Chapter 6 – This Is For Her

They were all sat comfortably in the living room, all speaking about their past lives and their lives now. It was mostly Naruto and Kankuro who were speaking, but Mikoto, Temari and Shisui often threw in a memory here and there.

Sakura smiled to herself as she looked around. It was nice. Even Fugaku seemed more relaxed as he sat comfortably beside his wife. There was a warmth in his eyes whenever she would speak and it made Sakura's stomach flutter. She hoped that, one day, somebody would look at her that way. She hoped that somebody would look at her with their full attention, with unconditional love. Sure, Fugaku was hiding most of his emotions, but she could see the look he would give Mikoto whenever their eyes connected and it warmed her dead heart.

"What about you, Sakura–chan?" Sakura looked over at Naruto in confusion since she hadn't been paying attention. "None of us have been to school in this time and you're the most recently changed, so I was wondering what it was like for you?"

If she could, she would have been blushing as she lowered her head a little, smiling sheepishly. "I was uh… I was the geek of our year."

Naruto's eyes were wide as he sat up from his slouched position. "What? No way! I bet you were super popular."

She laughed nervously and shook her head, her fingers fidgeting with the hem of her shorts. "No. I was the least popular. My best friend, Yamanaka Ino, was the most popular person in our school. Everybody looked up to her like she was the queen or something." A softer smile graced Sakura's lips as she remembered Ino. "I was the type of girl who kept her head in the books and studied hard. Though… I often got into fights."

This time, it was Temari who spoke, smirking as she did so. "No offence, but you do seem like the type that gets into fights."

Was it bad that Sakura couldn't even argue with the blonde? During the three weeks the Sabaku clan and Naruto had been staying with them, they had watched Sakura sparring with everyone in the Uchiha clan except for Fugaku, who had still yet to warm up to her. Once or twice, Naruto had sparred with her as well as Kankuro. Sakura had been startled when Kankuro more or less brought puppets to life, but had learned that they weren't actually alive, they were simply being controlled by his chakra. As well as that, they had seen her punching Naruto through trees and across the clearing when he pissed her off.

"Yeah…" She smiled awkwardly. "I've always had anger issues."

"So what happened with your friend? Didn't she stand up for you during those fights?"

She tensed ever so slightly at Kankuro's question, but having Itachi's calming presence sat beside her managed to relax her a little. "Of course. Ino stood up for me all the time against the bullies," Sakura told them all. "She wasn't just my best friend, she was more like a sister." A small smile played along her lips. "We were inseparable growing up and when we went to high school, she did everything she could to keep the others off my back, but it didn't always work." Sighing, Sakura sat back in her seat, frowning ever so slightly. "They were nasty. Always picking on me for things I couldn't help, like my appearance, and jealous that I was the smartest kid at school. They would try and force me to do their homework for them, to tutor them or 'dumb down' my own work so that they could appear better." Her frown began to look more like a scowl and she could feel Itachi's eyes on her, his wariness of her souring mood drifting through their bond. "If I didn't beat the shit out of them, then Ino did. She would literally hold them down and force them to apologise."

"Sounds like a great friend, if you ask me," Shisui commented.

Naruto nodded in agreement. "So what happened between you and Ino? Did you fall out or something?"

This time, when Sakura tensed, it was much more noticeable. "No, Ino… She was killed in a fire. She had friends over after a night out and they were all drunk." She paused for a moment, staring down at her hands as they continued fidgeting with her shorts. She only vaguely noticed how her hands were trembling, but it wasn't with sadness. It was with anger. "One of them took things too far and locked them all in the house and set it on fire. They… Ino's parents were never the same afterwards. Even my parents took the news hard."

The once happy mood was now sombre and depressing, but Sakura barely even noticed.

"And how did you take it?"

Sakura looked up at Gaara in silent surprise, as it was the first time he had spoken in a while. He seemed to prefer watching others instead of actually getting involved. In fact, it was almost as though he didn't know how to.

"How did I take it?" she repeated the question with a frown, one that deepened when he nodded once. "Not well, obviously. I tried not to focus too hard on it because it hurt too much. Instead, I did what I do best: I studied. It paid off in the end because I came top of the class and was given permission to work in the hospital, to help out and observe. Of course I wasn't allowed to take part in surgery, as I'm still not skilled enough, but I had others' respect in the hospital. I was eighteen and already training to be a doctor, already on my way to becoming one!"

"You're starting to sound even more like Baa–chan!" Naruto exclaimed with a grin, trying to diffuse the obviously depressing mood. "She's a great doctor and can heal with her chakra."

"Really?" Sakura questioned, looking at them all in shock. "Y–You mean that… that if I can learn to ignore blood, I could help out in hospitals again?" Mikoto smiled gently and nodded and in response, a bright smile lit up Sakura's features. "I want to do that!" Turning to Itachi, her smile increased, looking more like a grin. "Do you think Tsunade–sama would teach me how to heal with chakra?"

It was Naruto who answered as he shot to his feet. "Hell yeah! Tsunade–baa–chan lost people she loved, too! She'll definitely help you."

"Naruto–"

The blond cut off Sasuke, who glared at him murderously for doing so. Since the topic of Ino, he had gone utterly silent and, if it was possible, even a little paler than usual. They were all things Itachi, Shisui and Gaara had not missed. However, since her attention had been elsewhere, Sakura had not noticed until that moment and she felt Itachi's suspicion.

