Blossoms Encounter Roses

Chapter 5

- Darkened Pasts

"Finally, we found you annoying pests."

The wind whistled through the cracks that the broken down cottage had, creating a loud moaning sound. Thoughts raced through the former Akatsuki member and the leaf kunoichi at amazing speeds. They didn't have time to think though, as after a few seconds passed, Sakura was abruptly pinned to the wall with a kunai at her throat. Itachi had swiftly dodged the woman's attempt at striking him with her katana. Itachi turned his head only to find a pink head with a desperate expression across her face. His posture tensed as he saw a sliver of blood lace that pale, thin neck. He intended to pace forward, slowly approaching the unlucky man, but Sakura gave him an eye of determination and inclined her head towards the woman. Sweat rolled down the side of her neck as she nodded her head ever so slightly so the man pinning her wouldn't notice. From there, Itachi's tensed posture faded significantly, but he kept his brows furrowed.

'I can defend for myself. I have to do this to show that I'm no longer a weakling that someone has to protect.' She worded to herself to give her some confidence. Quickly, she charged chakra to her fists and drove them forward, crushing bones. A piercing shriek of pain could be heard as the man backed off, gripping his chest and feeling the instantly broken ribs. Sakura ran to the middle of the cottage and pounded her fist into the ground, creating an exceptionally large crater, crumbling the walls of the shelter. The assassins began to stagger as the ground beneath their feet shook violently. That was their chance to escape. Sakura grabbed Itachi's petrified arm and yanked it forward, pulling him back into reality.

Together they ran, they didn't know how far they went and nor did they care. They ran until their legs gave out beneath them and collapsed. Panting heavily, they stared at their surroundings, figuring where they were. That was when Sakura's mouth fell agape and Itachi's eyes widened ever so slightly.

"We're in a genjutsu..?" Sakura whispered, leaning towards the Uchiha.

"No." She looked at him. He seemed to be deep in thought about different matters.

"Then how are we.."

"There are no other genjutsu users capable of this in the vicinity." Sakura examined the interior of the cottage that she had just recently destroyed. Inspecting all around her, she then turned back towards where Itachi was but found nothing. Guessing that he had moved from where he sat, she called his name.

"Itachi?" No response came back.

"Itachi!" Complete silence.

"Itachi!" Louder than ever, she yelled his name. The only thing that could be heard were the faint echoes that resounded throughout the room.

'What? B-but he was just here!' She stretched her arm where he had just recently occupied and ended up only whacking the air. Slowly she stood up, and eyed the room one more time suspiciously. No Itachi was found. Her heart began to beat faster and louder. 'There's that feeling again. Alone.' 'No, I can't let it consume me again.' Remaining her composure, she figured that there wasn't anyone in the cottage now and walked to the door. Twisting the handle, she pulled the door ajar and began to exit-

"Wha-" Staring into the dark corridors on the other side of the door, Sakura widened her eyes. 'What's going on? I remember that Itachi said it wasn't a genjutsu. So why was everything not how I remembered it to be?' Cautiously, she stepped into the dark hallways, feeling if it was just an illusion played by her eyes. It wasn't. She continued walking, stretching out her chakra to detect if there was anyone else here. So far, she found nothing.

Walking a few more paces further, she heard a scream. 'What? How come I didn't detect any chakra signatures?' Sprinting towards the voice, she reached a spot where the hallways separated into 3 different paths. Without time to think, she chose the one on the right. Luckily, the screams grew louder as she continued running. She became desperate to find anybody, as she was practically scared out of her wits. It was dark, it was empty, and the walls felt like they were closing in on her. Sweat slid down her temples as the shrieks receded. 'What, no. No. Not now.' Sprinting even faster, she fiercely ran to the slowly fading noise, until she bashed her face into something. Something hard. Lifting her hand to massage her recently bruised nose, she tilted her head upwards only to find gleaming golden eyes. Shock overwhelmed her only until she noticed that they weren't aimed at her.

Looking behind her, she saw what could have been the reminiscent effects of.. what was that? It looked like white steam, except that it was seeping into the walls quick enough that she almost missed it. She quirked one brow up in confusion. 'What was going on?' She tilted her head upward to try and meet the assassin's eyes. They weren't shining of the intimidating golden glint now. They were shocked. They stood opposite to each other, and Sakura in a tense position. 'He should be threatening me right now. Why is he just standing there?' He then looked down and stared at her with startled eyes, just as if he barely noticed her presence.

