Adult-FanFiction.org : Naruto

Tears of the Unworthy	By : MudbloodMalfoy Category: Naruto > Het - Male/Female > Itachi/Sakura Views: 9330 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto! I am not paid to write this fic.

Chapter List
- 10
- 11
- 12
Chapter Eleven
Past, Present, and Future
I don't own any aspect of Naruto.

"Itachi, do you remember your Chûnin Exam?" Sakura asked as they lay in bed the next morning.
Itachi looked over at her questioningly.
"Well, I just...our exam was so...disastrous. I was wondering if yours was any better?" Sakura glanced at her lover. His eyes had glazed over a bit, her question sending his mind to the past.
"I was in a three-man squad with Hana Inuzuka and a kid from a civilian family. We passed the first part of the exam with no troubles. Of course, we still had Ibiki as our examiner. Anko wasn't in charge of the second part, however. We were actually lucky. One of Hana's dogs got poisoned by a giant centipede, and the civilian kid got a few cuts, but we were one of the first teams to the end," Itachi said.
Sakura laughed. "You mean the first team. I know you. Nothing but the best," she mocked as she leaned over and kissed him.
"I was there, you know," Itachi mumbled.
Sakura sat back, blinking in confusion. "You were where?"
Looking a bit uncomfortable, Itachi took a moment to answer. "I was at your Chûnin Exam. After Sasuke was bitten by Orochimaru. You never wondered why crows would be in the middle of the Forbidden Forest?"
Sakura's face scrunched up as she tried to remember. "To be honest, I don't really remember that much about that part of the exam. I remember fighting Orochimaru, and Naruto and Sasuke being hurt, but I don't really remember much more until after I calmed down from the near-hysteria. But, yeah, I think I do remember those crows. Why were you there?"
"To look out for you. I hesitated to stop Orochimaru from biting Sasuke. I regret that now. Back then I thought that if he was to be able to defeat Madara, he should be able to defeat that snake with little trouble. My assumption is ultimately what led to Sasuke's insanity and death." Itachi looked away from Sakura, not willing to see the condemnation he knew was in her eyes.
A soft hand on his jaw brought his face back around to hers. "I don't blame you, Itachi. I don't think Sasuke would, either. Have you been blaming yourself for Sasuke's death all this time?"
A knot formed in Itachi's throat, making it impossible to speak. Sakura smiled softly. "I know how you feel. Right after his death, I kept thinking that maybe, if I hadn't been so weak back then, we could've defeated Orochimaru and Sasuke would've stayed in the village. Then I realize that if he hadn't left, I never would've gone searching for him, and you never would've come back for me. In a way, it's the best thing that could've happened. I feel horrible for saying that, since it led to Sasuke's death, but I think he's better off now than he ever was alive." Sakura shuddered at the memory of the inside of Sasuke's crazed mind. "He was so confused and lost. It started way before the clan massacre, too. I honestly think he was born a little off, and having you as his older brother, who he could never beat, just added onto it. Plus your father's favoritism towards you, the massacre, being infected by that freak, and seeing Naruto's power grow faster than his own, it's no wonder he ended up so insane."
Itachi glanced at Sakura, knowing she had blabbered more as a way to distract him than to really say anything. "He wasn't, you know. My father. He didn't favor me at all. I was a tool; Sasuke was the real favorite. Mom's favorite, too. She tried not to show it, but she was scared of me." Itachi hung his head. "They all were. I was just a weapon to be used when they needed me, and avoided the rest of the time because I was unstable and heartless."
Sakura blinked. "He sounds so much like Gaara. It's so heartbreaking how alone they both were, even surrounded by so many people." "I wonder how Gaara's doing since he became Kazekage, if he still feels so lonely?"
Blinking again to refocus on her lover, Sakura wrapped her arms around him. "Itachi...you know that I love you right? You also know that I'm not scared of you, not anymore. I was for awhile, after the massacre, but now I trust you. And I know you love me, too."
