Chapter One:

"Pain."

The fight broke out immediately. What the Akatsuki didn't anticipate was how much of a fight they would put up. The Uchiha all blasted their fire ball jutsus at the same time. They could feel like heat emerge from the giant fire ball. The black cloaks jumped out of the way with a 'Tsk' seeing this would be a fight. Kunais and metal clashes rang throughout the area.

The leader sees their strength and his odds. He decides to give them a sneak peak of his power. Just a taste of what's to come. "Retreat." He told the other members.

They did as they were told, and he raised his palm. Nobody dared to move. Tsuande eyed him carefully, seeing he wasn't weaving any signs. "Planetary Devastation!" He shouted.

The Uchihas widened their eyes. They knew what was to come next. They saw tremendous amounts of boulders ripped from the ground hovering above the village. The dust and debris filled their vision. It was enough to wipe each and every one of them out. "Don't let those rocks hit the village!" The voice was Shisui Uchiha. He activated his Mangekyō Sharingan and emerged in his green Susano. He used Susano's drill and split a giant bolder in half above him and grabbed 2 more, crushing under their weight.

"Help him!" Itachi shouted to everyone around, worried about his friend. Tsunade summoned her slug, Katsuyu. "Please protect the villagers in case they hit." The slug complied and hurried off. Scattering herself into hundreds of slugs. Tsuande felt her chakra deplete, and the strength leave her body.

She dropped to one knee with her eyes glued to the orange hair man still floating in the sky. His face was stoic, and his voice was cold. The more she stared at him, the more she recognized him.

"I know you." She called out. His face didn't change. "You were Jiraya's student."

Sasuke, Sakura, and Naruto were hiding underground guarded by Anbu. It was dark and seemed wet. The only light they had were torches that hung from the wall. The solders didn't speak, which unnerved Sakura even more. "What do you think is happening?" Sakura asked them. Neither one of them answered.

The leader didn't answer Tsuande. He didn't confirm nor deny her claims. But she knew she was right. They were just kids when she last seen them.

Everybody did their best to support the boulders. But to their dismay the man spoke, "You all will know pain." He added a bigger rock on top of the one's Shisui was holding.

Itachi was struggling next to his friends when he saw Shisui's eyes bleed, and his face scrunched up in pain for a split second of the collision. "Itachi." His friend looked over at him. "Let go of the boulder and fall back." He told him. Itachi's resolve didn't shake. "No."

Shisui sighed. "You've always been hardheaded. You're really going to make me use the last bit of strength to get you out of the way?" Itachi shook his head yet again. "No! You're not doing this." He raised his voice for the first time at him. Shisui brought his hands together and signed. He made a clone and smiled one last time at his beloved friend. "Take care Itachi." And with that the clone attacked him making Itachi jump back. "Wait Shusui!" And when he did the Susano unleashed a barrage of needles cutting the rocks he could into pieces.

Shusui started coughing up blood the more power he released. His Sharingan locked onto the leader, and he made another clone with a Susano onto that one as well. Blood dripped from his hand clutching his eye to the ground, and he grunted. His clone attacked full force as the orange haired man dodged effortlessly.

Shisui's Susano shot more chalkra needles out at him and he just absorbed it. "What the hell!?" The clone shouted and just stood there staring at him. "What's your name?" The Uchiha demanded.

The leader lifted one of Shisui's very own needles with his palm from the previous attack and answered, "Pain." With that the needle shot through the clone to the real Uchiha. His other eye now bled too, his head shot back in what seemed like slow motion, and Susano dissipated. He fell to the ground with a heavy thud, and everything was silent.

Shisui managed to clear out all the boulders with his Susano before the blow with the last bit of chakra he had. And now he laid lifeless on the ground.

Itachi ran over to him and dropped to his knees to inspect his friend with shaky fingers, scared to even move him. His eyes met Pains'. "I'll kill you." He said in a calm, but deadly voice. "Now do you feel pain?" Itachi now acquired a different shape to his Sharingan and the Uchiha's all witnessed and gasped.

"Don't let him leave alive!" Itachi shouted at the Uchihas. With that, they all attacked full force. Pain lifted his hand yet again, "Almighty push!" Furious wind and force hit everybody like a ton of bricks pushing them back. Buildings crumbled under the pressure, and Tsuande's slugs squirmed into action protecting the villagers.

When the dust settled, and everybody opened their eyes Pain was gone along with all the members of the Akatsuki. "They will come back." Tsuande said weakly. Itachi looked at her with an emotionless expression. "Not if we get them before they do."