"Rin.." He whispered, "Where's Rin..?"

"What?" She looked back at him questioningly. 'Who was he talking about?'

"I.. I need Rin..!" 'Who's Rin? Was it that other girl?' The man was now shaking uncontrollably as tears flowed from his eyes. Sakura stood uncomfortably tense as she tried to pat his back awkwardly, trying to aid him in his state. She certainly didn't remember this side of him, as the last time she saw him, he was trying to kill her. As her thoughts wandered, he slid down against the wall and down to the floor where he muffled his sobs through his palms. Sakura stood there watching him with confusion as she fought an argument whether to stay and comfort him, or to just leave him as he is and go and search for the missing Itachi. Apparently, the latter idea won over and Sakura began to back away slowly, trying not to arouse the crying man-

"Wait," He said through loud sniffles. Sakura stopped in her path and paused, waiting for him to continue.

"..Help me find Rin." He pried his hands away from his face where he could now clearly see Sakura standing in front of him.

Without thinking, Sakura replied, "Why should I help you?"

"I won't kill you," 'Well, wasn't that just a privilege?' Though, after seeing him in this state, Sakura could hardly believe that he was a threat to her now. She began to turn around once more and walk away, but he added, "Please, I-I can't stand being alone." She paused in her steps. 'He's the same as me..' She pivoted around and looked at him straight in the eye. Or at least she tried to. He had the back of his hand rubbing his swollen red eyes as his head was turned downwards, facing the ground. Was this how she appeared when she uncontrollably broke into tears? He looked so weak and hopeless right now.

Now feeling confidence rise in herself as she saw how much braver she was when she was left alone, she mercilessly spoke to him, "Get up."

"W-what?" He looked up immediately and spotted deep emerald orbs staring back at him, with a glint in her eye.

"I said, get up. We're going to go look for your sister." She extended a helping hand towards him and she curved her lips upwards, trying to seem kind and gentle. He took it gratefully as he supported himself up, towering himself a head above hers. She let go of his hand and began to walk in a random direction and walking at her own pace, leading with confidence in each step. She craned her neck back to see how he was doing and was surprised to find him following her so intently that if she slowed her pace any further, he would bump his chin on her head. Strangely, she found this to be cute, like she was the big sister leading the little brother.

Out of curiosity she asked, "Hey, what's your name?"

He paused for some time, as if he was lost in thought. 'Well, I wouldn't be too familiar with a stranger that I just met to tell them my name either.' Including the fact that they had the abilities to kill you, she added.

"Don't worry, it's not like I'm going to be using it against you. ..I just don't know what to call you." Sakura reassured the nameless-man-at-the-moment. She didn't want to seem like she was trying to pry information out of him.

The silence continued on for a few moments until he broke it with, "Akira. My name's Akira."

Itachi silently padded through the dark garden fields, hoping to gain some distance from whatever was chasing him. It looked like a trail of white smoke, but if you looked closer, you could faintly see the contour lines of a human face carved into it. He was not afraid in the least, more like he could not defend himself from this.. entity. Every time that he had obtained a decent gap between the puff of air and himself, he would throw an occasional kunai at it, hoping to pierce something. Alas, it went straight through the air, as if there was nothing there. With that being proven, he suggested the theory that if a kunai could not penetrate it, then maybe he was safe. He would only pass through it like the kunai.

He skidded to a stop and pivoted himself around to wait for the speeding steam to pass through him. It didn't stop when it touched him, it encircled around him like a predator circling around its prey. The second it grazed him, he felt himself instantaneously becoming weaker and weaker. It was as if it was sucking his life out of him. Before long, he had trouble breathing properly and began sprinting for it as it followed intently, hungry for more.

He ran through the endless rows of rose bushes, trying to escape from the smoke. It seemingly appeared out of nowhere and began pursuing him while he was trying to figure out where he was in the first place. The last thing he remembered was him lecturing Sakura on how this was not a genjutsu. He closed his eyes for a brief moment, and he found himself sitting in the middle of a rose garden. The sun was down, making everything appear dimmed, stressing his already deteriorating eyesight. Then it came. From out of the side of the rose bushes, a white smoke materialized out of nowhere. He could not sense any chakra that could have caused the mysterious white steam. This confused him, because it was completely illogical. This was obviously not a genjutsu, but maybe his mind was playing tricks on him.