Itachi barked a humorless little laugh. "I sacrificed everything so that Sasuke would live and be strong. My family, my best friend, my sanity, you, even a piece of my soul. And I couldn't bring myself to stop Orochimaru from infecting him, or his death. Even with my strength and power, I'm useless to save the ones I love." Feelings that he had pushed into the far recesses of his mind came flooding back at Sakura's quiet words of reassurance. The self-loathing, the worthlessness, the taint of the evil that Madara had pushed into him that night; it was all whirling inside his head until he thought he would go even more insane – if that was possible.
Even with the jutsu Madara had placed him under that night to numb his conscience and feelings of abject horror and disgust with himself, he could still remember that night perfectly. The solid weight of his katana as he sliced down cousins and friends, aunts and uncles, grandparents and children. The cold indifference that swept over him as his own family started to fight back, just like when he was on a mission. Sickly, his mind kept returning the thought that everyone believed him to be a monster without control. "I guess I proved them all right."
Itachi grimaced at his morose thoughts. His last days in Konoha had been brutal. The secrecy that his double agent status forced him into was nearly unbearable. The one thing that helped him through was his cousin and best friend, Shisui. To find out that Shisui was also a double agent, working for the clan elders to keep an eye on Itachi's movements, was his breaking point.
########
The day he met Shisui at the river, he gave him a choice. He could side with Itachi and live, or they would fight to the death. Itachi was confident in his resolve to ultimately kill the teen who was like a brother to him, but when it came down to it, he hesitated. That hesitation was nearly his undoing. He felt the blade of Shisui's katana slice through his chest, barely missing his heart and lungs. That was Shisui's final mistake, letting Itachi close enough to strike; even with a katana through his chest, he had enough strength to grip Shisui's neck in a hold tight enough to cut off all his air. Their battle had taken only ten minutes, something that still astounded Itachi since it felt like it had taken infinitely longer. The two had trained together and sparred so often, they knew each others' moves. After the life had drained out of the boy, Itachi carefully laid his body on the ground and set to work on healing his own wounds. Though he refused to admit it, his vision wasn't blurry due to blood loss, but rather to tears. Even today, he felt unworthy to have cried over the body of someone who had meant so much to him, somebody he had just murdered.
As he walked onto the river and let Shisui's body slip into the fast-moving current, Itachi felt his eyes change. His head seemed to burst at the new influx of visual information. Better than the regular Sharingan by multiple times, the Mangekyou Sharingan drove it home what Itachi had done. After he composed himself, Itachi went home and changed, only to be forcefully questioned by the same clan elders that had turned his best friend against him. His kunai was itching to taste their blood, but he couldn't risk the mission given to him by the Sandaime Hokage; instead, he threw the weapon at the crest in the wall across the courtyard with enough force to drive the sharp tool halfway to the hilt into the wall and to send cracks spidering away from it.
#########
Now that he really thought about it, it was pretty symbolic: Itachi had broken the Uchiha crest when he threw that kunai, just as he had broken his family, Sasuke's mind, and his own sense of right and wrong. He felt Sakura tighten her grip on him and looked down to see tears in her eyes. Only then did he realize he had said all of that out loud. Sakura's eyes hardened after a few seconds. "If I could, I would make Danzo pay a thousand-fold for what he made you do. That man is a disgrace to Konoha."
Itachi looked down at his little blossom, surprised at her vehemence. He smiled his tiny little smile at her, then kissed her lips softly. When he pulled away, Sakura smiled widely up at him. "I love you, too, Itachi. Now, what do we do? We've had a family, killed your archenemy, and started on making the Akatsuki less of a pig-sty. What's next?"
Itachi chuckled. "We go back to Konoha and get married. I believe your friend's wedding was interrupted, also. Perhaps we could let Tsunade watch over the twins while we take a honeymoon."
Sakura blinked. "Well. I certainly wasn't expecting that. I thought we had to stay here for the sealing, not that I'm happy about that, by the way."
"We do, but that will only take three or four days. If you helped, it would take less time, of course," Itachi said, looking down at her with an innocent expression.