Kakashi finally arrived at the underground location where Naruto and the others were hidden with a solemn look on his face. "Sensei, what happened?" Naruto was the first to ask. It took a moment for him to answer with his hands in his pockets. "Shisui Uchiha died protecting the village. Half of it was destroyed in the battle."

Sasuke's eyes widened in disbelief. "They managed to kill Shisui? He was the strongest one in the –" Kakashi cut him off. "I know."

None of them spoke again until they reached the top of the village. This time, it was Sakura. "It's all gone…" she grimaced while clutching her chest. "No, it isn't." Kakashi assured her while wrapping his arm around her shoulder pulling her closer.

She looked down at his arm and noticed blood. "Your arm." She looked back up at his face. He shook his head. "It's nothing. Just from the debris." Sakura pulled away and sat him to the ground. "Let me heal you." He didn't protest.

Kakashi could see the grief and worry in her eyes as he felt her warm chakra envelope him. The green light glowed in the dark since the sun had just set. After she was done, she sat in front of him almost straddling his lap in disbelief of what happened. Her hand grabbed a fistful of the front of his hair and pulled him closer to her. Kakashi set his hands on her hips, and she leaned her forehead against his and whispered, "I'm glad you're okay." He stared into her eyes, getting lost in them.

This was the first time either one of them had initiated such contact. Especially in front of others. Sasuke looked down at them feeling the pang of jealousy in his chest. Nobody dared to say anything, it was almost as if they were scared to break some kind of magic that was occurring there.

"I'm going to check on Tsunade." Sakura announced while standing. "I'll come with." Kakashi added. That's when Sasuke spoke up. "Were coming too." The copycat ninja nodded his head. "We have to see what her plans are with Naruto." They all began to take in the damage done to their beloved village. It wasn't all lost. However, plenty of people lost their homes and shops. The academy was utterly demolished. Thankfully everybody had been evacuated during the invasion as a precaution.

The four of them arrived in the hokage's office to see Tsunade overly stressed and looking weak. "Shouldn't you be at home resting milady?" Sakura asked her teacher with a concerned look. The older woman sighed heavily, "At a time like this? I can't afford to, besides, I'm okay for now as long as they don't come back all too soon."

Her eyes darted to Naruto. "This is in no way your fault Naruto. Just know that. They want your nine tails for power. And if they capture you, extract it, you will die. We don't know what their plans are, so we have to avoid it at all costs. They are powerful. And I could tell, the leader called, 'Pain' wasn't putting much effort into his battle and still killed Shisui and wiped out half the village. It was a warning. An introduction." She explained with her hands folded resting on the desk.

"What do we do?" Naruto asked in a shaky voice. "We sent a memo out to Jiraya to return to the village. You will be under his training and supervision again. For no reason are you to leave the village until the enemies are delt with."

That's when Naruto's worry turned into anger. "There must be something I can do to help! Being locked away wont!" He shouted, pounding a fist on his chest. Tsuande gritted her teeth, "You getting captured won't help either! You do not understand their power Naruto! You cannot defeat them!" The blonde hair boy looked defeated after that. Tusande almost looked sorry. "That's why you're going to be training more under Jiraya. He will help come up with a plan. Just be patient with us to gather intel, will you Naruto?" He nodded, weighing over his limited options.

"One more thing." Tusande told them as they turned their back to leave. "Report back to me tomorrow morning Sakura. I have an important mission for you." Sasuke raised a brow at that. "Just her?" he asked. The hokage nodded. "Yes, just her. You all are dismissed."

Sakura left the hokage tower contemplating what her mission was and feeling equally nervous about it. Her steps were slower than normal while her eyes were glued to the ground. Sasuke and Naruto said their goodbyes while Kakashi wordlessly followed alongside of her.

Sasuke returned to the Uchiha compound and opened the sliding door to his house. He smelled his mother's famous Yakitori. "Mom! Is Itachi here?" He called out and made his way down the small and narrow hallway. Mikoto looked at her son with sad eyes and shook her head. "No, he hasn't returned yet. I assume he's with the elders. Have you heard Sasuke?" She asked turning the stove to dinner off and dusting her apron. "Yes."

Itachi had been with the elders discussing their situation as a clan. Losing Shisui was a great loss to everyone. They made preparations for a funeral and discussed a plan going forward. All Itachi felt was anger. How dare they come into the village demand and kill? He had gained more respect than he even had before since acquiring his new eyes.

He was taken by the elders to learn secrets even he didn't know, and he wasn't to share with anyone. Some of the clan even looked at him in fear now. He had always been a bit cold unlike Shisui, so him getting a new height of power was terrifying for some of the clan.