Before he could figure out what this white steam was, a feminine voice sliced through the silent atmosphere.

"How dare you turn our home into a battlefield." It was malicious and even made him shiver slightly. He craned his neck back to see how much of a gap had he made between him and the smoke but found nothing. His heart was still beating wildly, but a wave of relief washed over him as he slid down against a bush, sweat streaming down his neck.

"Akira!" Rin panted heavily as her voice resounded throughout the night. This was the first time that she's been separated from Akira ever since that incident 11 years ago, and it brought agitation to her features.

Once again, she called his name out in hopes of a response, "Akira!" but to no avail. Silence surrounded her as the dimmed night grew darker. She was aware that she was in a flower garden, or more particularly, a rose garden. The aroma of roses filled her nose the second she found herself in the rows of bushes. She didn't even know how she got here, because the last thing she remembered was that she was staggering around because of the crater that the pink-haired girl made. How did a petite girl of that size even have that much strength? Well, it didn't matter now that she was alone. She hadn't felt this way for a long time. Her heart pounded within her chest, clouding her ears so that she couldn't hear anything else. Why was she overreacting? It wasn't out of the ordinary for someone of her age to be alone. After all, she only turned 18 a few months ago and she should be an independent woman by now.

It was just that she wasn't used to being parted from her brother. No matter how many times she pushed him away because he was dragging her down or annoying her, she liked the fact that he was always there for her. Now that he wasn't by her side, she was feeling a little anxious.

She began walking down the aisles of roses, in hopes of finding the missing Akira.

Guh! Then, she tripped over something. Something that made noises. Immediately looking behind her, she saw a leg. She then traced it towards its owner which seemed to have just been abruptly woken up.

"Ack. I'm so sorr-" She paused. Looking closer at him, he instantly became familiar. It wasn't at first noticeable in this horrible darkness, but it could have been no other. Quickly she replaced her apology with, "I-it's you..!"

He tilted his head upwards to glance at her through faded charcoal eyes. Well, this had certainly made her job much easier than planned. Though, this wasn't exactly the person that she had been looking for. She would just finish the job here and return to searching for her brother. That seemed like an adequate plan to her. She unsheathed her katana, gripping the hilt with white knuckles and held it directly against him. He looked up at her once again with an expressionless countenance before he stood up from his spot and faced her, eyes bleeding of a dark crimson.

Itachi did not have time to deal with these assasins, though, something was missing. Where was the man? He distinctly remembered that there were two, now one was not in sight. He already assumed that they were partners, as they both seemed to be after him. So, either they separated, or they were separated. Either way, there was only one now, so he would not have too much trouble defending himself. Though, the woman looked somewhat anxious. She was hesitant. This made it even easier for Itachi to simply knock her unconscious. Her guard was down, and she was open from all sides. She stared at him through gleaming golden orbs, waiting for the first move, and Itachi took it gratefully.

He swung his right leg under, making her stagger backwards, loosening her grip on the sword. He then swiftly whacked his arm against hers, making her abruptly drop the katana as it clattered to the floor. Immediately, she jumped backwards and pulled several kunai from pouches located all over her body and flung them towards him. Dodging them easily, Itachi paced forward, closing the distance between them before he appeared behind, surprising her. He then gripped both her wrists together behind her back, rendering her unable to reach her hidden weapons. They stood still as ever, each waiting for the other's move.

Droplets of sweat slid down Rin's cheeks as she furiously thought of a way she could puncture one of his vital points and finally get the job done. His grip was hard as steel when she tried struggling out of his grasp, so she couldn't reach any of the many weapons located all over her body. She could, however, reach some of her scrolls protruding from her back pockets, though they needed blood to perform the seals. She then dug her fingernails into the palm of her hands, making a crescent mark. She dug deeper, and beads of crimson dropped to the earthy floor. Her breath hitched for but a moment as she attempted not to disturb the hard grip on her wrists while she slowly reached for the nearest scroll in her pocket.

Itachi noticed drops of blood dripping to the floor and found this odd. He did not remember giving her any cuts or gashes that could result in bleeding. So why was there blood? He narrowed his eyes ever so slightly and tried to focus his vision on her hands, where the dark liquid flowed from. From there, he could see that she had caused the injury on herself, but why? Scrolls in her back pockets indicated the reason. His grip hardened and he pulled her arms away from her body, stretching them out even further creating more pain. He did not know what to do with this girl, mainly because he did not want to have to resort to killing her. Though, she seemed favored to do that to him. He pulled one hand away and aimed two fingers at the pressure point located at the nape of her neck. Silently, he punctured his cold, slender fingers into the skin and her body abruptly fell limp. He began to set her down against a nearby bush that seemed somewhat adequate for a resting spot before he heard approaching footsteps coming at a rapid pace. His heart jumped for a moment until he heard the familiar voice of the calming pink-haired kunoichi.

