Naruto 1. Slaughter

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**Snowbows**

_''A weed is no more than a flower in disguise''_

_-_

The fresh air hit Sakura in the face like a brick and she inhaled the clean, unused oxygen. After being cooped up in the hospital after dealing with a genin team that had gone wild whilst on a C-Rank mission, she had temporarily forgotten what it had felt like to be in the open air, where there was no disinfectant to cloud your senses and your pager wasn't constantly buzzing at your si-

BEEEEEEEEEEP.

Sakura froze, a rigid wave of irritation running up her spine. Slowly, she raised an arm to remove the black device from her waistband and then glanced at the message. 'Report to Ward 3 – Sponge bath'

One delicate pink, eyebrow arched downwards to her eye, an unmistakable twitch now beginning to form. Inside, she snapped, and she brought back the arm that held the pager, before hurling it into a nearby wall. A feeling of satisfaction soared through her as it disintegrated into a thousand different pieces.

"Money doesn't grow on trees, Sakura. And _they_ cost money." At the sound of a familiar voice, Sakura turned and smiled tightly at her sensei, who had appeared from nowhere to lean casually against a wall, book in hand.

"Hello Kakashi-sensei. You really couldn't have chosen a better time to come visit me." The jonin sent a lazy eye over Sakura's face, absorbing the strain in her voice and ruffled appearance.

"Bad night, huh?" He returned his eye back to his book, awaiting an answer from the pink-haired kunoichi in front of him. Sakura sighed and ran a hand through her hair, staring down at the ground in hard concentration.

"Yeah - and another one to come too." She allowed herself to calm and gave her sensei a genuine smile. He removed his eye from the orange-covered book to stare at her for a moment.

"Indeed. Sasuke's 'surprise' party, am I right?" He spoke with a bored tone and sighed, lifting himself off of the wall and returning to the porn in front of him.

"Come on. I'll walk you home." Kakashi began to walk into the direction of Sakura's apartment and she scurried along to catch up to him. He and Sakura had become close after Orochimaru had been killed as they had been the only shinobi out of hundreds who had survived. They had fought together on the battlefield, using teamwork that Sakura didn't even know her and Kakashi could achieve. It had been strange, but since then Kakashi had become protective over her. She had figured that it may have had something to do with the fact that her parents had been in the group of shinobi that had been cruelly ambushed by Orochimaru.

"19 is a big number. I'm sure Sasuke is going to be absolutely thrilled with his surprise party." Sakura said, her voice laden with sarcasm. Kakashi snorted lightly and shoved a hand in his pocket.

"He will appreciate it; he'll just have a difficult time showing it." Kakashi spoke in his monotone voice. Sakura smiled weakly at her ex-sensei and looked down at her shoes when he caught her staring. She would say there was a small attraction between her and Kakashi – something that was in danger of growing if they continued the relationship the way it was now. But there was something missing with Kakashi and she couldn't quite place her finger on it. He seemed like more of an older brother. A very strange thing to say about someone who had watched you grow up, trained you to be everything you are and cared for you when shit just seemed to fly at you from every direction.

She looked back up when she noticed that the dragging footsteps beside her had stopped. She frowned in confusion at Kakashi and then followed the direction of his one eye to the thing that had made him hesitate. Her face lit up.

"Itachi!" She extended her arm to wave at the older Uchiha. He was heading down the steps that descended from her apartment and he lifted his head to look at the caller of his name. His lips twitched at the sight of the familiar kunoichi and he began to walk towards them. Kakashi started a low growl in the back of his throat, like a feral guard dog. Sakura smirked tightly and nudged him in the ribs with her elbow.

"Down boy." She muttered quietly as Itachi approached quickly. Him and Kakashi locked eye contact for a moment, an unseen fissure beginning to form in the air. Sakura watched the two stare each other down – Kakashi with a hate-filled stare in his eye and Itachi with a blank expression.

"What did you need?" She enquired into the storm that was just waiting to erupt. The contest was immediately broken and Itachi brought his dark eyes to hers.

"Your loud, obnoxious friend mentioned that you were unsure of the party times. It shall begin at 8:30pm and will finish whenever the pathetic shinobi that are attending are sober enough to leave." His deep, monotone voice echoed in Sakura's ears and she smirked humourlessly at the obvious lack of enthusiasm in his tone.

"Don't tremble with over-excitement or anything," she commented, snorting at the blank stare she received in reply. Itachi inclined his head towards her and then began to head off in the opposite direction. Sakura whistled while she watched the Uchiha walk away.

"Now that's one person who just loves to party." She laughed to herself and raised her head up to look at Kakashi, finding that his cloudy eye was still planted firmly onto Itachi's back. She sighed and shook her head, walking slowly away to descend the stairs to her apartment.

"Thanks for the walk home, Kakashi." She said in an almost mocking voice. She dropped the honorific from the end of his name, smiling to herself as his eye finally drifted upward to glance at her. He raised a dazed hand and she mirrored the gesture, before opening the door to her apartment and heading in, dropping her keys onto the end table. She leant her aching back against the door and tilted her head backward, closing her eyes and sighing in frustration. It had been five years since she had been sent out on a mission. Five years since her life had been _exciting. _For the first few months after her parents death, Sakura had trained herself to the bone and put off any suspicion that Tsunade was holding her back from missions. But after a full year, it was clear what her teacher was up to.

She lifted herself away from the door and observed her apartment, not even bothering to tell herself that cleaning it would be a wise idea. She had spent the past five years doing intense training in her spare time in order to keep herself in shape and yet Tsunade still refused to allow her out on missions. At first, it had been because she was afraid Sakura would turn bloodthirsty, as most shinobi did when relatives were killed. But now Konoha was low on medics, there was no feasible way to take her off of her shift.

Sakura sighed and ran a pale hand through her pink hair, puffing out her cheeks and letting out a deep breath. Train, work, sleep, train, work, sleep. She was only eighteen years old and already, she felt like thirty.

~*~

"Welcome! Please find a place to hide, Sasuke will be here in 15 minutes." Sakura forced a smile at a couple with the dark-haired Uchiha trait, gesturing inside the vast house she was standing in front of. She shivered as a cold breath of wind blew over her shoulder, chilling her pale arms. It was all well and good for guests to be greeted by a beautiful woman, but it really wasn't doing her any favours.

The chill abruptly disappeared from her arms and she jumped, raising her hands to brush them against the jacket that had just been placed over her shoulders. She turned around and her eyes linked with a pair of familiar dark orbs.

"It is very nice of you to greet all of the guests, but freezing yourself in the process is not wise. On a night like this, you should learn to wear something more than a slither of fabric." Itachi Uchiha spoke to her with a deadpan face and she felt her brow beginning to tense, obviously forming a scowl.

"I'm not a little kid anymore, Uchiha. If I've got the body, I might as well show it off." She retorted, poking her tongue out immaturely at him. He retaliated with nothing more than a speculating look and she sighed, shaking her head before greeting another guest. "Thanks for the jacket anyway. I'll be out here a little while longer," she turned to acknowledge the ANBU Captain, but he had already vanished from beside her. She frowned and begun to murmur something about rudeness, then rotated her head back around to the dark street, only to find herself staring at Kakashi's masked face.

"Nice jacket." His voice was tense and filled with suppressed emotion. Sakura rolled her eyes, grabbing the jacket more tightly around her shoulders.

"Come on sensei. I was cold, he leant me a jacket." The man in front of her let out a deep sigh and stepped toward the door, holding onto the frame as he pulled himself inside. Sakura watched him ponder in, the obvious stiffening of his shoulders showing that the party atmosphere had already made him uncomfortable. She smiled at his back, failing to notice one lively shinobi bounding up beside her.

