A/N: Hey ya'll! Thanks for sticking with it! Here's Chapter 3.

Chapter 3- Sasuke

Oh my god, that chakra belongs to Sasuke? Sakura shouts in her mind as she lays in wait in the cover of the forest, staring at the two shinobi in the clearing.

Itachi had gone back to his blank expression and Sasuke had recuperated his face into a deathly glare.

"You're supposed to be dead!" Sasuke grits out, taking a defensive pose.

"Foolish little brother." Itachi says in a monotone, "I was never dead. I only wanted you to think that I was." Sasuke's eyes widen, then narrow, his eternal sharingan flashing.

"Then whose eyes do I have?" Sasuke says indignantly, "Madra transferred a new pair into me and as a result I got the eternal sharingan. If you're still alive-"

Itachi cuts him off "You have my eyes. Madra did not lie."

"But then-"

"And I have yours." Itachi says smirking at Sasuke's angry expression. Sasuke draws his Katana a scowl on his face.

"So all this time," he says glaring furiously at his elder brother, "all this time I thought Konoha had ordered you to murder my family and it was all an elaborate plot to get my eyes?"

"Yes and no." The Akatsuki member says blankly, "Yes I had planned this to take your eyes, but only after you had the Mangekyo Sharingan. No, I was ordered to kill the Uchiha clan, but i did it willingly, with the exception of you so that one day I could possess the Eternal Sharingan."

Sasuke furrows his brows slightly, thinking. Itachi watches silently, letting his younger sibling take it all in.

"So," he speaks after a while, "The only reason I was left to live was for my eyes?" he says a blank expression on his face.

"Aa"

"You never actually cared for me." It was a statement.

"Maybe I did at one time, but that time has long since been forgotten. You are merely a tool now. "

Sasuke's eyes grow harder at his words. Itachi makes a barely noticeable nod. That's my que. Sakura thinks sprinting from the bushes.

"CHIDORI!"

The sound of chirping birds fills the clearing as Sakura jumps in front of Itachi, hand blazing with the lightning technique, just as Sasuke attacks using the same jutsu with his Katana.

"Sakura?"

The two former team mate's chidori clash, intensifying the sounds of chirping. Sasuke stares wide eyed into the pink haired kunoichi's emerald green orbs. She smirks darkly as she delivers a chakra enhanced punch to his gut. Sasuke blocks just in time, but is sent flying backward several feet. Sakura deactivates the jutsu standing in front of Itachi, who looks bored.

Sasuke just stares at her, eyes wide. He looks her up and down. Probably looking at my new apparel…

"What are you-"he starts

"Doing?" she cuts him off smiling evilly, "I should think that should be obvious, Sa-su-ke-kun" she mocks. His face hardens.

"Why are you with him?" he spits out glaring at Itachi briefly before flicking his red eyes back to her.

Sakura glances over her shoulder at Itachi.

"I think that too should be fairly obvious Sasuke" she says rolling her eyes dramatically. Itachi's eyes intensify as he looks at Sakura's back. Feeling those powerful eyes on her back Sakura turns around locking eyes with her Master. Sakura rightly interprets his glare for curiosity. I know sensei. trust me. She thinks, her eyes flashing briefly. Itachi seems to get the message because her returns his gaze to the missing-nin across the field. Sakura follows suit.

Sasuke, abandoning his astonishment for anger, is full out death glaring at his brother. Sakura chuckles lowly.

"Why?" she asks in a teasing tone, "Does that make you jealous, Sa-su-ke-kun?"

"Hn" Sasuke snorts, sheathing his katana, going into a more relaxed pose.

He thinks I'm not a threat! She realizes, infuriated.

Her light smile melts into a snarl her body taking a fighting pose. She starts making seals-

"Sakura" She freezes at the sound of the elder Uchihas voice.

"Hn." Itachi states dully, from behind Sakura. In that syllable she hears the command 'no' and 'don't ruin your plan' and the almost constant reprimand of 'you're letting your emotions get in the way'. Gritting her teeth she stands up from her pose releasing the bore hand sign she was making. Sasuke raises an eyebrow from across the field at her strange behavior.

"So what now Sasuke?" Sakura says face blank looking at Sasuke. Sasuke stares back just as expressionless.

"Do we kill you?" at this Sasuke snorts, Sakura continues, "Do we take you hostage? Or do you come of your own free will?"

"Sakura, I doubt you could take Konohamaru hostage, let alone me." Sasuke says breezily. Sakura glares at this. Then pauses, thinking.

"You know what?" Sakura says straightening from her defensive pose, "Never mind Sasuke, you're not worth our time. "With that she turns around and starts walking the other direction. Itachi follows, curiosity practically begging to be answered from him- or at least as much as an Uchiha begs for anything. Sakura grins at this. Let it sink in, wait for it, and NOW!

