Chapter 7 : First encounter with Akatsuki

Five days later, Sakura was walking down the main road when she saw her sensei whit Sasuke, Kurenai sensei and Asuma sensei.

Wondering why they were together, she approached them. But before she could actually arrive beside them, she felt two extremely strong chakra coming from the dango shop beside them.

The sensation went away only mere second after but she could still feel the two scaring chakra in her soul. They both were chakra that surpassed greatly even Kakashi sensei chakra.

Calming herself a little, she continued walking toward her teammate and sensei. But suddenly, all three sensei disappeared leaving Sasuke kun alone.

Frowning, she approached him and slightly touched him on the shoulder since he didn't see her.

Hello Sasuke kun.

He turned around and acknowledged her with a nod before he started walking. She followed him and stand beside him.

What were you doing with Kakashi sensei?

Nothing, just talking.

Do you know where they went?

No, he just told me he had something to do and went away.

She nodded and they kept walking in silence for a while before Sasuke started talking again.

Thank you for protecting me and healing me the other day.

No problem. It was my duty as a member of team 7.

Hn. Thank you anyway.

She felt herself blush a little at her crush world of acknowledgement but didn't say anything else. Ten minute later, they came across Shikamaru and he joined them asking them if they had seen Asuma sensei.

Yeah, he was with Kurenai sensei and Kakashi sensei ten minute ago but then they disappeared and we don't know where they went.

Shikamaru thanked her and was about to go away when suddenly Sasuke froze. They both looked at him with a frow before looking at each other. She tried to approach him to get his attention but suddenly he started running in the opposite direction they were going.

What's wrong with him?

I don't know, he simply froze and…

It was her turn to completely froze, her eyes going wide after sensing the two powerful chakra in the same direction Sasuke was going. But this time, the chakra felt menacing and that worried her.

Shikamaru tried to get her attention by waving his hand in front of her eyes, but she was too concentrate to pay attention.

The two powerful chakra weren't the only one in that direction. She could also sense her sensei and Shikamaru sensei as well as Kurenai sensei chakra.

Sakura, what's wrong?

Shikamaru, I think we have a problem. I can fell two very powerful and menacing chakra coming from where Sasuke kun just went. There are also Kakashi sensei, Asuma sensei and Kurenai sensei chakra. We need to go see what's going on, I have a bad feeling about this.

Shikamaru frowned but agreed whit her and they both started running in the same direction Sasuke had previously took. The more they approach the more she could feel the two powerful chakra.

Once they finally arrive at the source of the two chakra, what she saw horrify her. In front of her were Kurenai sensei and Asuma sensei on the floor whit both their eyes closed. She could feel they were low on chakra and both of them were wounded.

In front of them, Kakashi sensei was on the water crouched also with one eyes closed and the sharingan activated. He seemed to be shocked about something.

When she followed his gaze, she saw Sasuke kun being hold by the throat by a men with black hair and the sharingan in both eyes.

Uchiwa Itachi.

The realisation hit her and she felt herself unable to breath for about two second before she forced herself to breath again.

Beside Itachi was a tall man looking more like a shark with blue skin and sharp white teeth. On his back there was an enormous sword that emanated killing intent in wave.

She could feel Shikamaru trembling slightly beside her and couldn't blame him for it as she herself was trembling a little.

Suddenly, Itachi took out a kunai and stabbed Sasuke in the stomach. He then throw him in the air and turned back to Kakashi sensei without even giving him a second look.

But then, the shark guy took out his sword and Sakura started panicking while he launch himself at Sasuke who was still in the air.

Her mind went blank at the scene and she acted without thinking. Turning to Shikamaru, she slapped him on the head to wake him up.

Use your shadow jutsu on that blue guy, now!

Without waiting for an answers, she launched herself as fast as she could in Sasuke direction. From the corner of her eyes, she could see Kakashi sensei widening his eyes in her direction and she could hear his scream telling her not to approach. But all of this was being blocked out by one thought.

Sasuke is in danger, he's going to die.

She could also see Itachi face slightly morph into a worried one seeing his comrade ready to attack his brother. Although it was something strange for someone who should not care , she didn't have time to think about it now. So she put this information on the side.

Throwing herself in the air, she caught Sasuke and they both end up rolling on the water for about two meter before she used chakra to stabilize them on the water surface.

It seemed Shikamaru had been able to stop the blue guy with his shadow clone for just the perfect amount of time. Because the moment she came in contact with Sasuke body, she felt the sword passing just behind them.

Before she could relax though, a bad feeling washed over her and she immediately took two kunai out of her pouch and stood in a defensive position just in front of Sasuke.

She heard Shikamaru voice calling her name in a desperate try to warn her just before the blue guy blade made contact with her two kunai.

Knowing she had to act fast and make this guy go far away from them, she used a great amount of chakra in her arm and leg muscle and deflected the sword sending it slightly to the right.