"SAKURA!" She squealed and jumped around, coming face to face with Naruto. She opened her mouth to scold him for sneaking up on her, but figured that – as a kunoichi – she should have sensed him. _I'm really not myself tonight..._

"Kakashi got here earlier than you! Where have you been?" She whispered loudly. Naruto grinned and grabbed her upper arm, turning her away from the door that led to the hustle of people and then he leant in toward her ear.

"I can't find Sasuke." Naruto murmured into her ear. Sakura's eyes widened and she pushed Naruto backwards, glaring angrily at him.

"What do you mean you can't find Sasuke?!" Sakura clapped her hands to her mouth the moment the loud words left her mouth. The party behind them had fallen silent and she slowly rotated, noticing that several of the guests were now staring outside toward her and Naruto.

"You were supposed to keep an eye on him!" She exclaimed in a whisper. Naruto placed a hand behind his head and laughed nervously.

"I guess he found out I was tracking him-" Sakura grasped Naruto's hand and pulled him inside, then she stopped and cupped the edge of her mouth with her free hand.

"Everyone HIDE!" She yelled, throwing Naruto over the edge of a black, leather sofa and ignoring the yelp of pain that rung from behind it. Everyone ran to hide behind pillars, tables – anything that would disguise them. The only two shinobi that refused to hide were Kakashi and Itachi, who were having yet another one of their staring matches. Sakura rolled her eyes for the second time that night and ran toward Kakashi, pulling him out of the deadly glare he was enforcing upon the Uchiha.

"You're aware this is a surprise party, right? It won't be much of a surprise if Sasuke comes in and finds you staring down his older brother." She pushed Kakashi beside a fragile looking woman, who was hiding herself very obviously behind a dining chair. Sakura sighed and shook her head. It didn't matter – the lights would be off anyway.

She glanced around the room, mentally checking off each of the guests. She was sure she had seen everyone that had been invited... She froze. She scanned the room again, then a third time. The most important guests of all were missing. Sasuke's parents.

~*~

The party had been in full swing for about two hours, having successfully surprised Sasuke. Well, he must have been surprised inside because he certainly didn't express any shock on his face.

Itachi took another sip of his drink and leaned back in the chair, watching the pink-haired woman carefully. She had handed her glass to the person who had been speaking to her and lightly placed her hand on their arm, before murmuring something and swiftly leaving. A short while after Sakura had progressed through the door, Itachi placed his unfinished drink on the table and quickly followed.

~*~

The cold air hit Sakura's shoulders violently and she cursed herself for leaving Itachi's jacket back at the party. Sasuke's parents hadn't turned up and the party had been in action for over two hours now. It was clear Sasuke was getting more and more depressed with every minute that passed and she was taking it upon herself to find out why his proud parents wouldn't even turn up at their own sons party.

"Itachi... wrong... help..." She froze at the entrance to the Uchiha compound and her ears pricked up. The voices that she heard in the distance were muffled and quiet, meaning a sound-proof shield must have been placed around the area. She extended her chakra to her ears and penetrated the barrier easily. After she had finished the process, she hurried quietly around the edge of a tall, elegant building and pressed her ear to the posh, stone wall.

A scream from inside caused her to jump back suddenly and she stared at the section of wall in shock. She shook it off and quickly scurried round to where a small air vent laid, then she slowly leant inwards to press her eyes against the cold metal. Her body went numb with fear.

On the dark, wooden floor laid one silhouette, faced away from her and the dark pool that was beginning to form underneath the body was unmistakably blood. But that wasn't what had struck Sakura almost limp with fear. A sword was being wrenched and then plummeted over and over again into the already dead body.

"Itachi, please."

Fear was replaced with horror. Sakura was witnessing the death of Sasuke's parents. And they were being killed by their own son.

* * *

**A/N: I know. I should be writing a new Rainflakes chapter. But this idea just seemed to pop into my head and I'm really excited about how far this story will go! I've planned out the entire thing already and as soon as I've finished Rainflakes, I'll continue this. I might update it before then, I don't know...**

**Tell me what you think of the first chapter. I'll be explaining a lot in the next one, so try and save your questions until the third chapter or so. :P**

**Please review! Thank you. :)**


	2. Linked

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**Snowbows**

_''A weed is no more than a flower in disguise''_

_-_

Sakura swiftly left the Uchiha compound, as fast as her legs could carry her. She retched in an empty alleyway and emptied her stomach's contents, which was very little. It wasn't the scene that had disturbed her. It was the thought that she had talked to the murderer – the PSYCHO – that had just killed her teammates parents. Without hesitation.

She tried telling herself that there would be a reason - there had to be a plausible reason why Itachi would even dare to do such a thing. But no matter how hard she tried, she just couldn't think of one. Just thinking about his name made her want to gag with disgust.

There were no Uchiha's around, having all been invited to Sasuke's party. Had she given Itachi the chance to fulfil his own personal mission by setting up the party? She didn't think she could live with herself if that turned out to be the truth.

She was snapped out of her thoughts when she bumped into a warm figure. She raised her head, ready to murmur and apologise, but instead, she paled. And began to tremble. It was him.

~*~

She didn't look well. Not very well at all. Itachi scanned Sakura's terrified face and tried to analyse what it was that was frightening her so much. He almost flinched when the girl in front of him choked back something that crossed between a sob and a gag.

"What have you done?" Her words were so quiet in the eerie silence, he almost didn't hear them. Itachi stiffened and bent down so he could stare at Sakura square in the eyes. She stepped backwards.

"What did you see?" He asked her quietly, keeping his gaze firmly locked with hers. She shook her head and made to run past him, but he grasped her upper arm and pushed her backwards against the nearest wall, locking her in with his arms on both sides of her head.

"I need to know." He spoke sternly, trying as hard as he could to ignore the fear on the girl's face in front of him. She was trembling.

"You killed them. Your own parents-" she stopped to choke. "How could you?"

Itachi froze. His mind whirred with infinite possibilities and solutions to the situation he was now in, but it was mere seconds before he came to the correct conclusion. He activated his Sharingan, placing the kunoichi under a genjutsu. Then he released her and turned around. He ignored the sound of her falling the floor behind him and instead, focused on the entrance to the Uchiha compound. There was a dark silhouette in the distance, staring at him through the darkness and as it approached slowly, Itachi bristled, reaching toward his back pocket for a kunai. But as the figure walked through a slice of light, he stopped. It couldn't be possible. The smell was the same, the chakra was the same, yet it couldn't be right. He was staring at himself.

~*~

Sakura's eyes flickered and she grimaced as bright light crawled in through her eyelids. Where was she? She didn't remember it being very bright in her flat. Had she drank too much at Sasuke's party? No... She was moving. Someone was carrying her. She didn't pass out somewhere embarrassing did she?

She raised an arm to rub away at her eyes and then she opened them, finding herself staring at treetops and a sun that seemed to be slightly dull. She was definitely being carried.

She turned to stare at the person holding her and recoiled in horror as the pale face brought back the memories that she had forgotten. Attempting to escape from Itachi's arms caused her nothing but embarrassment as his hand slid up her thigh. He dropped her.

The moment she hit the ground, she scrambled to her feet and reached for a kunai, but she paused when a long chain seemed to follow her arm. She moved her arm into the air and watched as it continued to follow.

"I think you need to explain, Uchiha. I don't take kindly to being stolen from my home village by a psycho." Sakura spoke surprisingly calm, the shock and hysteria from the night before having worn off.

Itachi didn't look surprised at the calmness in her tone and just walked forwards, tugging Sakura along with him. She tripped on her feet and scowled at his back, digging her heels into the ground to prevent him from walking further. Itachi winced when the metal dug into his wrist and he turned to stare at the frowning kunoichi.

