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Hunter	By : Zelha Category: Naruto > Het - Male/Female > Itachi/Sakura Views: 3374 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, duh. I only own a pair of sleepers, so obviously I don't make any profit with this story.

Chapter List
- 10
- 11
- 12
Chapter 11: I've Seen It All

-X-

They walked
in silence through the darkness of the middle hallway, opening doors one by one
and checking the rooms.

Something
about Itachi’s sudden change of mission partners told Sakura that he wanted to
talk to her in private. Seeing as they just walked away from the battlefield
left by Orochimaru, Kabuto and Sasori of the Red Sands, she figured it was
something about–

Orochimaru. Damn it all, he wanted to know what
happened when Team Seven encountered the Snake Sannin in the past.

Truthfully,
she just didn’t know why the hell Sasuke hadn’t told his brother about those
episodes. True, they’d managed to hold their ground against Orochimaru thanks
to Sasuke and Kakashi’s Sharingan. Despite
that, they were barely able to escape until Naruto sprouted some tails and
punted the Sannin into temporary oblivion.

Damn, damn,
damn.

“I know
something happened, Sakura, and I know Sasuke swore you into secrecy. Please
brief me,” he said with that seemingly polite tone that carried a bit of
authority, ever so typical of this particular ANBU Captain.

“I don’t
think I–”

“Sakura,”
he stopped and turned so fast that she almost collided with his chest. His eyes
told another story, though, as they glittered with something more than the intensity
they usually showed when he looked at her. “Please tell me. Sasuke is my
brother.”

She gaped
in surprise. Not only because Itachi had just stated the obvious, but also
because his voice held a note of something akin to concern.

She
couldn’t keep hiding this from him.

“Orochimaru...”
she sighed. “We first encountered him in the Forest of Death. He... he bit
Sasuke, marking him with a curse seal. Afterward, Kakashi-sensei performed a
counterseal jutsu on Sasuke, but that didn’t stop Orochimaru. He persisted in
making a nuisance of himself. He always appeared whenever we least expected
him.”

Itachi
narrowed his eyes, clenching his jaw. “What else?” he asked flatly.

“There
isn’t much to tell. The cursed seal made Sasuke acutely aware of Orochimaru’s
presence, so we’ve had always confronted him. Sometimes we won... some others
we had to retreat.”

The Uchiha
didn’t miss the way she subconsciously rubbed her upper arm.

“But...
Orochimaru is dead now, right? That seal should have disappeared from Sasuke’s
shoulder; everything would be fine now... right?”

Itachi
stared at her for a long moment and nodded, resuming their walk until they
reached another door. Sakura perceived that this one was somehow different from
the other doors.

“Ita–”

“Yes,” he murmured.
“Allow me. Take cover, Sakura.”

He heard
her move out of the way upon realizing what he was about to do. Quickly, he
performed some seals, then pressed his hand against
the door for a moment before quickly pressing his back onto the wall. A small
explosion followed, after which they peered through the smoke lingering in the
doorway.

This was Orochimaru’s room.

“We found
it,” he spoke into his radio. “We will rendezvous in ten minutes.”

“Let’s look
for the–” Sakura stopped herself as her eyes fell upon the black bound book
that lay atop the table. “This is way too easy,” she muttered as she stepped
near the table.

“Assuming
that Kabuto wasn’t lying,” Itachi commented as his Sharingan surveyed the item
on the table. “It is a regular journal. I cannot see any chakra in it.”

“There’s
only one way to find out,” Sakura said as she threw open the cover. Of course, what
she discovered inside the journal was less than pleasing.

Itachi
blinked in moderate surprise when Sakura groaned in utter despair at the
symbols written on paper.

“Hell if we
don’t break that code soon,” she seethed. “Goddamn Kabuto! I should have known
his journal was coded!”

“Sai and
Yamato are good code-breakers,” Itachi offered, but she shook her head.