"No, she seriously will," he argued, seeming to know what Sasuke had been about to say. "Yeah, she's a little blunt and can be harsh at times, but she still cares about people. That's part of the reason why she taught Shizune–nee–chan."

Hope bloomed in her chest.

"Oi, but you have to watch out for Ero–Sennin," Naruto warned her with wide eyes, waving his arms around in the air. During the past couple of weeks, Sakura had discovered that he was easily excited. Actually, she had learned that on the very first day she had met him. "He's a gigantic pervert!" She had kind of figured that, given the fact that he called him 'Ero–Sennin'. "He peeps in bathhouses, calling it his 'research' and then writes smutty books."

It was a pretty frightening thought, having a vampire watching you whilst you bathed, whilst you were doing anything. They could mask their presence, so unless you could feel their eyes on you (which was very doubtful, considering it had taken a shift in the wind for Sakura to notice Gaara, Temari, Kankuro and Naruto watching her), you would never know he was there.

Panic began to well up inside of her. What if she had been watched? Before her death, she and Ino had spent a lot of their time at the public bathhouses and not only that, but they had also gone swimming in the lake not too far from here. Oh, her insides felt like ice. It wasn't the thought of Jiraiya watching her (though that was equally as alarming) it was the thought of anyone watching her.

"He won't do anything, though," Naruto continued, not noticing Sakura's rising panic. Fortunately for her, Itachi did and in response, he gently placed his hand on her lower back. Due to their position, nobody could see that he was touching her other than Gaara and the redhead didn't even spare them a glance (other than the split second look when he noticed a hand moving out of the corner of his eye). "Baa–chan would totally kick his ass. She's scary. She once beat him up until he couldn't even move properly for weeks and I had to take food to him all the time until he got better."

"I heard Tsunade–sama once used Jiraiya–sama as a football," Shisui spoke up.

Naruto nodded quickly. "She did! In one of his books, he made her the main character and she got so mad!"

Itachi's thumb traced soothing patterns against her lower back as Naruto continued with tales about how Tsunade put Jiraiya in his place over the years and she couldn't help but smile. It seemed as though the woman was a protector of all females. Well, protecting them from Jiraiya, that was. And as Naruto continued his stories, Sakura could feel her admiration for the woman growing. To be able to shove aside her thirst for blood and heal people couldn't be easy at all. However, if Tsunade could do it, Sakura was willing to try it, too.

After all, it had been over two months now and she hadn't slipped up once.

Not a drop of human blood had passed her lips.

And she didn't plan on it happening any time soon.

Itachi had had to go into work and as Sakura sat down beside their lake, she found herself missing him. She missed his presence and the peace he radiated. She missed how he was able to soothe and calm her by just a simple touch. She missed their conversations, even though she did most of the talking. Most of all, she missed him.

Damn it! What was wrong with her? He had only been gone for two hours, though she passed it off as it being because it was a night shift. Usually, by this time of night, she and Itachi would be laying together in this very spot. They would be talking quietly to one another and he would be holding her gently in his arms. It sounded strange, but in his arms, Sakura felt like nothing bad could ever happen to her. She felt like he would always be around to protect her and keep her safe.

He comforted her. He made her happy. Nobody had been able to make her so happy ever. It felt different to her usual happiness. And she really liked it, but at the same time, it scared her. Itachi had her trust – one hundred and ten percent of it – but what if something happened and he suddenly wasn't there anymore? What would happen to her? How would she be able to go on without having him by her side? It had only been two months since he saved her life by introducing her to his world, but already, Sakura knew that she wouldn't be able to go on without him. He kept her strong and he kept her safe. Itachi was her protector and her saviour. When she needed help or needed somebody to calm her down, he did so without questions, without any expectations. And she was so very grateful for that.

Leaning back against the tree, Sakura bit her lip and looked up at the dark sky. The clouds were out tonight and it was spitting rain, though not enough to actually soak her. Even if it was, she was covered beneath their tree.

Hardly anyone was around tonight. In fact, the only ones at the Uchiha clan's home were her and Gaara and she had no idea where the hell he was. If Gaara didn't want to be found, then there was no chance in finding him. Itachi and Shisui were both working and the rest were all hunting. Well, Sakura presumed that they were hunting. Sasuke had been distant and cold all day – more so than usual – and then suddenly, around half an hour ago, he just disappeared.

Other than visiting her father that one time, Sakura had yet to venture further than the lake. For now, she was content with simply hanging around the house and relaxing. However, there was no denying that part of her was growing restless. No matter how much she sparred with the others and no matter how many times she hunted, nothing would ease her of that restless feeling. In all honesty, Sakura had always been the adventurous type, but she was afraid of leaving her safety here with the Uchiha clan.

What if something went wrong? What if her control slipped and she attacked a human? What if she attacked somebody she knew? Just the thought made her insides twist painfully.

The sound of footsteps approaching her had her inwardly frowning. Was it odd of her to feel uncomfortable with somebody other than herself or Itachi coming to the lake? Probably not. In her head, it was their place. When Itachi wasn't working, they would sit under this very tree for hours together. Turning her head to the side slightly, Sakura waited patiently as the person revealed himself by stepping out of the trees and walking towards her. The first thing she spotted were icy blue, intense eyes and the next she spotted was the kanji on his forehead.

Gaara.

His features were as blank as the day she met him and she watched him silently as he placed down his gourd and sat down beside it, not too far away from her, yet not close enough to be considered as friendly.