Sakura chuckled. "Not a chance in hell. C'mon. Let's go see what the guys are doing."
"Why, Sakura. You're going to go out into public without taking a shower first?"
"Oh, yeah. Well, I guess seeing the others can wait ten minutes."
Itachi stood up, stark naked, and pulled Sakura into his arms. He walked across the room and opened the door. "I believe it will take longer than ten minutes," he said as he crossed the hall and opened the bathroom door. He didn't fail to notice Deidara's squeak of shock as he walked into the hall and saw them, or Kisame's choking cough as he laughed at Itachi's lack of propriety. Sakura just laughed as he shut the door. ...It took a lot longer than ten minutes...
Later, The other men were all gathered in the living room/nursery. Itachi walked in with his arm around Sakura's shoulders. Kisame looked up from the sofa, holding Mai, with a slightly guilty look on his face. Deidara, holding Shin, did the same. Sakura immediately went into protective mother-mode. "What in the hell are you two looking so guilty for?"
Kisame blushed, turning his cheeks a bit purple. Deidara's blush turned his entire face red, sorta like Hinata's when Naruto was close to her. Kisame spoke first. "Well, you see...we were uhh...talking to the kids."
Deidara laughed. "Yeah. We were telling them how they shouldn't cry, 'cause Daddy wasn't hurting Mommy; they were just...uh...trying to make Mai and Shin a little brother or sister, yeah."
Sakura scowled fiercely. "If they weren't too young to understand you, I would kick both of your asses."
Sasori, Zetsu, Hidan, and Kakuzu were all trying not to laugh. Sakura whirled on them. "And you four. I'll bet you guys put your two cents in, too, didn't you?"
The four in question stopped laughing and started looking at Sakura a bit strangely. "What?" she snapped.
Sasori cleared his throat and spoke. "Sakura-san, your eyes. They're...pink."
Sakura blinked and shook her head. "I had forgotten about that. Anger always made Sasuke-kun's Sharingan activate. Makes sense that mine would, too," she said softly.
Hidan choked. "Sharingan? What the fuck are you talking about? That's an Uchiha thing, girlie. Last I heard, you're from a nobody clan with no ties to the Uchiha."
Sakura turned her eerie pink Sharingan eyes to Hidan. "Does it look like I'm lying, Hidan-kun? And I'm not from a nobody clan. The Haruno clan is actually well-known for our Jounin-level genjutsu users, and for geniuses...like myself."
Itachi smirked. "She's right. They're not very well-known outside of the village, but Haruno clan members often give the Uchiha clan members a run for their money in the Academy. Most of the time, if a Haruno and an Uchiha are in the same year, they tie for first in ranking. I believe Sakura-chan beat Sasuke in their year."
Sakura blushed and smiled at Itachi, who felt his breath hitch at the sight of her Sharingan. "Beautiful," he thought. He smirked again. "Ne, Sakura-chan. Why don't you show Hidan just what you can do with that Sharingan?"
Sakura smiled and flexed her hand. "Let's take this to the training area, huh?" She led the way as the other men trailed along behind her like puppies. Once in the training area, she walked calmly to the middle and slowly pulled her gloves on. She took a defensive stance and watched as Hidan drew his scythe and charged at her. Hidan swung his mighty scythe and missed the pink haired kunoichi by mere inches as she ducked. Sakura grabbed the scythe and ripped it from the shinobi's hand, throwing it across the arena where it clattered against a tree.
"You little bitch!" yelled Hidan as he charged again, this time with his bare hands.
The silver-haired shinobi threw a barrage of kunai and threw a left hook towards Sakura's cheek. Sakura smirked even as his blow connected and retaliated with a powerful kick to Hidan's chest. Hidan staggered back, grabbing his chest. Another sharp pain from where his hand touched told him that his sternum had been shattered.
"Who's the bitch now?" asked Sakura with an evil laugh.
Hidan began to laugh hysterically, "We're about to see who the bitch is, kunoichi." He shook his head in mock-grief. "You really shouldn't have let me hit you." He smirked as he licked his knuckles - knuckles which were spattered with Sakura's blood. "Now! Let's savor the utmost of suffering together!"* yelled the shinobi, stepping into a symbol he had drawn on the ground with his foot.