"Why did you do it? Did you want to get some sort of twisted revenge on Sasuke? Did he steal your favourite toy? Just tell me w-" Her sentence was cut off as Itachi placed a hand over her mouth, his eyes blank. She struggled against it as he pulled her aside, off of the road and into the depths of the woods. As quickly as possible, he released his hand from her mouth.

She opened it to ask him what was wrong, but hesitated when Itachi pressed a finger to his lips. He flicked his head toward the road. She followed his gesture and watched as different pairs of legs – obviously belonging to ANBU – stopped at the place they had just been standing. Sakura's eyes widened in hope and she almost got to her feet, but a hand on her ankle stopped her. She turned and was met with swirling red orbs.

"No... fair..." She murmured, before falling into Itachi's arms. He winced at the contact. He disliked having to handle the troublesome kunoichi so much, but he wasn't left much choice.

"Should have brought a ninja hound..." Itachi listened to the voices coming from the ANBU in the distance.

"This is Itachi Uchiha we're talking about here. You'd think he'd know the procedures that we go through when it comes to tracking down people." There was disappointment in the other mans tone.

"I know, man. It's hard to believe someone like him would kill his own parents. He's given his little brother a one-way ticket to fucked-up land." He sighed. "Let's just go back."

Itachi unclenched his fists, surprised that they had tightened up subconsciously. He tried not to think what Sasuke must be going through. He looked down as Sakura awoke in his arms, his temporary hypnotism having worn off. She looked at him sleepily, before suddenly jumping up like a meerkat.

"Where are they? Where'd they go?" She snapped her head left and right and made to walk back onto the road. However, the chain linking her and Itachi together pulled back on her arm, sending her to the floor beside the passive young man. She growled in the back of her throat and sat up before grasping the chain with her two hands. She sent sharp needles of chakra into her palms and then attempted to pull the chain apart. It didn't work.

"It doesn't work. My chakra can cut through anything, it's so precise. But this won't work..." She looked up at Itachi, slightly hysterical.

"Get them off me." She hissed. Itachi looked away.

"I can't."

She bit back her frustration and laid the chain onto the ground. Her fist began to glow a dangerous green and she raised her arm to punch the chain. A breath of air swept past her and thin fingers curled around her raised, slender wrist.

"Don't. There could be more shinobi in the area."

Sakura broke out of Itachi's grasp and turned around, fists raised and her legs bent as if preparing for a fight. She bared her teeth.

"Don't you get it? That's what I WANT to do. I want to alert them so I can get away from you and GO. HOME." She lunged, aiming squarely for Itachi's face. He dodged easily and grabbed her un-cuffed wrist, twisted it behind her back and then pushed her against a nearby tree firmly. He raised his chained hand up to the trunk to lean against it.

"I suggest you behave while we're stuck in this together, or I shall have to resort in carrying you around for the majority of this trip. That is something neither me - or you - wish to happen."

Sakura focused hard on the trunk in front of her, ignoring the warm breath that was tickling her neck. She just _had_ to be concerned for Sasuke. She _had_ to go and poke her nose into other peoples business. If she hadn't peeked into the house and saw that revolting scene, she'd never be in the predicament she was in.

It was a long time before either of them spoke. Itachi kept Sakura pressed against the tree as it seemed to be the safest way of preventing her from alerting the shinobi, or worse – damaging him. But it was more to calm her down then anything. He knew, after all of the havoc and confusion that seemed to be clouding her mind, that she just needed time to think. Just think.

Sakura was doing just that. Adding pieces together, taking them away and adding new pieces. The mind of a shinobi needed to be quick when it came to dangerous situations and she had not been quick to think the night before. She should have called the Hokage. Should have alerted someone. Should have ran inside and took on one of the most powerful ninja in Konoha on her own. But there was no point wallowing in self pity. She needed to think about the different possibilities, but there were so many. Was Itachi mentally ill? Bored of the shinobi lifestyle? Felt like killing some people? Had she mistaken Itachi for someone else? Was someone trying to frame Itachi? Why would they do that? Instead, she settled on asking the obvious question.

"Why did you kill them?" She asked, closing her eyes as she loosened her muscles. There had to be a reason. The person holding her against the tree could have killed her, he could have tortured her or worse... She swallowed. But he hadn't. Itachi hadn't laid so much as a finger on her. Well, he only did when it meant defending himself.

"No. Wrong question." She said, shaking her wrist out of Itachi's loosened grip. She turned around so her back leant against the trunk and Itachi's arm still rested above her head. There was silence for a while as she stared into Itachi's red eyes. He didn't seem to want to deactivate his Sharingan.

"What's going on?" She finally asked. She didn't fail to notice the slight twitch in Itachi's lips as he silently praised the girl he was currently attached to for her observation skills. She sighed and shook her head, looking down at the ground.

"I've known you as long as I've known Sasuke-" she didn't see Itachi grimace at the name, "-and you follow orders. I don't think I've ever met anyone in my life who has a more predictable work regime than you. To suddenly go on a blood-thirsty slaughter..." She looked up and scanned his face for any emotion. Nothing.

"Will you tell me?" She lifted the hand which had the cuff attached around her thin wrist. "Quite a few things need explaining."

Itachi's eyes switched from the cuffs to her face and he shook his head, moving back from the tree to turn his back on her.

"You are a Jonin. I am a selected ANBU for a secret society. There are several things that I know, that Jonin should never even hear rumours about." He turned his head to glance at her over his shoulder. "Just telling you that ounce of information is enough to get me killed."

Instead of frowning, or shouting, or lashing out at him – as he expected – she simply snorted and faced away from the tree she was resting again. She crossed her arms.

"You think rules and regulations matter now? You're running away from your comrades with the Hokage's apprentice as a 'hostage'." She moved her head to stare at his back. "No matter what way you look at it, there's death at the end of the tunnel."

Itachi stiffened. She was right. There didn't seem to be any way for him and the kunoichi to return to Konoha. Unless they happened to come across a man on their journey who knew how to get rid of the only remaining Ancient Cuffs, but even then, it only set the kunoichi free.

"Well, there's death at the end of _your_ tunnel. Me, on the other hand-"

"-are facing the very same problem." Itachi interrupted blankly, turning around to face her fully. Her mouth was open, so she closed it, before raising a hand and running it through her pink locks.

"God, you're right." She slumped down onto the ground, her back still leaning gently against the tree.

"They could be considering two situations. One; I'm your hostage. Or two; I willingly joined you. Everyone saw me with your jacket and so they would believe we were quite close." She couldn't help but blush a little at the implication. She tried to think of every word that meant the same thing: screwed.

She sighed. Well, she was asking for it wasn't she? She wanted a mission, she wanted excitement, she wanted to be knocked off of the railway track that she been so firmly placed upon. And she bloody got it.

She raised her eyes to stare at the chain that seemed to be mocking her.

"Why did you put this on me? Why won't it come off?" She asked, waving the hand and pulling at the chain for emphasis. Itachi stared back passively.

"I didn't put it on you."

Sakura stopped struggling and opened her mouth to ask the question Itachi knew that she would ask. But it never came. Instead, she bent her knees up and crossed her arms, pulling on the chain and forcing Itachi to take a few steps backwards.

"I'm eighteen years old, Itachi. My life has hardly begun and now I'm stuck in the middle of some incident that surpasses S-rank in all possible areas. Do you think you could cut a girl some slack and at least tell me something that would ease my mind?" She scratched at her eyebrow. "I mean, I don't really want to be tugged along by a psychopath for the next few weeks."