She wondered what he wanted, since they hadn't really spoken much since the day he arrived, when he and his siblings made it obvious they wished for her to join them. Why had Gaara come by here? It wasn't like she could stop him or tell him he couldn't sit there with her, because she couldn't control him and she couldn't exactly say "this place is for me and Itachi only". Inwardly, Sakura asked herself if maybe he was lonely. She hadn't failed to notice how he remained silent whenever they were all together, like he didn't know how to interact with them all. She wondered why he felt like that because even Fugaku and Sasuke had spoken more than he did, which was seriously saying something.

For well over ten minutes, they sat in silence. Sakura had gone back to looking up at the sky, watching the rain as it began to come down harder, whereas Gaara leaned back against a tree and shifted his gourd under it, keeping it out of the rain.

Sakura forced herself to relax. Gaara was not her enemy, so there was no reason to treat him as one. For all she knew, he probably was lonely. He probably only wanted to sit in her company so that he wouldn't be alone. Sakura couldn't hold that against him. She knew what that awful feeling of loneliness felt like and she wouldn't wish it upon anyone.

"I understand," he spoke suddenly, though paused as her eyes snapped to his and, noticing her eyebrows knitting together in confusion, he continued, "How you felt during your school years." Sakura's eyes widened, utterly stunned. No, she wasn't interested in him romantically and yes, Gaara could appear as extremely intimidating, but there was no denying that he was attractive. Attractive people were usually popular. "I was also an outcast and my entire village despised me."

His entire village? Sakura's dead heart broke for him. So what if those at school bullied her? Gaara had an entire village hating him. "Why?"

At her soft, broken voice, Gaara's eyes slipped over to hers languidly. He appeared relaxed, but Sakura could see the slight tension in his shoulders as his head leaned back against the trunk of the tree. "During the time when I was human, they believed that I was a monster," he told her. "My ability to control sand started long before I became a vampire and for that, I was labelled as an outcast. People feared me. They avoided me. On more than one occasion, there had even been assassins sent after me." Sakura's hand covered her mouth in shock and horror. "They were sent by the leader of the village… my own father."

How could somebody do that to their own child? It made Sakura feel sick to her stomach.

"It may not be the same, but we were both outcasts for things we cannot help."

She shook her head. "No, you're much stronger than I ever was. Just having those at school hate me hurt me so badly that I started to hate myself. Their words and actions made me look in the mirror and feel sick with what I saw, with who was staring back at me. There were times…" Her eyes lowered to the ground. "There were times when I even contemplated suicide, just to get away from it all. I couldn't even begin to imagine what you went through. To still be here, you must have–"

"No," he cut her off. "The sand protects me automatically, even against myself." Once again, her eyes snapped to his, showing him her confusion and, with a sigh, Gaara stood up and told her to do the same. "Punch me."

Was he insane? "I can't punch you!"

He stared at her blankly.

"Gaara…"

"Trust me."

Trust him? How… Itachi was the only one with her full and unwavering trust. Despite how loving and kind she had been, not even Mikoto had that yet. But then again, Gaara understood her.

Sighing, Sakura stepped closer to him and out of her shelter from the rain as she clenched her fist tightly. "With or without chakra?"

"With."

And as she did, instead of her fist connecting with his face, it instead connected with sand, making it explode around them at the collision. Sakura frowned and went to punch him with her left hand, but again, she was stopped. She hadn't even seen the sand leave his gourd! As it returned to the gourd, Gaara was once again shown standing no more than a foot away from her, his expression empty and his stance relaxed.

"You don't have to control it at all?"

He shook his head, going back to underneath the tree as he sat down. After a moment, Sakura did the same. "That is why people feared me. When angered, my chakra would summon the sand and it would lash out. I couldn't control it when I got emotional. It was like the sand would become something entirely different – like it was alive. It was because of the sand that many people from the village died, because I couldn't control it or stop it from lashing out and hurting them."

She didn't judge him. How could she? If Gaara had no control of the sand protecting him, then it really wasn't his fault why those people died. It sounded heartless of her, she knew that, but it was the truth.

"Now, after having years to perfect my control over it, I can stop it from attacking of its own accord. However, I cannot stop it from protecting me. Even when I am without chakra and worn out, it will still protect me. It will always protect me. It does not matter whether it is physically or emotionally. If my sand senses a threat, it will defend me."

A gentle smile pulled at the corners of her lips. Like Gaara had his sand, she had Itachi. He had saved her life. Even though he could have passed her by without a second thought and never looked back, he had instead stopped and came to help her. And then, he had gone on to protect her several times since then. Not only physically, but also emotionally. Just like Gaara's sand.

They fell silent for a while, though it was more of the fact that neither of them could think of anything more to say rather than they were comfortable with sitting in silence. It was different than when she sat with Itachi. Yes, it seemed Gaara understood the loneliness she had felt and had also received hatred from those who didn't even know him well enough to hate him, but… Sakura didn't even know how to explain her thoughts. All she could describe it as, was that it was different than anything she had ever experienced before. She felt warm when she thought of Itachi, or when he was by her side.

Movement had Sakura's head turning to the side and had Gaara's eyes narrowing a fraction. It was rushed, like the person approaching was in a hurry. She listened carefully to the sounds and, like Itachi had taught her to, she focused on their chakra.

A flash of navy blue.