Itachi found his way home to see Sasuke waiting on the porch. "Not now Sasuke." He told him in a low voice, attempting to pass him and get some rest. "I'm sorry." That made Itachi halt. Without looking down at his little brother, he spoke. "You need to get stronger. This won't be the last invasion." Is all he told him. With that he removed his shoes and went inside. Sasuke curled his fists into a ball in his lap and squeezed his eyes shut. "Will I ever be as strong as you though?'

Itachi had told him that out of fear. He didn't want to lose Sasuke like he had lost his friend. Because if he lost his little brother, he didn't know what would become of him.

"Goodnight." Sakura told Kakashi in a weak voice and turned to walk away to her apartment. Kakashi softly grasped her wrist turning her to face him, her head jerked back, and her hair flew around her. "Are you sure you're okay?" She looked at him almost offended and yanked her arm away. "I'm fine." She tried to convince him. "It's okay to be scared." He told her. "I can't be." She bit back. "I'm the student of the Hokage, top medical ninja, and I would die to protect my friends and village. I can't be." Her voice shook a little at the end.

Kakashi wrapped his arms around her shoulders and held her. He rested his head on top of hers and rubbed her back gently. "Your strong Sakura. Stronger than you think. Don't ever doubt yourself." He pulled back from her and softly caressed her cheek with his thumb.

Sakura stood on her tippee toes, closed her eyes letting her long lashes flutter shut, and grazed the side of his face with her fingers. She kissed the side of his lips on top of his mask and let her lips linger on his for a second before pulling away from the stunned man, letting her fingers run down his muscular shoulders to his forearms. "Same goes for you. Thank you. I'll see you when I get back from my mission, okay?" He smiled, "I'll be waiting."

Kakashi spent the night analyzing the tragedy that struck today and what has yet to come. He had been in war before, this wasn't a new thing to him. But it was new to the younger generation who had never witnessed it before. Who had never been in real life of death combat. He could feel the war brewing in the air.

The morning came too swiftly for Sakura. That was the worst sleep of her entire life. She had sat up the whole night in thought and was sure she had bags under her eyes. Sitting up from her silk covered sheets, Sakura grabbed her brush to comb her long hair in the mirror. She put it up in a ponytail laying down the flyaway hairs on top of her head. She grabbed her green vest and slid it on. Giving herself a final check, she headed out her front door.

Sakura arrived at the Hokage's office at dawn. The sun had hardly peaked in the deep blue sky and the birds begun to sing their morning songs. The air was cool, damp, and crisp. Sakura opened the door slowly and saw a man with dark hair and a low ponytail with his back to her facing lady Tsunade. "Sakura, right on time. Thank you for coming." Her teacher said to her. Sakura glanced to the side to see the man was Sasuke's older brother, Itachi Uchiha. "What did you need milady?" Sakura asked with her hands fidgeting with her clothes.

Tsuande's expression remained hardened as she spoke, "I want you to accompany Itachi on a S rank mission. We have a lead on the whereabouts of one of the men in black cloaks in a village about two days away from here. He will have a partner. The man in question is Sasori and his partner is named Deidara. We only have a little bit of intel to go on so you must proceed with caution." The Hokage paused and rested her folded fingers in front of her face and continued. "Sasori uses poison. Take what you'd think you need there with you. We have little to no information on his partner." Sakura nodded and looked back to Itachi. "Why just the two of us? Isn't that dangerous?" Sakura asked with a hint of worry in her voice.

Itachi answered her, "So nobody gets in our way. Any casualties that can be avoided would be better." His voice remained emotionless. Tsuande confirmed, "Yes, he is correct. I picked you Sakura because you are the best fit. And there's no better partner for a duo mission than him. You both will leave at sunset. Settle your affairs and get ready. And please, be careful." Sakura and Itachi both bowed and headed out of her office. Itachi didn't offer her a single word before parting his own way. Sakura couldn't help but stare at him as he walked away.

She had seen the older Uchiha brother around Sasuke, but never had many interactions with him. All she knew about him was he was an Uchiha and highly gifted in combat and accepted into anbu at the age of 9. He was called a prodigy. He seemed a lot colder than she had remembered though. She had done a few checkups on him at the hospital in the past.

It was sunset and the village had been put on a strict curfew since the attack. The streets were empty with everybody in their homes, or temporary shelter. Sakura brought herbs and antidotes in her backpack for her upcoming mission. She had packed a little bit of food and water with extras just in case she needed it. She saw Itachi waiting at the gates, it seemed he had arrived early. "Ready?" He asked her, glancing at her up and down giving her the itch to squirm under his gaze. She nodded and they began walking to their destination.

