Tsunade knew it would be a difficult conversation when Haruno Sakura's parents entered her office. Perhaps they would be furious at her for allowing her to leave, for not training her enough, for not telling her to stop being a ninja—some irrational reason. Perhaps they would look to her for comfort that she couldn't give. Perhaps they'd even want some sort of compensation. If it was monetary, Tsunade supposed she could afford that…but she figured it wouldn't be so easy. The married couple entered.

"W—we just thought…well…we didn't tell you but…she left this note…the night she left." Mrs. Haruno's lower lip trembled. Tsunade smiled kindly and took the offered slip of paper, but as she read it the smile faded off her lips.

Dear Mom and Dad,

At this point, I should already be gone. There are so many things I want to say, but… I just…can't. Anyway, I'm tired of being weak. I guess you guys were right; becoming a ninja has taken ahold of me. I can't stand being the worst in our generation. Tsunade's training has definitely helped me, but just not enough. I don't have the potential to advance like a genius. I need a different kind of training. I need training motivated…by, well, fear. Fear has been the only thing to budge me, ever. So fear it is. I need to train under somebody scary. Or…I don't know. I just need to train under someone else.

So I'm going to Orochimaru's. I want to be able to protect you and the people I love… I want to be strong enough to tell Naruto to forget Sasuke. To bring Sasuke back—for him.

I guess that makes me a nuke-nin, but I bear no ill will for Konoha. It tears me apart to leave behind everything…but I have to do it. I won't live this life.

I'm going to kill him, everyone. Kill him for all the pain he caused everyone.

I'm going to kill Uchiha Itachi.

Itachi made true on his promise. The training was brutal and tough, but it felt…good. Orochimaru's training felt like she would die every day, like it wasn't worth it. Tsunade's training felt like she was getting nowhere. But Itachi's and occasionally other members' training… it felt…it felt like she really was improving. Like they wanted her to improve. Like she was part of the group.

The next few months went by in a blur. Itachi spoke little, so there weren't many deep conversations to remember. Sakura could recall only snippets, like that time she'd been throwing kunai.

"Your aim is atrocious," Itachi had smirked at her, examining that Sakura had hit only 9 out of 10 targets.

"They're difficult targets!" Sakura huffed. "I'd like to see you do better!"

Itachi raised an eyebrow, and Sakura realized her error, but it was too late. Coldly, Itachi grabbed the kunai pouch, turned his back to the targets, and hit them without even looking back. All in the exact center, while Sakura had only hit 2 bullseyes.

"I can do better, and I always will," Itachi reminded her impassively. "Remember that."

And of course, there was the physical training, since she wasn't in good enough shape to suit the interests of Akatsuki. It was running, jumping, weightlifting…a lot of it. One time, it had gone a bit far.

Sakura buckled over and heaved. Coolly, Itachi questioned, "Is there a problem?"

"We've been running for three days straight!" Sakura gasped out, grabbing her knees. "Leaping trees is all fine, but this…I haven't… I can't…I mean, I used to be able to do it! Back in Konoha I could have!"

Itachi surveyed her. "Orochimaru's steroids, I believe. They help you as long as you get a constant dose of them—now that you're separated from his croney, Kabuto, and no longer get those injections, it is limiting your power."

"They should've left my system by now!" Sakura panted, straightening and performing a quick self-check. Her chakra was absolutely depleted and her muscles burned, and sure there were some foreign toxins but there wasn't any poison in her bloodstream…

"Orochimaru wouldn't have let go of you so easily. He obviously wanted to maintain some sort of control. Perhaps it is in some way associated with your curse seal."

"It has been hurting me a bit lately," Sakura admitted. "I've been trying to study it, but I never got around to finding a way to remove it… although I'm sure he wrote it down somewhere…"

"You should place a seal around it," Itachi suggested. Then Sakura braced herself and started running again.

Then there was the time Itachi had keeled over, coughing blood, after a genjutsu training session.