"Rin!" Sakura's voice cut sharply through the former silent night. Itachi felt strangely calmer when he heard her voice again, though, who was it that she was calling for? Before he had the time to answer that question mentally, another voice paired with hers. A much deeper one.

"Rin?" He strangely recognized this voice, but could not match a face or a name to it. It was obviously a man though.

Itachi stood in the middle of the pathway of the rose bushes, supposedly waiting for the approaching two to appear in his vision. The footsteps grew louder and two faint human-like shapes emerged from the darkness. His hands were still hooked onto the collar of the unconscious woman's shirt when he saw a pair of golden orbs aimed directly at him menacingly. He stared back calmly while he set her down on the floor and quickly recovered his casual pose.

"You..! What did you do to Rin?!" Quickly, the man sprinted towards Itachi while feeling his legs for a kunai where his pouches lay. As he lunged for Itachi, a hard grip on his upper arm pulled him right back, stumbling him on the way.

Sakura glared at him with fierce emerald eyes before stating, "Calm down, Akira. Rin's not dead." She then paced up towards Rin's unconscious body and placed her thumb on her inner wrist. "See? She's fine." A large sigh could be heard shortly after.

Itachi on the other hand stood nonplussed, quirking an eyebrow up at how casually they were talking to each other. He had thought that they would have killed Sakura too for accompanying him in the first place. So why were they acting as if they were acquaintances with each other? Obviously, something had happened between the two while they had been separated. He took one step towards Sakura who was still giving the unconscious woman a quick checkup-

"Stop." He paused, unsure of what to reply.

"You're hurt. Go sit down over there." She didn't even need to look at him as she pointed a finger towards the other side of the pathway. Itachi looked to see where he was injured and found a large gash on the side of his leg, still bleeding. It was strange, because he barely felt the pain, but began to feel more as he examined his injury further. He happily sat down and waited until Sakura was finished with scanning for internal injuries. Everything felt oddly calm, only because his supposedly pink-haired partner was healing the assassins that nearly killed him. He turned his head to look closer at the man who unsteadily stared at his sister's unconscious body. Before, that same man had tried to kill him, now, he's desperately worried for his sister who is simply asleep. Strange how human beings can change personalities so quickly. He has always kept his emotions under a thick, expressionless façade showing no weakness, as his former teachers had taught him.

Sakura finished her checkup and found nothing serious other than minuscule scratches on her body. Also, she noticed faint bruise marks on her wrists. 'Well, I know where that came from.' She stood up and moved herself towards the side where Itachi lay patiently. She was surprised by how calm he reacted to their re-acquaintance, and especially because she brought one of his assassins to join her too. 'Usually, people would be wildly asking a million questions by now, but I guess you can't expect so much from Itachi.'

A green glow quickly appeared on her palms as they hovered over the large bleeding gash located on his leg. Only after a few minutes, most of the former intimidating slash receded and a small cut was the only thing remaining. After even that had disappeared, Sakura began to lean closer towards him and whisper into his ear.

"Itachi.." Her tone was hushed.

"Hm?"

"..Why were you holding Rin?" Her emerald eyes bored into his charcoal ones.

Somewhat nonplussed, Itachi responded with a second's hesitation, "It was mere coincidence."

"For you to be holding her?" A pink eyebrow twitched upwards in annoyance.

"For us to cross paths with each other," he corrected, then he added, "I do not see how this subject is essential to our situation."

With a sigh, Sakura finished healing his flesh wound, but not before roughly slapping his leg.

"Gotta make sure it won't open up again." She explained to the confused Itachi with a forced smile. Itachi sat on the ground, baffled by what just happened and wondered what was going on in that kunoichi's head.

Sakura walked over towards the huddled figure at his sister's side and found Akira in a state of agitation.

"She's fine. It'll just be a little while until she comes to." Akira tilted his head to look at the pink-haired medic hovering over him.

"I know.. but.. I just can't stop worrying that she'll never wake up."