“This is
not really a standard code,” she explained, leafing through the journal with a dark
scowl marring her face. “It’s a medical code. Everything in here can only be
decoded by a medical ninja. Damn it.”

“If you
teach me how, I could help you.”

Sakura’s
scowl disappeared under Itachi’s watchful stare. He made a mental note that she
looked quite... endearing, when she blushed.

“Thank
you.”

-X-

When they
finally gathered together, Itachi ordered them to make camp. Sasuke was the
only one who protested.

“We need to
break Kabuto’s journal first,” he announced, as he sat next to a concentrated
Sakura. “Do you have the scroll?”

“Actually,
I think we don’t need it,” she said without lifting her eyes from the journal.
“Even if Kabuto invented a code for his notes, there are certain roots to the
standard medical codes. He certainly didn’t expect another medic to peruse
through his things.”

“So it is
breakable,” Shisui asked as he joined them. Sakura nodded, smiling faintly.

“I only
need a bit of time, but I can do it,” she confirmed, only to let out an
unladylike snort. “Who would have figured that Orochimaru was allergic to
lactose and regular penicillin. We could have defeated that creepy bastard with
Naruto’s rotten milk.”

Kakashi let
loose a laugh. “I’ll scout the perimeter.”

“I’ll go
with you, Kakashi-sempai,” Yamato offered.

“Explosive-expert,
puppet master, suiton-expert...” Sakura mumbled as
she delved deeper into the journal, forgetting everything around her.

Shisui
smirked as Sasuke sat under a tree in front of them. “Something wrong,
Sasuke-chan?”

“Shisui,”
the cold, veiled warning came from his other cousin, effectively cutting off
any barb that the elder Uchiha could have teased the younger with.

A tense
moment of silence went until Shisui stood up to join Sai on his patrol, leaving
the Uchiha brothers with the pink-haired kunoichi. She didn’t notice how
Sasuke’s eyes narrowed at his brother, and she certainly missed the
disapproving frown Itachi directed at his otouto.

“She
spilled the beans, didn’t she?” Sasuke asked in a low tone.

“Leave her
out of this,” Itachi said curtly. “I still cannot comprehend how my little
brother thought it of little importance to tell me of something as significant
as having a cursed seal. I wonder how you managed to hide that from Chichiue.”

Sasuke
bristled instantaneously. “He doesn’t pay any attention to me, thanks to you, aniki.”

“Oh? I
thought I was doing the right thing in sparing you from the demands of the
Clan, Sasuke.”

The younger
Uchiha stood up. “You don’t know a thing about me! You don’t even know me anymore;
you’re so wrapped up in your duties as an almighty ANBU Captain! I wonder why
they haven’t chosen you as the next Hokage, or the bearer of the Will of Fire.”

Everything
happened fast enough to trigger Sakura’s shinobi senses. With a sharp gasp, she
started her eyes into the most surprising scene. Itachi was holding down Sasuke
into the ground, pulling the collar of his shirt. She didn’t realize when the
hell Itachi had stood up and gone to Sasuke, but the clipped, angry tones
managed to filter through her ears fast enough to understand they were in the
middle of a really nasty argument.

“I never
pegged you as a jealous child, Sasuke,” Itachi intoned mildly as he held the
other male to the ground with enough force to subdue any attempt to break his
hold as the older Uchiha lowered his upper body to whisper into Sasuke’s ear.
“You must thank the Gods that Hahaue is not here, for she would have been
really disappointed.”

“Shut the
fuck up!” Sasuke hollered, with his Sharingan activated. “You have no idea of
what I feel! You don’t feel shit about Hahaue; you don’t have the right to
mention her!”

“You displease
me,” Itachi said coldly as he released his brother and stood up.

“Do not
touch me, aniki,” he snarled as he righted his clothes. “I have had enough of
your superior protection. I can take
care of myself.”

“You’re a
fool, Sasuke.”

