
Disclaimer: No own. Duh.
Chapter 6
"NO! Absolutely not! I will not allow this AT ALL!" Naruto's screech filled the entire hospital and echoed throughout Konoha.
Sakura stared at the blonde. "And why do you not allow this? And since when were you in charge of what I can or cannot do?"
Naruto hesitated before answering. "Um…it's just that…that…"
"Thaaaaat?" Sakura drawled, impatiently awaiting Naruto's answer.
"I DON'T WANT TO LOSE YOU!" he screamed, jumping forward and locking her in a tight hug.
Sakura gently pushed him away, trying her best to maintain her temper. "Lose me? Lose me? You think that without you, Kakashi, and a certain someone I will die in a mission? You think I'm not strong enough to protect myself?"
Naruto paused, at loss of words. Damn, girls were really complicating. And just when he thought he had the perfect answer, too. "No! That's not what I meant!"
"Then what did you mean?" Sakura retorted.
"I meant…" Naruto's sentence drifted into nothing as he tried to think of an answer. "It's just that…this mission seems really dangerous and risky. If Team 7 were still together, I don't think we'd finish this mission easily. It would make me feel a lot better about this if I was there too…so that if anything happens I could try to help you. And if I couldn't help you at least I'll know that I did what I could. If something happened to you, I won't be able to live wondering if you could have been saved if I was here."
Sakura inhaled deeply before bringing asoft smile on her face. She couldn't believe she had so hated this blonde just a few years ago. "I will have you know that I can protect myself. You have nothing to worry about. We're just delivering a letter to the Land of the Sea (1), nothing to worry about. Besides, I've got Itachi-kun with me."
"Itachi's going too?" Naruto glanced over at Itachi, who quietly leaned against the door listening to their conversation. "Well then I have nothing to worry about."
"Nothing to worry about?" Sakura raised an eyebrow. "So just because you know there's a powerful prodigy going along, you have nothing to worry about because I can be the usual damsel in distress and always be saved? So it only makes you feel better when you know someone strong will be there?"
"Well, yeah, but…" Naruto couldn't find a way to finish his sentence.
Girls really are complicating.
Sakura and Itachi walked side by side to their new team's meeting place. Tsunade had given them a temporary team for this mission. Yesterday, she had just found out that Naruto was also in the hospital and she was enraged. Later that day, Tsunade had offered her and Itachi a mission: deliver a letter to the Land of the Sea. She had found out that Naruto and Jiraiya would leave again on their journey today, so she decided to drop by the hospital and inform Naruto of hernew taskbefore she left.
"Hey! Forehead girl! Over here!" a familiar voice sounded.
Sakura glared at Ino, who was waving at them. "Pig! You're on a mission with me?" Sakura growled when she and Itachi approached the group.
Itachi glanced at the group. There were only three other people aside from him and Sakura: the blonde girl, a guy with a dog, and a short-haired girl he remembered as Hinata.
"No, you're on a mission with me," Ino answered. "Godaime-sama said that the letter we're delivering is to a guy in the Land of the Sea. It's a simple mission and we don't even need Itachi but Godaime-sama mentioned something about wanting to see if he can handle this level."
"Ah, I see," Sakura said.
"Hold on! Akamaru needs to pee again!" Kiba said, bringing the group's walking to a halt.
Sakura rolled her eyes. "What are you feeding him, Kiba? And is he OK? We've only been traveling for four or so hours and Akamaru had had to pee for about five or six times already."
"He's just on a peeing spree," Kiba defended.
"You know what, since we're here and it's getting dark already let's just set up camp," Ino suggested. "Kiba and Itachi will get the woods and we girls will arrange the sleeping area."
The group split into two and the girls quickly began to set up tents. When they finished, the girls gathered around and sat forming a triangle.
"You know, Itachi's pretty civilized. It's so hard to imagine that an S-class criminal was this innocent," Ino admitted.
"W-well," Hinata began, "I believe that…that p-people are born innocent…a-and theylearn to beevil."
"Exactly, Hinata-chan," Sakura agreed. "I think Itachi-kun turned evil. Maybe something happened to make him kill his family."