"Why is that?" Sakura stared back at him, somewhat confused. He already knew that her injury is very minor, and that it's far from causing death. Why was he so worried?

"Because.. that's what happened to my mother." He now spoke in a quiet whisper as his head drooped lower. Sakura's eyes widened. 'Well, it's not like it was unusual to be parent-less in the shinobi world.' She reassured herself.

"I'm sorry." She tried to sound sympathetic.

"You're not." This time, he glared back at her with his fiery yellow eyes. "You don't know what it's like to have no family." For some reason, Sakura found these lines to be familiar.

"You have your sister." She retorted.

"She's the only one I have left." His eyes returned to a saddened look.

"What happened?" Sakura asked without knowing how sensitive this subject must be to him. A long silence passed by as
Sakura shifted uncomfortably, wanting to take her words back.

"My father." His brows furrowed together, creating a large crease as his anger seethed through.

"What?" Sakura stood staring at him with wide eyes, waiting for him to respond.

"He-"

"He killed your mother, did he not?" Surprisingly, Itachi joined into the conversation with them. Sakura glared back at Itachi and motioned for him to stop talking. She didn't want him to cause Akira to cease discussing about his past. Itachi simply stood staring back at Sakura with an expressionless countenance.

Akira sat on the earthy floor, gently stroking Rin's cheek with his thumb. Still, he did not look back at the two, but he responded with, "No one believed me."

"Everyone said it was because she was ill. 'That's the cause,' they said." His eyes narrowed even further. "I know my father did it. I know he killed her."

Sakura and Itachi looked at each other for a brief moment before Sakura began another question.

"How..?"

"Over dosage." He paused before continuing, "He was her doctor. No one else could have done it. There was no autopsy because everyone said she died from her sickness. Well, she didn't." Now, his sharp fangs were showing. "There's no way I can get revenge now though. He killed himself after my mother, but not before trying to kill us too." His darkened gaze returned to the life-less Rin.

"He tied us up and set the house on fire, claiming to be, 'out of the house' when everything burst into flames." Akira uncomfortably shifted his arm. "Me and Rin escaped, but we were left with scars."

Sakura peered below and eyed Akira's arm, finding something that she didn't see before. It seemed to be a large burn mark that traced from the elbow to the shoulder and disappeared behind his shirt.

"Everyday, it torments me. Intimidates me. Reminds me of the same day he injected my mother with poison." His left hand gripped his upper right arm tightly.

"I hope that bastard went to hell, where he belongs." He scorned.

Itachi felt uncomfortable as every second passed when he listened to this story. It reminded him of that fateful night. The night that changed his life forever. The night that he wished he would forget. Even if he had planned for Sasuke to feel hatred towards him, it was unsettling to Itachi. He let his eyes wander to the scarred siblings on the floor. They would never be healed of their emotional pain by having hatred consume them. Itachi somehow felt responsible for this. He felt guilty. He was a killer. Forever, his hands will be stained in blood. Unconsciously, Itachi's red sharingan flared on out of instinct of being reminded of his past.

Sakura peered over towards Itachi and found him in a somewhat disheveled condition. The sharingan bled crimson, showing that he was in his defensive state. His posture was tense, giving him a statue-like form. Sakura stared with curious emerald orbs, wondering why he was so uneasy. Was it because of the situation they were in? How they were so close with their assassins? No, that couldn't possibly be it. If they turned on him, he could easily defeat them. 'Why am I putting so much confidence in him?' It wasn't like she was on his side.. or was she? 'Of course not. You're a proud Konoha shinobi.' So, why hasn't she tried to run away yet? Why has she stayed by his side all this time, even with the chakra sealer off of her? Was it because she.. trusted him..? Was it because she felt indebted to him? That was probably it. ..She hoped.

If she were a true Konoha shinobi, the right thing to do would've been to immediately turn him in the second she had an advantage over him. 'But he would've been executed.' So? Why did she care? She should feel proud that she had caught an S-classed criminal. It would definitely boost her reputation as a Konoha shinobi to the utmost amount. She could even be promoted from doing that. She had every reason to turn him in to Konoha, but something deep inside her told her not to do it. She felt like he was somehow.. innocent from his crimes. His personality did not match that of the heartless murderer they described in the files. The way he treated her was too polite and kind to come from a psychotic killer. It didn't mean that she placed her complete trust in him now though. Sakura sighed, 'It's.. complicated.' she told herself.

