AN: I don't own Naruto.

--------------------------------------------

Chapter 11 –Crossing Swords...

--------------------------------------------------

Sakura let out a deep breath as she watched the sun begin to rise from over the mountains. "Two hours." She thought as she closed her eyes from the blinding rays of light that penetrated through some nearby trees. She laid down in the grass, looking at the brightening sky, smiling at the irony of nature's carefree demeanor, while she counted down the minutes till the duel with the devil himself. She no longer blamed her lack of judgment of her decision as she spent last night focusing on this battle.

She placed a few loose strands of hair back behind her ear before stretching. This may be the last time she would be solely loyal to her friends, and family. Before she thought that if she did lose the duel, she could simply pretend as though her allegiance was to the Akatsuki, but she was sure Itachi would do something that would enforce her part of the deal.

"I wonder how Hinata-chan is doing? I swear, if they even harmed one hair on her head I will send every last one of them to hell." She promised, but as her thoughts lead to the members of the Akatsuki, her eyes widened as she remembered Deidara. He was the one man that she and Hinata were able to befriend in their solitary confinement. What had happened to him since the night of the meeting? Had he been punished for treating them as thought they were almost guests rather than prisoners? Could it have been their fault that he may be somewhere in the castle being punished at the very moment?

Sakura shook the thoughts away. Like she said, he may have been a friend, but he was still the enemy. Neji's, Sasuke's, and Naruto's enemy...Naruto. As she thought about the hyper active knight, she couldn't help but remember Itachi's words.

"And why is that? There was also one other person I'm sure your acquainted with that also has stained blood in him. Do you wish to hear his name Sakura?" Itachi said, seeing Sakura shake with anger...

"Uzumaki...Naruto..." Itachi said, causing Sakura to abruptly stop her attack only a mere centimeter away from his face.

"How does Naruto fit into this? His guild, the Uzumaki, I've heard of it before, but right now the only thing I know is that Sasuke was taken in by them after the Uchiha massacre. Did his guild have anything to do with mine?" Sakura thought. "What if Itachi was right about Hiashi, the guild and clan massacres? What if he was right about Kakashi..." Tears began to form at the thought of Kakashi's actions and her loss. "What if he was right about it all?" She stood up abruptly as she breathed in the morning air once more. She didn't want to believe it, but what Itachi said actually did put some pieces together, no matter how much she wanted to deny it.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

"We're almost there." Neji muttered as he slid off his horse, the others mimicking his actions. He walked his horse to a nearby stream, the sun's rays reflecting off the water. He took off his horse's muzzle as he let it drink water from the stream.

"In about one more day, we should get there by nightfall at this pace." Sasuke said, standing next to Neji.

"Where's Naruto?" Neji asked refilling his canteen.

"The dobe and Chouji are getting things set for the upcoming battles."

"And the others?"

"Ino and Tenten went to look for herbs, while Kiba, Shino, and Akamaru went out to scout the area for anything suspicious. Lee and Sai are treating and caring for everyone else's horses." Sasuke finished as he began to fill his canteen.

"I can't imagine what they could have done to them by now. Why did they target Hinata-chan? Why did they take Sakura-chan?" Neji said closing his canteen's cap.

Sasuke's other hand balled into a fist, ripping some grass from the ground. "Damn that brother of mine. The next time I see him, it will be the last." Sasuke said, his voice like ice.

"Don't be too anxious about killing him. Our first priority is to rescue Hinata and Sakura-chan. We won't be looking for any fights against the Akatsuki, is that understood?" Neji asked in an authorities tone.

Sasuke's eyes narrowed before his reasonable side kicked in. He nodded, then heard Neji walk toward where Sai and Lee were. "If you harmed her in any way, I'll be sure to kill you, Itachi."

XXXXXXXXX

Two figures stood in the backside of the castle. The sun nearly reached its peak as part of their bodies rested in the castle wall's shadow. A sheathed sword was thrown to her as she caught it. She raised her brow at her opponent.

"An even battle will be fought. Everything goes, there is no time limit." Itachi said, stating the rules of their duel. "We both know what is at stake, let us begin."

Sakura let out a breath as she unsheathed her sword. Itachi did the same as they took their stances. Sakura made sure to avoid the Uchiha's eyes, not wanting him to have an easy win. She guessed that he would let her have the first move and she took it as she ran forward. Her sword clashed with his and the duel began.

The first few minutes were used to test each other out, and see if they could find any weak points in their opponent. Itachi saw many, while Sakura remained baffled. She inwardly cringed as Itachi managed to break through her defenses and cut off the hem of her shirt. Sakura brought her sword up as she parried another one of his powerful swings. He was just playing with her, and she knew it.