Sakura panicked, words flying out of her mouth in a jumble. "Holy shit I'm sorry wait how did I do that I couldn't have done that are you okay what's going on how do I stop this does this happen often?"

Itachi had given her a glare amidst coughing and pointed to his bag.

Sakura understood, rushed to it and, in the first pocked, there was a bottle of medicine. Extremely strong stuff. Sakura's eyes bugged out, but she figured he must trust this thing, so she unscrewed the cap and put two drops into Itachi's open mouth. After five more seconds, the coughing died down and Itachi smoothed his clothes, composing himself.

"…what the hell was that?" Sakura found herself asking.

"I did tell you, on that very first day, that I have an illness," Itachi reminded her, somewhat hoarsely.

And there was the first mission they'd had to go on.

All of Akatsuki had been gathered. Pein told them, "We've discovered a very rich heir to an even richer lord in the Rain. Kakuzu has suggested that we take the money, as it would help a lot, and we have an easy way to infiltrate: he is holding a grand ball in the Earth country. We'll send one pair as an inconspicuous couple who will track him and figure out how to get the money; the methods are up to you, but killing him would cause an unnecessary uproar. We've done this before. Any volunteers?"

"I volunteer Kakuzu's team since it was his idea," Deidara called loudly. "Because I'm not transforming into a girl again. Ever."

"You didn't even need to transform," Hidan smirked at him. "You already look like such a bitch that—"

"Why don't you do it yourself, Pein?" Kakuzku asked, crossing his arms across his chest. "You and Konan must have some sort of experience with this…"

"I'm busy," Pein said shortly.

"Well then, make Haruno and Itachi-san do it," Kisame grinned, then faltered at the glare Itachi sent him. "Sorry, Itachi-san, but it's true."

"It is true," Pein agreed thoughfully. "Since you are unwilling to take fighting missions yet, on account of Haruno's training, this could help your teamwork, in which you seem to be…lacking."

Sakura was certain her blush was visible even in the dimness of the chamber. And it was definitely visible to Itachi's sharingan. Oh Kami, Itachi… he was twenty-one years old! She was sixteen! Oh, and then there was the whole matter of him being a murderer who made Sasuke's life miserable!

"W—with all due respect, Leader-sama," she said timidly, then tried to make herself sound stronger, "I am not exactly…experienced…in—in this."

"Well, you will have to learn, because you will occasionally be asked to do such things in this organization. It is not all about brutal murder. It is about gaining money and cutting off loose ends to fulfill our goals. Haruno, Uchiha, I am assigning you to this mission. The ball is in four days; you have that time to reach it."

Well, shit.

When they got back to their room, Itachi ordered, "Pack only what you need; we're traveling light and quickly. I want to do surveillance; perhaps we can avoid going to the ball at all."

"How long will the trip there be?" Sakura questioned as she threw a few things into her kunai pouch and put on a sweater under the Akatsuki cloak. It may have been burning hot in the Sand, but Earth was much farther north.

"If we go at a good pace without stopping, we can get there in two days."

"Two days only?" Sakura gasped out. "That's an awfully long distance to run in a short time."

Itachi merely looked at her. "Who said we were running?"

Sakura, confused, followed Itachi out of the room and then finally, finally out of the huge cave that made up the base. The sun blinded her, the heat feeling unbearable on her now pale and sensitive skin. Most of their training was either during the night or inside the base; Sakura felt like she hadn't seen sunlight in a very, very long time. And she hadn't—for about six months now.

Running in these conditions would be debilitating to her.

Itachi wordlessly grabbed a scroll from in his cloak with some brush strokes on it. He nicked his finger with his teeth and slammed his hand down. "Kuchiyose."

Sakura had only a faint notion of what the point of this was. Was he going to summon some sort of beast of burden to carry them? They couldn't move that much faster than the two of them on foot…

Her question was answered when she heard the rough flap of wings.