"Uhn..!" Akira fell to his knees and gripped his chest with white knuckled fists. Immediately, Itachi and Sakura ran to him to see what was wrong. A puddle of blood splattered to the ground as Akira coughed haggardly. Sweat ran down his cheeks and his eyes were shut tight, showing a face in pain.

"Wha- What's wrong?!" Sakura exclaimed as she rested her palm on his back to keep him balanced.

Blood trickled down the side of his lips to his chin as he tried to open his mouth to speak. Another coughing fit hit him and left him to splatter more blood into the puddle.

"I-it hurts..Ugh..!" He dropped to the floor gripping his hands over his chest even tighter and showing a face of agitation. Sakura couldn't find any external injuries causing his coughing fit, so it must be internal. She immediately tried to pry his hands off of his torso and let her palms glow green to scan his insides. He fidgeted around, exhibiting how much agony he was in.

His ribs were broken. They have been for some time, but it's caused a real problem now that they've punctured his lungs. But how did his ribs get broken- '..Oh.' The incident they had when Akira pinned her to the wall and she drove her fists to his chest. It must have broken his ribs considering her super-strength, but why didn't he say anything? 'He knew that I was a medic nin and I probably could have saved him from this severe injury if he told me that sooner.' The faint green glow darkened and became more of a solid color. Sakura furrowed her brows together, putting all her concentration on mending the broken bones. She took a brief glance back at Akira and found him to be unconscious. 'Of course he would be. After all that blood loss, it isn't a surprise to find him passed out.' Her focus then returned on his ribs. The sharp edges had punctured his lungs, causing him to be out of breath and coughing blood. 'This isn't good..' Sweat slipped down her cheeks as she figured the fastest route to save him. 'Much longer, and he won't survive..' The bones returned to their upright positions, but were still weak. 'I need to fix the lungs first.' His lungs were still bleeding from the injuries the bones caused. Carefully, she tried to close the holes in the lungs as fast as possible, but a raspy breath caught her attention. A loud, but painful cough could be heard as more blood stained his clothes. 'Hurry..' She was running out of time, and she couldn't let Akira die. How would she face Rin if he did? It would be all her fault. She wouldn't be able to take the guilt of letting someone die, when she had the chance to save them all along. Pressing her palms closer to his chest, her concentration grew greater than before as the holes in the lungs receded.

The bleeding did not stop, however. His left lung was practically healed already, while the right had some problems. It had large holes which even the green flow of chakra had trouble restoring. It was still bleeding furiously, which would cause more internal damage to nearby organs. It didn't look good for his right lung. If he was in an emergency room by now, it wouldn't be a problem, but right now she didn't have any tools or medications on hand. Sakura worked precariously as her worries overcame her. 'What if I can't save him?' She began to think of any possibilities that would give him a better chance at life. Then, a murderous thought came to mind.

'Why should I save him? He's the one who tried to kill me. Why am I the one trying to save his life? Him living or dying isn't going to change my life in any way.' She paused for a brief moment to think better about her decision. Her mental thoughts were right, she admitted shamefully. Her eyes stared at his internal shape, disheveled and bleeding all over. They then wandered to his face and found it in deep agitation, even if he was unconscious. He must be in such extreme pain that he fainted, but kept his brows furrowed, creating deep creases. Sakura sighed and stared back at his lungs. They were in even worse shape than they were a few minutes ago, and here she sat, doing nothing but looking at it.

'He has about 3 minutes.' She told herself. Her chakra levels were somewhat low, and it was no match for this injury. She would need a lot of chakra to completely heal his internal wound. If he were any ordinary patient, she wouldn't hesitate to be healing him right now. But.. this situation is quite different. He was after her. To kill Itachi and probably her. Part of her deeply wanted him to live, but the other refused. Sakura fought with herself, but only the short time he had left made her choose her decision. Now, his life was in her hands now. It was her choice.

'Life, or Death.'

My OCs turned out to take over this chapter... which I hadn't planned on. Sorry if you guys were looking forward to some more ItachixSakura action and whatnot.

FOR YOUR INFORMATION: I'll probably update really late now. Or really fast. Depending on my mood. I tend to procrastinate. A LOT. Oh, and reviews/alerts/favorites are what usually sparks the writer to continue writing. JUST-SO-YOU-KNOW. -hinthint,coughcough. Welp. That's all I have to say for now. Until next time... Toodles.