*Waves white flag from behind desk* Umm I got lost on the road of life?

Alright, I know I said I'd try to write regularly but in my defense I did actually get lost on the road of life. The actual book I had wanted to publish is still a no go and honestly I haven't had much time to write the fan fiction. Between work, family, drama, and actual ideas for real books it's been kind of hard.

If this helps any; I did actually think hard on where this story was meant to go and I have everything figured out now.

I've even thought of sister stories to accompany this fan fiction. They will be basically the same except that in the other two Itachi never took Sasuke and Sakura with him. And in one of the other two one will have Sasuke take Sakura with him when he left Konoha and the other he will have left Sakura behind like in the actual story. I'm not sure how I intend to end those stories but I'm sure I'll figure something out.

I don't know when I'll actually get to writing them but I had written down some scenes for them. And since I already have much on my plate I plan on writing them after this story is done.

Also some of the things from the last chapters will be changed since they didn't go with what I now have planned.

Disclaimer: I in no way, shape, or form own Naruto or any of its characters. I, however, do own this story.

"Thoughts."

"Inner/demon."

"Normal speech."

"Black Zetsu."

'Jutsu'

Please R&R

Itachi 13 year's old – Sasuke 6 years old – Sakura 5 years old.

Chapter 4

A month has passed and many things have changed. Pein started training Sakura and Sasuke, with Itachi's permission, of course. Two weeks into their training Sasuke managed to awaken his sharingan and Sakura followed soon afterwards with her own kekkei genkai.

I was soon revealed that Sakura had an affinity for water and she could sense everything and everyone in the village because of the rain much more naturally than Pein. This led Sakura to be adopted by Pein and Konan while her training would then be taken over by Kisame. Though she had been adopted nothing much had changed as she still shared a room with Sasuke and her schedule never changed.

Meanwhile, Sasuke's teacher changed to Itachi as he was the only one who could teach him their family's dōjutsu. Seeing as he still had a guardian, nothing else changed for Sasuke, which was just fine for him.

Now that their training had progressed much more efficiently Sasuke and Sakura were allowed to leave the safety of Amegakure and follow Itachi, Kisame, and Kakuzu on a mission. They knew it wasn't going to be anything fancy; just escorting a new member to Amegakure but it didn't change the fact that they were nervous.

"We should take some kunai." Sasuke mumbled as he ran around the room trying to find as many weapons as he could as Itachi stood at the entrance of their room.

"Maybe some senbon too, right?" Sakura asked, already having a handful and laying them next to a couple of kunai.

At that point Kisame walked by only to stand beside Itachi and looking into the room in curiosity.

"What are you brats doing? We should be heading out already." Kisame said.

"We're getting our weapons ready." Sakura answered with a smile then turned to Sasuke once more. "Should we get some explosion tags?"

"Explosion tags?" Kisame asked in surprise. "Do you gaki even know how to use those things?"

"Hn. No explosion tags." Itachi answered calmly as he walked in and took said tags from Sakura's hands.

Kisame heaved a sigh. "Why are you even packing? You're going to be with three S class shinobi, there won't be any reason for you to have kunai."

"Because we're ninja now and ninja are always prepared." Sakura answered as she strapped her small pack on her right thigh like she had seen shinobi do numerous times.

"You're not ninja yet." Kisame pointed out.

"Still, we should always be prepared for anything." Sasuke answered and then turned to Itachi. "Right, aniki?"

Itachi simply nodded though he had a strong urge to take the children's packs and show them how to properly assemble their weapons. "I could teach them that later."

"Well if you're done, we should really get going before Kakuzu decides to leave without us, then we're all in trouble." Kisame said as he turned and began to walk down the hall and out of their base.

"Wait for me, Kisame-sensei!" Sakura said as she ran after him only to be stopped by Itachi.

"Sakura-chan, have you said good bye to your father?" Itachi asked, stopping her in her track just at the edge of her door.

At first the thought of her being adopted by their leader hadn't sat well with him but there was not much he could do. Sakura needed a guardian and he couldn't be one for her. He'd join his family; he was sure, but not that way. If he had decided to become her guardian he'd only two options; adoption or marriage. As it was she was too young for marriage and she had already been promised to himself or Sasuke so neither option had suited him.

