Enjoy!

Chapter 7

It was late into the night when Sakura had finished examining all priestesses, including those who hadn't gotten sick. What frustrated her, was that she was no closer to find out what was wrong with them. The only hunch she had was that they were dealing with a poison. Which only made her wonder who would bother poisoning a bunch of priestesses and why were only half of them affected and not the others? The symptoms were the same with everyone who'd gotten sick. Nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and a high fever. What had cause the first casualties was dehydration. It had first started amongst the older priestesses and had only then spread among the younger priestesses.

Sakura ran a weary hand through her hair. "I need to see the patients as well," she said to the assistant of the head priestess.

The young woman nodded. "We have three guest staying here," she said. "None of them are showing symptoms. Follow me."

Sakura followed the young woman to the wing that was reserved for guest. The first room was old man, who was nearly blind. The stench of tobacco filled Sakura's nose as she entered the room. She explained to the man why she was there, but he merely smiled as he spoke with a weak voice. "I'm an old man, waiting to die. There's no need for you to go through any trouble."

"You're sure?"

The man nodded. "I've lived long enough."

Sakura recognized a symbol on a piece of cloth. This man had once been member of the shinobi guardians, charged with protecting civilians in a time of war. They were never on the front line, nor were they send on missions. Judging by the look of his face, and the overal state of his body, Sakura understood that this man was indeed very old and probably didn't have any family and friends left. "Alright," Sakura said softly, quietly leaving the room.

The second room held a young man, who looked like a monk. He eagerly told her of his travels. Trying to see the world with eyes unclouded by hate. Sakura merely gave a bitter chuckle, but she said nothing. This man was healthy, save for the sprained ankle, that Sakura easily fixed with her medical ninjutsu.

"I see a lot of pain in your eyes," the young monk said.

Sakura looked at him. "When your journey is done," she said. "Come find me and tell me what you've seen."

"I promise," the monk said, to Sakura's back, as she was already on her way out.

The door to the third room opened and Sakura had pulled back the priestess and pulled out a kunai, before the man in de room had even seen her. His eyes rested on her and he merely smiled. "What is he doing here?" Sakura hissed the question at the priestess.

"He came seeking help."

"He's an S-class criminal wanted by the five great ninja nations and beyond that."

"Put the kunai down," the priestess said. "This is a place of healing. You will not taint our walls with violence and murder."

The priestess pushed past Sakura and stood between the two shinobi. "You'd have to kill me too."

"She will." A hand rested on the priestess' shoulder. "She's been well-trained."

Sakura put the kunai back in her holster, her eyes resting on the dark Uchiha eyes that were also fixed on hers. Her eyes travelled over the man standing behind the priestess. The only reason she had put away the weapon, was because she didn't want to provoke him into taking the young woman hostage. Something was strange about this situation. This man could easily kill every person in this temple, yet no had been killed in a shinobi-like manner. He even looked ill himself. "I refuse to treat this man," Sakura said.

"That's your own choice," the priestess said, stepping out of the room and taking Sakura with her. Before she disappeared, Sakura cast a last look over her shoulder. That was Itachi Uchiha, and he seemed tired somehow.

In the room where she and Lucy were staying, Sakura couldn't get to sleep. She had spoken to Lucy about the danger that Itachi posed and that he was here. She told him that he had killed his entire clan, in a single night, leaving only Sasuke alive. Lucy only admitted that this man was dangerous, but she couldn't support Sakura when she said that they had to kill him. After all, this was a sacred place and it wouldn't sit well with the people if this placed were tainted by an act of murder, no matter how much the person deserved to die.

Sakura looked out the tiny window. She hadn't gotten much to closer to solving the sickness problem, but she knew that she couldn't just lay here knowing that Itachi was on the other side of the building. What was stopping him from harming any of the people here? She had made up her mind hours ago. She'd simply kill him in his sleep, using a method that would make it seem like a natural death. That way they'd have one less enemy to worry about.

The hallways were deserted as everyone was asleep. Sakura soundlessly made her way to the room where Itachi was staying. Silently she opened the door. Her eyes looked over to the small bed. She focused her chakra to her right hand. All she needed was to touch him in the right stop. She held her breath as she pulled away the covers. A group of crows appeared from under the covers, making Sakura jump and clasp a hand before her mouth as a small yelp escaped her. Turning around, she saw a pair of red sharingan eyes stare at her from where he was sitting in a simple wooden chair.

