This is an eventual SasukexSakura. Rated M for descriptions of violence and language. Very little graphic sexual content.
The story is accurate up to chapter 238 of the manga and contains spoilers.
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. Never have, never will.
Thanks to all that reviewed and favorited and alerted! I have so many now, and it means a lot! Keep up the good work!
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"Holy shit!" Sakura cried out, stumbling as she was running from their would-be captor. "Kenji, on my back!" Her little boy obeyed, swiftly jumping on her back so they could run away faster. Why did they ALWAYS get in this sort of situation?
It was the fifth Oto nin they had come across that week!
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It was blazing hot outside so Sakura decided that they would ask someone if they could spend the night inside. A local bartender kindly said yes so Sakura and Kenji went inside and sat around a table. They had been homeless for the past two months, and frankly, Sakura was sick of it. She couldn't go back to Konoha because it would put normal civilians and shinobi alike in danger. Same with everywhere else.
Sakura attempted to drink away her worry. Luckily, she had a high tolerance so she wouldn't start getting drunk until her twentieth drink. She would limit herself to one. Kenji moaned.
"Mommy, I'm thirsty." Sakura patted his back. They were nearly broke, but Sakura would spare a little.
"Hey," she motioned to the bartender. He came over to her, very attentive. "Do you have any juice?" The bartender smiled amicably and got to it. Once he was done with his task, he slid the fruity beverage. Sakura rummaged around in her bag for her wallet.
"No pay," he said. "On the house." Sakura's face softened.
"Thank you." He nodded.
"Cute kid. I've never seen hair like that, though."
"...I see." Sakura looked at Kenji. His hair was turning darker and darker, verging on burgundy. The ends were also starting to spike up like the tail feathers of a chicken. Or duck. They were both poultry so it really didn't matter. The thing that mattered was that it looked Uchiha freaking Sasuke's hair. She would have to give Kenji a haircut sooner or later."Thanks," she finally replied after trailing off for a few moments.
Kenji's thirst was sated for the time being so Sakura was satisfied. All was well until one particularly shady and handsome man came up to her.
"You from around here?" he asked. Sakura nodded her head, hoping he would go away. Yes, it was a lie, but girls from out of town usually seemed more appealing. Something new, exotic. Especially Sakura with her pink hair and green eyes."Really? Are all the girls here as beautiful as you?"Sakura hated that blatant, outright flirting. It was nauseating.
"I have a kid," she flatly informed him. The man smiled.
Like, really smiled.
Like, sinisterly smiled.
"Is he that little boy over there?"
Sakura looked into his eyes. She knew those eyes. They were horrible, disgusting. Malicious, and they wanted her little boy for something. Needed, even. Sakura froze.
He knew.
She got up. "I think we're done." She was shaking with something like fear and anger all mixed up together. He smiled. His clamped onto her arm insistently, unwilling to let her go.
"No, we're not. Not until I say so." Sakura winced. His grip was close to breaking her arm. Bracing herself, Sakura brought her arm back into fist and plunged her arm forward. It connected with the ninja's nose, drawing out a cry from the Oto nin. "Bitch!"
But Sakura was already out the door, pulling Kenji along.
The Oto nin was already in full pursuit.
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"Mommy," Kenji called out. "I'm tired."
"It's okay, baby. Go to sleep. Mommy will keep running for the both of us." They had been running for six hours, now daylight. Sakura, kind of out of practice, was starting to get a bit tired.
For three hours more, she ran while Kenji slept. Then the worst thing happened as she ran into the forest.
And tripped.
Kenji rolled off her back as she skidded on the ground. Chakra almost depleted, she could barely move, but she forced out the energy to move. She rolled over her son, shielding him with her body. The Oto nin raised a sword, ready to kill her. Sakura closed her eyes, awaiting death and apologizing mentally to her son.
Before she closed them, she saw a fishing pole.
She opened them, very confused. The Oto nin had been knocked unconscious with a fishing pole. A man with black hair, dark eyes, and a good stature stood before her.
Uchiha Itachi. He looked to her.
"Sakura-san, are you all right?" Sakura just gaped with an awake Kenji in her arms.
"Itachi!" she hissed, scrambling to her feet and getting into a defense position. "What are you doing here? Akatsuki is-"
"Akatsuki no longer exists. And that is my line. You are trespassing," he informed her coolly. Dumbfounded, Sakura loosened her stance.
"This...you own this?" she asked.
Itachi nodded. "A total of thirty acres." Sakura's jaw could have hit the ground.
"And Akatsuki?"
"Disbanded." Itachi looked down to the boy. Then back up to Sakura. "He is-"
"None of your business!" snapped Sakura, getting into a defensive stance once again. Itachi held up his fishing pole.
"I believe I am an uncle," he said, pointing his rod at Kenji.