The younger
Uchiha lunged for his brother, but a sudden screech stopped him.

“Stop it!
Goddamn it all, stop it, both of you!” Sakura yelled, red in the face thanks to
her anger. “Lose your head again, Uchiha Sasuke, and by Kami
I’ll trank you.”

“What is it
to you?” he snarled back. “This is not your damn business!”

“You made
it my damn business when you started arguing in front of me, you idiot! And
I’ll not have you brothers fighting about your Mother, of all things!”

“You know nothing
about this!” Sasuke hissed, and she narrowed her eyes at him.

“What, I
don’t know what it’s like to lose my mother? Newsflash, Sasuke: I lost both of my parents to the same disease
that took your mother away! And for your information, Tsunade-shishou,
Kakashi-sensei, Naruto and you are all
I have left in this world! Don’t insist that I’m a clueless moron – to my face or
behind my back – when the only moron I see here is you! You should thank Kami you still have
a father and a brother, even if you don’t like them!”

“Sakura–”

“Shut up,
Sasuke, I don’t want to hear it. I’m going to the creek to wash up, Itachi-san,
excuse me.”

Passing by Shisui
and Kakashi, both of whom were stunned into silence, she made her way to the
nearby stream. As she left, everyone could hear her muttering curses about the
annoying, arrogant and stuck-up Uchiha clan.

-X-

It took a
while for her to calm down.

It wasn’t
the first time that she had lost her temper with Sasuke, but it was the first
time she had lost it like this. It was like everything she had bottled up for
years just leapt into her mouth. As she sat on a rock on the bank of the creek
while she washed her face, she realized that the tension she felt in her chest had
disappeared after she gave her teammate, a one Uchiha Sasuke, the reality check
of a lifetime. She was still pissed, but that was another matter altogether.

Yet, she
was determined to never cry again because of anything Sasuke said. It hurt,
yes, but mostly because she still regarded him as a close friend, perhaps in
the same place that Naruto had in her heart.

“Sakura-san?”
she heard a voice calling to her. It was the pale young man, Sai, who was also
coming to the stream to refresh himself after his patrol.

“Sai,” she
greeted flatly. She was still angry, and it showed. It didn’t really help that
the few times Sai interacted with the members of Team Seven, he had behaved
like an ass.

Calling her
an ugly hag certainly played a big part in her general dislike of the guy, but
when he opened up to Sakura and Naruto she understood why he conducted himself
that way.

Being a former
ROOT operative, raised and taught to be a killing machine and not to know about
emotions was more than a reason to be an abrasive bastard. He just did not know
how to act. Luckily for him, Naruto worked his social magic with him and
proclaimed himself as Sai’s first friend, disarming the pale ANBU with a true
smile and the offer of a real friendship after what happened to his nii-san.

“Are you
okay, Sakura-san? You seem... uglier than usual.”

“Sai, if
you appreciate your delicates hanging where they are, you would be wise not to
piss me off more than I already am,” she shot back, glaring at the ANBU. “Especially
if you’re going to be near me for the next hours.”

“It’s okay.
I heard the commotion myself and I... kind of understand why you exploded that
way,” he said, tilting his head to a side. “Taichou is right; Sasuke-kun is a fool.”

“Shut up
Sai, you’re not helping,” she rolled her eyes, standing up again in unconscious
hurry to keep moving. She stayed
silent for a long moment, staring at the water while Sai just studied her face
as her expression alternated between annoyance and distress. “We need to get
him back. Kami-sama, I miss my brother.”

Something
shifted in Sai’s face, as he nodded and his lips curved in a little smile. “Don’t
worry, Sakura-san. We will.”

-X-

Nighttime
fell over the Konoha shinobi. Itachi had spoken to Kakashi, and both agreed
that Sasuke needed to be separated from Sakura for the time being. Sakura’s
loss of temper had taken Kakashi by surprise. He was very much aware of how
much she loved her teammates, especially the younger Uchiha. There was no reason
for him to disagree with Itachi regarding the situation. Much to Sakura’s
amusement, she was transferred under Itachi’s command while Sai went with her
sensei.