"I just noticed, Forehead Girl, you called him with the –kun suffix," Ino pointed out.
Sakura looked at Ino questioningly. "What about it?"
"Well, he's the only person other than Sasuke-kun that you call with the –kun suffix. I mean, you don't call Naruto that but you've known Naruto for a longer time than you've known Itachi. Is there," Ino grinned, "something going on?"
A deep blush formed on Sakura's face. "W-What! You're sick, Ino! The guy's two years younger than me!"
"Oh, come on! He's not really two years younger than you. Let's face it - he's just as hot as Sasuke was when Sasuke was twelve. Heck I think he's hotter. He's so powerful too, much more powerful than Sasuke, right? He killed his clan! The power and the hotness," Ino said, "if I was twelve I would fall for him."
"If you were twelve, you pig," Sakura said. "Maybeif I was twelve again, I'd like him."
"Uhm…" Hinata began, "I…I a-agree with Ino-chan…are you s-sure there's nothing?"
"See?" Ino grinned proudly. "Even Hinata-chan agrees! You guys look really cute together."
"No we don't!" Sakura argued. "He's two years younger!"
"B-But he's just as tall as y-you," Hinata said, "I-if not an inch shorter…o-or something."
"You know, Forehead-girl, if he's going to stay this way the rest of his life, I think that you two really should get together," Ino suggested.
Sakura grunted. "You guys are so unbelievable."
"We're back!" Kiba called out, approaching the girls. Itachi followed behind him. The two set the wood down in the center of the camping area.
"OK…so who knows a fire technique?" Ino asked. "I was always put on missions with someone who knew one…so…"
There was a silence as all members realized that none knew a fire technique…all but Itachi.
"I know a fire technique," Itachi spoke up.
Ino beamed. "Awesome!"
Itachi quickly formed seals with his fingers. He brought a hand up to his mouth. "Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu."
The only sound was that of the faint crackling of the firewood. Sakura and Itachi leaned against a tree in silence. They had decided to have two people guard the area and they would switch every two hours. After two hours, Sakura and Itachi were to awaken two people of their choice to take their places. It had been approximately half an hour and the two said not a word.
Sakura, deciding to start a conversation, let out a small laugh. "You know what's funny, Itachi-kun? Ino-pig and Hinata-chan thinks you and I would make a cute couple." He didn't reply but Sakura didn't mind. She knew that he had nothing to say about this topic. She decided to keep on talking. "I mean, that's just crazy, isn't it?"
"Is it?" he asked, slightly surprising Sakura.
"Well…" Sakura paused. It wasn't that crazy. She was becoming a hypocrite now. All her life she believed that age didn't matter and love is love, so what about now? "I-It's not that crazy…um! Well, it's just that you're two years younger. I don't like younger guys and I'm sure you want a girl your age and…and I have other reasons…"
"Ino told me you liked my brother," he said.
Sakura blinked. "She…did? When did that happen?"
Flashback (chapter 3)
A normal day was what Sakura considered this to be. The regular training in the morning, afternoon in the hospital, and evening free time. Today she had worked an extra shift (like many other days) and it was evening now. An exhausted Sakura dragged herself home. She had made breakfast and left some for Itachi, but that was way back in the morning. She wondered if the older…er, younger? Uchiha ate yet. When she opened the door and entered her house, she was met with a shocking surprise.
"Sakura," Itachi greeted, looking up to acknowledge her while placing down a bowl on the kitchen table.
Sakura gaped at the food set on the table. Every dish looked scrumptious and one hundred percent edible. He, a guy, a criminal, a person from a wealthy household who probably had maids working for him, made food that she herself could not generate at all.
"You have lots of ramen here," he said, taking a seat. "But I wanted a proper meal. I hope you didn't mind, Sakura?"
"No, no," Sakura said fast. "I don't mind at all. And…w-wow…"
"Take a seat," he said. "It's edible. You've been gone since morning and that girl…the blonde one, I saw her earlier and she invited me to lunch. She said you probably wouldn't be home until evening, like always. I decided to make dinner for you."
Sakura took a seat, overjoyed with how caring this S-class criminal was. "That's so…sweet, Itachi! You didn't have to do this, though."
