Sasuke wasnt jealouse of her. Obviously. He just didnt understand why his brother payed so much attention to Sakura. She was a year younger than himself, she was a cry baby, and didnt like to hurt others. She cared too much about other's opinions and emotions. Add to the fact that she herself was very emotinal. All in all she was as usefull as the doll her featurse resembled. Even his mother had said she looked like one with her flawless skin, vibrant green eyes, and soft, dual, colored hair. Maybe his brother simply liked her? Sasuke shook his head at this. 'Itachi can't like her like that, she has cooties.' Sasuke thought as he looked up at his brother, watching as he ran his fingers through Sakura's mane. 'Maybe he wants to keep her as a pet?' He wondered, his brows scrunching in thought. After all she did seem to be stuck in that form. At this thought he tugged on Itachi's shirt making him stop in their trek.
"Are we going to have to buy her a doggy bed?" Sasuke asked as he pointed to Sakura's form. At this Sakura's form seemed to go rigid as Itachi's lips pulled at the corners in a small smile. "I don't think that will be necesary, Sasuke. I'm sure once she has her emotions under control she'll turn back to normal." itachi informed.
With that having been said, Itachi took Sasuke's hand and continude to lead him foreward. His smile had now vanished, the edges pulling down in a frown, his sharingan activated and scanning the foliage in front of him. He had children to protect after all, children which had not yet started their ninja training. They were only five and could barely hold onto a kunai properly, if Sasuke's attempts were anything to go by.
Itachi looked up at the sky then. The sun was setting and they barely made any distance from their home. Having children with him proved to be difficult as they could move no faster then they were at the moment. He knew that at any moment Anbu would begin to persue them and it wouldnt take them long to find them. He also knew that just because he had children with him didnt mean they would go easy on him. With that he made his desicion. "Hold on to me." He ordered as he lifted Sasuke by his arm, and putting him on his back. Sasuke did as he was told, putting his arms around Itachi's neck, loosely at first until Itachi decided that jumping from tree branches was a faster way to wherever they were going.
Itachi, however, didnt so much as flinch on Sasuke's strong hold around his neck. He would just have to deal with it for a moment. His analytical mind went through everything the children would need and he knew that he would need to stop by a village if only to feed them. Thats when he saw, or actually; heard a water fall nearby. If there were fish there he could cook them and get a drink of water. He'd still have to be quick though. With one last rush of chakra against the branch he landed besides the water fall.
"Cool." He heard Sasuke murmur, letting go of his brother in the proccess. "You two get as much water as you need, stay close though." Itachi said as he put Sakura on the ground and handed Sasuke a canteen. With a nod Sasuke ran to the river putting water in the canteen first. That is until he turned around to see Sakura trying to walk on wobbly legs. He let out a bought of laughter, exagerating as he did so. Sakura growled at him, trying to be intimidating in the small furred form. Ofcourse not even her canines were sharp at this stage of her developement. Itachi noticed this and sent a small frown of disaproval towards Sasuke who did not notice in his laughter.
"Shut up Sasuke-duckbutt!" she exclaimed in thought. At this Sasuke did stop in surprise. "Woah, you can talk." He said in wonder. He walked up to her and crouched down at her eye level, or as much as he could. "Can you do it again?" he asked. She growled at him then, the sound vibrating in her chest and escaping through her exposed canines. He frowned at this, his lips setting in a pout. "No, do what you did before." He tried to explain. "What? Call you a duck-butt?" She thought with a frown.
"Stop playing around and come eat. Anbu could be on our trail as we speak." Itachi chastised as he got out of the water having already caught some fish. With a pout Sasuke walked to where Itachi was in the middle of making a fire to cook the fish. Sakura noded, the motion feeling odd in her current figure. She put one paw infront of the other but began to stumble. "Don't think about how and just think of where you want to go, I'm sure your body already knows what to do." Itachi said without turning to look at her. "He's right you know." The voice in her head perked up. "Easy for you to say." Sakura thought back as she looked doown at her paws. "Just try it, Sakura." Itachi replied.
With a nod Sakura began to do as she was told. She slowly began to make her way to Itachi's figure until her ears perked up, alerting to something incoming. She jumped back on instinct, so fast she was a black blur to the untrained eye. At that same moment itachi had grabbed Sasuke and made his way into the forestry they had come from. In the next second people in animal masks made their way towards her, seeing her as the first and easiest target. "Run, you idiot! Or better yet use your powers!" The voice ordered in fustration. In that instant instinct overode rationality and Sakura began to growl and glower at the anbu that came closer to her. Her growls did nothing to scare them though as one came closer to her, making to grab her as the others made their way through the foliage, obviously after Sasuke and Itachi.