She didn’t
complain, though. The tactical decision put a wide berth between herself and Sasuke.
It was probably for the best, seeing as she was finally over her crush and
Sasuke’s holier-than-thou antics annoyed her more than Naruto’s usual
silliness. Maybe she was going for the usual scorned woman scenario, but she
honestly didn’t care.

That was
why she complied with Itachi’s order to go outside the perimeter with him in
order to send a message to their Hokage. Sasuke had hissed under his breath,
but she didn’t notice it. However, Shisui did, making him smirk in unholy glee
at the significant glare that the young Uchiha sent to his older brother.

Running
next to the dark-haired prodigy, she understood why his team was the most
demanded by the village’s clients. Itachi’s mind never strayed from the task at
hand, hands flowing smoothly in the jutsu that connected them straight to a
conference to Tsunade.

“You seem
preoccupied,” he noted in a murmur, watching a hawk flying high and away from
them.

“I am,” she
confirmed. “I’m scared for Naruto. I fear...”

“I know,”
he nodded. “Chances are that they don’t know that Sasori is dead yet.”

There was
another matter that worried her sick, but she wasn’t going to talk about it
with him. Those goading, taunting words that Sasori had spoken to Itachi in his
deathbed were unsettling enough for her, especially when a sharp pang spread in
her chest whenever his presence was so close to her. She knew he was gorgeous
(her mental roommate remarked on this rather loudly and quite often), and
intelligent – brilliant, actually – not to mention how powerfully skilled he
was.

Apparently,
he was so remarkable that had brought the Akatsuki’s attention upon himself.

Watching
her eyes lowering, Itachi noticed a glimmer of uncertainty in her gaze before
she looked away. He was certain that her worry for her brother was encompassing
her very soul, but the uncomfortable blush that dusted her features led him to
think that was more to her thoughts that rescuing the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki only.

“Did you
finish breaking Kabuto’s journal?” he asked, making
her look at him again and nod. “What did you find?”

“He...
described the Akatsuki’s individual skills,” she began, opening the black
journal. “The blue-skinned one, Kisame, is a Suiton-expert,
whereas the blond guy that Naruto and Sasuke fought at the Fire City
is an explosive expert.”

“Seeing as
he is a missing-nin from Iwa, we can be sure that this Deidara can use Doton as well,” he said with an approving nod. “What about
the others?”

“Uhm... it
seems that they were nine, but suddenly Orochimaru defected from the
organization. The date of this particular observation is a week before our
Jounin Exams, so...”

Itachi
turned her head to stare at her. Sakura fidgeted nervously, gripping the
journal in an attempt to calm herself.

“Sakura,”
he said softly, one of his hands rising to trace her cheek. “Trust me.”

She stared
back. “I think... I think Orochimaru defected the Akatsuki because he thought
he could lure Sasuke out during our examination.”

His hand
stopped his soft caress of her face. “So you think he was after the Sharingan.”

“Yes,” she
breathed, nodding. “I don’t know why he picked Sasuke, though. He could have
chosen some other Uchiha, like Shisui... or you...”

But somehow
it was understandable, a nagging voice rumbled in the back of her mind. Sasuke
was the weakest link of the Head Family. Uchiha Fugaku’s
Sharingan was far too overused to be of any usefulness and Itachi...

Itachi was
targeted to become one of them. One of the Akatsuki.

Orochimaru
was far too fond of his life to cross the Akatsuki. Of course, if the criminal
organization wanted the older brother... he figured he could have the younger.

Shisui was
already too settled in with Hana and his life to be persuaded to leave the
village. Itachi and Sasuke, she concluded, were the most likely to be
influenced to change loyalties.