Itachi stared at her for a few seconds. Then it turned to minutes. Sakura stared back for the first minute, but found herself tearing her gaze away from him. It's not that his eyes worried her – it was just that sometimes, staring into them for a little too long sort of made her feel strange.

She heard movement but didn't lift her head up. Instead, she shivered as she noticed the sun slowly going down. She was still only wearing her evening dress.

She flinched when Itachi seated himself next to her, quite a distance away.

"It was not me." His voice was quiet and seemed almost too emotional to belong to Itachi. But when Sakura turned her head to gaze at the Uchiha, his face showed his usual blank expression and he was staring into the sky.

"How do I know you're telling the truth?" She replied, feeling a little better having heard that from Itachi. She didn't know if complete transformation was a genjutsu that some people can acquire, but there was the possibility it could have been someone else. There was also the possibility that Itachi was still a raving maniac.

Itachi dropped his head down to stare at her again and she stared evenly back, his crimson eyes cutting through the wispy darkness that was beginning to set over them.

"It doesn't matter if I am not telling the truth. You can come to that conclusion on your own." He spoke wisely, bringing his knees up to his chest and resting his arms on them, causing the chain to move with it. It pulled tight, so Sakura moved closer to Itachi, noticing the obvious stiffening of his shoulders.

"Sorry. I know you're a slight aphephobia. Don't like being touched, right?" She tried to move away a little, but it didn't do any good. The chain was just too tight. She sighed in defeat and moved back.

"I guess it's something you're just going to have to get used to." She tilted her head back against the tree and noticed Itachi visibly relax. It was the only type of emotion he would show; stress, tension or relaxation.

Itachi threw a cautious glance at Sakura, wary of her sitting barely half a meter away. It seemed the cuffs would vary in length at different moments, meaning that – in a sense – she was right. He would just have to get used to being close to someone.

It was something he'd had since he was a child. While fighting, making contact with the other person didn't seem to be a problem. But when it came to casual situations or gestures of welcome or departure, he was gone. It just didn't feel comfortable.

Yet today, he willingly carried the young kunoichi as far away from the village as possible, not even noticing that his skin was making contact with hers.

He tilted his head back against the tree too, showing no emotion on the outside yet ebbing with pain on the inside. He'd lost his parents, his brothers trust, the trust of the whole Uchiha clan, comrades… but he still had one little spark of hope. And she had fallen asleep right next to him.

* * *

**A/N: If you're reading Rainflakes, then you know how much I go on about these, but... LOOPHOLES. LOL.**

**There's gonna be some parts in this which will seem a little strange. Like, how Sakura seemed to sort of calm down instead of lash out. Or why Itachi and Sakura suddenly took to hiding in a forest that must be swarming with ANBU. Or how ANBU can't track down Sakura and Itachi that easily. It'll all be explained in flashbacks etc. I quite enjoy where this is going and haven't revealed anything about the future plot just yet. :D**

**Review, rate, read Rainflakes while you're waiting. Anything will be appreciated! :D**


	3. Interaction

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**Snowbows**

_''A weed is no more than a flower in disguise''_

_-_

"You know, just because I decided to give you a chance to prove to me you're not a murderer, it doesn't mean you can drag me around for hours on end without telling me where we're going!" Sakura exclaimed, pulling on the chain that connected them. Itachi threw a glare over his shoulder as the cuff tugged on his wrist, stopping him from walking. He turned to fully face Sakura, his crimson eyes boring into hers. She glared back, but broke eye contact first.

"You don't have to keep that on ALL the time, do you?" She said rather wearily, sending another cautious glance upwards to Itachi. He nodded and she sighed, running a hand exasperatedly through her hair.

"Look, can we just rest for one moment? My legs really h- HEY, ITACHI!" She yelled as she was suddenly thrown over his shoulder and then she began smacking her hands against his back in a feeble attempt to get herself free. Sure, she could break his bones. But that would involve healing him again and she really didn't want to waste her chakra on something as meaningless as that.

"You are being a nuisance, Sakura." His voice rumbled through her waist, which rested on his shoulder, and she swung her head around to glare at him, very discomforted at the fact she was still wearing her evening dress.

"I have every right to be a nuisance, Uchiha. I'm in a dress, in a temperature that's below freezing, I'm handcuffed to YOU and I haven't sat down in Kami-knows how many hours."

Itachi just continued walked solemnly ahead, flinching every time he noticed how warm Sakura's legs felt against his arm, which held her in place. It was starting to worry him – this sudden urge to keep hold of her. It was strange how he was unable to touch anyone but this young, loud, annoying kunoichi. Perhaps he felt he was responsible for her situation and therefore needed to comfort her in some shape of form.

"Itachi, it's nice that you care about my well-being and all – you know, making sure my feet stay attached to my legs – but I'm eighteen. I think I can walk on my own." Her quiet voice called over his shoulder. He stopped walking and threw her roughly back onto her own feet, ignoring the scowl he received in response. Itachi began to walk again, but almost stumbled backwards when the cuffs snapped his arm backwards, causing him to turn quickly. Sakura had not begun to walk beside him and was now crossing her arms stubbornly. Itachi resisted the urge to roll his eyes.

"I want to know where we're going, or I'll stop cooperating," she stared determinedly into his eyes and he released a slow breath, turning back around to her with one of his eyebrows barely twitching.

"We are heading to a man who may know how to rid us of this inconvenience." Itachi lifted his thick wrist into the air to emphasize his point. Sakura's eyes drew to the handcuffs and she uncurled her arms, placing her hands on her hips and smirking at him victoriously.

"There, that wasn't so hard now was it?"

Itachi ignored her smarmy comment and pulled hard on the chain linking them, forcing Sakura to move forwards. He ignored the growl she threw at him from behind and continued to drag her through the dark pathway, stretching out his chakra for any signs of other presences in the area. He had been aware of two ANBU following him since he and Sakura had departed from their ditch, but they seemed to have lost track of them. This was either an accomplishment, or a disaster waiting to happen.

Sakura was silent for the rest of the journey, much to his satisfaction. His mind wandered, wondering just why it was that _he _had attached him and Sakura – of all people – together. Itachi stopped trekking through the shrubbery that he and Sakura had journeyed into when the chain pulled on his wrist again, digging into his skin. He turned to the kunoichi behind him, wondering why it was that she had decided to stop.

She had collapsed. He walked towards her, flipping over her unconscious body and cursing under his breath slightly. Her breathing had become rapid and a light sheen of sweat covered her pale body. He placed a muddy hand to her forehead and winced. Her temperature had shot through the roof. Picking her up into his arms – again – he began to realise just why it was her that _he _had chosen. She would slow him down.

Itachi's eyes twinkled when he noticed the village in the distance – their destination. The true murderer of his parents had made the mistake that Sakura would make his escape harder, maybe even impossible. Again, Sakura was underestimated. He had seen her fight against his younger brother, and had noticed just how hard Sasuke had needed to work in order to keep just one step ahead of her.

She was strong. Very strong. As Itachi stumbled into the village, holding Sakura firmly in his arms and watching her warily in case the fever dropped, a rare tight smirk spread across his face. Yes, he would win. He would get his revenge.