Kenji blinked.
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"Itachi-san? Welcome home!" The blue-man called out from his fishing post. Sakura wrinkled her nose.
"Mommy, it's a mermaid!" Kenji cooed, amazed.
"Kenji-kun, that ugly man is most certainly not a mermaid," Itachi interjected. Kenji giggled.
Sakura told her son to go talk to the big man after getting reassurance from the elder Uchiha. They went to the porch of the traditional styled house. Sakura stroked the wood floor, relishing in the feel of it. He offered her some tea, but she politely declined. Well, kind of.
"Fuck no," she replied. He snorted lightly. "What did you want to talk about? Make it quick!"
"You do know about the Uchiha Massacre?"
"Hell yeah."
"Do you know of the coup?"
"Huh?"
In the next half hour, Sakura was shocked by the flurry of things that came out of Itachi's mouth.
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"Oh my God!" Sakura gasped. "The elders really did that?" Itachi nodded.
"Do not repeat this to anyone. You will be killed." Sakura gulped.
"W-wait! They are still in power!"
"However, Naruto is the Hokage now. I have faith in him."
"Wow... Overconfident much?"
"Still, I doubt he will give into them. He is strong-willed." Sakura chuckled.
"A bit of a dummy, but yes, he is strong." They sipped the tea that Sakura eventually accepted in silence. Itachi cleared his throat.
"I see Orochimaru has been sending his henchmen after you." Sakura rolled her eyes.
She answered, "It's been endless, really. Just in one week-"
"Itachi!" a feminine voice sang. Sakura heard the tatami doors sliding and slamming, and a person running, presumably female. Sure enough, a woman came around the corner. She was heavy with child.
"H-Haruna!" Itachi whispered. His cheeks tinted red a little bit.
"Oh?" she asked, taking note of Sakura. "Who's this lovely, young woman?"
Sakura stood up, and she held out her hand, which the woman took and gave a firm shake. "I'm Haruno Sakura."
"Uchiha Haruna. Pleased to meet you." Sakura gave Itachi a toothy smile who surprisingly blushed.
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"We have had trouble with Orochimaru as well," Itachi informed Sakura. "An Uchiha's chakra flow is slightly different from other shinobi, but it stands out. Including when a woman is in the phases of pregnancy. Everybody has chakra, but pregnant women tend to lose it sometime after conception. However, when you are with the child of an Uchiha, you maintain steady chakra flow or even gain more in order to protect the child. That is the way our genes work." Sakura reveled in this new bit of information. That was why all the Oto nin could probably tell that Kenji was different, excluding his hair of course...
"I will offer you protection if you need it."
Sakura gaped at him again. Itachi simply stared back blankly. "Why?" she blurted out. Itachi pointed at Kenji.
"That is my nephew. I love him."
"You just met him."
"I still do." Sakura looked at her son, learning how to fish from Kisame. Kisame evidently said something funny, and Kenji looked blankly at him as Haruna swatted the large man's arm. She looked at Haruna's swollen belly and made her decision.
"No. I can't endanger you like that. You have your own family." Itachi shook his head.
"Sakura-san, you are family now." Sakura just smiled sadly at that.
"Thank you, Itachi."
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Sakura deigned to stay one night only before heading on their way. Sakura and Kenji were on their way to take a bath.
"Mommy, I like Auntie Haruna. She's nice!" Sakura laughed. She had talked with the pregnant woman. She was, indeed, nice. She was a bit of a bully to her husband, but that was okay. "Mommy, do we have to leave here too?" Sakura looked down at the boy.
"I'm afraid so, Kenji." Kenji pouted. Sighing, Sakura ruffled his hair. "We'll visit sometime." Kenji's face immediately brightened.
"Really?"
"Of course! Your mommy never lies!"
"That's a lie!" Sakura and Kenji laughed together, stripping themselves of clothes while the water ran. "Hey, this bath is big." Sakura sighed.
"It is, isn't it..." It was colossal, really. It was a traditional bath, square and wood. It was probably big enough to fit more than ten people at a time.
"Why isn't Auntie Haruna taking a bath with us?"
"She's probably taking a bath with Uncle Itachi."
"Hn, he's weird. Why?" Sakura flushed as erotic images sprung to her head.
"N-never mind. I'm sure they're taking separate baths."
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The blue man and the Uchihas waved goodbye to Kenji and Sakura cheerfully. Kenji was sad to go but reciprocated enthusiastically. Sakura gave one wave, satisfied with just that much. "Mommy, where are we off to next?" Sakura fingered the wad of cash that Haruna had insisted that she had taken. It was a gift, she had said.
"I think we'll stay at a hotel for now."
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"Welcome to the Kitsuchi Inn," the receptionist chirped. "What type of room would you like?"
