Blossoms Encounter Roses

Chapter 2

- Underneath the Moonlight

Nearing the end of her journey through the tiring and plain hallways, Sakura curiously looks forward to where the light shines brightly. At the exit, Sakura only catches a glimpse of pure green grasslands with trees toppling over it before everything before her becomes black. Though, she isn't unconscious.

"Wha-"

"Do not fear, it is only a blindfold."

"B-but why?"

"I cannot allow you to analyze where I am imprisoning you. Therefore, I will be taking you to our destination." before she could reply, her hand is suddenly taken by a pair of warm ones. 'Is.. is he holding my hand?' She had already suspected that he would do something like this, but she certainly didn't expect him to be holding her hand. She thought he would tie her to a leash or something, because he is just that anti-social. Quickly feeling the situation she's in, Sakura felt a faint blush reach her dirty cheeks. Hopefully, the filth would cover it up.

Once again, she has to walk a good distance before 'reaching the destination' as Itachi had so descriptively put it. It was a bit awkward because he had held her hand the whole time. He never let go or loosened his grip, though his grasp wasn't really that suffocating either. It pains her to think that she is forced to trust him, forced to trust him not to ram her into a tree, as that would probably be a form of amusement for him.

They both walked silently as ever, and it wasn't the peaceful type of silence. As uncomfortable as Itachi may be, he knew that he would have to do this if she were to ever step outside the hide-out. His unevenly paced steps showed how tense he was to be holding her hand. It was an out of ordinary type of gesture for him, since he is used to the normal keep-to-himself day. Though, he truly wished that he was anywhere but here at this moment, he had no other way of guiding her to the nearby spring, and there was no way that he would carry her there. Sure, it would be much easier since ever since he'd been guiding her through the twisting trees, the kunoichi had been constantly tripping over own feet.

Sakura tried to focus on her surroundings but had trouble walking on her feet, mainly because he kept on turning all over the place. This obviously confused her and she wondered if he's actually going to wherever he planned to take her, or if he's purposely trying to confuse her. Throughout the whole journey, Sakura awaited the one tree that would eventually smash her face because of the winding path Itachi's making her walk.

She suspected that they've been getting closer and closer because the faint sound of rushing water could be heard. He may have blindfolded her eyes, but she still had her other 4 senses. Suddenly, his hand slips away from hers, leaving it empty and cold.

"We have arrived." Itachi carefully slipped the blindfold from her eyes after his announcement. Sakura stared incredulously at the beautiful scenic landscape in front of her. There, stood a gleaming mini waterfall splashing water throughout the steaming spring. The spring is surrounded by calming red and orange trees slowly being stripped of their leaves by the whistling wind. Sakura stood with her mouth open to a recognizable 'O'.

"It.. It's so beautiful..!"

"It is the only nearby spring that I am aware of. You should be able to bathe with no interference." even if he phrased it in such a state-of-matter type of way, Sakura could tell that he was a bit proud of being able to find this amazing place.

"Okay.. well. Could you just.. while I go and bathe?" waving her hands nonchalantly around to show that he should leave before she takes her clothing off. He got the meaning and turned around and walked off into the jumble of trees.

A few moments passed before Sakura felt that it was safe enough to begin stripping down. Walking over to the edge of the spring, she could feel the heat radiating from the murky water. Quickly, she took off her clothing and enthusiastically jumped into the water. 'Aah. This feels so good.' chirped Inner-Sakura. Fighting the urge to fall asleep, Sakura roughly scrubbed the dirt off of her with her hands. She then plunged into the water and while holding her breath, she hurriedly combed out large morsels of dirt still attached to her hair and resurfaced gasping for air. Before long, the area that she had occupied had suddenly grown even more murkier with a hint of brown. Sakura took notice and moved to the other side amazed at how filthy she was. As she was nearly finishing bathing herself, she took notice of her discarded clothes on the side and figured that she'd have to wash those too.

Swimming to the edge, she reached for her pile of clothes and dragged them into the water with her, quickly scrubbing them together to get rid of loose dirt. After examining them, she decidedly throws them on the grassy floor to dry. She knows that she should hang them up on a nearby tree branch to dry faster and thoroughly, but knowing that Itachi is somewhere out there, she's too afraid and lazy to come out of the refreshing, warm, spring water. As she began to relax in the radiating heat, Sakura slowly drooped her eyes little by little as time passed.

