Hello dear readers!

Wow, thank you so much for your reviews! They mean so much to me.

I have so many great ideas for this story and I'm really looking forward to where it will go.

So without further ado, I give you chapter 2!

I do not own Naruto.

Give me a word
Give me a sign
Show me where to lookTell me what will I find
Lay me on the ground
Fly me in the sky
Show me where to look
Tell me what will I find

Kakashi stared at the door Sakura had just exited. He was still recovering from what had just happened in the office. He had known that Sakura wasn't going to take kindly to the news that she was being left behind, but he honestly hadn't expected her to be that angry.

He supposed he couldn't blame her though. After all, getting Sasuke back was her main priority so to have that taken away from her had to hurt. He often wondered about Sakura. When she was twelve years old he had honestly doubted that she would ever become much of a shinobi. She was too emotional, her every thought and action revolved around Sasuke. It was a weakness. He had seen her as weak and had done his best to make her stronger.

But had he really?

Her words replayed in his head over and over.

'You never cared about my training!'

Of course that wasn't true. He did care about her training, and he certainly cared about her. But she had a point that he had focused on Naruto and Sasuke, and maybe in doing so had neglected her more than he should have.

He was brought back to the present when Naruto spoke.

"She's right. I did fail." He was still staring at the floor, looking miserable. "I made a promise and I couldn't keep it. I couldn't bring Sasuke back, and now Sakura hates me."

Tsunade sighed and stood up from her desk.

"She doesn't hate you Naruto. She's just angry. But you don't have time to worry about that now. You have a mission."

Kakashi cleared his throat. "Alright everyone, let's get going."

As the four of them made their way from the Hokage tower towards the gate, Naruto stopped and looked back.

"Naruto, what is it?" Kakashi asked.

Naruto looked at him, concerned. "I don't feel right leaving things like this with Sakura. Shouldn't we go talk to her?" He asked.

Yamato shook his head.

"That's probably not a good idea. She's upset. The best thing to do is to just let her cool down. You can sort things out with her when we complete our mission."

Naruto looked at him grudgingly.

"Yeah alright, fine."

Sai gave a thoughtful look.

"I doubt Ugly will be in a better mood when we get back. I read in a book that women hold grudges for a long time, so she's probably going to hate you forever Naruto."

Naruto glared at the pale boy.

"You know Sai, sometimes you're just asking to be punched in the face."

Sakura had been travelling full speed for hours now and she was absolutely exhausted. She sat down against a tree and closed her eyes.

She was far from the village now, and it seemed likely that no one was following her. Not yet anyway. Once she had decided to track down Itachi Uchiha herself she hadn't gone back to the village. She had immediately set out, hoping to put enough distance between herself and Team Kakashi.

She did wish she had been more prepared though. After travelling so far so fast she was thirsty. And hungry. She hadn't brought anything with her except for the clothes on her back. From memory she knew she wasn't too far from a village where should get supplies; she also hoped someone there would have some information on the Akatsuki member she was hunting.

She stood up and stretched. She was about to set off again when she heard a scream.

It was coming from somewhere to her right and instantly she was in pursuit.

A small boy of maybe twelve was cowering in front of three large men who seemed to be robbing him.

"C'mon ya little shit! Give us your money!" One of the men kicked the boy in his side and the boy screamed again.

Sakura charged, molding chakra into her hands.

"Get away from him you bastards!" The man who had kicked the boy barely had time to register what was happening before her fist connected with his face. The man went flying before crashing into a tree and landing with an unceremonious thud on the ground.

The other two men advanced towards Sakura.

"You little bitch." One of them snarled. "I'll make you regret that!" He swung at her but she dodged easily, bringing her leg up in a kick to his gut that left him sprawled on the ground.

The third seemed unsure whether he wanted to engage with her or not, glancing from her to an escape route. Before he could make a decision though, she was on him; bringing her first directly to his chest and sending him also crashing into a nearby tree.

Sakura looked down at the boy who was openly gaping at her.

She smiled and held out her hand to help him up.

"Are you alright?" She asked.

He winced and put his hand on his ribs.

"I think they broke a rib." He said sulkily.

"Here, let me take care of it for you." Once again she brought chakra to her hands. This time though it was for healing, not destroying.

The boy's eyes widened as she healed his broken rib. When she finished she smiled at him.

"My name's Sakura. What's yours?" She asked.

The boy looked at her like he had never seen anyone like her before.

"Kohiko." He said. "Say, Sakura, you're a ninja right? What are you doing here?"