But Sasuke
had stayed, and Itachi was still there. Sakura looked up at the Uchiha ANBU
Captain, eyes swimming in confusion.

“Why didn’t
you leave with them?” she asked in a whisper. “You... could have gone and be
free... from...”

Itachi
understood, and once more, pieces of his mental puzzle called Haruno Sakura
clicked together.

“I didn’t
go because I have a brother to protect, and a family to lead,” he answered
smoothly, ever so softly, his fingers resuming the tracing of the contours of
her face. “I also have a duty to fulfill to Konoha, and...”

His
calculated trail off made her blush furiously, especially when the fingers
caressing her face went around the back of her neck and pulled her lightly
towards him.

“I would
like to think... I have a certain someone to look forward to my return.”

Sakura
closed her eyes willingly when his lips touched hers in a brief, chaste kiss.

-X-

His senses
prickled, making him stiffen around Sakura’s body. Pulling away from her,
Itachi noted that she had picked up the eerie feeling as well.

They shared
a gaze, and she watched in secret awe as his rich onyx eyes charged swiftly
with the crimson and three-pointed, demonic look of the Sharingan.

Stepping
away from her, his hand went to his ninjatô as Sakura
clenched her fists.

But when a
dog broke in Itachi’s vision field, a new feeling of dread entered their
senses.

“Pakkun!”

“Sakura,
Kakashi needs you back at the camp,” the pug said between pants. She nodded,
taking off with Itachi leaping at her side as the dog led them back. “One of
the ANBU encountered someone in his patrol... and the fight got out of hand.”

Oh no.

“Who?” she
asked, pressing a hand to her chest full with dread. “Pakkun,
tell me who!”

“A pale
young man, I don’t know his name.”

A steely
arm circled her waist as another hand grabbed the pug by his collar. Feeling
herself teleported, she realized what Itachi had done. But the sight that
greeted them back at the camp was nothing short of terrible.

Sai lay in
a pool of blood, his previously neatly combed hair matted with the sticky
substance. Shisui and Kakashi were next to him, as Yamato tried to clean his
many, many wounds.

“Holy Kami-sama,” she breathed as she ran to them. Dropping to
her knees, she pushed chakra frantically to Sai’s chest, scanning the extent of
his injuries. “Who the fuck did this to him?!” she snarled, ripping the ANBU’s shirt from his body to work without hindrances.

“A blue
haired woman, she was wearing an Akatsuki cloak,” Yamato explained. “I saw her
fleeing when I heard one of Sai’s tigers roar. The fight must have been very silent
and quick; I didn’t realize that she was around–”

“Enough,”
Itachi said as he kneeled next to Sakura as she pushed great amounts of green
healing energy into his teammate, but she was looking at Yamato with her mouth
hanging open.

Sakura
breathed deeply. “Blue-haired kunoichi?”
she asked tightly. Both Shisui and the mokuton user nodded, watching how the
emerald-eyes darkened with utmost rage. “Fucking bitch,” she hissed, clenching her teeth to control her temper, but
her frantic look overrode everything as she passed her glowing hand over Sai’s
chest. “Sai!” she yelled. “Don’t you dare to die on me!”

Everything
was silent in the camp as it started to rain. No one seemed to pay attention,
as Sakura’s energy was the only thing moving under the onslaught of Mother
Nature. It was as if the skies were trying to wash Sai’s blood away.

“No!” she shouted.
“Sai! No! Nononono!
You have to live, you bastard!”

“Sakura,
your chakra is almost depleted,” Kakashi warned softly.

“NO! I have
to save him! This is my way of the ninja!” she screamed. “SAI!”

Said
ink-user opened briefly his eyes, fixing them on hers.

“Sak–...”

“Shut up
and stay awake!” she shouted. “I will save you even if it is my last act!”

Sai shook
his head weakly. “...No...you have...to save...him. My friend.”