Now though he knew she would be well taken care of as Pein and Konan were unable to have children and Konan desperately had wanted to be a mother. The fact that he would be there over looking everything made him feel all the better.

"Yes, Itachi-kun." Sakura said with a smile.

"Let's go already." Sasuke said, excited at finally being able to go outside of the village.

"Race you." Sakura shouted and began to run out of their home.

Though they had gone through much training in the past month there was still much left to be desired about their stamina as they were panting once outside.

"I won!" Sasuke exclaimed in triumph as he turned to Sakura with a smirk.

"That's not fair, you cheated." Sakura argued with a pout.

"There's no way to cheat in a race, baka!" Sasuke replied

"Enough you two." Itachi said as they began to walk out towards the doors of the village.

The people of the village were no longer looking at them in fright but in admiration as the group bearing Akatsuki clouds made their way through the streets. The villagers without hesitation made way for them, smiles on their faces once they saw their god's child among the group. Of course the village had been notified of her status once she had been adopted, not that the villagers knew of the adoption.

"Finally; the admiration and praise I- I mean- we deserve!" Inner said with a haughty smile.

"But why? We didn't do anything." Sakura thought as she smiled at the villagers who waved and smiled at her.

"Well we didn't do anything but our new father sure did. If it weren't for him this village would've probably kept being attacked by other ninja. Add to the fact that he started an organization promoting peace, these people think he actually is a god." Inner shrugged. "Since we're now his daughters, we're like an extension of him and the villagers expect just as much from us."

"Is he really a god though?" Sakura asked in surprise.

Inner snorted at that. "No, the only one that could come as close to a god around here is me and I'm trapped in your mind."

"Hey, kid, stop spacing out we're going to start jumping through the trees and we can't do that if you don't hang on to one of us." Kisame said as he stood next to her.

Sasuke was already on Itachi's back and Kakuzu stood quietly next to them on the same branch. As it was they were now at the edge of the village and she couldn't even remember how they had gotten there so fast. She wasn't even tired and considering how far the edge of the village was from their base it would've made sense if she was tired now.

"I told you something was wrong." She heard Sasuke mumble causing a blush to burn her ears.

"Come on." Kisame said as he grabbed the back of her shirt much like he would grab a puppy and put her on his broad shoulders.

Once he was sure she held on he jumped to the trees and they began to run through the branches though Sakura was sure it was more like flying as she could hardly feel his feet land.

"When we return I'm foregoing all that meditating crap and focusing on teaching you how to get a hold of your chakra." Kisame muttered. "I don't care if it takes you longer to learn how to use your Nisshoku."

"But father said I had to learn how to use it as fast as I could." Sakura said.

"Yeah? Well what's the point in that if you can't even climb a tree? That would be as stupid as becoming a samurai." Kisame said, expressing his dislike of the people who focused solely on katanas.

"But I thought that before that we had to go to the academy." Sasuke said, turning questioning eyes to his brother.

"This is why I said there shouldn't be any children in the Akatsuki; they whine and cry too much. Not to mention that they never shut up." Kakuzu said as lead the way.

"I only asked one question." Sasuke defended himself.

"In any case I'd much prefer you didn't say such things in front of the children." Itachi said.

"And I'd much prefer to get this thing done without enemies being alerted to our presence because of these children." Kakuzu countered in a gruff voice.

With that the children became quiet once more until...

"So where are we going?" Sasuke asked causing Kakuzu to growl.

"Yugakure, or around there." Kisame answered. "It used to be a ninja village but then it was decided to become a normal village. It kind of got popular because of its hot springs."

"Oh cool. Are we going to be able to go to the hot springs?" Sakura asked with a huge smile.

"No, it costs too much money. Besides we're only here to get a jashinist." Grumbled Kakuzu.

"Oh." Sakura said though she didn't understand most of what he had said and turned to Itachi. "Will it take long?"

"Four days at most." He answered simply.

Sakura nodded and stayed quiet, fearing that her questions may actually bring attention of bad ninjas. After a couple minutes the weightless feeling lulled her to sleep and she laid her head on Kisame's shoulder.

The growling of her stomach was what woke her up a couple hours later causing her to grumble into Kisame's back.

"Figures you'd wake up by your grumbling stomach." Kisame snickered as he continued to fly through the trees.