Itachi casually strolled through the vibrant trees towering over him. He had figured that he had been out here for roughly an hour and decided that the girl should be finished with her bath by now. Taking note of the beautiful scenery, Itachi decided that he will come here and bathe after he has escorted her back to her cell. As he ambled through the forest following the sound of the mini waterfall, he took notice of an almost eerie silence. The birds had stopped abruptly in the middle of their songs, and the leaves loudly rustled through the protruding branches. Eyeing the area in his vicinity, Itachi used a minuscule amount of chakra to detect any intruders. Everything seemed perfectly normal, and it is unlikely that there would be anyone out here-

There it was. He sensed a shinobi of somewhat high caliber heading towards where the spring was. How foolish, this shinobi didn't even bother to mask his chakra when out wandering through the forests. Since he's heading towards where the Haruno girl should be, Itachi figured that she should be able to fend for herself. Itachi returned to casually strolling through the woods-

Wait. That chakra sealer. She cannot fend for herself. Itachi paused, breaking the even pacing of his walk. If she could not defend herself because of lack of chakra, then the shinobi will no doubt have the advantage, which would allow him the chance to kill her. This will not do, Itachi thought to himself. He needed her alive to be able to assist him in the near future.

Pacing quickly now, Itachi rushed over to the about-to-be intruded spring. The first thing he spotted was the blossom colored pink hair close to falling under the water. He then saw her scattered clothes nearby the idle body. The first thing that came to mind was to get her away from the spring as soon as possible. As he approached closer to the sleeping girl, it was then that he knew what he had to do which made him pause to figure how to do it. He needed her away from the spring, and he already expected her to be conscious, but that is not the case here. The last thing he needs is for the girl to be continuously annoying him with unnecessary questions, so there is an advantage to her being unconscious. There is still the question of how though.

Itachi felt the gradually increasing pace of the other shinobi and decided that he did not have enough time to think this through. Without thinking, Itachi pulled Sakura out of the spring grasping his hands on her under-arms, trying not to look anywhere other than her bright pink head, and trying not to think about how warm she was. Before she was completely pulled out of the water, Itachi flung his cloak around her as not to cause anymore distractions. The girl was still sleeping, which the cause seems to be the case of 'passing out' from being in warm water for too long. Wrapping the cloak around her more tightly, he carried her princess style, which seemed to be the most efficient way of carrying her at the moment, he reminded himself.

He quickly drove his chakra to his feet and began to run at an even speed until he reached a deserted section of the forest where the trees were larger and the plants grew wildly. Itachi gracefully set her down so her back was leaning against a thick tree and where the grass and weeds grew taller than the rest. Possibly to hide her from onlookers who were just passing by. Quicker than it took to reach this place, Itachi returned to the spring to retrieve the girl's clothes, as there was no question to if he would allow her to wear his warm cloak. When he arrived, he noticed the other shinobi who paused to stare back at him. Itachi glared back at him with his deathly spinning sharingan. The man seemed to be extremely arrogant of his skills, as he obviously recognized who Itachi Uchiha was. Even without his intimidating cloak, he is still recognizable, being the select few who are able to activate the sharingan.

Itachi on the other hand, did not recognize this man, nor did he even give a care for who he was. To Itachi, this man is a threat to his prisoner, and he will not accept that.

"Ah, fancy meeting you here, Uchiha. I've heard quite a number of stories about you lately." keeping his dispassionate eyes locked on his target, Itachi replied with silence while loosening his former tense posture. The man attacked first, throwing 5 kunai in his direction. Itachi saw it all beforehand and dodged each one of them with little movement.

"Like how you were disowned from the Akatsuki, or did you quit?" Caught off guard, Itachi widened his eyes, surprised at how this man had gotten a hold of this information. Before he had time to think of how he acquired that knowledge, the man gripped his hands and his body moved with a pulling motion. Itachi was all too familiar with this common attack and jumped before he would get caught in the thin, deadly strings tied to each kunai. His ankle got caught in a string that Itachi had miscalculated.

"Tch." regretting losing his composure against the man's words, Itachi was immediately pulled down from the air and thrashed against the rough ground as the man smirked.

