This chapter will start the beginning of the past. You didn't think I'd leave the whole Akatsuki Sakura thing unexplained did you! Don't worry, I'm explaining starting now.

This story does have romance in it. There will be occasional love scenes and detailed moments of similar natures in the future, so prepare for the rating to change. The couples I have planned for this one: Sakura and Itachi, with slight Sakura and Sasuke. Read and Review.


Chapter 2- Breaking the mold

Glaring at the small mirror in the small, drab, square bathroom, Sakura made faces at herself. She pulled at her eyes, stuck out her tongue, scrunched up her nose and shimmied it and rolled it around and found that no matter how she distorted her face, the image was still the same. She sighed. Looking down at her newly acquired robe, she brushed her hands over the surprisingly delicate, soft fabric, tracing the cloud design with her thin finger. She glanced back up at her reflection again, noting her leaf head band which was now no good to her. She let loose a small dejected noise as she looked at the leaf symbol which was now marked through with a deep gash. It was part of her initiation.

Sighing she slipped off her new cloak and left the bathroom. Her new bedroom wasn't much different. Grey unpainted walls, grey floor, medium sized bed with dull grayish green unappealing blankets and sheets and a few dreary dressers to put her things in and on. She'd definitely have to get used to this. Her bag was still laying on the floor by the door which she had a feeling she still wasn't going to unpack any time soon. She missed her friends. She missed Naruto and Sasuke and Kakashi, and even Ino. She missed them all.

A knock on the door shook her from her thoughts and she looked up expectantly, slightly scared. "Yes?"

It opened revealing a very tall very intimidating Itachi. He stepped in and shut the door behind him. She shivered at how similar to his younger brother he was, or how similar Sasuke was to him, which ever one. "Haruno." He addressed her, his voice bland.

She wasn't sure what to do so she lowered her head in a weak bow. "Hello." she muttered.

He managed a small smirk which he somehow pulled off while keeping it indifferent. "I'm here to report we have a meeting in the main room in an hour."

She smiled at him awkwardly, rubbing her arm. "Oh, thanks."

He nodded and turned back towards the door. "Wait!" She called and once again he turned back his eyes blank yet so powerful. She knew that if she ever did see emotion in those iris's she'd be held immobile. "I don't know where that is."

He didn't seem surprised. In fact, he didn't seem anything. "It's just down the hall, to the left." He stood for a moment longer, then stepped further into the room, standing just a few steps away from her. It was the closest she'd been to him so far and she realized just how overwhelmed by him she really was. "How old are you Haruno?"

She looked up at him shyly. "Sixteen." She answered too quietly for her liking.

The room seemed to make him stand out even more, all that black against the lifeless walls made him seem even more magnificent. Once again he seemed to change the subject. "You should unpack. It doesn't get easier if you live out of a bag."

She shrugged sheepishly. "I can't help it. I just don't want to let go yet."

He didn't seem bothered either way. "You're weak." He pointed out, as if he was ordering his meal for lunch or pointing out an obvious flaw.

Unsure whether to be offended or not Sakura just stared at the floor.

"That is why you betrayed my brother, and the Kyuubi." Once again it wasn't really a question more as he was telling her.

She raised up on her toes. "I would never betray Sasuke," Her voice started out so loud, but by the last word it was high pitched, and barely above normal speaking tones. "He meant everything to me.

Itachi nodded. "That's why you're here. To get stronger." He told her, ignoring her comment for the most part. "I've been watching you." He told her. "I chose you. We needed a medic one who would serve us well, and I recognized your talent."

She lowered her eyebrows. "You chose me?"

His face didn't betray any emotion as he gazed down at her. "Yes. You are young and moldable, and you want this. You want strength, to be noticed." He seemed very wise and also very cold. This was the most he'd spoken since she got there nearly a week ago. He was the first one she was introduced to. Every night when she ate with however many Akatsuki were there, he quietly ate at the end of the table, never speaking to anyone. Or when she went to the small dusty library, if he was there he didn't speak. She found him even more frightening because he was so silent. But now he was speaking to her. Almost talking down on her, and she had to admit, she was dumbfounded.

"You will train with two people and two only understand?" She nodded immediately, unwilling to upset him. "That is myself, and Kisame, my partner. Only the two of us. If anyone else offers, ignore them."

She bit her lip. "Why is that?"