"It's Sasuke," she mumbled as they both pulled themselves to their feet to wait for his arrival. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Gaara put his gourd onto his back once more. "But I wonder why he's in such a rush?"

Gaara didn't have time to reply as Sasuke tore through the opening to the small clearing, stopping just a mere foot away from her. His eyes were wild, his hair was tousled and due to how fast he had been running and his abrupt stop, the wind blew her hair backwards and off her face. It returned to normal after a couple of seconds.

"What's wrong with–"

"Hear me out." His voice was low and serious and in response, Gaara's eyes once again narrowed. So she wasn't the only one who'd noticed his distance as of late? "I wasn't exactly secretive about it, but for the past month, I have been going into Konoha." There was a pause as he watched her face carefully for her reaction. "To where you was attacked."

Sakura's mouth dropped open and her eyes widened before suddenly, anger was filling her. How dare he go and do something like that? "I told you that I don't want revenge," she spat, her fists trembling as she forced herself not to punch a hole through his chest. Her control on her chakra enhanced strength still wasn't too great. To perfect it, she needed the master of that strength. Tsunade. "Why the hell would you go there? I just want to forget that it ever happened!"

"It's impossible for you to forget," he snapped right back at her. "Look at you. You want to find those guys. I can see it in your eyes. It's why you're so angry right now."

Taking a deep, calming breath, Sakura willed herself to calm down. "No."

"And if I told you that you're not the only girl they attacked?" Sasuke questioned her, one of his dark eyebrows raising ever so slightly. "What if I told you that they've attacked people you know, people you knew?"

Ino.

That was the first face that flashed through her mind.

"Don't," Sakura whispered as she took a half–step back, her right arm raising as though she was putting a wall between them, like she would no longer be able to hear his words. "Don't!"

The redhead standing not too far away watched them closely, his eyes flashing dangerously as he realised what Sasuke was doing.

"I have been watching them closely for over a month now," he said to her. "After tracing their scents back to their current hideout, I infiltrated their… group." The way he said it made it sound as though it was too pathetic to call anything more. "They prey on young, beautiful girls and watch them for a while, learning their schedules and personalities and other things such as that. Then, once they have gathered enough information, they attack." There was a short pause and for a moment, Sakura saw something flash in his eyes, but it was gone too quickly for her to be able to tell what it was. "Your friend, Yamanaka Ino–"

"No."

"She was blonde." He ignored her attempts at shutting him up. "Blue eyes, though one of them was hidden due to the way she styled her hair. Often wore the colour purple as it was her favourite colour." Sakura's legs gave out on her, her fingers clawing into the dirt as she sobbed tearlessly. There was no way for him to know any of that. "She was one of their victims, though Ino managed to get away by sheer luck. However, considering that she saw their faces, they decided that they had to silence her."

Ino's sudden change flashed through Sakura's mind. Her best friend had always been a loud girl and was definitely hard to ignore, but it wasn't until several months before her death that she began drinking heavily. Sakura had thought that she was simply experimenting like most teenagers seemed to do, but now… What if Ino had been blocking out the memory of what had happened to her? Sasuke had said that she managed to get away, but it would have still been a traumatising experience, even if it didn't go as far for Ino as what had happened to her.

Hands twitching and sand swirling restlessly in his gourd, Gaara growled out, "Uchiha. I suggest you stop filling Sakura's head with such thoughts."

But Sasuke ignored him. "She stayed with you for a while, which is how they found out about you, which is why you became one of their victims. Later on, to silence her, they waited for Ino to return to her home and, uncaring that she had others with her, they locked all the exits – just as you had said – and set the house on fire. The only reason why they didn't attack at your home is because they wanted you."

Suddenly, she was shaking her head. "No. You're wrong. T–The fire started–"

"From the inside," he interrupted her. "But Ino had a balcony and a basement, didn't she?"

Sakura felt as though she was going to be sick. "…She did."

Honestly, she had always thought of what had happened as strange. There had been no motive behind it. The detectives and fire department had merely written it off as one of her guests being a pyromaniac and a psychopath (of course that hadn't been their actual words, but it was close enough). They never found the culprit, never found the person who actually started the fire. All they had been able to figure out was who had been in there and who never made it out alive.

Just the thought of Ino going through something slightly similar to what happened to her had Sakura's insides aching, had her eyes filling with tears. Ino, the girl who was always smiling, always sticking up for her but at the same time, forcing her to grow stronger and more independent by pushing her and teasing her. The girl who had been there for her no matter how bad things got. The girl who had never left her side.

The girl she considered her sister.

Sakura was oozing murderous intent as she slowly stood up and her body was trembling with rage as her eyes snapped to Sasuke's. "Take me to them," she spat through clenched teeth. "Now."

He froze for just a split second before nodding once.

However before they could leave, a wall of sand was in front of them.

"Gaara–"

"No." Gaara shook his head once. "I will not allow you to go through with it. That dark path you're stumbling onto is dangerous and you may lose yourself on it as I once lost myself."

"I'm not doing this for me," Sakura told him coldly, not even sparing Gaara a single glance as her fist was suddenly glowing blue with chakra and raising. "This is for her."

Her fist smashed into the sand and the earlier explosion that had occurred when Gaara was showing her how his sand worked was nothing compared to now.

And then she and Sasuke were running through the forest.

Gaara cursed to himself as he ran in a different direction, going to the one person he knew would be able to stop Sakura.