_~*~_

_Forbidden Jutsu. That's how _he _had managed to finally get stronger then Itachi. Who would have thought that he would resort to such measures?_

"_This sweet, pretty girl... you like her, don't you Itachi?" _

_Itachi was locked in a strong genjutsu with no escape. He could only wait, frozen to the spot, as the man strolled over to Sakura and brushed a thick finger down her tender skin. A rush of anger flew through Itachi, surprising even himself._

"_She is of no concern to me, or you. Leave her out of business that does not involve her." Itachi spoke coolly at the man in front of him, slowly beginning to fight against the genjutsu. It suddenly strengthened again, causing Itachi to wince and forget his attempts._

"_Not just yet, Itachi. I will allow you to run. Killing you now will jeopardise my entire plan." Something cold and smooth snapped over Itachi's right wrist, but he couldn't move his head down to see what it was. He watched as the man walked, putting a metal wristband around Sakura's wrist too, a clink sounding in the silence. A chain was connecting them. _

_Observing the bracelet around Sakura's wrist, his eyes widened in realisation. So not only had the man resorted to Forbidden Jutsu, he had also stolen a precious artefact. Suddenly, warm, sick breath was by Itachi's ear._

"_Have fun, Itachi," the head drew back, revealing two crimson orbs in the darkness. "We'll meet again, I'm sure. But – when we do – it will because I will have the absolute pleasure of killing you."_

~*~

Sakura blinked, sitting upright the moment she figured she was awake. A wave of nausea rushed through her and she cursed, lifting a hand to her forehead to feel her temperature. She was suffering from a fever.

It was then she realised that she was lying in a soft, comfortable bed, surrounded by warmth. She was in a lodge room, by the looks of it.

"Good morning." Sakura snapped her head sideways, seeing Itachi standing by the window. The chain on her wrist was pulled tight at the distance, so she moved forwards a little in order to make it lax. The look on his face seemed disapproving. Sakura waved a hand at him, sending green chakra into her hand in order to begin healing the fever she had suddenly caught.

"Yes, I know. I shouldn't have been so careless." She brought her eyes up to Itachi, a warning look sizzling in them. "It's not like you were taking any notice of me. How was I supposed to know that I was ill, if someone wasn't there to say I looked like shit?"

Itachi winced at the bad language, but narrowed his eyes and crossed his arms across his thin chest, his onyx hair falling in front of his eyes.

"You didn't heal yourself on purpose, am I right Sakura?"

She ignored the shiver that ran down her spine when he said her name and looked away, staring at the ceiling. She completed her healing and switched to fiddling with the blankets on the huge bed. A small smile twitched around her lips.

"What makes you say that?"

Suddenly, Itachi was directly in front of her, both of his arms on either side of her body, trapping her. She moved backwards, but he continued to crawl forwards until her back came in contact with the wall.

"You are not amusing me. This is not some silly game that we are playing – this is real life. You are in the most dangerous situation you have ever possibly been in and you are treating it like a game of hopscotch," Sakura was almost trembling at the close proximity she and Itachi were and at the tone in his voice. He was scolding her like some child.

"Look, I didn't heal myself because I knew that if I didn't get some rest, my muscles would have unusable for days on end. Overexerting yourself is not how shinobi's are supposed to behave." Sakura was frowning heavily at Itachi and she stared into his red eyes evenly, telling herself not to tear them away. Itachi leaned closer, as though trying to force her to break her gaze. She swallowed and continued with her lecture.

"I'm an apprentice to the most infamous medic-nin in Konoha and I know that if I touched here..." She moved her hand down to press into his ribs slightly. He grimaced. "... and here..." she pressed her fingers just above his pelvis. He winced. "... that you are in so much pain, it takes an effort just to stand up."

Damn, she was good. Itachi made it a habit to block out pain that he felt – it was how he was one of the most powerful nin. But muscle aches and walking for too long still affected him. He moved backwards, allowing her to regain some personal space.

"I'll heal you, if you want. We've only over-exerted our muscles slightly, not enough to damage them so they're almost unusable." She moved forwards, out of the quilt, and began to crawl towards him. Itachi looked at her.

She was still wearing her skimpy evening dress and after having slept, her hair was sprawled out messily. She was also on all-fours in front of him, a look of slight concern that wasn't masked in her eyes. His chest throbbed and a rush of something unknown to him suddenly coursed through his body, causing him to go almost dizzy.

Sakura watched as Itachi's eyes temporarily glazed over and she moved forwards, pressing a hand to his forehead. He didn't even seem to notice this action. She frowned. His forehead wasn't particularly hot, so he hadn't caught a fever too. Was he suffering from severe muscle exertion?

She placed a hand onto his chest, sending her chakra through him in order to analyse his muscles. Itachi seemed to react violently and his entire body pushed her chakra out.

"Itachi!" She shouted at him. He had come back around and was gripping her wrist firmly, staring at her with a blank expression. His eyes were alight with some emotion... Sakura narrowed her eyes to observe it, but it was gone in a matter of seconds. She ignored it and went back to staring at him.

"You pushed my chakra out – that's impossible. You can't just _reject _someone's chakra."

Itachi's eyes were just as wide were hers were, a rare amount of emotion in them. Why had he reacted so badly to her chakra? He raised his eyes to hers and hurriedly lifted himself from the bed, ignoring the sharp shoot of pain that ran through his legs as he stood up.

"We should leave now. You have gotten your rest and we need to continue."

Sakura scowled at his back, pushing herself from the bed and leaving it with disappointment. She was still a little tired from their walking yesterday, but she had her chakra to heal her aches and pains. Surely Itachi was suffering more than she was?

"Pride is something that shouldn't really matter on this 'mission', Itachi. As you said, this isn't a game. You've got to do what the medic says, whether you want to or not."

She was answered with a blank stare from over his shoulder. Sakura sighed and threw a hand in the air.

"Fine, go ahead and keep your damn pride. It's not me who's going to be pain." She said it harshly, but she still stared at his back with concern. Whatever it was Itachi had in mind for them, it was going to be difficult for them to do whilst he was injured. From a medic point of view, she knew that it would only be an hour before he will not be able to handle walking.

So, as they left the lodge to gather stock in the village, Sakura settled on a plan. She would attempt to heal Itachi while he slept, as she knew by the way his movements were slightly forced and his eyes were bloodshot, that sleep had not come to him last night. That would mean that, due to the fact the sun was just setting beyond the hills they could see from where they were walking, Itachi would need to sleep soon. Even _he_ knew the effects of not sleeping. It would reduce his reaction time, his senses, his strength... a multitude of things.

Sakura scowled at the people that stared between Itachi and her, the chain shining in the orange sun. It caught everyone's attention and soon, nearly the whole street had turned to stare curiously at them. Sakura jumped when the chain slowly began to shrink again, closing in the distance between them. She looked at it, alarmed, as it shrunk to almost an inch. Her and Itachi's hands bumped together

"Itachi-"

Her voice caught in her throat when he took her hand in his, squeezing it slightly.

"Shinobi are supposed to be invisible, Sakura. Being the center of attention is not advisable."

She swallowed and nodded, moving her eyes back to the floor as she strolled along. Then she stopped walking, lifting her wide eyes up to him.

"Itachi?"

He captured her gaze, staring at her steadily. She narrowed her eyes suspiciously.

"Youcan change the length of the chain?"

His lips twitched and he began to walk down the street again, tugging on her hand.

"I realised that it was me that was changing it, although subconsciously. It is only a simple matter of willing it to go to a certain length. But it does have restrictions."

Sakura stared at the side of his face, not missing the almost-smug gleam in his eyes. She dug her nails into the back of his hand and relished in the slight annoyance that crossed his face. She smiled sweetly up at him.

"If you can change the length, then kindly make it longer so I don't have to stand so close to you."

Itachi looked down at her, keeping his face straight. Then he shook his head.

Sakura raised a fist, sending chakra into two fingers that were erected. His calm facade turned into a frown and he watched as she slowly moved her hand toward his ribcage. He grasped her wrist quickly and pushed her hurriedly into an alleyway, away from the public eye. She attempted to shake him off, but his grip on her wrist remained tight and secure.

"Sakura, we are trying to keep a low profile. We are still being hunted." His voice was stern and his warm, enticing breath blew across her lips as his close proximity caused her shuffle uncomfortably again.

