Everyone sat around the early morning fire; there was light chatter, mostly Naruto trying to convince Shisui who was the better ninja. Sasuke was his usual uncaring self, while Kakashi and Genma quietly talked among themselves. Sakura however was acting strange; she kept her eyes on the food in her hands and remained quiet. She had chosen to sit as far away from Itachi as she could without the others noticing. In the end she was wedged between Sasuke and Naruto… and across from Itachi. She couldn't feel the power of his presence but, she could not escape his piercing gaze.
True to his word he gave her some distance, but continued to watch her from afar. No matter where she was, she was always in his line of sight even if she was twenty five feet knew he was only looking out for her, he was the captain and everyone considered her weak. So it only made sense that he look out for her. At least when it was just team seven Kakasi wouldn't look at her; he just kept his nose stuck in his book. But Itachi was con singly looking at her and didn't even try to hide it.
"Oi, Sakura you ok?" her loudmouthed teammate asked bringing her out of her thoughts.
"I'm fine," she spat, instantly regretting her tone. She tried to apologize but no words came from her pink lips. Everyone looked toward their direction; it made her feel like she was under a hot lamp being questioned. Sure Naruto annoyed her but she never snapped at him like she had just done. The rest of her team continued to stare at her, but she didn't know what to say. She quickly made an excuse to pack her things and disappeared inside the tent.
Eyes…. They had always bothered her since that night. Eyes could tell a person every emotion, every thought, and every action you were going to take. Yellow eyes were what hunted her dreams at night. With the entire team staring at her she was uneasy.
I thought I was over this! She growled at herself. It was years ago, and I haven't even seen Orochimaru since that day. It's not like he would show up now after all it's been five years, my dream was just my imagination getting the better of me.
Itachi watched her disappear into their tent, she was obviously avoiding him. She had been acting strange all day. He had assumed she would apologize about her behavior earlier, but she did not. She seemed edgy, like she constantly wanted to look over her shoulder.
Of course she would never tell him what her problem was. It was understandable, she hardly knew him. But he knew her. She was a caring person, even more than his mother. She looked like a weak little girl, however that was not the case. She had a voice to be reckoned with, usually her blond haired teammate was on the receiving end of her actions. Before this mission he had never really talked to Sakura. He didn't need to; he could keep her safe watching her from in the shadows, be her friend, or be whatever she wanted him to be.
He never heard her bite out a response like she had done to Naruto, and she didn't apologize; something was off with Sakura.
"What's with her, Itachi? Did you do something to her last night? Man I know you don't care for the girls of our clan, but can you at least pick someone older?" His cousin wined.
"What did he do to Sakura-chan?!" Naruto screamed, which could blow their location but he didn't seem to care. Sasuke narrowed his eyes at his brother, true Sasuke saw Sakura as a friend, but his brother had the tendency to get what he wanted. So if he wanted Sakura he would acquire her.
"I assure you I did nothing to her, she is just irritated with having to be the only female" Itachi quickly answering hoping they would drop the subject, but of knowing his cousin he would draw this conversation out as long as he wanted.
"How do you know what's wrong with her?" Itachi sighed this was going to be a long mission.
Hours later After almost thirty minutes of trying to explain to Naruto and Sasuke there was nothing going on between Itachi and their precious Sakura, Itachi gave the order that the group keep moving.
The group had made their way through the forest and approaching the village hidden in the mist. Their client was Takao, a business man and his thirteen year old, son Michio. The mission sounded simple enough: protect the client and his son while traveling to the Land of Spring, well that's what the scroll said anyway. Itachi had an uneasy feeling about this mission.
When they reached the Mist, they were met by Mist ninja. Why would the client need two groups of escorts? Takao had his own personal ninja, so why did he hire them? This mission wasn't right; something was up. Itachi eyed his client; he was a short round man, dress in civilian business attire. His body language gave Itachi the impression he thought he was better than everyone. His son, Michio was a replica of Takao; except Takao had a deep booming voice and his son's was higher than Sakura's.
Looking around the room Itachi noticed money was wasted when it came to Takao's mansion, if you would call it that it was more like a compound. Lavish furnishing were everywhere, paintings on the wall, imported rugs, and vases of every color. In Itachi's opinion the compound just seemed cluttered. Around the mansion stood a ten foot wall with guard post at every corner.
After the ninja bowed, Takao finally spoke. "Welcome, and thank you for coming. I hope you didn't have any trouble on your travel?" Takao asked raising his eyebrow.
Itachi at this point answered him while the others gazed at the lavish paintings. "No trouble at all" Itachi remarked with a smirk.
So I know it's been awhile, but I haven't given up on this. I have decide to make three stories about stages in Sakura's life. This is the first if three, I rated it m for some dark themes later on. Thanks for reading and please review I love hearing feedback.