Disclaimer: I do not own anything you might recognize.

Whispers in the Dark

By Creidhe

After what seemed to be a painful eternity, the medic finally found herself walking forward. Sakura bit her lower lip as she walked down the small hallway toward the exit door. She finally stepped outside; the bright sun immediately greeted her. Protecting her eyes with a single arm, Sakura quickly realized that Akito was not there.

Itachi stood a few feet away from her, his back turned on her. Gulping, Sakura walked toward the Uchiha, making her footsteps heavy to let him know of her presence. She stopped next to him, her green eyes staring at his odd serene expression.

"Ready?" Itachi asked, darting his gaze into her bright green eyes. For some reason, the way her green eyes sparkled with hope was rather disconcerting. He quickly looked away, returning his gaze toward the forest.

"H-hai." Sakura replied softly as an uncomfortable feeling took place in her stomach.

Itachi inhaled deeply, "We'll be travelling all day, and we will not stop to eat or to rest, if you feel like you aren't capable of this much, you might as well head home."

Sakura blinked at his words. Who did he think he is? Who was he mistaking her with? She was capable of that and plenty more! PFFT! The idiot.

She snorted taking a step forward, "Let's go."

Itachi arched an amused eyebrow as her lips formed a subtle pout. For some bizarre reason, he was looking forward to launch himself on a journey with the pink-haired girl. He wanted to see how far she would push herself in order to have his little brother back.

"Hn." Itachi mumbled as he ran after the medic-nin, his crimson eyes staring intently at her behind. Maybe… just maybe this whole thing was not going to be that bad, "Just what exactly are you after this time, Akito?" Itachi asked, his lips curving into a cunning smirk.

Tsunade glanced up at the swirling dark clouds obscuring the stars and casting an ominous charcoal veil across the moon. She noted the shadow of the trees, closer to the hulking building, checking them constantly for any alteration, any sign of someone slipping through the darkness out of sight of the guards, but her gaze kept straying back to the still untouched sake bottle.

She always found it funny that she never lays a finger on alcohol in times of trouble.

There was a sudden knock at the door. Tsunade straightened herself, inhaled swiftly, biting at her full lower lip. Her heart was pounding; she could taste the familiar dryness in her mouth and feel the dampness on her palms. The anxiety made it difficult to control her shaking hands when she needed desperately to maintain her posture.

"Hokage-sama."

Tsunade's heart nearly ceased to beat, than began to tap out double time, "Enter."

Her eyes fell on the tall guard and then slowly she darted her gaze lower, toward the dog, "Pakkun."

"I have a message."

Her legs had long since lost feeling, so numb from inactivity, Tsunade wasn't certain she would be able to stay put in her place. With a short nod, she found weight support on the border of her desk.

"Kakashi found the kids. They are heading toward the Grass Country. He'll be sending messages, informing the status of their quest." The dog finished talking and sat down, waiting for the news to sink in.

"They found a trace?" She asked, feeling her head become heavy.

"Yes. I found another disturbing scent along with hers." Pakkun, tilted his head, his tail swung nervously.

"Another scent?" Tsunade asked feeling somewhat dizzy. Who could it be? Did Sakura leave the village to meet with someone? Nothing made sense. No matter what theory she came up with, none of it made sense. Her eyes widened at the sudden image forming inside her head, "was it the Uchiha scent?!"

"Afraid not." Pakkun replied, "It was a very different scent. I don't know how I can explain it. But it smelled like a corpse."

"A corpse?" Tsunade was baffled, "A corpse?" She repeated.

"Yes. We searched for blood, for anything that could take us to a dead body but in vain." Pakkun paused before he carried on, "I have a bad feeling about this."

Tsunade lips parted and she inhaled deeply, "You're not the only one."

Movement snapped Tsunade's attention back to the window; she looked down at the entrance of the building. The guards were stopping someone from stepping inside. Eyes narrowing, Tsunade straightened herself and forced her wobbly legs to move forward, "Thank you Pakkun. Please make sure to keep me informed." She said softly as she walked out the door. The dark silent hallway embraced her. Tsunade ignored the cold chills running up and down her spine as she walked down the staircase. She had received an anonymous letter that morning by an anonymous person claiming to know where Sakura was.

Licking her dry lips, Tsunade finally arrived to the entrance.

"Hokage-sama!" one of the guards exclaimed, surprised to see her there.

Tsunade ignored the guard, her honey eyes fixated solemnly on the tall man in front of her. There was a long silence while the wind tugged at their clothing and whipped through their hair.

Cat-golden eyes pried into hers. Tsunade shivered at the rising wild breeze. Tsunade eyed his white vestments with interest, "You're the one who sent me that letter."

The mysterious man nodded quietly.

Tsunade arched an inquisitive eyebrow. Something was off with that man. She just couldn't exactly press her finger on it, "Well?"

The man smiled, "Tsunade. It has been a while hasn't it? I'm quite disappointed that you did not recognize me."

The blonde-haired woman shivered as she stared at his smile. The emotion that it produced within her was unmistakable. The way his eyes stared into hers as if he knew every single thought roaming inside her head made her heart stop.

"Akito…"

"Yes. It's quite the shock, isn't it?"

She stepped backwards, feeling her stomach twist uncomfortably. It had to be a dream. He was dead. She was sure of it.

"How can this be?!" She asked, eye-widened.