"We will be walking for a while before we set up camp for the night to rest. Keep that in mind." He told her. She still didn't respond to him. "Hmp." The older Uchiha made a noise noticing that. 'Maybe she feared me like many others?' He thought to himself.

They walked for hours without stopping, she heard wolves howl in the distance and the echos of the owls 'hoos' bounce off the trees. They came stumbled upon a dark cave that had a shallow depth to it which seemed fitting to rest there until sunrise. Sakura put her backpack to the ground and used it as a pillow to rest on. Itachi sat on the ground near the entrance far enough away from her in silence on guard.

After thirty minutes Itachi finally spoke, "You're on my brothers' team." It didn't seem like a question to her, just a notion. "Yes." She replied quietly. Unsure of where the conversation was headed. She didn't move or peak back up at him either. "Do you still fancy him?" He asked. Sakura's mouth dropped. That's what he chose to ask? "What kind of a question is that?" Sakura grumbled, feeling irritated adjusting her resting position. "I take that as a yes." He retorted. "Take it as a no. He's my teammate and friend. Nothing more." She barked back. 'What a shame.' He thought and decided to keep to himself.

It was dawn and Sakura doesn't remember falling asleep. She noticed Itachi sleeping sitting up near the entrance with his arms crossed and back resting against the wall of the cave when she woke up. She stared at him a little before wanting to disturb him. His expression while asleep seemed softer and even more elegant. One eye peeked open and he had caught her staring. "Eeep!" She jumped back startled and straightened up her stance. A light blush crept onto her face, and she muttered, "S-sorry. I wasn't sure how to wake you."

Back at the Hidden leaf village, Jiraya finally made his appearance and set out a game plan for Naruto's new training on how to handle the Akatsuki. Everybody had their part and a big one was repairs to the village. The people were scared and restless.

"Kakashi!" The silver haired ninja heard somebody call out for him. It was Sasuke. "Yo." He waved a finger and greeted him. "Where's Sakura?" he asked, figuring the old geezer was keeping tabs on her. "On a mission." Sasuke raised a brow at that. "Oh, my brother was sent out too." "Ah" Kakashi responded. He wondered what kind of mission Tsunade sent Sakura on. And if it was with Itachi, he knew it wasn't a safe one. "She'll be fine if she's with him." Sasuke told him.

Itachi and Sakura had traveled for a day and a half and arrived at the designated village a little ahead of schedule. They tried their best to stay hidden and keep their eyes open. "Be on your toes." Itachi told her.

The next few hours passed and nothing out of the normal was to be seen. But then, they saw a man hunched over in the very same cloak headed to the forest outside of the small village. "That's him." Itachi whispered.

Sasori was alone, but they didn't know how far off his partner really was, so they remained cautious. He was leaving the village in a straw hat hunched over with a mask that covered his mouth. He looked around and noticed he had seen that tree just a few minutes ago. That's when he knew he was under a genjutsu. He put his hands together, "Release!" When he did, he was met with Sakura's chakra filled punch right to the face. It was like being hit by a bus. He flew back and broke 3 trees going straight through them. He toppled on the ground roughly and growled, struggling to regain his balance. "Sneak attack huh? You'll regret that little girl." He sneered at her.

Sasori was now missing his hat, he summoned 2 puppets to start off with and they charged forward with blades to attack. 'A puppet master huh? The poison must be in the blades. Better be careful not to get scraped by those.' She thought as she dodged the attacks effortlessly with a smirk on her face.

Itachi remained hidden and masked his chakra keeping an eye on Sakura from above in a tree until he saw fit to come out. He didn't want to ruin the element of surprise in this ambush. And if he had to be honest, Sakura was doing much better than he anticipated. He had never seen her in combat before. He only seen her in the hospital.

Sakura jumped above the puppets that charged at her and they ended up hitting each other in the collision. She brought her fist down and smashed them both to pieces in the same hit crumbling the ground along with it. Her hair tie broke and her long pink hair flew behind her draping down her back like a curtain in the wind. Itachi's eyes widened, 'Amazing.' He thought. She was absolutely breathtaking in battle.

Sasori smirked and pulled out a scroll, "You think those 2 were it? I haven't ever had to do this before. Consider it an honor. Let's see if you can take on 100 more at the same time." Just as he said that Sakura was face to face with 100 puppets making a 'clicking' sound at her. Sakura's eyes widened and she readied herself.

