An hour had passed since Itachi took Sakura's hand. The whole time that they walked, he never turned around nor did his grip soften. Sakura's wrist hurt and the blood circulation was being cut off, but she did not say a thing. Staring at Itachi's back, she felt so small and insignificant. With every step that they took, her heart clenched tighter and tighter. Every now and then, a tear would leak from the corner of her eye, to which she would quickly regain herself and let the wind dry it off.

Soon she could smell the ocean breeze again. Coming into a clearing, the trees began to thin out until they had reached the shore. Itachi found somes boulders to sit on, and there he let her hand go by one and walked away to sit on another.

Sakura's heart dropped. Her breathing became short as she began to drift deeper into confusion. What happened to the Itachi she once knew, she did not know. The person who sat before her was cold and distant.

As she sat there, she stared over at Itachi who sat with a leg up on another rock, his arm resting on his knee. He was looking out at the ocean with a very angry look on his face. Sakura swallowed hard and worked up the courage to say something. Now would be the only chance that she could.

"...Itachi..." said Sakura softly.

He turned his eyes to her. The look he gave her was so cold and angry that it shot an arrow straight through her heart.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

Itachi looked back at the sea.

Sakura shook her head in disbelief. He acted as if she was just a nuisance to him.

"Why are you acting this way?" she said, slowly regaining her composure. "How did you know where to find me?"

"Our spies caught wind of a renegade Sasuke. It is still Akatsuki's priority to keep Orochimaru from advancing."

"But you know that there's nothing I can do for Orochimaru, so if there is no reason to keep me from the enemy, then why come for..."

"Urusai," said Itachi, looking at her as if he were going to kill her.

Sakura was flabberghasted. She was so pissed off that chakra began glowing in her hands that were now balled into fists. Finally catching what she was doing, she shook it off.

"What?" said Itachi, looking her dead in the eye. "You thought I came for just you?"

Sakura stopped breathing. Clenching her fists again, this time she lost her cool.

Dashing forward, Sakura punched at Itachi only to miss, shattering the boulder he was on into thousands of pieces so that it rained rock and rubble. Turning to face him, her eyes were of green fire as it flashed with anger and rage. Lunging at Itachi again, Sakura punched the air as Itachi disappeared and reappeared beside her.

Grabbing her wrist, Itachi twisted it and threw her into the sand causing her to skid several feet. Sakura was so stunned that she laid there for a moment.

Itachi walked over to her and kicked sand at her.

"Pitiful..." he said in a monotone voice. "What naivety..."

Itachi kicked sand at her again. "I got you away from Sasuke...now get lost..."

Itachi stood over her as she propped herself to her knees. His cruel words shocked Sakura. Looking at the ground, she was so stunned that she did not cry. It was as if she did not believe it was reality. For a brief second, Sakura questioned whether it was genjuitsu.

No...she thought. It's not...

Sakura gave up. She had never been more embarassed nor felt more foolish in all her life. Getting to her feet, she stood up straight. Pausing for a moment, she did not turn to look at Itachi but instead looked straight ahead and began to walk away.

Silent tears began to stream down from Sakura's eyes. It was the longest walk of her life. The tears that flowed heavily and silently slipped down her cheeks before dropping to the sand. Walking down the beach, she could feel Itachi's presence still lingering where she had left him. It hurt to know that he was watching her back as she made her way across the sand, broken and rejected. She could feel her heart breaking with each step, and the embarassment of what just happened had stained her heart forever. Unclenching her fists, it was as if she were releasing all of the memories that she had left of him.

It's over now...she thought, her heart sinking still further. Let it go...

Not looking back, Sakura told herself that enough was enough.

As Sakura reached the end of the beach where the sand turned to rock, she was happy to know that Itachi's view of her would soon be blocked by a group of jagged rocks that cut close to the water's edge. A few more steps, and she would be out of Itachi's sight forever.

However, as Sakura came closer to the rocks and the sound of waves drowned out everything else, she was not expecting that there was one last surprise left in store for her.

Out from behind the rocks came a hand that slapped itself over her mouth, followed by the other hand that wrapped around her waist and pulled her in. As Sakura struggled to get free, she turned to see who it was who grabbed her.

"Kisame!?" she whispered.

"Shhh!" he hissed at her. Grinning, Kisame put his hand on Sakura's head and turned it to peek through a slit in the rocks. Through it she could see back to where Itachi was still standing across the beach, waiting...