"Losing your touch, eh?" Quickly, Itachi attempted to cut the thin string with a kunai of his own, but failed because of how strong it turned out to be.

"Don't even try, you can't cut my strings. They're a part of my chakra too, y'know." the man announced proudly.

Scrunching up his eyes an infinitesimal amount, Itachi quickly took advantage of the situation. He pulled the chakra inflamed string that was attached to his leg and flung it to the other side without it grazing into his ankle. From there, he stood up and walked towards the pain-inflicted man. Shortening the distance between him and the shinobi, it allowed Itachi the extra string, which didn't pull on his ankle as it had. The man quickly got up as soon as he had been thrown and averaged the height of Itachi.

Before the man could make another remark, Itachi activated his Mangekyō Sharingan and the man quickly became engulfed in his own delusions and nightmares. He dropped to his knees first, then fell down completely, losing any sense of time he had. His face was craned to the side with his eyes bulging out from fear. When Itachi decided that it was enough to keep the shinobi shocked for some time, he swiftly cut the strings that were just ordinary thin vines of rope now. He hastily left the vicinity while carrying Sakura's wet clothes in search of the hopefully unconscious girl.

Sakura awoke to being in the middle of tall weeds burying her. Her neck ached and noticed that she had been leaning against a tree with her neck stretched downward. She found this to be all too confusing because she swore that she had just taken a quick nap at the spring-

'My clothes.. Where are my clothes? W-why am I in the Akatsuki cloak..?' Even if she was wearing the intimidating black and red cloak, it was satisfyingly warm. 'No. I shouldn't be thinking about that right now. I should be more worried about why this particular cloak is on me and why I don't have any clothes on! and I should be thinking about why I'm in the middle of an uninhabited section of the forest with no one around to explain anything to me!' The worried and confused Sakura paced around stressing over matters such as this. She then found the benefits of being stranded here. 'If I'm not being watched.. that means that I'm free, right?' It was then that Sakura briefly brushed against the hard, thick collar of the chakra sealer. 'Wait.. If I run away with this on, then that would mean that my chakra would be forever sealed..if Itachi's the only one who knows how to get this thing off of me.' Pale-stricken, Sakura returns to her spot leaning against the tree. She'll have to bribe him to have him take it off if she ever dreams of being free. Though, it won't be easy, mainly because of his hard-to-get-through type of personality.

After figuring out that part, she then turns to ask why she was left leaning against a tree in the middle of weeds. There were weeds that reached well over her head in sitting position, which could serve to.. hide her? The large tree trunk could serve the same purpose in a different kind of way. Why was she where she is, though? 'Ugh. Ever since being captured, all I've ever wanted to do was to ask the continuously growing number of questions-the questions that'll probably never be answered.' She could think of a few scenarios where it gave Itachi a reason to leave her out here. One, where he had just gotten plain annoyed of her constant nagging him about random things throughout the day, and left her here to die. She immediately crossed that one off her list, because why else would he put her here with his prized cloak that he never took off? Two, he was being a pervert. There's no need to explain further why he would take her naked body to the middle of nowhere. Instantaneously, Sakura crossed that off her list as well. There's no way the Itachi would ever be interested in something as trivial as that when he has a plan of world domination. She couldn't even believe that a thought like that popped into her head, as she did a face palm. Three, something came up, and he couldn't be seen with her. She just happened to be asleep in the spring, therefore causing him to have to put his cloak on her and carrying her away from wherever it is that he'll meet someone or something. That seemed to be the most realistic reason by far. She decided on that one and then began theorizing.

If he didn't want her around where she was, then that means that he would've confronted whoever it was at the springs. He probably left her here, knowing that she was unconscious because of the heat from the springs, and he probably thought that she wouldn't wake up before he returned. 'Well you thought wrong, oh-so-perfect Itachi.'

After fixing the cloak on herself, making sure that it was completely buttoned up and her arms were actually through the sleeves, she patted the loose dirt off of herself and set to find the springs and possibly catch a glimpse of what Itachi was dealing with. As that might answer some of her questions. Problem is, is that she didn't know where she was in the first place. After a good half hour, she finally heard the faint sound of water splashing into more water. Expeditiously, she started running towards the recognizable noise.