The first group of puppets charged at her, she dodged and kicked a couple of them to pieces, never missing a beat. It almost felt as if she were dancing. Another 20 joined the battle and released needles infused with poison.

She jumped in the air to avoid them and flung herself on a tree branch propelling herself. She decided to skip over all the puppets and head straight to who was controlling them, the puppet master himself. 'Smart.' Itachi noted. "CHAA!" Sakura slammed her fist down smashing the puppets who got in her way with the puppet master to the ground. She added more chakra and kept pummeling him.

The chakra threads to his puppets broke and he laid there lifeless. Sakura panted for a second noticing she got nicked by a blade in the shoulder. 'That's not good. I might only have a few minutes before the poison takes effect.' She said to herself. She turned around thinking the battle was over, but a figure appeared to stand behind her slowly. She turned around and saw a sword swinging down and that's when she felt Itachi grab her, slide his hands under her legs and upper body and swoop her in his arms and jump out of the way.

He landed to the ground gracefully a safe distance away while she held onto him and looked up to face him while still in his grasp, "You didn't get hit by the blade, did you?" She asked him. "No." He replied while setting her to her feet. "It seems that was a shell of the puppet master. And he's actually a puppet." Itachi pointed out. Sakura looked confused, her eyes not leaving the enemy in front of them. "Then how is he - ?" There was no time, he was ready to strike using his limbs as weapons. Itachi activated his Sharingan and looked at Sasori, "Amaterasu." And hit him in the chest with a kunai, finishing him. Black flames burned from his body turning it into ash finishing the job.

When Itachi was sure he was finished this time, he let the black flames go out. And grunted a bit, considering it was his first time using his new eyes. 'Those aren't the same eyes as Sasuke's.' Sakura thought. "Your eyes, they're different. What- "Before she could finish Itachi answered for her. "Mangekyou Sharingan."

A moment passed a Sakura was digging in her bag and stabbed herself with a needle in the leg he noticed. She winced at the force and squeezed the vial into herself. "You got hit." Sakura waved her hands dismissively, "I should be okay. This should counteract the poisons effects until I can remove it from myself when we rest tonight." She assured him and he nodded, "Very well."

Itachi decided to have them stay at an Inn in the village for the night to finish their search and intel for Deidara. They still hadn't heard of or seen him in their time there. Itachi got 2 separate single beds in the room. Sakura thanked God for that. "What's the plan?" Sakura asked sitting in a chair by the window crisscrossed. "You're going to remove the poison from yourself and I'm going to search for clues or intel." He explained. Sakura made a move to stop him, "Alone?" she asked worriedly. "I'll be back soon." With those parting words, he exited the room.

Itachi walked around the village hoping to see any clues about the pupper master's partner. To hear some goofball carelessly shouting, "Sasori! Sasori you dope! Where did you go?" Itachi knew that was Deidara. The boy had bright blonde hair and was in his long black cloak with red clouds on it matching the other members. This would be his chance to swiftly take him out.

Itachi tailed him silently to a dark alley that ended up being a dead end and activated his Sharingan. Deidara turned around frustrated and confused on where his partner wondered off to and was face to face with these deadly eyes and shouted, "What the hell?!"

Sakura spent her time while itachi was away removing the poison and she had gotten it all out and decided to take a shower. A few hours passed and she was beginning to grow more worried about when Itachi would return.

Until she heard the door open and saw him calmly remove his vest. "Did you find anything?" Sakura asked approaching him. "I took care of him." He told her as if he were telling her the weather outside.

Sakura was taken back, "What do you mean you took care of him? Alone?" She interrogated him growing agitated. "Just as I said." He stared back at her blankly taking in the fresh smell of her melon shampoo she had just used. "Do you know how dangerous and stupid that was?" She bit out at him. "Hmp." Was the only response he gave her.

She stood up getting more furious by the second, "Don't ignore me Uchiha! What if you got hurt?" Itachi didn't move, "But I didn't. We completed the mission. Isn't that what matters?" She shook her head, "Not by you putting yourself at risk." She countered back. He raised a brow, "Just like you did earlier?" 'Ok, he had a point.' Sakura thought. "And Sakura?" He called out to her, and she lowered her tone. "Yea?" She gripped her used towel and he smiled, "You did a good job." That was all it took for Itachi Uchiha to get another small blush out of her. She didn't know how to respond after that other than getting some sleep.


A/N: That concludes chapter one! I might make the chapters longer as I go and get into the groove of it. I blacked out Deidara's battle with Itachi to keep it up to the imagination on what he did with him. But heres our introduction to Itachi!

Let me know what you think so far!

Thanks for reading! xoxo