Sakura choked
back a sob, inhaling sharply. Sai’s lips curled faintly in a little, sincere
smile.

“Thank
you...and thank hi...him for me...”

“Sai, no...
you need to live to tell him that in person,” she said, sobbing openly now, her
tears mingling with the rain that fell on her face. “Sai... no, SAI! I will save you!”

Her
dwindling chakra – depleted due to the several preparations she had done for
the upcoming battle in Amegakure, her patrolling duty, and the emergency
attempt to heal the socially-stunted ninja who was finally beginning to open up
to others – flared once again, stronger than before. Suddenly, two pairs of
arms all but dragged her from Sai’s motionless body, much to the remaining ANBU
Alpha operative’s surprise.

“He’s gone,
he’s gone,” Kakashi repeated in her ear, as she struggled blindly to release
herself from Shisui and Kakashi’s restraining embrace.

“No!! I
have to save him! He’s my brother’s friend! I have to save him!!” she wailed, despair making her voice shrill and
frantic.

“He wants
you to save Naruto for him,” Shisui murmured softly, as she collapsed on
Kakashi’s chest. “That is his last wish.”

The rain
seemed to fall harder, but it did nothing to drown Sakura’s cries of anguish
and grief.

-X-

The Konoha
shinobi were ready to set out, after giving themselves a minute to say goodbye
to their fallen comrade. Yamato, Shisui and Itachi were the last, following the
White Ops’ regular procedures for the operatives that were killed in action.

Sasuke and
Kakashi had taken upon themselves the patrolling of the area. Sakura had been
left behind to let out her grief for the young man whose budding friendship
with both her and Naruto had seemed to fascinate him so much.

However,
what was eating the pink-haired kunoichi inside out was something very simple,
but terrible.

She had failed her nindo.

She had
failed to save Sai’s life, and thus she had been mercilessly struck in the face
with the fact that she wasn’t as strong as she thought.

How could
she save Naruto from the Akatsuki’s clutches if she couldn’t save her own
comrades, her nakama?

Wallowing
in harsh mental recriminations and frustration, she failed to see a tall, lean
form approaching her.

“Sakura,” a
deep murmur made her look up slowly from her hugged knees. Itachi was standing
in front of her, almost towering with his white uniform drenched by the earlier
rainfall. “It is time. Do you wish to see him one more time?”

Sakura
shook her head, lowering her gaze back to her knees until she noticed that he
hadn’t left her to her own devices. In fact, he had crouched to catch her eyes
once more.

“A
shinobi’s life is hard,” he said softly, his onyx gaze never wavering from
hers. “But, no matter if our nakama falls, we must strive forward. It is the
basic principle, Sakura.”

“How can
you say that?” she whispered, her eyes dull with muted desperation. “He... I
couldn’t – it’s my fault–”

“Listen to
me,” he commanded in that soft tone he had used in her home when asking for her
sincerity. “If you think it is your fault he fought back against an ambusher,
then it is also my fault for not protecting him either.”

“But you
weren’t there!” she protested, irritated at the Uchiha ANBU Captain. Why couldn’t
she mourn in peace? “You–”

“Exactly,”
he cut her off smoothly. “I was not even in the same location. And you were
with me. You can not blame yourself for the decisions Sai made.”

“But I
couldn’t save him–”

“Sakura, neither
of my teammates is blaming you. Not Shisui, not Yamato. And as Sai’s Captain, I am not blaming you either.”

She fell
silent, belatedly realizing that this was Itachi’s way to reassure her and set
her back onto her feet, so to speak.

“It is
unwise to wallow in regret when he told you to carry a message in his behalf,”
he continued softly. “Let us be on our way and show our targets the real
meaning of the word ‘retribution.’”

If Sakura
was surprised for his awkward, albeit sneaky attempt to restore her self-confidence,
the sudden cold steel of his tone when speaking the last sentence made her
notice that he was as troubled as she was regarding Sai’s demise.