"Ano, Itachi-san?" stuttered Deidara.
"Hn?" grunted Itachi.
"Hidan-san is kind of taking this fight a little too far, don't you think?" asked Deidara, fidgeting his fingers.
"Look at Sakura's eyes," replied Itachi with a smirk.
"What about th...oh. I see now. She's been toying around," said Deidara.
Hidan stepped into the symbol and began to change appearance. Sakura stood paralyzed as Hidan drew a long dagger from his ninja pack. The Jashinist raised the dagger and quickly thrust it towards his chest. A loud echo of gasps filled the air as the blade stopped just inches from his chest.
"What's wrong with him?" asked Kisame, confused.
"He's trapped in her Mangekyou Sharingan," replied Itachi.
"But...I thought Mangekyou could only be achieved by killing the person closest to you?" Deidara said, more confused than ever.
"I believe that Sakura-san has a distinct advantage over the Uchiha, Deidara-kun," said Sasori.
Itachi nodded. "Sakura's jutsu allows her to absorb any attack that uses chakra. She asked me to subject to the advanced forms of the Sharingan so that she could obtain them as well," he said.
The others nodded and continued to watch the two motionless figures in the middle of the arena.
#########
Hidan thrust the dagger towards his chest, awaiting the familiar rush of pleasure and pain; however, when it touched his flesh, it squeaked.
"What the fuck?" yelled Hidan.
"Now, now, Hidan. That's no way for a little boy to be talking. Does little Hidan need a time out?" asked a voice softly.
"Little boy? I'm a fucking man!" yelled Hidan in a higher voice than usual.
Feeling dread coil in his stomach, Hidan felt his face and body and then ran to a mirror.
"What the fuck have you done to me, you insane little whore?" yelled Hidan.
"Oh, Hidan. I should wash your mouth out with soap. Too bad I don't have any. Oh, well. I guess you'll just have to go to your room," said the disembodied voice.
Before Hidan could reply, he was in his old room back in his village of Yugakure.
"There will be no swearing, no playing with your toys, and definitely no trying to escape while in time out. You've been warned," said the voice gently.
Hidan muttered under his breath as he went to his table of torture tools. "Fuck you!" yelled the chibi shinobi, grabbing a knife and thrusting it towards his chest. The knife squeaked and bent nearly in half on his bony chest. As he dropped his knife, the room's walls began to turn pink.
"What the hell is fucking happening here?" muttered Hidan as the carpet began to turn pink. Hidan grabbed another knife from the table. "Please put me out of my misery!" he cried, thrusting the knife into his chest only to hear a squeak again.
Hidan ran to the door and twisted the knob as the whole room was engulfed in hot pink. He yanked open the door and ran out, only to scream as the sight of Lee and Gai in speedos and dancing entered his line of sight. Hidan turned and fled back to his room. Arms braced against the door, arms splayed as if to block entry, Hidan gasped for breath as he tried to mentally scourge the horrible scene he had just walked in on. He took a step into the room,only to be cuffed to the wall by the sudden appearance of thick chains. Sakura appeared in front of him in a swirl of cherry blossoms.
Smirking, Hidan chuckled. "Bondage, Sakura? Aren't you a kinky little thing?"
Sakura scowled and walked up to Hidan. "If it wasn't a turn-on for you, I'd slap you right now. As it is, I think this will have to do." Taking another step forward, she pulled out obviously doctored pictures of Hidan committing sexual acts with various Akatsuki members. With an evil grin, she showed him the first one, which showed Hidan and Kakuzu putting Hidan's dexterity and Kakuzu's strings to...interesting uses. Hidan's eyes widened and he choked on the myriad of curses trying to flow out of his mouth. The next showed the mouths on Deidara's hands being put to good use. Sakura knew from walking in on Deidara in the bathroom...doing something that she definitively did NOT want to see...his hands were like black holes! Hidan's eyes rolled to the back his head. Sakura kept on with the pictures and finally, the last one showed Hidan and a certain big-breasted Hokage.