Finding that it was time to get serious Sakura started to gather her chakra into her sword. Itachi, seeing the concentrated chakra in her sword, decided that he too should get serious. Once again Sakura charged forward with her sword in hand. With a back swing she sliced through the air dangerously as her sword once again clashed with his. Small gusts of wind were created as both swords continued to come in contact with one another. Itachi narrowed his eyes at the realization that her chakra control was just as good as his, maybe better.

Correction, it was better, Itachi found as his sword began to crack. Sakura took this opportunity to constantly aim her strikes on the cracks in his sword.

"How can her chakra control be better than my own?" Itachi thought irritably as he found himself in another stalemate. Itachi's sharingan glared at the pink haired knight. "It's time I end this little game."

Itachi released the chakra in his sword, letting Sakura's blade break through it. Shock was written all over her face as she fell forward. Itachi saw the opening and kicked her in the stomach knocking the wind out of her. The sword dropped from her hand as Sakura flew straight into the air, a small trail of blood streaming from her mouth. Itachi suddenly appeared above her and elbowed her back, sending her back down toward the ground. At the last minute she was able to recover and land on the ground safely. She coughed up another mouth full of blood as she watched him land on the ground with grace. He walked over to the sword and stepped on it, successfully breaking it in half.

"He's getting serious. Damn..." Sakura muttered as she stood up. Doing a couple of hand seals, Sakura hands started to glow with blue chakra. Itachi made hand seal of his own, too quick for Sakura to even see which ones he was doing. A hand was placed near his mouth as a huge ball of flame was aimed straight at her.

Sakura's eyes widened as she leaped out of the way. "The Uchiha's are like their damn dragons! They breathe fire too!" Sakura thought as Itachi blew miniature balls of fire at her. It was only until she was hit by one in the leg that she found there were mini blades hidden in the flames. Sakura landed in a tree, hiding within the leaves. She cringed as she pulled out the small blade from her leg. She quickly healed it as she sensed he was coming.

As Itachi walked toward the tree, a small blade shot through the leaves. He dodged it easily as he looked above him. Sakura was falling straight towards him, her fist ready to deliver a lethal strike. He jumped out of the way just in time. Sakura cursed as she hit the ground, causing a miniature earthquake. Sakura stood in place, watching as the ground in front of her shifted into little hills of rocks and dirt.

After seeing that he could mask his chakra to the point of not being able to detect it, she closed her eyes concentrating on any kind of irregular movement, any kind of sound.

She quickly ducked, avoiding a blow on the back of her head that would have surely knocked her out cold. Sakura swung her heel backwards successfully hitting Itachi's ankles. Sakura concentrated the blue chakra into her right fist as she aimed at his falling form. Itachi quickly pushed off the ground with one hand, narrowly escaping her punch as she nicked only the tip of his cloak's collar.

"Damn, so close." Sakura cursed as she stood up, panting a little. Itachi stood only a couple of meters in front of her, looking impassive as ever. He even started to look at the sky, which really ticked her off. "He's bored?!" Sakura thought angrily, her left eye twitching.

"We've been fighting for about and hour or so." Itachi thought, as he looked back at Sakura. "It's been a while since I fought for this long with my opponent still standing." Itachi inwardly smirk. "This only makes me want her addition to the Akatsuki even greater."

"Hey, Itachi..." Sakura said in a soft voice, Itachi heard her, but gave no sign that he did. "How were Sai and Naruto guilds involved in my guild's massacre?" The question was nagging her all day, and she figured if he did comply and told her, she would have some answers as well as have a couple of more minutes to catch her breath.

Itachi stayed silent for a couple of seconds, contemplating on whether he should tell her or not. In the end he figured it would do nothing but save him from future questions once she joined. Sakura was about to give up on him answering until he finally spoke.

"Sai never had a guild. He was born and raised by bandits. His group was hired by Hiashi as well as the Haruno's rivalry guild, the Uzumakis to assist his soldiers in eliminating the Harunos." Itachi began. Sakura let the information soak in before waiting for him to continue. "But the trick was, he never told the bandits or the Uzumakis that they were on each other's side." Sakura's eyes widen, trying hard not to yell out that he was wrong, but she held it in.

"So in the confusion during the Haruno massacre, the bandits killed members of the Uzumaki, and vise versa. All Hiashi's knights had to do was wait until there were only mere survivors left before engaging in battle themselves. The leaders of the bandits were White Fang and Yamato."

"How do you know all this?" Sakura asked.

"I have my connections." Itachi merely answered before continuing. "Unfortunately, White Fang killed Yamato for unknown reasons, and fled right after. All the bandits were killed along with the Harunos, and the remaining Uzumakis fled as well. That's about all I know without having my own experience in the massacre." Itachi finished looking at Sakura as she looked to the floor with a distant look on her face.