"Have you come to kill me?" Itachi's deep voice cut through the darkness of the room.

Sakura pulled out a kunai and held it in front of her. She eyes narrowed as Itachi didn't move. He didn't seem at all impressed, he just looked at her evenly through those red eyes of his. "You're just like all the others," Itachi said. "Why do you want to kill me? You know you're no match for me."

She's grip on the kunai tightened, a cold sweat spread over her body. He was right, she was no match for him. "You made Sasuke join the Akatsuki."

Itachi shook his head. "He did that all on his own."

"And you killed your clan."

"With good reason."

Sakura frowned her brow and shook her head. "What? Are you kidding?"

Itachi seemed unfazed. "You don't know, do you?"

"Know what?"

"I'll make you a deal," Itachi said, folding his fingers together and resting them on his stomach.

"A deal?"

"I'll tell you the whole truth," he said, still looking at her evenly, but turning his eyes back to their black color. "And after you hear the whole story, I'll let you decide if I still deserve to die. And if that answer is yes, then you may kill me and I won't fight you. I'll let you kill me. How does that sound?"

"How do I know you won't screw me over?"

"You don't," he said. "But if we fight, you die anyway. And is that anyway to repay Kenji Uzimaki?

Sakura sat down on the bed. She could feel anger fill her up. But also a lot of questions, like how did he know about Kenji? "Talk."

Itachi started his story by telling her that he was the youngest member of the ANBU, ever. That he started his ANBU career with Kakashi as his ANBU captain. He told her of how proud his father had always been of him. And that he was to function as a spy for the Uchiha clan. The clan was feeling like they were being mistreated by the village. Eventually he had to make a choice, between the village and his clan. The clan wanted to take over the village, violently if needed. Only he and his friend Shisui stood in their way. They went to the clan elders and the third Hokage, but they were deceived by Danzou. Shisui lost one of his eyes and gave the other to Itachi for safe-keeping, before ending his life. It was then that he made the hardest decision of his life. To protect the village, he would kill his entire clan. There was just one person who he couldn't kill, Sasuke. But he didn't act alone. During his work as an ANBU he had come across a masked man who called himself Madara, but Itachi had known that he wasn't the real Madara. But he knew that this didn't mean that he wasn't dangerous. He struck a deal with this man. He would help him achieve his goals in exchange for the extermination of the Uchiha clan. That same night he did what he deemed necessary for the safety of the Leaf village.

His voice saddened upon remembering the final moments of his parents. How they told him that they were ready to die and proud of him and that they had always known that he was a kind and gentle person. He gave Sasuke a goal to work towards. Revenge for his clan. And the truth would remain hidden. Yes, he was to blame for lot.

Itachi had finished telling his story. "I did it to protect the Leaf," he said. "I took the blame to protect everyone and I joined to Akatsuki to keep an eye on them."

"But the tailed beasts," Sakura said softly, trying to make sense of it all.

"I never fought against any of the jinjuuriki," Itachi said. "But I never stopped any of them getting captured. I needed to keep my cover up."

Sakura slowly rose from where she'd been sitting, the kunai still in her hand. She walked towards Itachi, stopping only a few steps in front of him. His story had made sense. "How do I know you're not lying?"

Itachi extended his hand. "Soon I will seek Sasuke out and have him kill me," he said. "And I hope that his revenge will cause him to return to the Leaf."

"You'll let him kill you?" Sakura asked. "Why?"

"I'm already dying," Itachi said, gesturing at Sakura with his extended hand. "See for yourself if you don't believe me."

Sakura took the kunai in her other hand and cautiously took hold of Itachi's hand. His skin felt cold compared to hers. His hand felt boney, like he had lost a lot of weight. Being this close to him, she saw the dark circles around his eyes and the clearly visible cheekbones. Slowly she let her chakra seep into his hand, extending further into his body. Goosebumps rose on Itachi's skin as the warm chakra warmed his cold body. It had been a while since he had felt warm. And suddenly the warmth was gone, Sakura and quickly withdrawn her hand, and her chakra, like she had burned her fingers on something hot. Her eyes were wide and the kunai fell from her trembling fingers. "Cancer," Sakura muttered. "Everywhere."

Itachi nodded. "Just about all my organs are affected. I don't have long to live… So what is your decision?"

"I can't," Sakura said, feeling fresh tears rolling down her cheeks. She had come here to kill him, but only found out that he too had suffered.

Itachi rose from his chair and closed the distance between them. He used one hand to lift her chin and the other wipe away some of her tears. "If you don't kill me, then make me a promise."