"Oh and Sasuke?" she throws across the field at him. He merely continues to watch Itachi's back, "I hope you get over the disappointment of having your brother take everything from you." She starts walking away again, Itachi in tow as before. In three, two, one-

"What do you mean by that, Sakura?"

She smiles darkly pausing in her steps. Slowly, she turns around, hiding the devious smile she recently had on.

"Oh, you know…" she says vaguely, sauntering toward the younger Uchiha slowly, their eyes locked. "your father's attention…your mother's love…your clan… your peace of mind… your revenge…. your eyes…." Sasuke's eyes grow harder and his glare intensifies as he watches the Pink haired Akatsuki member walk closer.

"Your spot in the Akatsuki…" Sakura continues, growing ever closer to the Uchiha, "Your love…. Your ability to trust….your pride…the eight tails- you know he recently caught and sealed it, something you couldn't do..."

Technically, that was him and me. She thinks as a side thought. But hey, details aren't important.

She's now right in front of the Avenger, noses almost touching. Sasuke tenses, his eyes sparking with caution.

"And of course…Me…" She says her face blank, her tone somehow seductive. Sasuke narrows his eyes into a half glare, but stays silent. Sakura pauses briefly, then suddenly breaks the stare and whips around strutting back to Itachi.

"It seems to me, the only thing he has yet to take is Naruto." She pauses in her step halfway through the field, turning to glance back at the younger Uchiha, "but he and I were just on our way to capture him, so I suppose that doesn't really count anymore." She shrugs and continues toward the elder of the two.

Sasuke continues his glare, not moving from his spot, but Sakura feels the deadly spike in his Chakra and she knows he's pissed at his brother.

And with that Sasuke Uchiha, I call check mate. She brushes past Itachi, who turns to follow her,

and starts walking into the forest. Again she can feel Itachi's curiosity, but decided to explain when Sasuke is out of hearing range.

"Good bye, Sasuke –kun" she dead-pans waving lazily without turning around.

"Hn?"

Several miles later Itachi asks the question, if you can call it that, over to his student. Confident that Sasuke isn't following them, the pink haired Akatsuki explains.

"I give him two days to find us and demand to be my partner." She says simply, not looking at the Uchiha. Itachi cocks an eyebrow.

"Oh?" he says in a semi- entertained way, "and why do you say that?"

Sakura smirks. "He can't stand being bested by you. Based on this fact I made it so that the only way he can beat you, so to say, is by capturing Naruto. I told him we're already headed out to capture Naruto, and that we've already captured the 8-tails. These two facts imply that we will have no problem getting the 9-tails. He then has two options. One of which is to fight us for the nine-tails. He's smart enough to know that this is a horrible choice- two against one isn't going to end well for him, even if he thinks I'm still a weakling." At this she grinds her teeth. "So the only way for him to capture Naruto, and therefore beat you-"

"-is to split us up and use one of us to help him capture Naruto." Itachi finishes in a dead voice.

"Right." She replies, "And of course he would never partner up with you, so that leaves me." She smirks at her own genius, "so I kill two birds with one stone. I get a new partner and I capture the Kyubi."

"Hn." Sakura takes this to mean 'good work'. She smiles, you done good Sakura, you done good..

Well at least I can count on one thing; things are going to be interesting.

Sasuke was pissed. Again. What was it about that girl that was so… annoying… He was currently sitting by his fire at his base camp trying to enjoy a meal of fish and ramen, but her words kept coming back into his head.

"I hope you get over the disappointment of having your brother take everything from you." Her voice flits through his head, broad casting what she had said to him like a loud speaker.

"your father's attention…your mother's love…your clan… your peace of mind… your revenge…. your eyes….Me" And to mention Naruto… It was an obvious challenge. The question is, will he take it?

It was so infuriating! How could she get so under my skin with just a few mere words? It's not like her to be so…seductive- wait, what? Where did that come from? I can't believe I just thought that! I need to calm down right now, this kind of stress is not good for me, I'm fucking hallucinating in my thoughts!

Sasuke runs a hand through his spikey hair, exhaling loudly. He just needs to stop thinking about it. But he always ends up thinking about it… about her. Her cold (when did she become so icy?) green eyes flash though his brain and he feels the sting of her sharp words as they run through his head.

"UHG!" he says out loud in frustration, punching and effectively shattering a tree in the process. He breaths heavily, Eyes blazing with fury. There has to be some way to solve this! I CAN"T let Itachi win!

Then it hits him. It's so simple, yet positively… effective. Yes, that's what he's do.

Sakura, you have no idea what you've gotten yourself into… he thinks tomos spinning.

A/N: not really sure when I'll update... Chapter four hasn't even been planed out in my head yet so... ya. well I expect a month at MOST. more likely in less than a week. REVIEW PLEASE! 3