CHAPTER 11 I DO NOT OWN NARUTO

HEY EVERYONE! Sorry it's been a little while; my family's computer crashed and we finally got it back! Then with all the fires… yikes. Well here it is! The moment I, I mean you've been waiting for! Akatsuki Strikes!

―――

Sakura awoke in Itachi's arms. She looked up at him and he smiled.

"Good morning."

"Morning."

Itachi released Sakura and sat up. "So what's on the agenda today?"

"I have to go see Tsunade-sama. There's something she wanted me to get. She wanted it yesterday, but I was here…" She trailed off.

"Okay, then you better get going. It's getting late."

Sakura looked at the clock and yipped; he was right. She was late. Sakura hopped out of bed and began to dress at top speed. Within minutes she was ready and about to step out the door when…

"Sakura."

She turned and found Itachi walking toward her. "Yeah?"

He stood close to her as he brought his hand to her face, softly brushing her cheek. Sakura closed her eyes at the touch. Itachi brought his face to hers and planted a small kiss on her lips. "Have a good day."

―――

Sakura rounded the corner to Tsunade's office, her mind still reeling from the morning she had. She gathered her thoughts and strolled into the office. Tsunade was at her desk and Shizune was arguing with her. As Sakura approached the desk, both women turned to welcome her.

"Good Morning Sakura" sighed Shizune. "I was just telling Tsunade-sama you were going to show up."

"Hey! I knew she was going to come! All I was saying is that she's late!" Tsunade looked at Sakura. "You're late."

"Yeah, I know. I overslept."

Tsunade smiled slyly. "Too much FUN in your marriage life?"

Sakura gasped. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Tsunade stood up and walked to a cabinet. "Nothing. Nothing." She picked up a pile of papers. "Anyway, I have a mission for you." Sakura walked over to take the papers Tsunade was holding. "You're to pick up a scroll from a nearby town."

"Are you sure it's not a slot machine?" Sakura snickered.

Tsunade snorted. "Shhhh! Shizune still doesn't know!" She stopped whispering. "And, yes, I'm sure. This scroll is from our research department. It contains the information we've gathered from that region. You can leave today; it won't take you longer than a few hours."

"Okay, then I better go tell the others."

"No, you'll be going alone. The others are going on their own mission."

―――

Naruto was upset. Team seven finally got another mission together and Sakura wasn't going! Damn that Granny Tsunade, he thought. I haven't seen Sakura in so long!

He was heading to find Itachi since Kakashi was busy preparing. Naruto ran up to the house that Sasuke use to live in. He banged on the door and stopped to catch his breath. The door swung open and Naruto saw Itachi looking confused.

"Sorry Naruto, Sakura isn't here."

"Yeah, I know. But we have a mission to do. Kakashi's waiting for us at the bridge."

"Oh, alright. I'll be right back." Itachi closed the door. Within a few minutes he was dressed and ready for the mission. He and Naruto began to head toward Kakashi.

―――

After everyone was briefed about the mission, Itachi, Naruto and Kakashi left. They were headed toward a village adjacent to where Sakura was headed in order to repair damage from a bridge that had collapsed. The repairs would take a few days, but at least the mission wasn't too strenuous.

Halfway to their destination, Itachi slowed down. Kakashi looked back to see what was wrong. The three stopped as Itachi scanned the forest, searching for movement.

"What is it?"

"I thought I felt someone, but I can't sense them anymore. I suppose it was nothing."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, let's go."

―――

A few meters away, Kisame signaled to his partner, and the two began to move once more.

The shark-like man smiled as he sprinted through the treetops, his gray haired partner behind him. They headed toward the fake village their leader had set up. Leader had created this village to gather information on Konoha but capturing Itachi's wife seemed like a good use as well.

After a few moments, Kisame and his partner caught up with their prey. Both men timed their steps to those of the pink haired woman in front of them. We'll have to do this carefully, Kisame thought. We can't go rushing in. Kisame smiled. Since when was he the conservative type? If he weren't trying to be quiet he would have laughed. Screw this, he thought. With one look to his partner, Kisame knew he was thinking the same thing.

