Senko: Ah...sorry about the erm...late update o.O a, uhm, year late update lol
Chapters from this point on will NOT take a year to update lol because I have the entire story's outline written out :D
I will not be replying to any reviews in this chapter but only saying thanks to all of you xD because I'm in a rush to post this for you awesome readers!
Thanks to Heartless Ghostie, sillymail, .My.Beautiful.Rescue., Hao'sAnjul, priya, demon-ice-mirror, Mint Bliss, GinaCat, Cnguyen456, animemistress419, Narutofan462, Neon Genesis, ninjaxbunny, sasukefaves, Trunkssilver, The Assassin of the Night, Gina01, Natsu Yukili, MistressBlossom, itachi-sama a.k.a cathrun, Hyuuga's Winged Guardian, loves-winged-dark-angel, sakura asakura, Jamiex3, Snowbired, Akae, Emriel, Sylvok, huffpuff, Hiako, shi hime, My.Happily.Ever.After, Soelle, Lady Evelyn, VixenofDeath809, ..., Hyousetsu, RaMeNLuVeRMoKoNa, Earwen Telrunya, Puppyeye1, ..., XxIIchiyo-chanIIxX, D.K.-Missy, Lite1232, Tickle Me Emo, Lina Mistress of Elements, o0Dreamer0o, cassandra, bubbleyum, RozenMaiden14, MayeUchiha, supreme-squirrel-huntress, Arbitraryster, poisontreat, shadow angel 101 hot-ninja-babe, Meer Campbell 01, InuKeifer, CosenAngel, uchihaaikosakura1821, clea everlasting, mahalo4ursupport, saskiko of soleanna, Crimson90, Gothic Saku-chan, and Kotone111 for reviewing!
Chapter 7
The only sound that could be heard was that of the water being pushed by the wooden oar that Itachi held. Sakura and Itachi were situated in a small boat, Sakura sitting at one corner and Itachi rowing at the other corner. Itachi remained calm but worry filled Sakura. Inwardly, she prayed for Ino's safety.
There was the main island which the group was on that Hinata had scanned with her Byakugan quickly. When it was confirmed that Ino was not on that island, they had to split up to search the other islands. Itachi and Sakura were paired together because Kiba desired the Byakugan's technique. So here they were, sailing to the island.
She hated when things like this would happen. She wondered how Ino could have been kidnapped and why she had not been able to sense it. She hated herself for it...since she didn't expect for anything like this to happen, she had let down her guard completely. If only...she was stronger.
She felt her eyes become teary but forced the tears back.
"It wasn't your fault," Itachi said, continuing to row.
She glanced at him before shifting her gaze to her side, a small smile forming on her face. At times like this, she wished Itachi had never killed his clan.
When they reached the shore of the island, they got off the small boat and surveyed their surroundings. There was an uncomfortable feeling about this island. It was dark and quiet, unlike the main island. After walking around for some time, they came across a cave and entered it. Sakura clung gently to Itachi's side as they walked through the dark corridors.
A scream echoed throughout the halls and Itachi and Sakura dashed towards the source of the voice. As they neared it, an open room came into view and they stood hidden around a corner as they listened in on the conversation.
"LET ME GO! Untie me now!" Ino's voice screeched.
"Just shut up and be a good little girl," a man's voice said.
"Dammit, I can't freaking fight! Shit," she cursed.
The man chuckled. "My drugs stop the chakra flow temporarily. Now with you as my test subject, I am bound to create something that will impress Orochimaru-sama!"
Ino growled. "Damn this."
Sakura took this time to make her grand entrance and Itachi followed behind her. When they entered the room, Ino was tied up in a corner of the room. The man abruptly turned to face them, shocked.
"Y-You! How did you get in!" He screamed in shock.
"You were stupid enough to leave rooms unlocked," Sakura growled. "We've come to get our friend."
He chuckled. "I'm afraid I can't let you do that. I must use her to experiment and...and then when I impress Orochimaru-sama, I'll be spared!"
Sakura's eyes only narrowed at the man's sickening thought of experimenting on Ino in order to save his life, yet at the same time she felt pity for him having to fear for his life like that. She gritted her teeth before launching herself at him, gathering the chakra into her right fist. She successfully hit him, causing him to crash into a wall. He slowly struggled to get up and lunged at her in return.