He grinned again, small but impressive. "I take responsibility for you. I am your mentor and Kisame is simply my partner for the time being."

Though she didn't understand she agreed. Was this really the man who killed his entire clan. Spare his younger brother did he really exterminate his whole family? She shivered just thinking about it. How powerful he really was. "One last thing." He glanced down at her, his eyes jet black. "You are Akatsuki now. Remember that."

She briefly felt her stomach curl up into a shameful ball. That's right. She was Akatsuki now. She was a rogue. She was a betrayer. A monster. The bad guy. All because she wanted to make a name for herself. She was selfish. She squeaked. "Yeah." And he turned and walked out of the room in three powerful strides. She gulped trying to get the fluid past the lump in her throat, unsuccessfully. She turned and sprinted to the bathroom, vomiting up all her guilt.

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Unsurprisingly, time is the best sense of comfort against guilt, pain and pity. By her third month with the Akatsuki Sakura woke and slept with no problem. Her nights were satisfactory, and her mornings early. She could feel her arms gaining strength, her jutsu's gaining power. She was even starting to eat regularly. She was with Itachi more than anyone else there and she knew him quite well by this point. She knew that he was silent and daunting and he didn't like to be upset, but he wasn't terrible company. She often liked having him around. She didn't want to admit that it was because sometimes he reminded her of Sasuke, which filled a hallow gap in her heart.

She found that she didn't think about her old life very much. She was growing used to her new life. And this new life wasn't that bad.

She stretched and mewled across Itachi's bed one late night, looking him as he sat on the ground with his arms crossed, watching her quietly. "I don't want to study anymore." She told him, poking out her lip.

He looked at her with those dark heavy eyes and she rolled her own. "I've read every book you have in this whole place by now. I'm tired of this boring stuff." She curled up her lip as she got stuck in her long cloak, and tried to untangle herself, muttering.

Itachi watched her with a grin. "You have not read every book yet, and until you do you aren't finished." His tone was bland and final and she groaned. He had grown accustomed to the pink konoichi since she'd been there. He'd taken her under his wing, training her as he promised he would and she was doing well. She was intelligent and she caught on fast, plus she had an outrageous amount of chakra control.

She slipped out of her cloak, wiggling back into place. "That's much better." She looked up at him as he sat against the wall wearing his own robe and she snorted. "How do you wear that thing all the time?"

He simply shrugged. That was all the reply she would get she knew. She closed her book, looking back up at him with a wicked grin knowing she might get in trouble. He cleared his throat and stood, coming to the corner of the bed and looming over her. He looked almost tender for a moment and she had to blink a few times to make sure she wasn't dreaming. "You're very brave Sakura." He told her, reaching down and flicking her nose. Astounded she jumped, clapping a hand over the affronted body part. She gasped, "Ah!" And he grinned again, pulling off his Akatsuki cloak. She paused in her whining to look up at him. She'd only seen him without it once and it was only for a moment before he out it back on. He had on a simply standard ninja uniform, the pants were black and loose, his vest was black, with only wraps underneath and she gazed up at him.

He gazed back with the same fervor, "You are a strange girl."

She lowered her eyebrows, leaning back on her elbows, stretching her legs out. "Oh shut up." His eyes darkened and she felt a prick of regret. Sometimes he didn't take things the way she meant them and when that happened he always got angry. An angry Itachi was not one she wanted to be around. Or anything with a pulse actually.

"I'm…" She paused as he reached his hand out toward her, his face unwilling to explain to her his thoughts. She froze. His hand drifted even further, stopping on her head. It lay there and drifted down her head, stopping to cup the side of her face. Was he petting her like a dog? She almost snorted, but the look on his face stopped her. No expression was there, not on the contours of his cheeks, or lips, but his eyes, they seemed different. Darker, a little softer maybe. "No one has ever spoken to me like that." He informed her his tone sounded analytical not angry, lifting his hand from her cheek and drawing it back. She trembled from the lose of touch, as well as from the presence of it. It was the first time he'd ever touched her like that. He'd touched her many times. During practice and even other fleeting brushed, but this was intentional, almost soft.

She wasn't sure what to think as he crossed her and sat on the bed just behind her and simply stared at her. "Oh alright!" She groaned, opening the book to the same page. Though he didn't say anything she could practically feel his smugness as she continued studying.