"It's the least I can do for you for allowing me to live with you."
End Flashback
"Oh…I remember now…" Sakura said. "Agh, that pig. Well many other girls liked your brother, too. Heck, I think the entire female population of Konoha was in love with him."
Itachi remained in silence for a while. "In my opinion, you should see everyone as an individual."
Sakura laughed slightly. "Well don't worry about that! I won't hate you just because I liked your brother."
"Hn…"
Sakura scooted closer to Itachi. "You know, before Sasuke-kun left Konoha Team Seven were so close. I remember we all used to lie down on a clear grassy field at night during our missions and we'd look up at the stars."
He gave no reply, but she knew that it was just in his character to be that way. A part of her wondered if all Uchihas were this way. Knowing that if he was really annoyed with her talking he would stop her, she decided to continue speaking. "You would expect it to be me talking about how pretty the stars were, but one time when I was too tired Naruto played my role. He wouldn't stop talking about the stars' beauty that it got annoying. So I told him to shut up about the stars already. And you want to know what he said next?"
"Hn…"
Sakura gently leaned her head against Itachi's armand looked up at the brightly lit night sky, a smile hung on hercream-colored face. "He said…"
Flashback
"You know if I had a star for every time this team made me feel like the happiest and luckiest future Hokage this world has ever seen, I'd have even more stars than the sky," he grinned, squinting his eyes like usual to make his signature fox-like appearance.
Sasuke snorted. "What a mushy idiot."
"You know you feel the same way, Sassuukkeee," Naruto drawled.
"Alright, everyone, get to sleep. We have a long day ahead of us," Kakashi said, his eyes never departing from the words in his book.
End Flashback
Sakura gave off a small laugh. "That Naruto…there's more to him than just some dumb idiot always screwing up. I agreed with Sasuke-kun that he was being a mushy idiot but I couldn't deny that if I too had a star for every time Team 7 made me feel like the happiest and luckiest kunoichi this world has ever seen, maybe I would have even more stars than the sky…"
Her words drifted into a silence and by the time Itachi noticed the talking had stopped, he saw that the pink-headed girl leaning against his side had fallen into a deep slumber.
His sights shifted upwards towards the sky.
If he had a star for every time he felt like the happiest and luckiest shinobi this world has ever seen, would he have more stars than the sky?
No.
He wouldn't.
He would never.
"RISE AND SHINE!" a voice screeched, causing Sakura to bolt up awake and Itachi to open his eyes. Standing before them was an annoyed Ino, her hands on her waist. She sighed deeply, gathering her breath together after screaming so loud. "About time you woke up."
Sakura blinked a couple times to clear her vision. Then she remembered…she and Itachi were on guard duty that night and…she gasped. "Oh, my god! I'm so sorry! We fell asleep!"
Kiba grunted. "Damn right. And here I thought you two were supposed to be the most responsible from this group."
Sakura shifted her gaze down to the ground, unable to face the disappointment in her teammates' eyes. How could they have fallen asleep? What if they had gotten ambushed? She stopped her train of thoughts upon hearing Ino speak.
"It's alright. What matters is that nothing happened," Ino said, smiling. "Now let's hurry it up and head over to that town."
After a few more hours of traveling, the group finally reached their destination. The sun hung high in the sky, indicating that it was noon. The team of ninjas stepped out of the hotel they had reservations at and faced the bustling city. Ino cleared her throat to grab everyone's attention. "Okey dokey, everyone. Here's the plan. The man we are delivering a letter to is a guy named Katsuya and he works in this city. Due to some odd reason, the client wouldn't say where Katsuya works. So, as leader of this mission I say we divide into two groups and search for this man. If you find him, alert everyone so we can bring him the letter."
"Oh! Itachi-kun and Hinata-chan and I shall be in one group!" Sakura declared.
"Forehead-girl, I know you want to be with Itachi," Ino teased, receiving a glare from Sakura, "but we gotta admit you and Itachi together would be quite powerful and it'll just be Kiba and me in one group. No offense, Kiba. Anyway, we need equal strength, so you and I will be going together."
Sakura's glare intensified. "Eww…stuck with a pig."