At the moment the sun was now beginning to disappear in the horizon, making way for the moon and stars. The summer nights were usually quite nice but now that Sakura looked around to find herself in a forest and no rain in sight she couldn't help but fidget at the amount of warmth she now felt. She wiped the sweat from her brow, now taking notice how hot it actually was. This was no longer Amegakure that was for sure.

"Where are we?" She mumbled, rubbing the sleep from her eyes that refused to stay open for more than a few seconds.

"In the land of fire." Kisame said causing her to become rigid. He looked back at her from the sudden tension he felt rolling off of her in waves.

"What's wrong?" He asked with a raised brow.

She turned to see Itachi running beside her with Sasuke having fallen asleep not long before her.

"We won't be coming in contact with the village, Sakura. We're also doing our best to avoid detection from any of the ninja in the area." Itachi said though he never turned to look at her in the eyes.

Sakura nodded but the nervousness dwelled within her belly causing her to fidget and look around her in worry. Thoughts of food long forgotten and her tummy ceased its growling.

"Here," Kisame said as he handed her a small pouch of dried fruits. "We can't afford to stop here."

"Ok, thank you, Kisame-sensei." Sakura mumbled though her hunger had subsided.

"Eat." Itachi commanded simply, knowing that she'd need to keep her strength.

With a nod Sakura began to eat though her mind refused to be bribed with food and continued to wander to that fateful night.

Sensing that something was wrong Sasuke began to stir from his sleep and looked around in confusion. The heat didn't bother him but something didn't seem right. When he turned to look at Sakura he was surprised to see her look so sad.

"What's wrong, Sakura-chan?" Sasuke asked in concern.

"We're in the land of fire." She mumbled causing Sasuke to flinch.

He now understood why everyone was silent and why the weather seemed to be warmer than usual. Memories flash behind his eyelids and he fought hard to cease his mind from remembering.

He glanced at his brother, wondering when he would understand what he did. He had been told that it had been ordered by the Hokage and even if he hadn't done it someone else would've. Itachi had also told him that though it had seemed like what he did was wrong one day he'd understand why he went through with it.

Of course Itachi hadn't expected to be fooled so badly that the Hokage had even gone after the Haruno clan in his paranoid mind set. Even now he couldn't help but feel sick at having been used in such a way and no amount of water could wash away the blood that coated his hands.

He didn't even know if the Haruno's had actually been in on the coup. It was probable but he hadn't sure. Sure, all his clan had been killed but not all by his hand. In all actuality he hadn't killed anyone but his parents.

"Don't worry Sakura, if we keep training as hard as we can we will one day come back here and avenge our clan. We won't rest until they suffer." Inner grumbled as she glared at the forest they ran past.

Sakura agreed, knowing Sasuke had the same thoughts she did and would help her in her endeavor just as she would help with his. She also knew that her new father and mother would help and guide her as they understood her pain. Besides now that she had been promised to one of the brothers she knew her clan would not end with her alone. Of course she would think about that after the demise of those responsible occurred.

"We will rest here for the night." Kakuzu said as he landed in a clearing.

With Itachi's nod Kisame let Sakura down and he disappeared through the surrounding foliage.

"Where's Kisame-sensei going?" Sakura asked as she came closer to Sasuke who was now on his own two feet.

"Securing the area." Itachi replied as he went to the base of one of the nearby trees and sat down.

Sasuke and Sakura quickly followed and sat by his side as he opened his cloak and let them rest against him. Though it was too hot for Sakura's tastes she would deal with it if it meant sleeping in the safety of Itachi's arms.

If she could forget the horrible past for a moment she could almost imagine herself sitting outside the Uchiha head's house, looking up at the stars with Itachi and Sasuke like she had done once before. This time however the foliage of the trees blocked her view of the stars and the ground she sat on had not been flattened out nor had most of the rocks removed. It also didn't help that Kakuzu sat on the opposite side of them and would stare at her when her gaze happened upon him.

Still it was better than the looks Orochimaru sent her and Sasuke's way. With Kakuzu, at least she knew only stared because he was annoyed or curious at her own gaze but nothing more. No, Orochimaru's eyes always held something dark within them that left her feeling scared and dirty. Compared to that Kakuzu's annoyed look was light a ray of sunshine.

Once Kisame came back Sakura gladly closed her eyes, deeming her beloved sensei to be safe from the clutches of leaf shinobi.