Without wasting anymore time, she quickly gathered a big amount of chakra in her right fist and punched the guy in front of her with all her strength. She could see him putting his left arm in front of him to defend himself but this didn't change the fact he ended up flying a good ten meter backwards.

Before the man could try to attack them again, she took Sasuke in her arm and got behind Kakashi sensei.

Are you ok Sakura chan?

Yes, don't worry Kakashi sensei.

What about Sasuke?

She quickly made a scan with her healing chakra of Sasuke body while he got up in a sitting position.

Three broken ribs and one broken arm. There is also the stab wound in is stomach.

Do you think you can heal that?

I can heal the wound but not the broken bone.

Ok do that then.

She nodded and got to work slowly pouring healing chakra in Sasuke wound. Strangely enough, the stab hadn't touched a single organ, which was either a lucky shot or it was done intentionally.

And that thought coupled with the look Itachi had given Sasuke before made her start to suspect something wasn't like it seemed. But again, she put that thought aside and finished healing Sasuke wound.

Before the guy with the sword could attempt to hurt them again, Itachi ordered him to stop. The blue guy didn't seem very happy having to stop but he listened anyway and went back standing on Itachi right side.

The movement made him wince a little and he seemed shocked about something. Looking at the arm he had used to block her attack, he squinted his eyes in confusion before turning to Itachi.

Itachi.

What?

He seemed to hesitate a little before finally talking again.

That pink haired brat just broke my arm with one blow.

Itachi looked at him slightly confused and then at his arm with one brow raised. Ha then turned to Kakashi sensei direction, which by the way was also her and Sasuke direction, and looked straight in her eyes his sharingan spinning.

She felt Sasuke and Kakashi tense near her and then she felt Sasuke hand block her vision of his brother sharingan. She took his hand in hers and moved it away to look straight into Itachi eyes again. She felt Sasuke protest but for once she didn't listen to him.

She had something to test and now was the perfect moment. When she discovered Inner skill, or more particularly the 'Genjutsu reversal' skill, she had also read that tanks to the mastery of this skill and inner natural barrier around her mind, she should be totally immune to any kind of genjutsu. Though it wasn't precised if that was also applied to the sharingan, so since she had some staring right in her eyes, she decided to test out her theory.

She obviously wasn't going to use her skill since that one still took a tool on her and nearly drained her of her chakra, after all it was quite an incredible skill. But she could still test her immunity to genjutsu thanks to inner natural barrier.

Itachi was staring so intently at her that it seemed like if he was starring right at her soul which was a strange feeling. Slowly she started felling the genjutsu being cast on her and thought it was being casted way slower than it should have been, she could still feel it slowly tacking control of her mind.

She could see on Itachi face a semblable of shock and confusion at the fact that she was somehow contrasting his genjutsu. But this wasn't enough for her, she didn't just want to be able to slow down the genjutsu, no, she wanted to completely stop it from entering her mind.

Son in a fit of rage, she screamed at inner.

" Come on Inner, you can't let him win! He's the one that hurt Sasuke kun, we have to counter those eyes of his he is so proud of. For Sasuke sake!"

Slowly she felt inner forcing the barrier around her mind and slowly but surely totally dispersing the genjutsu. She felt a proud smirk on her face and glared right in Itachi eyes with all the anger she could muster.

She didn't know what was wrong with him and why he seemed to care about his brother. In a twisted way sure, but still cared, it was undeniable. But that wouldn't stop from hating him with all her gut for hurting Sasuke.

Itachi face morphed into one of shock, and for once it was clearly visible on his face and not a simple hint of emotion like all the other time. She could also feel Sasuke and Kakashi sensei stare at her in a way that told her they were shocked by the fact she still wasn't under genjutsu.

Feeling proud of herself for being able to resist the sharingan, she held her head high and, thought she would later find out it wasn't exactly a good idea, she talked again.

You can try all you want Uchiwa, but your genjutsu will have no effect on me.

She heard gasp of shock from everyone around her and could feel her two comrade look at her even more shocked than before.

"Well done, outer, their face are priceless."

She could hear Inner laugh her ass off and couldn't stop another smirk from finding it's place on her face.

She saw Itachi twitch at her statement, but before they could do anything else, Guy sensei arrived and the two criminal fled.

Now that the tension was somewhat disappearing, she could feel the after effect of countering the sharingan and her little battle as she was pretty sure nearly all her chakra was drained. She hadn't feel it during the events thanks to the adrenaline but now, she knew she wouldn't be able to even go back home before collapsing.

She was also starting to take into account the consequence of her action. She knew that the moment Kakashi sensei or Sasuke found themselves alone with her, they would bombard her of question about what had happened.

That was one of the principal reason why the moment she got up and felt all her energy leaving her body, ready to faint, she didn't fight it at all. Telling herself that this way she would be able to have a little more pace before confronting her sensei and teammate.

The last think she saw before fainting thought were those exact two person worried face, and she started to regret a little not fighting to stay awake a little more.