"A single," Sakura droned. "We'll be staying here for three days at most." The lady smiled.
"I can arrange that for you. Since the staying time is undetermined, you will pay at the end of your visit." Sakura tried to smile but found that she couldn't. They had been walking in the rain for twenty-eight hours so they were both exhausted. Kenji was sleeping on her back, a coat shielding him from the offending droplets. The receptionist rummaged around in the desk for the keys. "I'm sorry...we don't get too many visitors any more...gosh, where'd I put it?" Sakura sighed and rolled her eyes impatiently. The woman gasped. "I found it!" She passed the key to Sakura quickly. "Enjoy your stay."
Sakura wearily walked up to the room. Her eyelids were drooping, but she couldn't afford to fall asleep yet. She needed to get Kenji into the bath, wash their soaked clothes, and brush their teeth. Kenji was starting to sag off her back so she bumped him up a little. "Hey, kiddo. It's time to get up."
"Wha...?" he asked sleepily. Sakura beamed at him.
"We're here. Let's take a bath!" Kenji nodded, still not fully awake.
Sakura had to take care of herself and a sleeping boy. Whoo. Being a mom was hard.
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Sakura awoke to sounds of screaming with a start. She peeked out the window.
The town was on fire.
There were children running all around until one giant man came and slaughtered at least four of them. Kenji woke up slowly.
"Mommy, what's going on?" Sakura looked at her boy with fear. They couldn't stay here.
"Kenji, hurry up, go to the bathroom, and get dressed. We need to leave in ten minutes." So the two prepared themselves, packing and relieving their bladders. When all was done, Sakura took Kenji by the hand and sprinted to the staircase. The elevator was too risky now. Sakura bended over. "Get on my back, Kenji." Kenji, knowing better than to ask, complied easily, and Sakura started ascending the stairs. There were only two more flights till the top so the task was done relatively quickly. Sakura cracked open the door to the top of the inn, a fiery, orange light immediately shining a path in the crack. Opening it wide, Sakura gasped. Everything was falling apart. As she jumped from building to building, she found her heart start to clench, and she heard her son start to hyperventilate. Like the lamb to the lion, there were so many people that were dead. Their necks slit, their innards bared, their most private parts out for all to see. Sakura saw a woman with a baby being raped and could no longer help herself. She threw a kunai with accurate precision at the man's neck. He let out a strangled cry as he fell down into a lifeless heap. The woman gasped, bowed to Sakura, grabbed her baby, and ran.
Sakura let out a sigh as she took in the sight of the burning embers again. At least that woman was safe. For now.
Suddenly, Sakura felt a presence behind her. Somewhat powerful, too. She whipped her body around, but it was too late. The man kneed her in the stomach. Only due to Sakura's high pain tolerance did she allow herself to move back a little. If she moved too much, they would have fell off the building. If she didn't move at all, he would most definitely have broken her ribs. In fact, he already broke one, she thought as she immediately sent healing chakra to the injured area.
"Little slut, you just killed one of my men. Sakura growled at him as Kenji hid instinctively behind her head, just peeking over her shoulder.
"Your men just killed over a hundred people," she retorted, tensing up to jump. She did jump, down to the ground. She immediately started running at full speed, needing to get away from that place. Unfortunately, he and a few other men caught up with her. He was at least a chuunin and the rest were just normal bandits, but Sakura did not want to kill needlessly in front of Kenji, though it would be easy. She had been a Jounin in Konoha.
"Listen," she started. "I just want to get through here with my son safe. I don't want to kill you, so let me pass, okay?" The men exchanged glances, then started roaring with laughter.
"You kill us? Little lady, I'm surprised you even managed to survive." Kenji whimpered, clutching Sakura's shirt like there was no tomorrow. Sakura narrowed her eyes. She just turned her back and kept running. A week's worth of chakra depletion did not come in handy at times like these. They quickly caught up to her.
Suddenly, Sakura felt an immense pain shooting through her whole body. So...that chuunin was a medic, huh? She was too weak to fight it off and slumped to the ground, still guarding Kenji. She slipped her shuriken and senbon into her hands, eyeing each of the men's pressure points. They laughed and all lifted their weapons to strike. With a hiss, she prepared to kill them all.
Until a long, familiar sword sliced through their throats with practiced ease. Sakura swore as she watched the men take their last, strangled and gurgled breath. Kenji slipped off her back and vomited at the sight and smell of the freshly dead men. As Sakura saw who their "savior" was, her eyes widened in horror. He, too, had dark hair. However, his eyes glowed a sickening red, and his existence in itself posed a threat. Sakura found herself fearing her and her son's life more than ever.
"Sasuke," she squeaked, feeling her lips tremble, and cursed the day she ever decided it was a good idea to leave Konoha.
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Thanks for reading!