Morning came all too soon and she suddenly found herself on Kisame's back once again as they flew past the forest once again.

"Mornin' princess." Kisame said with a smile having felt her breathing change and knew she'd wake up soon.

Seeing no danger around Sakura quickly let her head fall against his shoulder with a groan. In her sleepy state Sakura was about to forego her manner but quickly remembered her social standing, or what was left of it. If there ever was a time to show respect for the manner taught to her by her father, it was now.

"Good morning Kisame-sensei." She tried to say with as much grace as she could in the early hours.

"Who the hell turned on the light? I'm trying to sleep here!" Inner all but growled.

"It's the sun silly." Sakura thought with a small smile though she did understand where inner was coming from.

"Who the hell wakes up at this time of day? Even the sun is barely starting to get up." Inner grumbled as she metaphorically got out of bed and wrapped herself in the blanket she had been using to look through Sakura's eyes.

"We're in the land of fire." Sakura thought as if it cleared everything up.

Inner scoffed. "No kidding. I just don't see what the point is. It's not like they have sensors made specifically for us to warn them when we'd return. And even if they did who the hell would be scared of our five year old body? We can't even use any jutsu. The best you can do is hide in the shadows and turn into a wolf pup."

Sakura shrugged at that and turned to the outside world, not wanting to be caught off guard again. She turned to see Sasuke already awake and looking as bored as ever. She didn't know what she had expected out of the mission but she was sure this wasn't it. One look at Sasuke and she knew he thought the same.

"I'm hungry." Sakura whined. Honestly she didn't want to whine and prove Kakuzu right but at this point in time she couldn't help it. She was stuck on Kisame's back with nothing to do and she hadn't eaten since last night.

"Me too." Sasuke grumbled, his foul mood proving that he was not a morning person.

Kisame sighed in defeat. "Whose idea was it to bring these brats along?"

"I told you." Kakuzu grumbled back.

"There should be a small village nearby, we'll stop nearby and I'll go get something to eat." Itachi said, restraining a sigh and trying not to agree with his two team mates.

"But I'm hungry now." Sakura whispered to herself though she knew Kisame had most likely heard her.

Quickening their pace in order to quiet the children as fast as they could they arrive at their destination in record time, even having Kisame trying to restrain his gasping for air.

"Won't you easily be spotted though? I mean Uchiha are kind of extinct." Kisame said as he turned to see a small village through the trees a few feet away. "Even civilians should know about you by now."

No one however paid attention to him as Itachi quickly did a henge jutsu turning his hair blonde and eyes a light blue. Taking off his cloak and giving it to Sasuke he turned and left leaving Kisame talking to himself to which Sakura giggled.

Kisame did a double take upon seeing a blonde leave the area and Itachi nowhere in sight. With a grumble about having forgotten such a simple jutsu he sat down intent on waiting for the elder Uchiha.

The wait however was short lived as sudden screams erupted from within the village causing Sakura and Sasuke to jump.

"Did he mess up his jutsu or something?" Kisame wondered out loud as Kakuzu went to see what had happened, leaving Kisame to take care of the children.

When an explosion ignited the vicinity Kisame jumped back, a child in each arm and promptly setting them on the ground once again before clenching his fists at his side. Being one who lived to fight he was quite angry at having been left behind to take care of the children.

"Sakura!" Kisame quickly commanded, knowing something didn't feel right. "Get in my shadow and take Sasuke with you."

Sakura was surprised at the command and very much scared for Itachi. "What if something happened to him?"

"Sakura!" Kisame shouted with impatience.

Sakura quickly took Sasuke's hand and willed her power to work and she stepped on Kisame's shadow.

"Just think of it as entering a room Sakura. Imagine opening a door and going down some steps." Inner instructed the now shaky Sakura.

A gentle squeeze from Sasuke's hand calmed her enough to do as Inner had said. The process was a bit slow at first but once they took the first step in Sakura dragged Sasuke behind her into the shadow, seemingly disappearing into the ground.

Once they had disappeared Kisame took off into the civilian village to see…

I'm terrible I know but I am going to post the next chapter up soon seeing as how I've managed to acquire some time to write. Seriously though; I wrote all this in one day. I know it's not much but I'm quite proud of it as I did it all without my beloved caffeine.

R&R :3