"We're not doing a very good job, Itachi. I'm walking around like some whore and you're walking around showing no emotions... people are bound to get suspicious of us." She pushed against his chest with her hands, but Itachi remained close to her to make sure she couldn't use her chakra again.

Sakura held in a puff of breath. Wasn't Itachi supposed to be an aphephobic? Getting close to people just wasn't his thing. But he seemed to enjoy – in a sadistic sense – being close to her.

"Besides," she nodded her head toward Itachi's. "Headbands are sort of a giveaway."

Itachi's brow deepened and he stared into her jade eyes, unable to keep his gaze away from hers at the small distance that was between them. _Lenghten the chain and move away – she's obviously feeling uncomfortable._

Itachi stared into Sakura's eyes. No – she wasn't uncomfortable. In fact, she seemed rather content being close to him. Was she the cure to his phobia?

Sakura sighed. "Look, I know we're not supposed to remove them, but really, it's not like we're Konoha shinobi at the moment." Her voice went down a tone, lowering to a small whisper. "We may not ever go back to Konoha."

This sent a shiver down Itachi's spine. There was some truth to her words, but he didn't like to remove the headband. It would mean he was almost giving up his goal – giving up the village. Despite this, he raised a hand – taking Sakura's with it – and moved it to the back of Sakura's neck, bringing her arm into an uncomfortable position.

Footsteps alerted them and they turned their heads towards the entrance of the alleyway, making eye contact with a young man who was blushing.

"S-Sorry. I didn't mean to disturb you." He ran off in the other direction. Sakura stared after him strangely, wondering why he had seemed to embarrassed at intruding on them. It's not like they were doing anything. She moved her eyes back to Itachi, who was staring at her. Moving her head down slightly, she realised just why the man had felt he had intruded. Itachi's body was inches away from her own and his face – his face was close to hers. Too close. On top of that, his hands were still at the back of her neck, struggling to untie the knot that held her headband together.

He lengthened the chain, causing her hand to drop down to her side as he moved his head above her right shoulder, tilting it so he could get a better view of the knot underneath her pink locks. Sakura's eyes widened instinctively, a light blush forming across her face as his breath brushed across the side of her neck, sending strange shivers down her spine. Then her headband came away, sending her pink fringe across her face.

He moved backwards, raising the hand holding the headband for her to take. She was still frozen to the spot, a confused frown on her face and an unnerving, pleasurable feeling in her stomach. When she brought her eyes back up to Itachi's – his Sharingan still activated – she snapped out of it. He had a smile twitching around his lips and his eyes were glowing with amusement. Had he purposely made her feel... like a stupid schoolgirl?

No. This was Itachi Uchiha – he didn't do stuff like that. He was an aphephobic who killed for amusement. Oh, and also a possible murderer.

But the shine in his eyes, the victorious frown, the slight smile on his face... She cursed herself. Damn it, she was falling into a game. A game that she was just too good at playing. A game between her and a potential psychopath. A game that had no rules.

_A game I wouldn't mind playing, _her inner self contributed. Sakura smirked in amusement, stepping towards Itachi almost predator-like. He took a step backwards, alarmed at her sudden intrusion of his personal space. Her arms moved upwards to entwine around his neck and she tiptoed, making sure her lips brushed against the Uchiha's neck as she carefully untied his headband.

Itachi's eyes glazed over once again and he found that the same dizziness that he had suffered from before came back, making his Sharingan swirl angrily. What was she doing?

She moved back quickly, swinging his headband around on one finger. Although her face showed the same expression he had given her earlier, her insides were filled with a peculiar turmoil. She had the urge... she had the urge to throw her arms around Itachi. And not let go.

Itachi took the headband from her, examining her carefully, looking for a clue as to why she had suddenly jumped him. But there was nothing. She had masked her emotions particularly well, considering she was not so good at it before.

She cleared her throat and smiled sweetly. "Off we go then?"

Itachi nodded, walking past her and out of the entrance to the alleyway. He shortened the chain again, taking her hand in his so it wasn't visible to the civilians. For some reason, this action had taken a lot more effort to do than it had before entering the alleyway. Her hands were silky, warm and felt glorious against his own rough, calloused hands. And that scared him.

_Revenge, _his inner voice said, reminding him of what he should truly be focusing on. He stiffened as he stopped outside a clothes stall, swiftly picking up a black t-shirt and shorts and placing then inconspicuously to his side. The shop owner failed to notice and neither did Sakura. He stopped outside an empty alleyway that led to a dead end, gaining a confused glance from Sakura. He thrust the clothes into her arms and nodded into the entrance. She looked down at them.

"Itachi, did you st-"

"When put into a dire situation, there are times when you can't hesitate to do what is necessary."

Sakura stared up at him strangely, before lifting a hand which held the clothes. "And how do you expect me to put this on?"

Itachi hesitated and walked into the alleyway, lengthening the chain, but still dragging Sakura in with him. _Alone in an alleyway with him, again, _she thought, snorting to herself. Her eyes landed on Itachi and widened in shock.

He was standing in front of her, with his own black t-shirt in his outstretched hand. It wasn't the fact he had managed to get it off without her even knowing, it was the fact that Itachi Uchiha was now in front of her – shirtless. Judging by the expression on his face, it hadn't even been intended to make her blush and become wordless.

But as quick as the shirt had been off, it was back on again. She blinked, wondering how she had missed him putting it back on. Maybe she was too mesmerized by the way his chest had protruded when he had stretched his arms up to replace it.

"These chains were used by Konoha many years ago, to hold prisoners and get information. They can only be taken off by the person who has placed them on the prisoner and have been enchanted." He reached forward to grab the shirt in her arms, then dropped it on the chain. Sakura watched as, instead of catching on it, it passed right through it. Like it wasn't even there.

"The chains are threaded with our chakra, which makes them indestructible. Nothing can break them." Itachi looked at her solemnly, before handing her the t-shirt. Sakura swallowed, the images of Itachi shirtless still flashing in front of her eyes. She nodded and when Itachi was greeted with silence, he took that as a gesture to leave. He stood outside the alleyway, wondering why it was that Sakura had seemed so quiet after his explanation. Was she feeling disconcerted at the fact they would be attached until further notice? Attached... meaning connected. Not _attached._

The chain on his wrist moved a few times, indicating that she had begun to change. Itachi stood guard in the small entrance of the alleyway, blocking civilians from the view. It was dead end, with a high wall on the other side, so there was no chance of their being any observers.

Itachi swallowed. He sometimes refused to believe that he was like every other man in the shinobi world, but he was just twenty-three. And there was some sense of unease at standing just a few feet away from a stripping Sakura. He was relieved when she finally approached from the alleyway, dressed in the long black t-shirt and shorts. It certainly seemed to make her look a whole lot more... normal, without the skimpy evening wear she had previously been occupying.

"Let's go." Sakura nodded at Itachi and he nodded back, grasping her hand and continuing through the village, managing to pilfer a dark blue rucksack, a few loaves of bread and a huge canteen on the way out. Sakura sent him disapproving stares whenever she caught him, but said nothing.

They slowly began to approach the gate to the village and Sakura didn't fail to notice that Itachi was beginning to slow and almost drag his feet along. As they finally ventured out of the gate, he gently released her hand and extended the chain, allowing them to walk further away from each other. She frowned in annoyance, wiggling her fingers and hating how empty her hand now felt. After walking until the tiny village was finally out of sight, Itachi's pace slowed even more and she let out a groan of frustration, approaching him and grasping his hand tightly. She dragged him to the side of the road and through the thick row of trees to a gentle river. She released his hand and laid herself out on the comfortable grass, placing her hands behind her head and waiting patiently for him to come and join her. She needed to heal his aches, before he really did injure himself. It was obvious he was not used to much walking, as he probably ran to his destination, completed the mission swiftly, and ran back.