It was roughly an hour before Itachi finally reached where he had left her. He had been so caught up in getting her away from the springs and getting back to it to confront the shinobi that he barely remembered the trail back to this place. Luckily, through that useful photographic memory of his, he faintly remembered the exact path that he had taken to get to the overgrown meadow. Now that he had reached it, he found no unconscious body.

What? This is not right. He specifically remembered leaving her here against that exact tree in those exact weeds. He could even see the imprint that she had left while sitting there idle. Now, question is, where is she? He was obviously agitated from this, because apart from his normal, collected personality, he did not like being the one to ask questions. He would rather be the one who knows all the answers, as that keeps him feeling secure. Now, he does not know where in the world she could be, and this aggravates him uncomfortably. He knows that if he searches frantically and without reason, then it would just be for nothing as that does no good. The only other place that Sakura is familiar with, would be where the springs are situated at.

He pivoted around and turned back to the direction of where the springs lay. Once again bringing a minimal amount of chakra to his feet, he bolted towards the springs and quickly disappeared through the cluster of trees.

Sakura appeared, cautiously hiding behind one of the farther away trees, but close enough to be able to see the springs clearly. The heat radiating from those murky waters tempted her yet again, but she stopped in her path when she spotted a body. Although he was face-down and on the floor, Sakura noticed that he had an over-average build and carried weapons on him. She then theorized that he must have been a shinobi, but why was he unconscious? As quick as she had asked the question, she answered it as well. 'Itachi..'

Expecting him to unconscious, she approached him cautiously, making sure not to wake him up. In less than a minute, she stood nearly a foot away from him, inspecting him carefully. Before she knew what happened, she suddenly felt a tight grip on her left ankle and was yanked to the ground. The man was now obviously awake and she was now in serious danger. He seemed to take her as an enemy as he glared at her with furious eyes.

"Oh? Are you the new replacement for the Akatsuki? You're a lot weaker than I thought you were, but you're cute, so that makes up for it." he laughed hysterically.

Sakura had no idea what he was blabbering about, but she distinctly remembered him saying something about being a replacement. 'What? Replacement? What is that supposed to mean?' Trying to take hold of the situation, Sakura attempted to loosen his grip on her ankle with her nails, as she had no other weapon. Her chakra was sealed and she didn't have any kunai or shuriken. She felt just so weak at that moment. It reminded her of the days she trained with Team 7 while she was still a genin. She remembered how whenever she was in danger, Naruto or Sasuke would come and protect her. Now, she didn't have anybody to come save her, and she couldn't defend herself.

"Too bad I'll have to kill you." he smirked. "You'll have to pay for what your little partner did to me since he ran off." he slowly pulled out a gleaming kunai aimed for her heart. 'I guess this is the end.. It's such a pathetic way to die though.' she laughed to herself in pity. As the kunai gained distance between it and her heart, she shut her eyes, not wanting to see herself covered in blood during her last moments.

Klang! The familiar sound of metal against metal shook her eyes open. The kunai that the man was just recently holding had been thrown back a couple yards. Confused, Sakura turned her head around and spotted her savior. He had a cold glare in his crimson eyes with his onyx hair bellowing in the direction of the autumn breeze. His posture was tense and his arm was still in the position of when he threw that kunai, saving her life.

"Release her. She is innocent and weak. Battle me if you wish to settle the dispute between us." 'Innocent and weak?! I wouldn't be so innocent and weak if you took this chakra sealer off of me!' having been hit in her pride, Sakura then stared back at the man who still had his hand strangling her ankle. He released her right after and yelled back, "Alright then! A battle you want, a battle it'll be!" 'Clearly resembling arrogance even after his last fight with Itachi', commented Inner-Sakura.

Kicking her off to the side, the man then bombarded Itachi with a good 10 or 15 kunai, which Itachi dodged perfectly without fail. The man thinking that if he had caught Itachi in his 'strings of doom' as he called it himself, he can do it again. Utterly mistaken, Itachi swerved off to the side closing the distance between him and the shinobi and also escaping the vicinity of where the strings would have captured him. Quicker than quick, Itachi used his body flicker technique which had temporarily stunned Sakura in their first confrontation, and appeared directly behind the unaware shinobi. While still in the air, he moved his hands with such speed it was impossible to see what animal characters he used in the jutsu. Before she knew it, Itachi blew the recognizable orange and red glowing flames of the famous Uchiha mark, the katon goukakyuu no jutsu, engulfing the arrogant man in a hot, burning sensation. Sakura could clearly hear his agonizing shriek fade away through the life-like blazing flames as she sat there mesmerized by the flare of fire.