"Oh, well I'm on a mission." A self-assigned mission...

Kohiko's eyes lit up. "Wow a mission! What kind of mission? Are you going to infiltrate an enemy village? Or are you going to beat up more bad guys? Oh man, this is so cool! He was practically bouncing up and down with excitement.

Sakura laughed at his enthusiasm.

"Actually I'm looking for someone." She looked thoughtful, "But I'm not very prepared. I didn't bring any food or anything with me and I've been travelling for a while now."

"Well hey, my village isn't far from here! You can get supplies there." Kohiko said. "Besides, it's getting late anyway and you probably don't want to sleep on the ground."

As used to sleeping on the ground as she was she had to admit a bed sounded preferable. She would spend the night in Kohiko's village and get supplies. Maybe someone would even have some information on the Akatsuki or even Itachi Uchiha himself.

She nodded and followed Kohiko.

After walking Kohiko to his house, Sakura set off in search of supplies. She grabbed some bread and cheese, and fruit. She didn't want to get anything that required cooking, not wanting to attract attention with a fire. She wanted to find the Akatsuki, but she didn't want them finding her first.

She bought a canteen and filled it with water. She was running out of money and still needed to get a room to sleep in, so she decided not buy new clothes. She figured she could just wash them when she bathed.

After shopping, she made her way to an inn to get a room for the night. The lady at the front desk was an elderly woman with kind eyes. After getting a room Sakura decided she should start digging for the Akatsuki's location.

"So, have you seen any strange people come through here lately?" She asked the woman.

The woman chuckled. "My dear, we are a traveler's town. We get many strange folk coming through here."

"What about anyone suspicious? Or dangerous looking? Like maybe a man who looks like a shark?"

The woman raised an eyebrow.

"I certainly don't recall ever seeing someone like THAT. But we do sometimes get suspicious fellows wandering into town. We never question them though. Best just let them do their business and leave."

"Have you ever seen anyone in a black cloak with red clouds?"

"I'm sorry dear, I don't remember if I have."

Sakura sighed and thanked the woman before going up to her room. She sank onto the bed and looked up at the ceiling. She supposed if someone encountered the Akatsuki they would remember. So they hadn't been through here.

She had no idea where to start looking but she knew she couldn't give up. She was determined to find Itachi Uchiha, even if she had to comb the whole earth to do it.

Tsunade sat at her desk staring at her assistant with irritation.

"What do you mean you can't find Sakura?"

Shizune shifted uncomfortably under the Hokage's scrutiny.

"She isn't anywhere in the village my lady. Kotetsu and Izumo say they saw her leave yesterday afternoon and that she hasn't returned yet. No one else has seen her either."

Tsunade sighed and laced her fingers together.

"She was upset yesterday. She's probably off sulking somewhere. She'll be back soon."

"But my lady, don't you think we should send someone out to look for her? She could be in trouble."

"Sakura can handle herself. Besides, we don't have the man power to spare right now. We're thinly stretched as it is with Team Kakashi gone. Don't worry about Sakura, Shizune; she'll be home soon."

"Yes my lady." Shizune bowed and left the office.

Tsunade turned and looked out the window, worry etched on her face.

Sakura felt like she had combed the whole earth...

It had been a month now since she left Kohiko's village, and she was no closer to finding the Akatsuki than she had been then. She had traveled from village to village, doing odd jobs and small missions for pay; and asking anyone she came across for any information on the criminal organization.

Most people seemed to know nothing about them, but sometimes someone would offer her a rumor they had heard from someone else. She followed the rumors always to a dead end. Sometimes she would hear hushed whispers that the Akatsuki was on the move, but no one seemed to know where they were or where they were headed.

And no one seemed to want to know.

Another month passed by and she still had no leads. She wondered how Team Kakashi was doing with their search. She knew if they hadn't found Itachi Uchiha yet they would return to the village to rethink a strategy.

Thinking of the Leaf Village made her sad. She knew people were worried sick about her. Her heart clenched painfully at the thought of Naruto returning home to discover that his second teammate had now abandoned him too. She had known from the beginning that this would be difficult, but she honestly hadn't considered that she would be gone for so long.

She sighed and headed towards the inn she was staying at. This town was a small one, and the people were suspicious and reserved. When she had first started asking questions about the Akatsuki here, the people immediately shut her out and refused to speak to her. It was obvious that they had previous encounters with the organization and clearly wanted nothing to do with it.

She had decided that it was time to move on from this town, seeing as no one was going to help her.