"Guess I shouldn't have shown him that one," Sakura thought as drool ran down Hidan's chin.
Finally, Sakura smacked Hidan's cheek lightly to wake him up from his dirty-minded haze. "Do you understand now, Hidan?"
Hidan blinked and nodded slowly. "Alright, Sakura-chan. I'm the bitch. Can you let me go now?"
Sakura laughed and the cuffs holding Hidan to the wall disappeared.
##########
A second later, they were back in the training arena. Sakura flounced over to Itachi and kissed him full on the lips. "I love you, Itachi," she said softly as she wrapped her arms around his neck.
Deidara and Kisame looked at each, then at Sakura and Itachi, and started making kissing noises. Sasori whacked both of them on the head. "Leave them alone, you childish imbeciles."
The two looked at each other over the top of Sasori's head and grinned. They each looped an arm under the much-shorter Suna nin and lifted him up, only to carry him away and drop him into the little sandbox that Deidara and Sasori had built for Mai and Shin, regardless of how young they were and the fact that the twins were much too young to even be around the sand.
Itachi and Sakura paid them no attention, used to their antics by now. Itachi pulled away slowly. "I have to go into the town for awhile. Behave, Sakura," he said as he kissed her forehead softly.
Sakura giggled and smirked. "Of course, 'tachi-kun. Hurry back."
Nodding, Itachi disappeared in a whirlwind of black flames.
Walking out of the underground arena, Sakura went upstairs to see to Mai and Shin. She found the twins sitting up in their cribs, eyes wide open and taking in their surroundings. Sakura gasped and took a step back, only to bump into Kisame. She turned around quickly. "Kisame, they're not old enough to sit up by themselves! Or to have such awareness of their surroundings. They're barely old enough to see when somebody's right next to them. I don't understand!"
Kisame looked between the distraught kunoichi to the twins. "Sakura-chan, whose children are they?"
Sakura looked confused. "What do you mean, Kisame? What does that have to do with anything?"
Kisame smiled softly. "Sakura-chan, their parents are the two smartest shinobi from Konoha. Itachi said that he developed very quickly as a child, and I'm guessing you did, too, right?"
Sakura nodded slowly. "Yeah. My mom said that she was scared at how fast I developed. I guess it makes sense that Mai and Shin would develop even faster than either of us." Breathing out a sigh of relief, she smiled up at Kisame. "Thanks, Kisame-kun. I really freaked out for a second there, didn't I?"
Kisame laughed as they walked over to the twins. He picked Mai up and cradled her in his massive arms. The little girl smiled up at the shark man, making his breath catch just like every other time she had smiled at him.
Sakura looked up from where she was tickling Shin. "That means a lot to you, doesn't it?"
Kisame looked up and met Sakura's gaze. "What? The fact that this innocent little baby smiles at me like I'm a normal person and not a monster? You're fucking right, Sakura-chan."
"You're not a monster, Kisame. Your physical appearance has nothing to do with what you're like inside, and anybody who says different can talk to my fist," Sakura said fiercely.
Kisame's reply was interrupted by Hidan's cry of, "Holy motherfucker, yes!"**
Sakura chuckled at Kisame's confused expression. "In the Mangekyou, I made all of his weapons into squeaky toys," she explained. "I guess he had to make sure it wasn't real."
Kisame's laugh echoed through the room. "Ah, Sakura-chan. Devious as always, ne?"
"But of course, my sharky friend. If I'd had the mind to, I could've been worse than Naruto growing up, what with all of his pranks and whatnot. Being a genius means you can get some pretty creative ideas sometimes."
The two laughed at that and went back to tending to the twins. Struck by a sudden thought, Sakura asked Kisame quietly, "Kisame, have you ever thought of having children?"
Looking away from Mai, he answered, "Not really. Even in Kiri, there weren't very many girls who could stand the sight of me; everyone was too scared to interact with me much. After a while, I gave up on ever finding anybody who could get past what I look like and be willing to stay with me. It's not a big deal. Any kids I have would probably have to deal with the same shit I did. I wouldn't wish that on anybody."