Akito smile vanished as though it had never been on his face, "It has been years since I last saw you. If I am not mistaken, it was when you turned twelve wasn't it?"

"Yes it was." Tsunade replied. Gasping, she pressed her lips shut.

The guards stood behind, feeling completely confused as to how to act.

"Now now… I haven't come here to talk about me." Akito paused, "It is about your apprentice that I have come."

He had her entire attention.

Excellent.

Itachi took a deep long breath of mountain air and looked slowly around him, feeling at home. Dawn was breaking over the mountain, spilling light along the ridges, turning shrubbery, leaves and granite to gold. Pine, fir and dogwood stretched as far as the eye could see and huge towering cliffs of granite jutted up toward the sky. For the first time in a long while, he relaxed. No one was trying to kill him. He might be in for a long hike, but he could enjoy his surroundings.

He moved with complete confidence, with the steady gait of a man used to being out in the wilderness and covering a large territory fast.

He traveled in the direction he estimated would be the most likely to find the Akatsuki campsite. If it was anywhere in the zone he had targeted, he would run across their tracks. He worked his way steadily to the granite where there was more brush and fewer trees. He stopped for a second, straining his ears. He could hear fast clumsy steps behind him. He could hear her brisk breathing. He was not about to stoop to admitting that she was indeed better than he had thought, but still she was becoming tired and that would probably delay him.

Sakura stopped behind him, glaring holes into his back. She was tired and her pale cheeks were flushing. She was feeling a little embarrassing that she was this tired while on the other hand, the Uchiha was feeling completely fine, even with his injuries.

It was obvious that he was not fully healed. She could see it by the way he walked. Every five minutes he would clutch his hand to his right side and then proceed with walking.

"We'll rest." Itachi said after a long moment of silence.

Sakura green eyes brightened up. Even though she was celebrating to every existing God she didn't want to look that desperate, "Are you sure?"

Itachi nodded, "It's going to rain. Let's search for some shelter."

Sakura looked up to the cloudless sky and narrowed her eyes. She said nothing about his weather skills and followed him. They walked around in complete silence until they finally reached a rocky area. Sakura ears perked up at the sound of water flowing. Itachi gaze fell on the awed pink-haired girl. She looked absolutely ecstatic about falls.

"I'm going to look for some food. Stay here." Itachi was sure she didn't hear a word he said.

The falls were beautiful, flowing down a series of smooth rocks to a natural pool below. The swimming hole was lined with rock so it stayed clean and it was surrounded with flat granite. It was the perfect place to spend a lazy night after being up all day travelling. Sakura stretched out, trying to get comfortable on the smooth granite surface. She tried to tell herself she was excited over her journey to find Sasuke. The truth was, since that moment she saw Itachi outside Akito's house, she had a vague feeling of uneasiness, as if a storm were gathering off in the distance and heading her way. The premonition persisted and was so strong; she lifted her head to search the sky for a sign of ominous, dark clouds.

The medic laid her head against her arm, and rubbed her cheek back and forth in a soothing gesture. It was crazy, but she felt as if she were being hunted.

"Let it go," she whispered aloud.

She closed her eyes tiredly, searching for inner contentment. She was after all, on the right track to find Sasuke.

A long sigh escaped her lips. Her heart was troubled. Something wasn't right. She simply didn't felt the same as she did when she left the village. Her heart was not in the right place anymore. She had left to find Sasuke right? For Naruto. For herself. For the sake of team seven. Only it didn't felt like finding Sasuke, was the most important thing to her at the moment.

She had never thought that staying away from home would have this impact on her. This greater feeling of selfishness growing inside her was highly disturbing. Somehow, being away from Konoha brought her peace.

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He glared into the empty sight. Where the hell was she? Dropping the deer on the floor, Itachi eyes caught the glimpse of many several piece of clothes spread on the granite floor.

Something moved in the deepest end of the pool. He fixed his sight on the water's surface and the intriguing ripple came again. He found himself waiting in anticipation.

Closer to the water's edge, to his left and near the lowest wall of granite, the water ringed, and something silvery-gold appeared to break the surface for a moment. Itachi unconsciously held his breath.

She rose up out of the water, long pink wet hair streaming, gleaming, and shimmering like skeins of wet silk. The droplets of water ran off the curves of her breasts, down her narrow rib cage, dipped in at her small waist to stream down her flat belly to the triangle of pink curls at the junction of her legs. She was naked, skin glowing in the sunlight. She tilted her head to one side, brought her long hair over one shoulder in an unconsciously provocative gesture.

The wind shifted and carried her scent to him. Itachi's body tightened savagely in response. He went very still, his breath catching in his lungs. Instant awareness shook him. He certainly had his share of women, but he never reacted like this—a vicious, brutal response of his body and mind, everything in him reaching toward her.

"Akito, you bastard," he whispered. Not for one moment would he ever believe his reaction to be natural. It was too strong, too obsessive. Too unlike him. Swallowing dry, he stepped forward, his face growing into a blank mask, "I can see you're all rested up. Let's eat so we can carry on."

Sakura jerked her head toward him, her green eyes widened in absolute horror. Shrieking, she pulled herself down.

Itachi smirked at the small bubbles forming in the water.

Author Note: Yeeesh! I finally updated! I have been so busy with school that I barely had any time to sit down by the computer.

Even though is a short chapter I still hope some of you actually enjoy this.

Thanks for reading!