"I didn't say we could rest." Itachi spoke into the tension-filled silence and Sakura puffed out her cheeks, blowing her fringe that her headband had used to hold up, out of her eyes.

"You say we can't, but your body says we can." She moved her head to the side to stare smugly at Itachi, who returned her look blankly. He opened his mouth, but Sakura beat him to it.

"Medic." She said. Her argument won and he narrowed his eyes before reluctantly placing himself behind her, bending his knees and wrapping his arms around them. The sky was beginning to darken and Sakura knew it would only be moments before the Uchiha would be asleep.

"I will not be falling asleep anytime soon, Sakura."

Damn. How did he know?

Obviously this question was spread across her face and his lips twitched. "You are easier to read than a book."

She narrowed her eyes at him and sat up on her knees, moving closer to sit beside him. He noticed this and watched her cautiously, hoping that she didn't jump him unexpectedly again. But she just sat there, staring at his face. He stared back.

"I'm going to heal you." She raised her hands and they glowed green. He narrowed his eyes at her and made to move backwards, but she gripped his wrists. He winced as her warm, welcoming chakra ran through his body and began to ease the muscles in his arms. Then he rejected her chakra once again.

She growled. "Uchiha. Stop being so damn stubborn."

He pulled his wrists out of her grasp, wondering to himself why it was that he refused her healing so much. It was simply a battle of wills and he wasn't going to lose.

Why wouldn't he let her heal him? Sakura was getting extremely frustrated with the raven-haired man in front of her and was considering resorting to violent strategies in order to heal him. She was ANBU level after all – there was no reason why she couldn't take him on.

_Maybe because he's the Uchiha prodigy? The Uchiha clan are the strongest clan in Konoha and he's one of the strongest. _Sakura cursed her inner self. Sometimes she wondered how she could have more logic than herself.

But she didn't want to watch this possible psychotic murderer wince in pain every time he took a step. It was obvious he had accepted medics help in the past, so why wasn't he accepting her? She shook her head. Well, there was no other choice.

She lunged forwards suddenly, grasping Itachi's wrists in one chakra-infused hand. He was alarmed for a moment and when he regained his posture, he found himself pinned to the ground with his wrists above his head, held in place by one strong, hand. Sakura was straddling his hips and was smirking in victory, her other hand held in front of her threateningly.

"No matter what way you look at it now, Uchiha, I've won." She placed her hand on his smooth t-shirt, blocking out the image that popped up of what he had looked like underneath it. Itachi didn't attempt to struggle, but glared at her head. She was avoiding his eyes also – she knew he could of locked her in a genjutsu. She was clever.

Despite his annoyance, he was beginning to feel an awful lot more at ease now that she was healing his muscle aches. His eyes shut by themselves and he relaxed, not noticing when Sakura released the wrists above his head. He moved them down by his sides, brushing them against her bare legs. Sakura failed to realise as she had gone into strict medic mode now that she finally had a patient underneath her. It seemed like so long ago that she had been at the hospital, treating her patients. She almost missed it.

The muscles in his ribs seemed to have taken some damage, which caused Sakura to frown. The damage could have only been done with impact to the body. He had been beaten. She lifted his t-shirt to observe the bruising, her breath only slightly catching in her throat at the sight of his magnificent skin. Now that she was closer and out of the shadow of the alleyway, she noticed the slight purple bruising. Her frown stayed on her face as she brushed her fingers along it, sending small amounts of chakra through to heal it.

Itachi's breath caught in his throat as her fingers touched his stomach and the bruising that had been there. She would ask questions when she had finished, he knew. But for the moment, he could only focus on her soft fingers brushing against his own skin. Her fingers moved further down, towards his hips and his own hands came up instinctively to place as a warning on her legs that were either side of him. She jumped at the contact and looked down at him, but his eyes were still closed.

Suddenly, she was flipped. She yelped and looked up at Itachi, who was above her with a smirk on his face.

"You let your guard down. That was careless." He moved off of her and rolled to her side, lying down on the grass and looking up at the black sky that was now stretched above him. Sakura frowned as the chain shortened and moved closer to Itachi, almost as if he had commanded her to.

"Where did the bruises come from?" She whispered into the darkness after a few moments silence. He didn't reply, but the sudden drop in atmosphere meant that he had not wanted her to ask that question.

"I will tell you." She turned her head towards him in surprise. He turned his own to catch her eyes. "When I have finished what needs to be done."

She let out a scream of exasperation and clambered to her knees, getting to her feet and trying to walk away. The chain kept her in place and Itachi didn't move from his spot.

"Damn it!" She yelled, pulling at the chain with both hands. There was still no movement. Itachi winced slightly as the silver bracelet cut into his wrist and he quickly shortened the chain, pulling Sakura down onto the floor and accidentally on top of him.

She lifted herself up and narrowed her eyes angrily at the Uchiha. He looked back at her, his red eyes swirling. Sakura was about to open her mouth and retort, when a single drop of blood trickled down the corner of his right eye. She moved a finger forward and captured it, looking between Itachi and the crimson drop on her pale finger. Itachi moved backwards, but Sakura halted his movements.

"Stop. The Sharingan. You're over-using it." She spoke with a soft voice, filled with realisation. Of course - he hadn't deactivated it once since he had left Konoha. She moved forwards, but Itachi grabbed her hips and halted her movements. She froze, the look in his eyes chilling her to the bone. No words were exchanged and Sakura sighed, moving away from Itachi and lying down beside him.

"Alright. But if we're going to be travelling together, you're going to have to let me see to you if you get injured or fall ill." She turned her head toward him, capturing his crimson eyes with her own. "Or I'll have to use force to do it." Her eyes twinkled. "And you know I could do it."

Itachi looked back at her blankly, so his emotions couldn't be shown through his face. But he knew, deep down, that she could use force against him. And by the way she fought Sasuke, he wouldn't be surprised if he found himself helpless to the kunoichi.

"Sleep." He ordered her, throwing a surprise arm around her shoulder so his body warmth kept her from catching cold. Her eyes widened in surprise when he pulled her into him, but she was grateful for it. Within moments, she was asleep in the Uchiha's arms. But two crimson orbs still shined in the darkness, piercing through it to stare blankly at the moon above him.

* * *

**A/N: Sorry for the long wait, but here's the next chapter. Sakura and Itachi are getting close pretty quickly, I know. But they were quite close before the whole incident, remember.**

**Review, tell me what you think. Flame me. Praise me. Anything will make me jump for joy. :)**


	4. Shower

-

**Snowbows**

_''A weed is no more than a flower in disguise''_

_-_

"The Village Hidden in the Grass." Sakura read from a sign that was posted before the entrance to yet another village. It had taken them two days, just to reach the outskirts of Konoha and into this village. She sighed, shaking the wrist that connected her and Itachi Uchiha. Well, if there was the slight possibility that the man in this village could get the cuffs off of them, then at least they would be one step closer to getting back to Konoha. Being attached like they were, their taijutsu was useless. Unless they found some way to work around the chain, they were almost defenceless when attacked in hand-to-hand combat.

Sakura brought her eyes back over her shoulder to look at Itachi, who was frowning at the vast amount of houses before them. She walked over to him and immediately his attention switched back to her. She shivered. It was disconcerting, the way his red eyes would suddenly snap to hers as though he could tell that she was about to get his attention.

She nodded her head toward the village. "You plan to go in anytime soon?"