Itachi ambled over to where Sakura sat with eyes wide open. He examined her briefly for any serious injuries, did not locate any, and asked her for confirmation, "Are you alright?"

Still dazed, Sakura turned her head upward to face Itachi's and faintly replied in a whisper, "..Y-yeah."

"Then let us return to the cave." out of his pocket, he pulled out the blindfold that had originally surprised Sakura, but now as she glances at it, she takes it with sincerity. After having unwillingly watched a brutal murder, she just wants to shut herself away from the world. He took her hand graciously and began to walk slowly with each step, knowing how tense the incident must have made her. Silently, they walked with no conversation throughout the forest with the sunset blazing brightly through the beautiful fall leaves. As they walked, Sakura was silent as ever, not asking any questions or starting a conversation, which was out of the ordinary for her. This upset Itachi greatly, though he did not know why. Before long, Itachi could spot the dark hole leading to the underground cave and slowed his pace down. The only sound that could be heard was the crunching of leaves beneath their feet with each step. He planned to start something along the lines of, 'Here are your clothes,' because it didn't show that he was slightly worried about her metal health, and it gave him the chance for him to think of something else to say while she changed-

"I-Itachi?" He stopped in his tracks, his name clearly resonating through his head in her voice.

"Yes?"

"..Thank you.." it came out in such a soft whisper that it had almost escaped his ears.

"Pardon?"

"You.. you saved my life. If you hadn't been there when you had.." she abruptly stopped walking, having thoughts of her dead, lifeless body lying next to the spring soaked in a puddle of her own blood. Without thinking, Itachi replied, "You are safe with me." all the while, he gave Sakura's hand a tighter squeeze to make her feel at least a bit more secure with him. They continued walking, as they both appreciated the now calm silence that resonated throughout the now dark forest with brightly lit stars lining the dark blue skies.

It was when they reached her current stone confinement that Itachi had slipped the blindfold off of her emerald eyes. They blinked a few times, as Itachi noticed something that glittered in the moonlight as it slid down her rosy cheeks. They were tears. He for one, has seen them millions of times throughout his lifetime, but to see this strong-willed girl crying.. It was discomforting. As soon as he saw them, he felt something drop to the pit of his stomach.

Lifting his hand, he wiped away those tears delicately with his thumb, while his other fingers caressed her warm pink cheeks. As soon as he felt that the tears were receding, he gently deposited her clothes on the brick window sill, before turning around and began to walk towards the door. It was until he felt something tug at the back of his shirt that he paused.

"Don't go... please." her voice came out as a hoarse whisper, and was soon consumed with sniffles. Craning his neck, Itachi saw how distressed she was, with her brows furrowed together and her head leaned downwards. He turned around once again, and gently took her cold hands as he lowered her to sit down. She looked up at him with a look of confusion as tears streamed out of those gleaming emerald eyes. He then lowered himself as well and sat down with her, leaning against the hard, cold wall. Then he combed his firm hands through that pink hair and lightly pressed her head against his reverberating chest. Her cries softened little by little as time passed by in that position.

It was nearly midnight that Sakura had slowly fallen asleep, listening intently to Itachi's beating heart, without noticing how uneven it was. Strangely, Itachi now found this to be comforting. He could barely remember the last time that he had embraced someone like this, and it was around 9 years ago. 9 years ago.. before he was commanded to assassinate his own family. He tipped his head upward to look at the brightly shining beautiful moonlight flooding through the window frame before inhaling and exhaling a deep breath and glancing back at the lowered pink head. This is one of the few times that had given him a feeling of security and peace, he contemplated.

Okay, here it is! Chapter 2! :D It ended up being a lot shorter than Chapter 1.. T~T I tried to make their relationship a lot closer in this one, hopefully I'm not going too fast. As I wrote the story, random thoughts kept popping up in my head, so this chapter was pretty much made through improvising. Please review! I'll take both negative and positive ones just because they both help me improve in my work. :D