Sakura nodded. She opened her mouth to reply, only to have a pillow thrown in her face. "Don't say anything, yeah. He's not the only one who was treated like that back home, so don't baby him unless you're gonna baby the rest of us, yeah."
Sakura turned questioning eyes on Deidara, who had walked in and was now on the couch. Lifting his hands so she could see the mouths, he explained. "These aren't exactly a turn-on for chicks, yeah. And the one on my chest, which was stitched closed by Kakuzu, is even more of a deal-breaker."
"Not to mention the one on your face," Sasori said, walking into the room. Deidara gaped like a fish at the insult. Looking over to a giggling Sakura, Sasori said, "I believe that all of us have had rough pasts, and were all ridiculed in one form or another as children."
Sakura looked around the room at the men who had shaped Itachi's life from the time he was fourteen. Kisame, who had to be the biggest goofball in all the nations, but who was fiercely loyal to those he loved. Deidara, who was a loudmouth, but could be so sweet and serious when the time called for it. Sasori, who was probably the only one who understood the strain she and Itachi had been under as children, since he himself was a genius. Zetsu, who had taken to randomly popping out of the ground to scare her (his devious side being the culprit), then giving her the prettiest flower of the day from his massive gardens (his nicer side's way of apologizing). Pein, who had often talked to Itachi about making a nursery for the twins so that Sakura would be more willing to stay at the base. Konan, who had become one of Sakura's best friends through their midnight ice-cream-and-girl-talk sessions. Hidan, who had a fouler mouth than Tsunade, but who respected those who earned it. Kakuzu, who was a greedy bastard, but could be counted on in a pinch.
To her, these weren't S-ranked missing ninja who had betrayed their countries. Oh, no. These were people who had overcome unfortunate situations to achieve greatness. People who had been forced, one way or another, to leave their homes. These were people who were now...her friends. She trusted these people with her life, with her children's lives. No matter what, she would stand by these friends of hers and defend them. Her heart swelled with this new-found affection. She smiled a bit, then burst into tears. Three pairs of eyes widened in panic as the tears continued to flow unchecked down Sakura's cheeks. All three men were secretly terrified of crying women; they had no idea how to stop her uncontrolled sobbing and were slightly afraid of Itachi finding them surrounding the crying female.
A few minutes went by. Hidan, brought into the room by the sobbing, froze at the sight of a blubbering Sakura sitting in the middle of the floor. Scowling, he looked at the other three. "What the fuck, guys? You're just gonna let Sakura-chan cry herself to death? Sheesh," he berated them as he walked over to Sakura. He placed a hand on her shoulder and shook her a bit. "Oi, Sakura-chan. Stop your fucking crying already; you're scaring the hell outta the pussies over there."
Sakura giggled through her tears. "P-pussies, Hidan-kun?"
"Well, yeah. If they don't even have the balls to deal with a crying woman, then they're pussies. Me, on the other hand, I know how to deal with crying women," he said, leering at her.
"I suggest you deal with someone other than my soon-to-be wife, Hidan," a cold voice said from the doorway.
Sakura's face brightened, as suddenly as if a light switch had been flipped. "You're back, 'tachi-kun!" she said as she jumped up from where she had been sitting. She shot across the room and into Itachi's arms in a pink blur.
Wrapping his arms her, Itachi glared at everyone in the room. He looked down at Sakura with a soft expression, completely at odds with the death glare he had just given the men. "What made you cry, koneko?" he asked gently.
Sakura smiled into his chest. "I was thinking about all of my new friends, and how much I care about them. It overwhelmed me," she admitted.
Itachi shook his head. "Sometimes you are very silly."
Sakura just smiled. Itachi looked up at the others. "Kisame-san, would you please ask everyone to meet in the debriefing room in ten minutes?"