When she was some ways away from the town she felt someone watching her. She glanced over her shoulder but didn't see anyone. It was probably some of the townsfolk making sure she wasn't going to double back into the town.

She picked up the pace but the feeling didn't go away. She stopped and waited, listening for any movement. She heard none, and the feeling had gone away.

She moved to keep walking but stopped abruptly when someone stepped out onto the path in front of her.

Her heart thudded in her chest.

She instantly recognized the person as Kisame Hoshigaki; after seeing his picture he wasn't someone you could ever forget. The shark nin stopped about ten feet in front of her and regarded her with mild interest.

"So you're the kunoichi who's been asking around about us, huh? I have to admit, you're not as impressive as I had thought you would be. I'm a bit disappointed."

Sakura glared at him. "You shouldn't underestimate your opponent. I'm a lot tougher than I look!" She crouched into a fighting stance, waiting for him to attack.
Instead of attacking her though he simply stood where he was and watched her.

"And who said I wanted you to be my opponent, Pinky? Maybe I just want to have a little chat with you."

Her eye twitched at the nickname. "I doubt an S-classed criminal wants to just talk. You don't seem like someone who would be capable of an intelligent conversation anyway, Sharky." If she was going to have an insulting nickname, it was only fair he should have one too.

Kisame smirked at her and reached for his sword; Samehada, she remembered it being called in his file.
"You know Pinky; I wasn't planning on fighting you. But since you seem to be the one who's incapable of having an intelligent conversation, I think I ought to teach you some respect."

Sakura barely had time to register his words before she dodged out of the way of his sword. Regaining her balance, she gathered chakra in her hands, preparing for his next attack. He came at her again, swinging Samehada towards her. She sidestepped in time but felt the sword graze her arm. She winced but managed to launch her fist into his stomach sending him backwards.
He didn't go nearly as far as she had intended and she felt dizzy. She could feel the chakra in her hands draining. She looked down at them in confusion; she shouldn't be losing her chakra that quickly.

Kisame picked himself up and smirked as if reading her thoughts. "My sword here is pretty special Pinky. It feeds off of chakra. The more you're exposed to it the more chakra it takes from you." He took a step towards her with a thirsty glint in his eyes. "Samehada thinks your chakra is quite delicious Pinky. It wants another taste." He lunged at her again. She sidestepped quickly but couldn't avoid the swing completely. This time Samehada managed to nick her on the side of her neck. She felt a wave of dizziness and barely registered the blood from her wounds. She tried to stand but only managed to get halfway up before she felt Kisame kick her in the gut sending her back down again.

Her smirked down at her, clearly enjoying her pain.
"Maybe now, you'll have better manners Pinky." He lifted Samehada to swing down on her. She braced herself, knowing she wouldn't be able to move out of the way this time.

"Kisame."

Kisame stopped mid-swing and scowled. The voice had come from behind Sakura so she couldn't see who it belonged to.

She didn't need to. As soon as she had seen Kisame she knew it was only a matter of time before Itachi Uchiha made an appearance as well. From her place on the ground she only saw his feet move in front of her. Even though they weren't at eye level with each other she instinctively closed her eyes, knowing that if she looked into his Sharingan it would all be over.

He spoke again to Kisame but kept his eyes fixed on the kunoichi on the ground.
"I believe I told you not to kill her Kisame."

Kisame smirked at his partner.

"I wasn't planning on killing her. Just teaching her some respect."

Itachi crouched down to get a better look at Sakura. She kept her eyes closed tight, not risking being trapped in his Tsukuyomi. She felt a rush if frustration. This wasn't how she had wanted this meeting to go.

She had been searching for two months; she should have known that word would reach the Akatsuki that a Shinobi was looking for them.

She had been trying so hard to find them that she hadn't prepared for the possibility of them finding her first. And now as she lay on the ground at Itachi Uchiha's feet, she was completely helpless. Her chakra was depleted, and she could feel unconsciousness reaching for her mind.

"Look at me Kunoichi." Itachi's deep voice penetrated her ears but she refused to oblige his command.

Kisame snorted in amusement.

"I don't think she's going to listen to you Itachi. Maybe we should just knock her out."

"If I let you knock her out you'll end up killing her." Itachi responded.

"So what if I do? It's not like we need her alive. We just need the Nine Tails to think she is."

At the mention of Naruto, Sakura's eyes snapped open.

Big mistake.

Immediately her gaze was locked with Itachi's. The Uchiha looked at her with something akin to amusement.

"Got you."

It was the last thing she heard before consciousness was ripped from her.