Sakura nodded.

"My last wish, so to say," he said. "Is that if you can't convince Sasuke to rejoin the Leaf, I want to you to make sure that the masked man, calling himself Madara, is dead. Will you do this for me? Even if you have to deliver the final blow yourself?"

"I will," she sobbed, against the chest of a man who had once been her enemy.

XOXOXO

Kakashi arrived back at the Leaf, feeling both relieved and saddened. As a jounin leader he had failed miserably. He went straight to Lady Tsunade to inform her that he had successfully delivered the scroll. She instantly asked him how Sakura was doing. After that night, Tsunade had often wondered how her student was doing.

Kakashi pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to find the right answer. "She mourns her fiancé," he said. "And she's generally tired of life."

"You think she's suicidal?"

Kakashi shook his head. "But if she were dying right now," he said. "I think she'd welcome it."

"I asked Ranmaru to send her here," Tsunade said. "As a bodyguard for Naruto."

"He won't send her alone."

"I asked for a team, with Sakura in it."

Kakashi nodded and left the office. He looked up at the sky and sighed, it was quickly getting night and he really felt like having a drink. Upon entering the jounin bar, he was welcomed by a drunk Guy and a slightly drunk Yamato. Naruto seemed to have bought them drinks so he could ditch them. Karachi shook his head, they had to have known it was a trick. Sitting down a waitress poured him his usual drink. "So I'll meet you later? At my place?"

Kakashi looked up at the young woman. Occasionally he would have sex with her, but recently he had lost interest in her. Maybe it was because she was often asking when she'd finally see his face, and suggesting that they could do other fun things. Looked like she wanted more than the occasional fuck. "No thanks," Karachi said, taking a sip through his mask. He paid for his drink and turned around to move away from the bar. He quickly finished his drink and went to the memorial stone. "Well Obito," I officially don't know what to do."

XOXOXO

The next morning, Sakura spend her time investigating the food and water supply of the temple. She decided that this sickness couldn't be much else than some kind of infection or poison. Seemed like she was unable to really concentrate. It wasn't until Lucy asked her, if it would make a difference whether the water was boiled before usage or not. This had surprised her so much that she grabbed some fresh water from the well on the temple grounds. After running tests on the water for hours, Sakura discovered that this was indeed the source.

She quickly took her results to the head priestess, recommending that they only drank water that was boiled before being used. The priestess nodded, and before Sakura could turn and leave to continue her work, the priestess stopped her. "Itachi Uchiha is gone," she said quietly. "You wouldn't happen to have anything to do with that, would you?"

Sakura shook her head. "Last time I saw him," she said sternly. "He was still alive."

Sakura also relayed her findings to Lucy. Telling her that it was probably dead bodies in the water, who caused people to get sick from it. "We have to do something."

"We can't," Lucy said softly.

Sakura narrowed her eyes at Lucy. "Why not?"

Lucy fidgeted with the hem of her vest and she avoided Sakura's gaze. "Remember the day Kenji died?"

Sakura didn't answer. How could she forget? She would never forget? The one thing that made her so perfectly happy was gone. She would've gladly died herself, if only she didn't have to go through life without him. Everything she ever wanted was gone. Just gone.

"Well," Lucy continued quietly. "You were pretty out of it… And Kazuya-sensei… He was so pissed… We knew Shingetsu village was supporting the Akatsuki and well….. A group of ANBU, led by Kazuya-sensei, went there and…."

"What?" Sakura asked softly.

"….They killed everyone."

"Everyone?"

"Shinobi," Lucy said. "And everyone else too…. Even the children and old people… Out of spite."

Sakura's eyes went wide. She had been there, when Pain attacked Konoha. Felt the desperation as she had been unable to protect the civilians, or even most of her shinobi colleagues. Kazuya wasn't known for being kind to his enemy. She had learned a great deal from him, how to kill, how to gather intel, and even how to strike fear in your enemies. For a moment she felt sorry for the people of that village, but the feeling passed when her thoughts went back to Kenji. He'd been killed by an Akatsuki member. Perhaps this was some kind of twisted form of justice. But all the innocent lives lost, was not what he would've wanted.

"I see." Sakura said after a long silence. "Then our work here is done."

"What about the poison?"

"They can boil the water before using it," Sakura said in a monotone voice. "And the bodies of the dead…. Let them rot."