Onyx eyes
stared back at emerald ones, for a moment showing the extent of the meaning of
his words. The pink-haired medic finally understood.

Seeing her
nod, he stood, a hand outstretched and waiting for her to take it. Behind, a
clone of him lit the modest pyre that served as Sai’s last step to the
afterlife.

“Come. We
are leaving now.”

“Hai.”

-X-

It was
almost nightfall when they finally reached the outskirts of the Village Hidden in
the Rain. True to its name, it poured non-stop.

Six figures
stood over seemed to be a cleft in a high chasm, a little away from the falling
rain. Something was odd, especially with the lack of that sweet aroma that
brought the precipitation of water over the earth. Calling for a halt, one of
the brown-cloaked figures turned to the rest of the group.

“This rain
is not natural,” Itachi said, with his Sharingan alight. “It is too massive and
it’s charged with chakra.”

The
smallest of the cloaked figures cleared her throat. “According to Kabuto’s journal, this might be the Akatsuki Leader’s
doing.”

“Such
massive Suiton manipulation!” Shisui exclaimed
softly, his own Sharingan eyes examining the rain falling a hundred meters
ahead. “If it’s his doing, he must have great reserves of chakra.”

“We need to
hurry,” Sasuke said with a business-like tone. “We do not know if they had
begun extracting...”

“There is
the strong possibility that we could be outnumbered,” Yamato piped in, “if they
found replacements for the members that were defeated. Kakuzu, Hidan,
Sasori and Orochimaru.”

“But
there’s also the possibility that they hadn’t filled those places just yet,”
Kakashi said. “I have to agree; this is way too dangerous. But I’m positive
that I’m speaking for my team when I say that for Naruto we are capable of
everything.”

Sakura and
Sasuke nodded firmly at their sensei’s words. Yamato sighed.

“Besides, I
owe that kunoichi the beating of her life,” Sakura’s hard voice was heard from
under her hood. “That was Konan; Kabuto described her as a paper-jutsu expert.”

“Sakura, I
don’t think it’s–”

“She’s
mine,” she cut Yamato off sharply, turning her turbulent emerald eyes to stare
at him. “I owe that to Sai, at least.”

“And we
also have a message to deliver to the Akatsuki ourselves,” Shisui said, letting
out a little growl. “Konoha is not above introducing their enemies to a world
of pain in return for what they have done to us and our comrades.”

Itachi
nodded in approval at his cousin’s statement. “I spoke to Hokage-sama and she
agreed to send back-up. Maito and Nara’s teams should
be arriving by mid-morning.”

“But–”

“However,”
Itachi continued smoothly, glancing at Sakura. “We are not going to wait. We
have to proceed now.”

She nodded
seriously, looking at the downpouring sky again. “But how do we pass that rain
curtain without being detected?”

“Easy,”
Shisui grinned grimly, holding out a scroll with the Uchiha crest on its
binding. “We teleport ourselves in.”

-X-

It was so
dark that Sakura couldn’t see beyond her nose. The teleportation performed by
Itachi and Shisui went without a hitch; those two must be a formidable team, if
they were so in tune with each others’ dynamics, she deduced.

Breathing
startled her, making hers hitch. “Relax, it’s me.”

She heard
something crack and soon Sasuke’s face was lit by a lantern. The light made his
face glow with that sick greenish color of the mission-fare lamps.

“What?” he
asked softly; Sakura shook her head.

They were
cramped in a storage room. Looking around, she noticed that the stone walls
were sweating. Pressing a hand over the wall, she felt the cold seeping into
her skin.

“I think
we’re underground,” she murmured, cleaning the moisture in her hand on her
cloak. “Near a lake or some large water body.”

Sasuke
grunted noncommittally. “Let’s found the others.”

“Sasuke,”
Sakura murmured, looking directly into his crimson glare pleadingly. “We have to save him.”