"All this time." Sakura whispered. "All this time I wondered why my guild was killed off, and I always blamed that snake. It's so strange how our generation was able to be friends with the past our blood carries." Sakura said with a sad smile.

"Now you see that friendships and bonds are merely words used to avoid conflict between individuals, nothing more." Itachi said.

"No...You're still wrong because..." Sakura said looking at Itachi, tears forming at the edges of her eyes. "No matter how hard I try, even after listening to all this and even believing most of it, I still can't find myself to hate them."

Itachi, for once in a long time was confused. How could she not hate them? Was she that light hearted? How could she be so loyal to those people? Itachi was utterly confused.

"And with that said" Sakura said in a determined tone that brought Itachi back to his emotionless self. "I'm going to win this duel and get Hinata the hell out of here!" Sakura once again concentrated chakra into her hand, though this time, the chakra around her hands burned blood red.

XXXXXXXXX

"It seems as though that the farther we travel from Konoha, the more corrupted and messed up the kingdoms get." Lee commented. Sai could only agree as he saw entire villages desecrated, burned down, or was a center point of famine. Tenten and Ino looked away from the gruesome sites as their horses trudged forward through filth, dirt, and bodies.

"When we find that damn snake, and take care of the Akatsuki, I'll fix all of this." Neji said in a low voice, as though he was promising it himself. Naruto just gritted his teeth as he past by, stopping himself every now and then from jumping off his horse and helping the poor peasants. They exited yet another torn village and soon entered a farm. Sasuke kept his face emotionless, not letting anything he saw stray his concentration on the mission at hand, but it was really, really hard. Especially when his horse passed by a tree with a small little girl hanging on the trunk by an arrow through her heart. Blood had dried around the wound long ago as flies swarmed around her thin frame. Her eyes were still open, and Sasuke regretted looking into her dull lifeless eyes. He was sure to have nightmares now.

"I can't take it!" Ino called out as she jumped off her horse.

"Ino, what are you doing?" Shikamaru asked getting off his horse too, and racing after her. Ino ran to where the young girl's body was.

"How can any human do such a thing?" She asked, hearing Shikamaru and some others come from behind her. Shikamaru placed a hand on her shoulder. She looked back tears falling down her face.

"Here, let's at least bury this one." Shikamaru said in a soft voice no one had ever heard before. Ino nodded as she and Tenten took out the arrow that held the child's body to the tree. Ino placed her fingers over the girl's eye lids before carefully shutting them. Lee gave a short prayer to the small grave, before he and the rest went back to the others to continue their journey.

XXXXXXXXXX

It was late in the afternoon and neither seemed to be willing to give in, though one could tell who the victor would be. Sakura heavily panted as she forced her self to her knees. Itachi watched as the girl forced herself to stand up once again. To Itachi's dismay, Sakura had been able to make his left arm to stop functioning properly, and the torn muscles in his right thigh was a constant reminder that she was no push over.

"I have to get Hinata-chan out of here." Sakura constantly repeated to herself. She stood up slowly, her frame shaking since it was pure determination that held her up. Itachi looked at her, observed her. "What could be making her go so far as push herself dangerously beyond her limits?" He thought. "Could it be her drive to save that Hyuuga princess?" For once, Itachi couldn't understand her. He was a prodigy, a well known knight who was feared for his ability to torture the mind of his opponent's as well as read it, but for Sakura, his predictions were constantly mistaken. he couldn't understand what she was thinking.

But one thing he was sure of was that this battle would not last long. It would only be a matter of seconds before she collapsed. And his prediction was correct for once as he watched her fall to her knees.

"You have lost this duel Sakura." He said, walking towards her.

"No." Sakura said, through clenched teeth. "Hinata's still in danger. I can't give up."

"You have no choice. You lost. She shall remain my prisoner, and you shall join the Akatsuki. That was our deal." Itachi said, now only about an arm's length away from her. Sakura's fingers drove into the dirt as she shut her eyes in pure frustration. Suddenly, she heard a soft 'thud' as she saw Itachi jump backwards. In front of her was a dagger with the initials W.F on it.

"It's been a while hasn't it? What business could you possibly have here...White Fang?" Itachi asked as someone in clad black clothes stood in front of Sakura.

"Ka-Kakashi?!"

XXXXXXXXXX

AN: Sweet, Kakashi's here! Alright another chapter! Yay! XP Thank you everyone who read and reviewed, you're all the greatest! Summer school's ending this FRIDAY! Yessss! But I still have finals...crap...Oh also, NO DEIDARA, TOBI WHY?! T.T CURSE YOU SASUKE! I CURSE U TO GROW HALF A MUSTACHE THAT CAN NEVER BE SHAVEN OFF! MUHAHAHAHA...(chokes on air)...anyways Thank you and ja ne!