Itachi.

When they arrived, Sakura's anger had not simmered in the slightest. It felt like the darkness she often felt lurking in her mind had suddenly sprung forth, blinding her as it took over her body. However, while she had no control over her body, she still knew what she was doing and she didn't disagree with it at all. Did that make her a monster? Even if it did, she didn't care. Those men… They deserved everything that would be coming to them.

The building was an average sized, seedy looking place and there were several cars outside, though Sakura paid little attention to that. She was instead focusing on the sounds she could hear within the building. From the sounds of it, she was guessing there were eleven of them in there. There had only been three that had attacked her, but that didn't matter to Sakura.

If they were members of that unforgivable group, she was going to tear them to shreds.

Her upper lip curled with disgust and anger as she and Sasuke overheard their conversation.

"That one was feisty!"

"You're telling me! Look at the fucking claw marks on my back."

They both stood there opposite the building, looking as still as statues and to anybody who saw them, they would appear unnatural. They would look deadly and dangerous and they would appear to be the predators that they were. In that moment, they really did look like vampires. Sasuke's sharingan was activated, spinning wildly while Sakura was barely managing to keep herself from storming into the building.

"Please," a voice scoffed and it sent a lightning bolt of recognition through her. He was one of the men who had attacked her and from the cackles that joined his next words, she knew that the other two were there, too. "That bitch was nothing compared to the one we had before. You should have seen her!"

It was with that comment that Sakura lunged forward, her eyes wide with a vengeful look as she did so. Right behind her was Sasuke, who seemed unwilling to leave her alone with the men. That didn't matter to her. Just as long as he didn't try to take this away from her, she didn't care. Ino needed justice for what had happened to her.

As they stalked their way through the building, Sasuke clenched his fists as the men continued their foul conversation.

"Oh yeah? And what was she like, then?"

"See this picture? She's the one. She was perfect – a screamer, too." The man chuckled. "I swear, Aoi had to break her back to stop her from getting away. Though, I guess that made fucking her more thrilling. She had these bright green eyes–"

They all fell silent when the door was suddenly kicked open and slamming into the opposite wall, as it was ripped from its hinges and causing a small crater in the opposite wall where it landed and the man who had been talking took a step back, growing deathly pale as he recognised her.

"Y–You," he stammered, his brown eyes wide and filled with horror. "You're supposed to be dead!"

Sakura gave a deadly smile and tilted her head to the side. "Don't tell me you're not glad to see me. I thought you liked a screamer?"

"Oi," another man chuckled as he stood up. "You know her or something, Toshi? If not, I want her."

The man who had attacked her, Toshi, nodded numbly. "She's the one I was telling you guys about just now. The girl in the pictures!"

As they continued their inane conversation, Sakura felt her rage increasing as her eyes scanned the room. It seemed Sasuke had been telling the truth – they did watch their victims for a while before attacking them. There were so many pictures and just the sight of them had her feeling overwhelmed by her anger and pain and sorrow. There were pictures of her doing many different things and going about her every day routine, but that wasn't what upset her the most.

They had pictures of Ino.

Sasuke had been telling the truth, after all.

It was with that thought that she lashed out. Cold and ruthless and most definitely unforgiving.

Uchiha Sasuke was trembling as he pulled Sakura out of the room. Him. Trembling.

It had been a bloodbath and not a single person had escaped Sakura's rage.

She had slaughtered them all while he got rid of the pictures of her and the evidence of Sakura being one of their victims. There had been no quick and painless deaths like he thought there would be. Sakura had literally ripped them to pieces and forced them all to suffer. That was partly why he was trembling so badly. The blood… Gods, his throat was burning with the need to sate his thirst. How she hadn't… He swallowed hard.

"Itachi."

At her mumbling, Sasuke glanced down at her. He needed to get her cleaned up before somebody saw her, for Sakura looked as though she had been bathing in blood. And she had been. There had been no happiness on her face and there had been no deranged excitement or pleasure. All there had been was anger and pain. She was merely punishing the wicked, punishing those who deserved to be punished.

"He's not here, Sakura."

Shaking her head, Sakura looked up at him with her exhaustion obvious. "He'll be here in four minutes and he's not happy."

Sasuke blinked once, twice, and then a third time in surprise. Just how deep was the bond between Sakura and Itachi? The Uchiha clan's bond with Tsunade was nowhere near as powerful as theirs seemed to be. Yes, they could sense when the blonde was near and could tell whether she was injured or not, but they couldn't tell how long it would take for her to reach them or for them to reach her. They couldn't all sense her emotions.

Once Sakura had slaughtered her enemies, she had looked around herself with dead, haunted eyes and, for a moment, Sasuke had felt almost overwhelmed by the regret he had felt. He should have just kept his mouth shut instead of giving that darkness a key to release itself. No, it hadn't only released itself. It had been more like an explosion of built up anger and hatred.

"Stop here," she murmured to him and, doing as she said, Sasuke did stop and lowered her carefully until she was sitting on the ground.

It was only a minute or so later that a figure appeared beside them and at the anger in Itachi's eyes, Sasuke's widened. Yes, Itachi had been angry at him a few times, but never this angry. Actually his older brother appeared to be livid and the fury in his eyes only grew at the sight of Sakura. He didn't blame Itachi for being angry with him. Sasuke knew that he deserved it because, right at that moment in time, Sakura was sitting on the ground, staring down at the space between her legs with blank eyes. But instead of their usual innocence, there was now a haunted look.