With one last look in the direction Itachi and Sasuke had gone she ran into the forest behind her, the opposite way from where they had gone. The Anbu had slit up into two teams, the majority going for Sasuke and Itachi while only one of them made to go for her. However the anbu behind her was fast, his hands swiping behind her, trying to catch her. All the while she ran faster and faster still until she ran straight into a shadow of a bush, her form disapearing into it. "What happend?" She thought in wonder as she could still see the Anbu making its way past her concealed form. "You are in a shadow, idiot. Think of it as a room only you can walk into and look out of but others can't see or sense you while in it. Its kind of handy in situation like this. You can even travel within them towards any location you want. All you have to do is think about it." Inner chirped in.
"Can it take me to Itachi and Sasuke?" Sakura asked as she looked at her sorroundings. From what she could see, she had become a part of the shadows while still being seperated from them somehow. "They can only take you where you know. For exampe; they can't take you to Suna because you've never been there." Inner informed. This made sakura frown in thought. "Then how will I find them?" she asked, her stomache already doing little, nervouse, flips in her stomache. "Looks like we'll have to go look for them." inner stated in all obviouseness. With a nod and an intake of breathe Sakura hesitantly stepped out of the shadows.
With a quick once over in her sorroundings she made a run for the direction she had seen them go. Ofcourse it didnt take long to find out where he was as she saw a fireball being ignited in the direction he had gone.
~O~O~O~O~
Itachi had sensed them coming only a second too late and had to make a quick decision. So with a seconds delay he grabbed Sasuke and headed towards the trees they had come from. Yes, he had felt guilty in leaving Sakura behind but he had a choice to make. In the moment where he had first taken his step onto a tree branch he felt Sakura's chakra dart away and eventually disapear completely. During that moment he had felt horrible. And so he put Sasuke down, shielding him behind his body and turned to face the anbu. He didn't know if he would win this fight, he was after all out numbered.
There in a another branch stood two anbus, one wearing a tiger mask and another wearing a hawk mask. In another branch, behind the two, was one wearing a dog mask. He knew these Anbu, worked with them even on several occasions. Yet it did nothing to quench the burning in his chest at the thought of Sakura, laying dead somewhere.
"By orderes of the Hokage, your to be taken into cust-" the hawk masked Anbu had then jumped back after feeling a killing intent eminating from one of the last Uchihas. The Anbu then looked to his previouse spot to see a kunai weged into the bark of the tree. With that the battle had begun with Itachi. A series a shuriken and kunai had been thrown at him, all of which he reflected with his own kunai in hand and dodged the rest. All the while Sasuke sat behind him in awe. He had known his brother was strong he just never knew he could hold his own against three anbu.
Thats when Itachi took hold of Sasuke once more and lept to another tree branch, having sensed chakra behind him. In the midst of all the weapons being thrown at him the dog masked Anbu had snuck behind him. With Sasuke still in his arms he turned towards the Anbu and blew many fire balls aimed towards them. They dodged them with expert ease while one of them did hand signs. As the last fireball had been blown at them a sudden chirping was heard as lighting formed around the dog masked Anbu. Itachi's eyes widend at this of only for a moment. "I see you've finally perfected it." Itachi comented as if he was bored.
The Anbu tensed at this as if in anger and promptly ran towards itachi, hand outstreached towards him. Itachi, with Sasuke still in his arms, dodged as he jumped onto another tree branch. It was there that a blade pierced him in the chest, going all the way through Sasuke's own body. Behind Itachi stood the Anbu with a hawk masked, hand wrapped around the dull side of the sword he had used. "Hn, clever." Itachi had said as turned once again to the dog masked Anbu. Itachi smirked as a trail of bllood left his lips. "But too late, Kakashi." He uttered before he and sasuke dissapeared in a flock of crows.
"Where did he go?" the Anbu wearing the tiger mask asked. "Too far to go after him now." Kakashi replied. "And out of our jurisdiction. Looks like he was headed towards Sand. We'd have to ask for permision to enter their lands first." The hawk masked man said as he looked towards the horizon. With a nod they all dissapeared into the foliage like the ninjas they were.
~O~O~O~O~O~O~
"What about Sakura-chan?" Sasuke asked as they traveled through the tree tops. At the last moment Itachi had used an illusion jutsu, one he had crafted. Ofcourse he hadn't counted on Hatake having perfected his own jutsu. The fight would have ended rather quickly if he hadn't. Sasuke poked at his brother after recieving no answer, prodding him for one.
A presence before them caused Itachi to pause in his stride, crouching as he did in a defence position. "Don't worry, I've got your pup, she's safe." Said the bicolored figure before them as he sprouted from the bark of a tree. Half his face wass black with a round yellowe eye, while the other half was white with normal featurse. He had green hair and two large venus fly-trap like extensions that envelop his head and upper body, giving him a plant-like appearance. "That was a good fight by the way." the black half then said with a smile. At this Sasuke moved from itachi's grasp in order to better see the...palnt, he decided, before him.
"Where's Sakura-chan?" He demanded with a frown, trying to intimidate the plant before him as much as a five year could against an assasin. "At the camp I set up near the border." the white half responded. He then turned, "We'll show you the way." the black half said and began to move through the forest as if he were a ghost, moving through things as he did. With a frown Itachi hesitantly followed, after all this could always be a trap.