Lucy knew that deep down Sakura didn't mean those words, but she hadn't been the same. She knew that reason why Kazuya and the ANBU hadn't buried the bodies was simple. It was a warning not to cross them.

XOXOXO

Naruto sat on top of the Hokage mountain, overlooking the village. He was waiting for Kakashi to return so that he would finally get some good news. There was no way that Sakura was so angry that she'd ask for Sasuke to be made a rogue ninja. It was probably just a spur of the moment thing.

His heart skipped a beat when he caught his sensei walking towards the memorial stone. With his face always hidden behind a mask, it was difficult to see what he was feeling. Naruto observed Kakachi from afar.

After a long time, Naruto drew closer, stopping next to Kakachi. Naruto looked at Kakashi who shook his head. "Sakura?" Naruto asked.

"It wasn't her," Kakashi said softly. "It was Kazuya Higurashi."

Naruto furrowed his brow. "Who's that?"

"The man who was with her that night," Kakashi answered calmly.

Naruto still looked confused. "The guy who held her when she cried," Kakashi tried again.

Naruto's eyes went wide. "That guy with the creepy scar on his throat?"

Kakashi nodded. "He put in the request."

"But…"

Naruto's phrase was cut off by a glare from Kakashi. "Sasuke killed two of his students, Naruto," he said sternly. "What kind of reaction did you expect? Don't you think I wouldn't do the same for you or Sakura?"

Naruto looked away, clenching his fist. This wasn't what he had hoped to hear. All this time spent training was so he'd become strong enough to defeat Sasuke and convince him to return to the leaf. That would become increasingly more difficult if Sakura had joined the people who wanted him dead. Was he the only one left who wanted to save Sasuke?

"Sakura lost the man she loved and Kazuya lost two students… I think Sasuke caused enough damage to their lives. I won't ask any of them to change their mind." Kakashi paused and ran a hand through his hair. "Kazuya is a dangerous shinobi."

Naruto's eyes went back to looking at his sensei.

"It took me a while to place the pieces, but he and I have met before. Back then he was just a boy, but it took me and Genma to take him down. He's the kind who will complete a mission by any means necessary." Kakashi fully turned to Naruto. "Back then it was a mistake, and nobody died, but…. Don't do anything to anger him. He will kill you without a second thought, especially if you stand between him and Sasuke. For a ninja like Kazuya the choice is easily made."

"What about Sakura?" Naruto asked quietly.

"I don't know," Kakashi admitted. "I just know that she's angry, and upset and that she mourns the people she lost. I don't think she'd go looking for Sasuke, but she'll never forgive him either."

Kakashi let out a long sigh. How was he going to make Naruto understand that in this story there were only losers. No one would come out on top and be happy about it. This was a story about revenge, and revenge only leads to more people getting hurt. He took one last look at the memorial stone, before turning away. He padded Naruto on the shoulder before making his way to his apartment. There was nothing more to say.

XOXOXO

Ryoga sat against a tree waiting for his team to arrive. A cigarette was perched between his lips and smoke rose in gentle swirls. He took a drag, inhaling deeply and leisurely blowing out the smoke. He shook his head as he saw Kazuya approach their meeting point.

"Don't get up," Kazuya said. "And don't let Sakura see that… She'll start an incredibly dull speech on how bad smoking is."

"It's not dull," Ryoga said, smiling remembering the last time Sakura lectured him on smoking. "It was… Well… She damn near talked me to death."

"What can I say," Sakura said, appearing with a bunch of cherry blossom petals. "It's a gift… And smoking's still bad for you."

Ryoga took one last drag before putting his cigarette out in the dirt.

"So you're our new team member?" Sakura asked, sounding a little relieved.

Ryoga nodded. "Courtesy of Kazuya, who made me do it."

"I'm just a very persuasive guy."

"Did he threaten to take away your cigarettes again?" Sakura teased.

Ryoga nodded and got up. Looks like sleeping beauty finally arrived. Lucy quietly approached the three ninja waiting for her. She sighed audibly. "Save it. Let's just go."

"You haven't even told us what the mission is," Sakura said to Kazuya.

"We're to guard, protect and in the worst case scenario kill a high priority target of the Akatsuki."

"Who's that?" Lucy wondered out loud. "Their usual targets are ninja and jinjuuriki."

"You're not wrong," Kazuya said. "We're heading for the Hidden Leaf village to protect the nine-tails jinjuuriki, Naruto Uzimaki."

XOXOXO

That's it for now. R&R please.