"Leave us," Itachi growled to Sasuke, not even attempting to sound calm.

Sasuke knew not to argue and did exactly as he was told.

Once certain that Sasuke was no longer within hearing range, Itachi glanced down at Sakura and felt his heart aching at the look in her eyes. It was exactly what he didn't want to happen to her. Itachi hadn't wanted Sakura to have to see the sort of things he had. Of course, it was slightly different since she had been the one to cause it, but that did not matter right now. What mattered was the awful feeling that was filling her. It was no longer pain, nor anger.

Sakura was numb.

"Stand up, Hime," Itachi murmured to her and even though it took a couple of minutes, Sakura slowly did as he said. "Did you–"

She shook her head, looking up at him with that haunted, exhausted look. "I didn't let a single drop of their blood pass my lips. I–I didn't want them to be a part of me. Itachi… they killed Ino. They tried to attack her like they attacked me but she managed to get away. It was because she got away that they killed her and all those other innocent people in her home."

So that was what the agonising feeling Sakura had been experiencing earlier was. Gaara had mentioned something about Ino, but by that time, Itachi had been more concerned about getting to Sakura before she killed the men.

"Come," his voice was still nothing but a murmur as he took her hand and pulled her further away from the hideout. Really, Sakura shouldn't have left the forest since she was supposed to be abroad. If her parents had spotted her (considering she wasn't that hard to miss), then things could have become much more difficult and that wasn't even mentioning the fact that she was drenched in blood. "You need to get cleaned up."

Sakura nodded. "Are you…" Itachi paused in his walking and turned to face her, showing her that she had his attention. "Are you angry with me? O–Or disgusted?"

He couldn't exactly answer no, since she could feel his emotions through their bond. "Not with you." He sighed and pulled her closer, ignoring the blood that was now staining his police uniform. He had spares. "I am disgusted with those men for what they did and I am angry with Sasuke for–"

"Don't be," she whispered, pressing her face into his chest, her arms wrapping tightly around him. "Sasuke… He did what he thought was right. And I'm… I'm glad he told me."

That didn't lessen his anger in the slightest. "Come, Hime."

The journey back to the house was silent and when they got halfway there, Itachi had to carry her for Sakura just couldn't go on. Since she was still fairly new to this life, she was still weak. No, not weak. Young. She didn't have as much energy as the others, just like a newborn baby (or a toddler) didn't have the same amount of energy or stamina as an adult. Add mental and emotional exhaustion to the mix…

Itachi sighed and tightened his hold on Sakura and instead of walking through the front door, he leaped up onto his balcony. His parents still had not returned and neither had Shisui, but the Sabaku clan and Naruto were all downstairs. Sasuke was currently up in his bedroom, most likely brooding. The reason why he had taken her straight to his own bedroom was because Itachi had to clean her up.

It was strange. Since Sakura had been staying with them, other than to grab clean clothes and whatnot, Itachi hadn't been in his room for longer than five minutes. It no longer felt like his room.

"Can you stand?"

Her eyes were heavy as they drifted up to meet his and before she could even open her mouth, Itachi was already moving in the direction of his bathroom, sitting her down on the closed toilet seat once they were in there.

Other than the sound of water running, it was silent.

He could feel her quickly escalating frustration, though didn't question who it was directed at since he had a fairly decent idea. From the stories she'd told him, as well as what he'd seen of the personality he'd come to cherish so dearly, he knew that Sakura was a strong woman. Feeling as lost and as weakened as she currently did, would be painful for her. There was nothing he could really say to ease that for her.

Once the bath was ready, Itachi lifted Sakura wordlessly, though paused when he felt her body tensing, when he felt the panic filling her as his hands went to remove her blood soaked clothing.

"Do you trust me?"

There was still panic in her eyes as she looked up at him. "Y–Yes."

"I will not hurt you," he told her quietly. "And I will not take advantage of you. You have my word."

It took several moments before Sakura nodded and Itachi slowly began to peel the clothes from her body, trying his best not to awaken her thirst for blood as he did. She was much too tired to actually go out and hunt. It was difficult, though. Surprisingly, however, it seemed Sakura was trying her best to ignore it, although her eyes flashed with the look she often got whilst hunting when he lifted her shirt over her head and the blood was wafted right under her nose. There really had been no other way to remove it unless he tore it off her body and he didn't think it would be appropriate for him to do such a thing. It seemed rather… aggressive. She could also take it the wrong way and become even more panicked.

Once she was undressed, Itachi once again picked her up and gently lowered Sakura down into the hot water, immediately grabbing a sponge and soap so that he could get started with removing the blood. It looked so wrong seeing her covered in it. It made his stomach twist almost violently. Sakura was innocent. She was not supposed to look this way. She was not supposed to reek of blood and death.

At one point during the bath, Itachi had to drain the water and run it once again due to it being too dirty to do any good in cleaning Sakura. Not only that, but as soon as she started to look more like herself, Itachi found that it was becoming increasingly difficult to focus on his task and the tension only grew as he lifted her out of the bath.

He closed his eyes, trying his best not to focus on the fact her naked body was pressed against him.