He stared
at her for a long moment, and then nodded with great determination in his eyes.
“We will.”

Opening the
door carefully, he wordlessly gave the lantern to the pink-haired kunoichi, who
hid it under her cloak and followed him out of the room.

They
rendezvoused with the rest of their group in a hall that clearly had seen
better days. Shisui had his ninjatô unsheathed,
Yamato had shed his cloak for better movement and Kakashi had done the same.
Sakura handed the lantern back to Sasuke, pulling her gloves on. Preparations
were ready.

“I can feel
several chakra signatures moving above us,” Yamato said. “It seems that this
place is packed with nins.”

“It is of
no importance,” Itachi answered lightly. “We are teleporting again.”

Before the
others had the time to blink, he pointed to a map of the city that was pinned
to a wall. “This construction might probably have been the administration
building of the village. According to the map and the readings of the chakra
signatures, the Akatsuki have to be nearing that location to the northeast,” he
explained, pointing at a massive square indicating a building – a tower.

“Well, this
is it,” Shisui said, swinging his blade expertly in a mid-arc. “Are you guys
ready to roll?”

“This is
suicide,” Yamato muttered, but nodded all the same. Kakashi directed one of his
eye-creases at the wood-summoner, hands in his pants pockets.

“I’m sure
it feels that way,” he said. “But I think the motto, ‘A ninja who breaks the
code is trash but a ninja who abandon his teammates is worse than trash,’
applies accurately in this particular situation.”

“I’d die
for him.”

All the
males fixed their eyes on the only female of the team, who frowned in
retaliation. “Don’t look at me like that. I’m willing to give all for all. He’s
my brother, my family. And I’d die
for his sake if that’s what it takes to get him back.”

“Let us
hope it doesn’t come to that,” Shisui murmured, looking at his older cousin.
Both Uchiha flashed a string of hand-seals, and soon they disappeared to a
roofed alley near the other building.

Sakura and
Sasuke were the first to gasp when they recognized Naruto’s chakra signature.

“He’s in
there,” he said, finding her eyes and nodding. She gritted her teeth.

“Alright,
we’ll charge inside and crash their ceremony like Tsunade-sama said,” Kakashi
instructed. “But you have to remember, Sasuke, Sakura; don’t lose your heads.
Watch your tempers.”

Both jounin
nodded, and Sakura cocked her fist.

Despite
everything that had been said and done, nothing prepared the Konoha ninja for
the spectacle that had been presented to them as soon as the wall was teared
apart by the female’s fist.

A humongous
statue, resembling a pair of cuffed hands in front of another sculpture with
several eyes, towered over them. Six figures stood on the fingertips of the
statue, but an immense ball of blue chakra between the hands quickly drew the
attention of the newcomers.

Naruto.

As if on
cue, their blond-haired nakama let out an earsplitting scream of unfathomable
pain.

Sasuke
snarled in fury, unsheathing a katana, while Sakura’s shriek of rage marked the
only warning for a livid stomping of her foot, cracking the floor in a chasm
that opened a line to one of the hands, the cracking of the stone thundering
the massive hall.

“This is
the day you all die, Akatsuki!” Sasuke roared, his
body crackling with electric chakra.

It had
begun.

-X-

KEKEKEKEKEKEKE!!!
XD
I know you
will curse at me, but come on, tell me this cliffy isn’t beautiful. XD
I have to
say, I adore Sai. He’s a lovable
dork, and I was all sad the day I wrote about his demise here in this story
(not to mention that I also had to kill him in Refraction, damn). However, I
managed to pull this chapter easier than the previous ones, maybe because I had
planned this outcome and recreated it in my head long enough... or maybe
because the battle scenes are becoming my true specialty. :'D
All in all,
I hope you like this chapter. Many love and thanks to my dearest RapturesRevenge for her thoughtful comments and cheering up
when I was feeling like down.

And to all
of you, thanks for reading!
- 10
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