The two men leaped into the road before the kunoichi, Kisame in front, the other behind. The woman looked surprised but not off guard. Kisame saw her eyes linger over the black and red cloak before raising the kunai in her hand. Kisame chuckled as he heard her mutter, "Akatsuki."

"You seem surprised woman." Kisame said as his positioned himself for an attack. "Didn't you see this coming? Your damn husband left us without permission. There has to be some," He paused as his mouth twisted into a sneer. "Punishment."

―――

Sakura was taken aback. She knew who was attacking her. Hoshigaki Kisame from the village hidden in the mist. She had heard about him, and Akatsuki, from Kakashi and Tsunade but had never seen him. Neither of them had mentioned the man behind her, although, she knew from his cloak he was from the same evil organization. She could tell that the more dangerous of the two was Kisame, especially with the large wrapped sword he was keeping at his back, but that didn't mean she could ignore him. For now, all Sakura could do was keep them talking.

"So Itachi left and now you're going to take it out on me?"

Both men began circling her, as if they were rabid wolves, closing in on their prey. Sakura shifted her position, trying to keep the shark-like man directly in front of her. Before she could sense his movement, the man behind her moved in to elbow her in the back. She was thrown off balance, and Sakura mentally kicked herself for underestimating Kisame's partner.

She changed direction and charged at Kisame's partner, ready to plunge her kunai into his chest. He moved just in time, but not fast enough to completely miss her knife. Sakura slashed him, causing a shallow cut to spurt some blood. The man yelped at the pain of the cut, and looked angry but was thrown back by one of Sakura's chakra infused punches. She turned to do the same to Kisame but he was ready for her. He had taken out his Samehada and swung the large weapon toward her as she jumped. The scaly sword caught her in the stomach. Sakura let out an angry scream as the weapon tore away part of her shirt, as well as a piece of her skin.

Trying to regain her footing, Sakura stumbled when both men rushed toward her. She jumped out of the way, and tried to escape the small clearing. Sakura could hear them laughing as she ran.

―――

Kisame began to follow the woman running before him. He knew she wasn't running because she was scared, but merely trying to find some high ground. But Kisame was prepared for this. This capture was going to be all his.

Sakura was coming up to a clearing when she realized she was no longer being followed. She was unsure if the men had masked their chakra or simply stopped. She tore her eyes from the forest behind her and turned to the direction that would take her home, her feet sloshing in a puddle underfoot. I'll have to report this right away, she thought. Forget the-

She was jarred from her frantic thought as Sakura realized she couldn't move her leg. She looked down and saw the watery formation of a hand gripping her ankle. Shit. She tried to free her leg, pull away, escape, but the hand that protruded out of the puddle tightened its hold on her leg as she tried to pull away until Kisame's upper body was coming out of the shallow pool.

"You fell for it, bitch." He sneered.

Kisame yanked her leg from under her so that she fell to the ground, hitting her head as he raised himself from the water. Sakura's head hurt from her fall, but she was able to feel him release her ankle as he stood up. Sakura tried to jump up, but the shark man stomped on the small of her back, slamming her back on the ground.

"No, no, no. You won't be leaving that easily."

"Asshole."

"Now that's not very nice, is it?" He cooed as he dug his heel into her spine.

Sakura bit her lip as she felt her spine bruise. Her head was reeling from the bump it had received and the pain of her raw stomach, which was still bleeding somewhat, increased as dirt entered the wound. She heard the brush rustle behind her, and Sakura knew his partner had arrived.

"Looks like you got her."

Kisame smiled, revealing two rows of sickeningly pointed teeth. "It was easy." He heard a small "Tch" come from the girl beneath him, so he used his other foot to stomp a bit on one of her arms. He felt the bone crack under his force, and saw the girl shout in pain. He had broken her right arm.

"Let's get back; we don't want to be late for the show." Kisame's partner chuckled as he began to walk toward Sakura.

"Yes," He said, hitting Sakura in the back of the head. "That's gonna be really interesting" was all she heard before one of her captors jabbed her in the back of her neck, causing her to passed out.