Ino glowered in return. "Think about me. I'm stuck with a gigantic Forehead thing. And don't deny it - you're just dying to spend some quality girl time with me."
Sakura groaned. "Man, I'm tired…we searched a dozen places already."
"Let's go and eat," Ino suggested.
"Hm? But aren't we supposed to be looking for that man?" Sakura let out a gasp. "You pig! Don't be so selfish and put your own needs before our mission."
Ino rolled her eyes. "Whatever, Forehead-girl. We'll still be looking for the guy – we're just going to look for him in a restaurant while we eat."
Sakura smirked. "Such a sly pig."
Ino glared. "You know you want to eat too."
In a dark corner of a ramen restaurant, a lone figure sat shrouded in the shadows. Using his chopsticks to pick up a few strands of noodles, he sighed to himself in frustration. He had recently been hired to conduct a couple of experiments for Orochimaru. He had heard that Orochimaru used to have some forbidden researches that went on in the Land of the Sea, but Orochimaru abandoned the area. Now he was at the Land of the Sea and must work on the tasks Orochimaru had assigned him.
The pay that Orochimaru offered him was good and that was perhaps the only reason he agreed to this. But Orochimaru was an impatient man and now he was fearful for his life. He hadn't had much progress in the human alteration assignment and the last time Orochimaru checked up on him, Orochimaru was definitely not happy. He had already wasted a couple of bodies and needed more.
But the Land of the Sea didn't have many suitable vessels for testing. He needed someone energetic, someone strong and powerful. It was difficult to search for a perfect person in such a place. Inwardly, he wished he was closer to a ninja village; ninjas would definitely be able to withstand the ordeal.
The bell that hung on the handle rang as the door opened, indicating visitors. The man glanced up and to his surprise it seems that luck was on his side today.
Leaf headbands…
"Please take a seat," the waitress said, leading Sakura and Ino to a table. "Someone will be here shortly to take your order."
Sakura and Ino sat themselves at a small table for two, patiently waiting in silence. The silence was broken as Ino arose from her seat. "I'm going to the bathroom. Be back in a bit."
Sakura hummed a catchy tune to herself. She stopped when a bowl of ramen was placed in front of her. 'That's odd,' Sakura said to herself.
'What is?' a voice inside her head asked.
'Ino-pig's been gone for a while now…my order has arrived and yet she's still in the bathroom,' Sakura told herself. Glancing around, she couldn't spot Ino anywhere. Worried, she got up from her seat and headed for the bathroom.
"Ino-pig?" Sakura asked aloud, peeking inside the women's bathroom before entering. "Hey Pig, are you in here? Ino?" Sakura leaned down and looked around under the stall. No feet anywhere. So where was Ino?
Going back outside and studying the restaurant again, Sakura was now sure that Ino was not in thethere anywhere. She ran outside and looked all around.
No Ino in sight.
Her breathing grew deep and her heartbeat quickened. What if something had happened to Ino? She bit her bottom lip in frustration; she was right there in the restaurant, so how could she have not known that Ino was gone? Cursing her lack of awareness, she dashed off to find the other members of her team.
It hadn't taken her very long to locate her group, and for that she was thankful. After searching a couple of blocks, she spotted three familiar faces and quickly ran up to them, panting and wheezing.
"Woah, Sakura. Are you alright?" Kiba asked, upon seeing the out-of-breath kunoichi.
Sakura wasted only a few seconds pulling herself together before informing, "I can't find Ino-pig anywhere. Hinata-chan, can you use your Byakugan?"
Hinata gave a simple nod before bringing her hands together. "Byakugan!"
There was a silence among them as Hinata scanned miles in their vicinity. The chattering of the residents seemed almost nonexistent to them as they anxiously awaited the results.
Finally, the visible veins that had appeared around Hinata's eyes when she used the Byakugan faded and Hinata shook her head. "She's nowhere near us."
Senko: Dun, dun, dun! Ino has disappeared :O Tune into the next chapter of "The Other Uchiha" to see if Team ItaSaku will find Ino! LoL Anyway, I apologize for the late update. I will be starting school tomorrow (yes, my summer vacation ended T-T). Yep...hm.
1) If you watch the fillers, they talk about the Land of the Sea.