When he reopened them, believing himself to have just an ounce more self-control than moments before, he felt it slipping away bit by bit at Sakura's expression, at the emotions she was experiencing. She was staring at his lips while biting her own, though her gaze drifted upwards, meeting his, when she sensed his eyes on her and Itachi didn't need their bond to realise that Sakura was feeling unsure. Not only unsure, but she was also confused and…

And feeling what he could feel at that exact moment.

It took him by surprise when Sakura leaned up to him, one of her hands running through his hair and pulling him closer until there was barely even room left between their lips, until their breath intermingled. All Itachi could see were her stunningly green eyes and her full lips, whereas all Sakura could see, was him. Just Itachi. Nothing was more important at that moment in time than him. She trusted him completely.

Just as his lips brushed against hers, sending a shock of pleasure and warmth down his spine, somebody knocked on the door.

"Ignore them," Sakura whispered inaudibly. The only reason Itachi knew what she had said was because of her lips ghosting over his.

He agreed with her completely, but as he went to press his lips fully against hers, the knocking increased.

"Itachi," Mikoto called, sounding panicked. "There is an emergency."

Despite wanting nothing more than to kiss Sakura, the tone in his mother's voice told him how serious it must have been.

"We will continue with our conversation later, Hime," Itachi murmured to her once they heard his mother go back downstairs.

Part of him wished that he could have seen Sakura blush, even if it was just once, for he knew that right now, if she could, she would have been blushing.

Instead of voicing such thoughts, he set Sakura down onto her feet, one of his hands reaching out and grabbing a towel to cover her body with. It didn't even take a minute to dry her off and dress her in some of his own clothes (as well as change his own, since his were covered in blood). He didn't have to do it, but Itachi couldn't deny that he enjoyed seeing her wearing the Uchiha emblem on her back. No, he enjoyed seeing her wearing his clothing (even though they drowned her figure and they had to tie the strings on the pants tightly).

Inwardly frowning to himself, Itachi guided her down the stairs and towards the living room, realising he sounded like a teenager with a silly crush. It was so unlike him that it was laughable.

By the time they arrived, everybody was in the living room, all, in their own way, looking uneasy and on edge.

"Sakura–chan," Naruto exclaimed, genuine relief showing on his features as he turned to face her. "You're okay…" His voice trailed off, his eyes widening and not even a second later, he was pointing accusingly at Itachi, screaming, "You can't dress her up like that. Sakura–chan's my–"

"She is your nothing." He narrowed his eyes a fraction and it took quite a bit of effort to stop his sharingan from activating of its own accord out of anger. "And I would appreciate it if you kept comments such as those to yourself, Naruto–kun. It is not polite to claim a person as though they are nothing more than property."

Naruto's eyes were wide and his jaw was slack before he turned to Sakura. "I didn't mean it like that, Sakura–chan. I don't think you're only property."

It didn't go unnoticed how she was too weak to do anything more than give a small smile.

"What happened tonight?" Fugaku demanded, his voice low and serious.

"There was a call at the station," Shisui added, looking straight at Itachi and Sakura. "About a massacre not too far from Konoha town centre. I haven't had the time to go there myself, so I don't know for sure what has happened. Whatever happened, however, the other officers are saying that whoever did it, is not human."

All eyes fell to Sakura, who was staring down at the ground.

Itachi's eyes narrowed once again. "Get to the point, Shisui."

It was Mikoto who spoke up, her usually quiet voice sounding oddly strained yet still melodic at the same time. "Hunters are already at the scene. Your father and I were just driving by when we spotted them. There are sixteen altogether, though I recognise none of them. Neither does your father." There was a soft sigh before she spoke again. "They were apparently already in the area, if what little we heard of their conversation is true."

"I didn't know that they were hanging around," Sasuke muttered, scowling down at the ground.

"What you did was still unnecessary," Itachi told him and it occurred to his clan then that he was acting very out of character tonight. "I don't care if you are bored, Sasuke. Do not use Sakura for your entertainment."

The younger brother's fists clenched tightly, his upper lip curling as he snarled in return, "Or you'll do what, huh? I didn't mean for any of that to happen."

Just as Itachi went to reply with a snarl of his own, Mikoto stepped in between them, looking as though she feared for her youngest son. No, Itachi would never intentionally hurt him, but he knew that he was acting out of character. Even Shisui looked startled. Nobody had ever seen Itachi so protective of somebody before, especially not a girl. It just wasn't like him.

"Enough," Mikoto snapped, glancing over her shoulder at Itachi before turning back to face Sasuke. "We don't need any more fights breaking out today, do you understand me? Sasuke, we know that you didn't mean to hurt Sakura–chan the way you have, but it does not change the fact that it has. Yes, you only wanted to see those who harmed her punished–"

"They didn't only hurt her," he yelled right back at her, ignoring his father's warning growl. "They killed her friend, too!"

Silence.

Once again, Sasuke was snarling. "I knew the moment Sakura told us what happened to her friend that something wasn't right about the story and don't any of you pretend like you didn't think that, either. Humans are violent, yes, but there was no reasoning behind it since everybody in the house died. So I started from where Sakura was attacked and followed their scents to the hideout, saying that I wanted in on their group. They accepted once I passed some pathetic test to prove my strength. It was about two weeks later that I discovered what really happened to Yamanaka Ino. Just like Sakura, she was attacked, only, unlike Sakura, Ino got away before they could actually rape her. It was because she got away that they killed her." His eyes narrowed for a moment. "That is why they watched their victims. It was so they knew enough about them to fix their mistakes. Sakura did the world a favour by ridding it of those vile creatures."