Itachi, on the other hand, kept out of the fight. He had sense a dangerous yet somewhat familiar chakra just recently. He couldn't remember exactly who it belonged to. When he he sensed it again, he shifted his head a bit to look behind his shoulder to see a retreating shadow.
The immense chakra made him curious and he couldn't simply leave, so he left Sakura to deal with the villain before stalking off after the unknown shadow. When he approached the corner and turned, the shadow was nowhere. This made him dash across the hallway attempting to find that shadow.
He didn't have to look long, for when he took a left turn he saw two figures wrapped in cloaks. The figures turned around.
"Well, well. If it isn't Uchiha, Itachi. Kisame sure must be lonely with you gone," said the first figure, lifting his head so the light entered his face. The man had a very pale face, much resembling that of a snake and it made Itachi feel uncomfortable. The other person, though, seemed more human and wore glasses.
"How do you know me?" Itachi asked.
There was a brief silence and the glasses man whispered something into the snake man's ear. The snake man chuckled. "Good thing you invented that jutsu to scan bodies, Kabuto."
Kabuto smirked. "I figured it would come in handy someday, Orochimaru-sama."
So they were Kabuto and Orochimaru.
Orochimaru focused his gaze on Itachi. "Sasuke-kun will be so disappointed to hear about this."
Itachi narrowed his eyes. "Sasuke...? Where is he?"
Orochimaru only let out an evil chuckle before he and Kabuto disappeared in a puff, leaving Itachi to ponder why and how Orochimaru would know Sasuke. His thoughts were quickly interrupted.
"Itachi-kun?" Sakura called out, approaching him and followed by Ino. "Why did you run off here?"
Itachi turned to her and wondered for a second if he should tell her about Orochimaru. "It's nothing, I just thought I saw something."
"Oh, okay," Sakura smiled. "Well, I defeated that guy so let's head out!"
"Oh, thank you so much for delivering this letter!" A middle-aged man exclaimed in joy as he took the letter from Ino. "I hope this mission didn't cause you too much trouble?"
Ino smiled. "Oh, no. Not at all! We'll be heading back now."
The man bid them farewell and Ino, Sakura, Itachi, Kiba, and Hinata began their journey back to Konoha. The entire time, Orochimaru's words plagued Itachi's mind and he wondered where Sasuke would be.
A few knocks against the door to his room caught Itachi's attention. "Come in."
He could hear the door open and he knew instantly who was at his door.
"I have dinner prepared. Are you too busy with your studies?" Sakura asked.
Itachi gathered the books and scrolls together. "I'll be there in a bit."
"Alright then," Sakura said before leaving Itachi's room and heading to begin her dinner.
It had been about a week since Itachi had encountered Orochimaru. Itachi had of course resumed his usual life, following Sakura around at the hospital and studying scrolls. However, during the times when Sakura was away at the hospital, he knew where the documents containing information about criminals and Leaf shinobis lied and he would sneak a peek at them.
He had discovered that Orochimaru was a former Leaf shinobi and soon joined with some evil organization named Akatsuki. Of course, Orochimaru eventually left the organization and where he currently resides is unknown.
So now as he continued on with his studying, he often pondered about what to do. Sure he liked the life of staying by Sakura. He had come to admit to himself that she was strong and he held a good amount of admiration and respect for her. Yet at the same time, he felt a certain feeling of obligation to leave the Leaf in order to find Sasuke.
Should his first step be to find Akatsuki?
He decided to leave this pondering for later. Perhaps time would aid him in making a decision.
"But shishouuuu," Sakura called out to Tsunade, who stood across from her examining the patient in between them. Itachi stood in silence near the door.
Tsunade sighed. "You've been working real hard lately and I think you need a break."
"I'm standing and I can heal, so I'm just perfect," Sakura chirped.
"It's just for today, Sakura," Tsunade said, turning around to exit the room.
Sakura frowned childlessly once Tsunade. It was true that she's been working extra shifts at the hospital lately without any complaint. Sakura believed, though, that it was training and didn't mind it.
"Let's go, Itachi-kun," she sighed, leaving the room.
Sakura and Itachi wandered around the streets of Konoha. Sakura wondered what to do. It was the afternoon and it was a routine for her to be at the hospital during this time, except for when she took a lunch break. It was either the hospital or a mission.
From the corner of her eye she peered over at the young Uchiha, who happened to be lost in his own thoughts.