Possibly the biggest crow she'd ever seen in her life was soaring out of the sky, coming to a smooth landing right in front of Itachi. It had a collar around its neck, with the Uchiha symbol charm dangling from it. It was a huge but beautiful animal, feathers silky and obsidian black. It was probably even a raven… the sight itself was breathtaking.

Itachi walked up to the bird and petted its flank. Probably because he only reached up to its flank. "It's been a long time since you've summoned me, Itachi," the crow said.

Of course—it was a summon. It could talk, just like Katsuyu or Manda. But this crow was more elegant than either, but also radiated danger. Even Itachi showed respect to it. "Forgive me, Kurasu."

"Last time you summoned me was for your ANBU exams. The cats told me quite a bit has happened. I guess the reason nobody summoned me is that nobody was around to do so, and your little brother never learned, huh?"

"Yes, Kurasu."

"Ah well…I guess I should be glad that I'm here again. Now then, what was it you needed, Ita-chan?"

Sakura almost choked at the term "Ita-chan." She regretted it immediately, because the crow seemed to notice her for the first time and turned toward her. Its eyes held intelligence. What a remarkable creature…

"And who's this? A girlfriend?" Sakura spluttered and started to deny it, but Kurasu went on, "Well, introduce yourself, girl…your name?"

Sakura gaped.

"You chose a mute girl? Really, Itachi?"

"I—I'm Haruno Sakura," Sakura said in a small voice.

Kurasu gaffawed, which was very interesting coming from a crow's mouth. "Haruno Sakura? Are you the same one from back in the day, the one Sasuke always-"

"Yes," Itachi interrupted. "Kurasu, if you please, we need to get to the Earth Country within four days."

Kurasu laughed. "Four days? You forget who you are speaking with, Itachi. You are speaking with Kurasu, the lightning bolt, the lord of the sky! It will take no more than one." Kurasu's legs buckled as the bird knelt, allowing Itachi to swing on. Sakura awkwardly grabbed a few feathers, not wanting to cause pain. When Kurasu gave a warning grunt, Itachi sighed, reached over, grabbed her hand, and pulled her up to sit in front of him. His hand lingering a bit longer than necessary must have been Sakura's imagination.

"Ready, children?" Kurasu asked, ruffling his wings so that a bunch of feathers handed on Sakura.

"Yes," Itachi said curtly.

There was a jolt as Kurasu stood up, and another greater jolt as Kurasu took off running and a change in gravity as they got into the air. Itachi made a few handsigns, clearly casting a genjutsu that would conceal the huge bird and its passengers. With each powerful beat of Kurasu's wings, Sakura thought she would fall, but she kept a tight grip on the raven. The one time there was a sudden change in direction, Itachi caught her, barely, and advised, "Lean forward a bit more."

Sakura did, and with her cheek buried in the soft feathers of the bird, and the gentle rocking of flawless flight, she managed to fall asleep even in the blinding sun.

AN:So we learn another reason Sakura left...to kill Itachi. Although it doesn't really look like she's making good on that. Did she forget or something? Or did she just change her mind? Who knows?

Damn Kankuro for stealing the name I wanted to give the bird, "Karasu" or "crow". That puppet doesn't look like a crow at all! I just figured that since there are Uchiha cats and stuff, there might be some Summons that only the Uchiha use. Kurasu is one of the best. He doesn't judge Itachi for slaughtering the clan, hahah!

Sorry for not updating last week. Writer's block, tests, taking a lot of subjects on the side, doing chores, hanging with friends...it all piled up into a big "Yeah, I'm not getting another chapter up".

But I will probably be able to get one up next week.

This chapter killed me because it's a bit of filler for a future event that I'm looking to happen...I want to get there, but I can't just jump to that, so...yeah.

Don't forget- 99th, 100th, and 101st reviews get a request! See my profile for more info on that.

Reviews are a great motivation to update more!