Kisame nodded confusedly. Not bothering to explain, Itachi whisked Sakura away to their room. He pinned her against the door the second it was closed, kissing her senseless and running his hands up and down her body. Sakura moaned and arched into his touch. After a few minutes, Itachi pulled away and led her to the bed. Sakura sat down and looked up at Itachi, who started pacing uncharacteristically. "Itachi, what is it?" Sakura asked worriedly.
Itachi stopped in his pacing to look at her. There was a warmth in his eyes that caused her heart to skip a beat.
He took a step forward. Sakura's heart began to pound faster.
He knelt down. Sakura's breath hitched.
Pulled something from his pocket.
Looked into her eyes.
Opened the small, rectangular box.
Tears formed in Sakura's eyes.
"Sakura, will you marry me?" Itachi asked, still looking deep into her eyes.
Sakura gasped, then let out a choking sob. She nodded as tears once again spilled down her cheeks. "Yes, yes, yes. A million times, yes!" she cried as she launched herself into his arms.
Itachi smiled as he turned her in his arms so he could slip the ring he had just had made for her onto her finger. Sakura slowed her tears enough to look at it. Her breath hitched once more as she took in the ornate silver band, carved with tiny, ivy-like designs and inlaid with a starbust-cut emerald as green as her eyes and tiny diamonds on each side. She burst into tears once again. "W-when did you find t-time to get this?"
Itachi kissed her hair and explained, "I designed it myself, and had the best jeweler in Ame make it for me. That is why I went into town today. It was finally completed."
Sakura smiled and looked into Itachi's eyes. "Itachi, I love you so much. I'm so happy right now."
Itachi smiled in return. "I love you, too, koneko." He dropped his head to her shoulder. "Thank you for saving me."
"Saving you? From what?" she asked.
"From who I was becoming. Madara's influence was changing me, and it was not for the better. I should regret that night the twins were conceived, but I can't. You came back to me, and brought my children with you."
Sakura kissed Itachi again, a kiss so full of love and passion that it caused his heart to pound. Before her kiss could lead to anything else, Itachi pulled away. "Come, we have very important news to tell the others."
Sakura giggled and nodded, allowing him to pull her out by her hand.
In the debriefing room, the others were all just standing around, wondering what Itachi had to say that was so important. Suddenly, the door flew open to reveal Itachi and Sakura. Before anyone could say anything, Itachi held up a silencing hand. "Sakura has something to say," he told them.
Sakura face broke into the widest grin anyone present had ever seen before. With a flourish, she raised her left hand, showing off the ring Itachi had just given her. "We're getting married!" she said excitedly.
The men all had identical looks of shock, but Konan squealed in joy. She rushed at Sakura and enveloped the smaller kunoichi in a crushing hug. The two started talking about wedding plans and all that go with them as they left the room, while the men slowly surrounded Itachi and clapped him on the back. Pein shook his hand and led him away from the others to talk about where the wedding would be, hinting that it would be best to marry in a neutral place, so that both the Akatsuki members and the Konoha ninja could attend and be on equal footing.
Kisame busted out some cigars for the men to smoke, while the girls had a planning party in the kitchen, complete with ice cream and magazines that Konan had rummaged up. The two were careful not to plan too very much, wanting to save some things for Sakura's other friends to help with. Later that night, they all made plans to move to their little-used base in Suna, to be closer to Konoha and to be on neutral(-ish) grounds. They sent letters to the Hokage, which was answered within twenty minutes via slug summon; and the Kazekage, which was answered the next day via Temari's weasel summon. Both congratulated Itachi and Sakura on their pending nuptials, and the Kazekage granted them permission to stay in Suna legally.
The next day, everyone had moved into the new compound and things were going fine. Tsunade gave Pein and Konan amnesty so they could stay in Konoha with Itachi, Sakura, and the twins until the wedding. The girls all had a wonderful time planning Sakura's wedding, which was to take place four days after Hinata's make-up wedding. Konan grew close to the Konoha kunoichi, while Pein enjoyed constant guys' nights with the kunoichi's men. For two weeks, they planned the two weddings, and finally, Hinata's second big day had come.
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Tears of the Unworthy