She had to admit that he held a striking resemblance to Sasuke. However, she also had to admit...that he was a lot better looking too. She had always admired Sasuke's good looks, but Itachi was a completely different story.
She noticed Itachi had perfect eyelashes that gave him a slight hint of femininity. Those eyelashes combined with that deep shade of onyx eyes were a magnificent combination. He had long, silky bangs that hung in front of his eyes and they would shimmer when hit with the sunlight. His overall look was just simply...how should she put it...
beautiful.
"Sakura?"
She blinked, realizing she had stopped in her tracks and had been staring at him for a while. A deep blush crept on her face in embarrassment and she quickly turned away. "Ah, s-sorry. Uhm, what to do...what to do..."
They continued to walk in silence for a while. Sakura didn't mind, though, since she had expected this from Itachi. Then an idea occurred to her. She turned to Itachi and beamed. "Hey! Let's train!"
It wasn't long before they reached an open field suitable for a training ground. Sakura was excited. She hadn't fought Itachi before and she figured perhaps she should use this time to see how he fights. His seventeen-year-old self might fight differently, of course, but still it was better than nothing.
Itachi didn't know what was with the girl. From his memories, he remembered that many people feared him and didn't like to spar with him. The reason being was that they knew they stood no chance against him.
But here he was, standing with an excited pink-haired kunoichi who could obviously never be able to defeat him. Yet she held a smile on her face and determination radiated from her emerald orbs.
That was one thing he especially liked about her. She held no fear for him and didn't desire to defeat him.
She simply...
"Get ready, Itachi-kun!" she got into her fighting stance while he simply remained alert.
...wanted...
She lunged at him, gathering the chakra into her fist. Her attack of course missed him and she ended up created a hole in the ground. He had leapt back to avoid her attack and she quickly got back up and launched herself at him again, throwing punches and kicks at him.
...to...
Although it was clear she wouldn't be able to defeat him, he had to acknowledge the fact that he would indeed lose against her if he didn't keep his guard up; her amazing chakra control could prove to be troublesome for him if he didn't stay alert.
...be...
He had regretted not paying attention to her just then, for her punch barely missed him and only scratched him a bit on the arm. Yet he could feel the pain from it.
...with...
Sakura tripped on a rock and fell forwards, falling on top of him. Using her elbows, she pushed herself up from the ground, got into a sitting position in front of him and groaned. "Ahh...sorry, Itachi-kun. Stupid rock. Oh, did I hit you earlier? Let me heal it."
Itachi squinted his eyes, realizing he had fallen down because she tripped. There was something wrong, something irritating his eyes. He could feel her gather the chakra into her hand and begin to heal the bruise she caused on his arm. "Sakura..."
"Yes?" her innocent voice said.
...him...
He lifted his head to look up at her and she gasped as she stared into his crimson eyes, different red eyes than sharingan. Then she fell unconscious.
Mangekyou Sharingan.
"She should be fine with some rest," Tsunade informed the Uchiha boy, pulling the hospital blanket to cover Sakura.
Itachi remained silent for a while, staring at Sakura's sleeping form. "Thank you...Hokage-sama."
There was a moment of silence in the room before Tsunade decided she should ask. "So...how did this happen? Although Sakura may not be the strongest shinobi out there, she is still my apprentice and I know she shouldn't have gotten hurt this badly from anyone in the village. Even during a sparring session."
Itachi gave no reply to her question of how it happened and Tsunade continued on. "She has no physical wounds...but her mind is greatly weakened and harmed. The only possible answer would be..."
"Me," he answered. "It wasn't intentional."
"Oh?" Tsunade glanced over at him. "Enlighten me on your training."
"I..." he paused. "She was healing my arm and my eyes started to irritating. I hadn't even activated Sharingan. I looked at her..."
"Mangekyou Sharingan?" Tsunade finished for him.
The two stood above Sakura's hospital bed for a moment and then Tsunade turned to leave. Her hand had barely laid on the doorknob when Itachi spoke to again.
"But the only way to acquire it would be to kill my best friend...which I do not recall doing."
She stopped for a moment before turning the doorknob and stepping outside.
It wasn't long...it wouldn't be long...
...until the potion wears off.
Senko: And that is it for chapter 7! Tuned in to chapter 8, coming soon:D Reviews are much appreciated by Senko xD