"That doesn't change the fact that you've screwed with her head," Naruto yelled at his best friend. His anger was obvious to them all as it twisted his features and Itachi could sense that Sakura was stunned to see him so angry. After all, he looked like an entirely different person. "Look at her! She's too exhausted to even stand by herself."

Feeling Sakura's humiliation and anger, Itachi traced a soothing pattern on her side, his hand hidden from the others' view. "What will we do?"

They all looked up at Itachi and fell silent at the blank look on his face. It had taken a while, but finally, he had reined in his emotions once again. Apparently once he unleashed his emotions, he needed a little time to hide them once more. He would have to keep that in mind for future reference.

Exchanging a look with Fugaku, Mikoto once again sighed. "We were thinking that, since Sakura–chan wishes to have Tsunade–sama train her, she should go with Naruto–kun and the Sabaku clan to find her. She is much too weakened to stay here with us. If the hunters find us, we may be unable to protect her and I do not want to see any harm come to her."

Her heartbreak had anger shooting straight through him and when her hold on him tightened considerably, he felt that anger multiplying.

"I will go, too." Itachi's voice was as emotionless as his eyes as he stared at his clan. He knew that the idea wasn't his mother's. It was his father's. However, given that she was his wife, Mikoto would not question him. To do so would be disrespectful of her.

"Itachi–"

His eyes hardened. "I promised Sakura that she would never be alone. I do not like breaking my promises."

"Stop being so foolish," Fugaku snapped angrily. "She is just a girl!"

They were all put even further on edge as Itachi's sharingan activated out of his anger. The only person who wasn't intimidated, was Shisui. Instead, he stepped forward and stared Itachi down, his eyes remaining dark and blank but at the same time, serious. "I think you should go with her, Itachi," he stated calmly, ignoring Fugaku's outraged expression. "Your bond with her is too strong for you to be separated now, not to mention Naruto–kun would most likely try to steal her from you." If Itachi was the type, he would have rolled his eyes when Naruto suddenly smirked. Actually, Sasuke did roll his eyes. "We're not kicking anybody out of the clan."

"It certainly seems that way," Gaara muttered from his place over by the window, the sand in his gourd moving around restlessly.

His sister nodded, her expression a mixture of different emotions. "No offence, but it kind of looks like you're trying to get rid of Sakura. You can't blame her for what happened because I know I would have done much worse than kill them. And I know for a fact that none of you would have simply sat back and allowed those bastards to get away with what they did if it had been one of you." Her eyes narrowed dangerously on Fugaku. "If it had been your wife, you would be acting the exact same way Itachi is right now."

Before Fugaku could say anything, Kankuro stepped in. "We would never tell a member of our clan to leave because of something they couldn't help. Sakura will probably be better off with us, anyway. At least she won't be forced to leave because–"

"No!" They were all surprised when Sakura suddenly yelled at them, when they saw that she was holding onto Itachi tightly. "I don't want to leave Itachi." Her eyes snapped to Itachi's, wide and panicked and he felt an impossible to ignore pull, his body and mind aching to ease her of her suffering. Not even fifteen minutes ago, they had almost been kissing. He had allowed her to see his emotions, something not even his clan got to see often. "Please," she whispered, her hands shaking. "Please!"

Itachi's eyes moved over to Gaara's. "When will we be leaving?"

"Itachi," Sasuke exclaimed, his eyes wide. "You're leaving us?"

Indecision rippled through him as he looked in his brother's direction, especially when in his mind, in that moment, he was not seeing the man who'd just toyed with the woman he cared for. He was not seeing the bitter man who could barely contain his rage. No, he was seeing his younger brother. He was seeing the little boy who had cried for him when he lay dying, begging for his older brother to stay with him.

What was he supposed to do?

"Sasuke–"

"No," Sasuke snapped, his sharingan activating and spinning wildly. "I'm coming with you, too."

Mikoto looked at her two sons, her expression heartbroken and utterly devastated. "Wait, none of–"

"Quiet, Mikoto," Fugaku cut her off. "If they wish to leave, let them."

They could all tell that she wanted to scream at him and most likely hit him, but at that moment, all Mikoto seemed capable of doing, was staring at her husband in shock. There was a mixture of different emotions in her eyes ranging from disbelief, to anger, to betrayal and Itachi felt his chest constrict in response. "They are my sons," she eventually hissed. "They are your sons!" Fugaku opened his mouth, about to argue, but he never had the chance to as she continued, muttering, "I already told you of my disliking towards your plan of asking Sakura–chan to leave, but you have stepped way over the line with this, Fugaku. I will not sit back and allow you to destroy our family."

He closed his eyes, breathing deeply as though he needed to keep his anger in check. Moments later, he was looking Itachi dead in the eye. "Do what you must."

He wasn't telling him to leave. He could hear the meaning behind his clipped words clearly and knew that that was his father giving him the choice of doing what he believed he had to. Deep down, the older man knew that his son would leave eventually. Not because he wanted to, but because he knew Itachi. He knew he was an honourable man.

"I–" Itachi cut himself off, his head turning to the side as his eyes narrowed. "It seems the hunters have found us."

A/N - I haven't edited this chapter because I'm too tired. Lately, I'm always exhausted and sleeping a lot more than usual, so I'm sorry if there are mistakes! I'll try and find the time to edit this chapter fully when I'm not so tired.

Edited on: 02/09/2016