He stared at her, before shortening the chain and catching her hand in his. She frowned at the contact, still uncomfortable being so close to him. But she shook it off and they strolled into the village, the silver cuff around their wrists glinting in the setting sun.

"Any idea where this man happens to be residing?" She asked him, keeping her eyes warily on the people around them that were beginning to stare cautiously at the two of them. They didn't look particularly intimidating, but as the village was so small, seeing strangers were obviously not a vast occurrence here.

"He is settled on a hill, in a small cottage north-west of here." Itachi spoke quietly to her, turning down a corner and into a small passageway. Sakura stared at the people that littered the path, passed out or sleeping along the walls. She felt a wave of sympathy go out to these homeless, starving people, before telling herself that her situation wasn't really much better than there's.

Itachi raised a hand, pointing into the distance. Sakura followed his arm and looked at a small building that sat on a hill in the distance, sitting alone on the grassy mound.

"There." He said, bringing his arm down and pulling her up a stone pathway that led them up the hill. It was steep, and by the time Sakura reached the top she was breathless. The hill didn't seem to have had an effect on Itachi and she cursed him under her breath for being so in shape.

He brought her to the door, which had a delicate green vine draped over the top and a single gold letter on the front of the mahogany wood that made up the door. He raised a fist and rapped on the wood twice, stepping backwards after he had done so. A minute silence followed, before clicking was heard on the other side of the door. Then it opened to reveal a frail, old man. Sakura frowned. He resembled the librarian back at Konoha – how was it that he was the one who could rid them of enchanted handcuffs?

For a moment, the man seemed confused at the guests he suddenly had on his doorstep. Then he did a double-take at Itachi's eyes and a small, weak smile crossed over his lips.

"Ah. A Uchiha. What brings you all the way out here?" His eyes drifted to Itachi's head. "Without your headband?"

Itachi lifted his hand, bringing Sakura's with it. Then he extended the chain, giving the man a full view of the set of handcuffs as it glinted in the sun setting behind the mountains to the left of them. The man stared at it, unable to take his eyes away from the metal. He stood aside, keeping his eyes on the thing that connected her and Itachi.

"I think you better come in," he said quietly, gesturing inside the small cottage. Itachi nodded and entered the house, taking Sakura with him. She was still very wary of the thin, brittle old man. The man turned, as though he had heard her thoughts, and smiled at her weakly, inclining his head toward her.

"I am Akira. My knowledge of old artefacts and jutsu is only known to someone of ANBU stature in a village such as Konoha." He brought his eyes to Itachi and his own seemed to gleam with curiosity. Itachi stared back blankly.

"I assume there is a reason for you to be attached to this lovely young woman via an artefact destroyed almost a hundred years ago." Akira stepped forwards, lifting Itachi's wrist to examine the contraption. The Uchiha winced, resisting the urge to step back from the man. Sakura noticed this and stared curiously at his back. So he still had his phobia. Why was it that he was fine with being so close to her, while the man being within half a metre of him, still caused him to feel uncomfortable?

When Itachi didn't reply to Akira, the man raised his head and his eyebrows with it. "Well?"

Itachi's lips thinned. "I was framed and forced to flee my village. The man in question who had done the framing believed that connecting me to a woman would slow me down, if not cause me hassle."

The man's lips pursed, but he nodded. "A believable story, considering the lack of information." His eyes drifted to Sakura, who was watching him carefully. "It is such a shame that she had to be caught up in your problems."

She narrowed her eyes. "Better for it to be me, then a poor girl who would be useless to Itachi."

At this, Akira brought his gaze immediately back to Itachi, his eyes widened in what seemed like a frightened awe.

"Itachi Uchiha. This _is _a surprise."

When the man was greeted with nothing but silence in return, he readjusted the glasses on his face and moved his head back down. He lifted Itachi's wrist closer to his face so he could examine the contraption. Itachi watched as he studied it. Sakura's patience began to wear thin after several minutes and she let out a sigh of exasperation.

"Can you just tell us whether or not you can remove it?" She spoke into the silence. Itachi and Akira both stared at her, both with completely different expressions. Akira seemed rather amused at her outburst.

"Sweetheart, my head is crammed with information about every single shinobi artefact known to the world. It will take me some time to decipher just which type of object this is."

She crossed her arms, causing Itachi's wrists to drop out of his old, feathered hand. "Well, you've looked at it enough. Surely you'll be able to tell whether or not you can get rid of it."

Akira stared back at her with a strange sense of curiosity, not at all offended by her harsh tone. He stepped towards her and narrowed his eyes, scrutinising her.

"You are a Haruno."

Sakura's eyes widened in surprise and Itachi only just held his own shock. How was it that Sakura was known by this old man, who had not lived in Konoha for over thirty years? The man in question's mouth slid into a familiar, friendly smile as he stepped forwards again, kneeling down so he could look into Sakura's eyes.

"Yes, I see it. You have inherited your father's determination and facial features, yet you have your mothers hair and short-temper. You're the exact image of the both of them."

Her throat closed up. "You... You know my parents?"

Akira sighed and moved away. "I _knew _them when they were just little genin. I used to be quite an infamous medic in Konoha and your mother used to pester me to teach her." He moved over to the window and stared out of it, his eyes glazing over and the small shade of light illuminating a set of crow's feet at the edge of the man's eyes as he smiled. "Yes. She was very much in love with your father, even then. She would drag him to my house against his will and order him to wait while I taught her all that I could."

Sakura's eyes had glazed over along with his, while she imagined her young parents as genin, scurrying around and yelling happily at each other. The sweet smile that had spread across her face turned into a grimace. If they had known – then – that in the future, they would be slain by Orochimaru...

Akira seemed to have noticed her sudden change in attitude and turned away from the window, approaching them both rapidly. "Enough. I would offer to let you sleep here, but I'm afraid there is really no room to spare. There is a cheap lodge in the town that you may be able to stay in, if I tell the owner that I will pay-" Sakura opened her mouth to object to his generosity, but the man held up a hand. "It is the least I can do for a legendary shinobi and the daughter of Saika Haruno."

Sakura threw him a warm smile, catching Itachi's eye. It had been the first time since she had left the village that she had smiled so tenderly. His chest seemed to constrict with a strange amount of guilt and sympathy. He had only just lost his parents to a brutal murder, yet for someone like to her to live with the fact that Orochimaru had brutally slaughtered hers pointlessly... it made him think. It almost put her on the same level as him, in terms of emotional trauma. Yet she had killed Orochimaru and gained her vengeance, whereas he was still suffering with the burden and betrayal of-

"Itachi, get moving." Sakura frowned at the Uchiha, who seemed to be strangely unaware of the movements around him. Perhaps he was coming down with an illness? His eyes snapped down to hers and she tore her eyes away, still uncomfortable with staring into those deep, red pools. Itachi stared at the side of her head before moving in front of her toward the door, pulling it open to allow them both to leave. Akira followed, resting one arm on the door after they had exited.

"Come back tomorrow and I will tell you what I have found out."

Itachi nodded swiftly and closed the distance of the chain between him and Sakura, grasping her hand in his once again. She frowned at this – again – but settled on ignoring his warm hand enclosed around her own. Akira watched the two walk away, smiling almost secretly to himself. _I believe Miss Haruno was right. It really was a stroke of luck that Itachi Uchiha would be attached to Saika's daughter. _He closed the door after finally seeing their heads disappear over the other side of the hill. _I don't think the person who framed him could have made a bigger mistake..._

_~*~_

"Room for two, please." Itachi spoke to the lodge owner, who had already told them that he had been informed of their arrival by Akira. The owner leant under the counter and took out a silver key, handing it to Itachi and letting a weak smile cross over her lips. Sakura followed Itachi up the stairs, looking over her shoulder at the woman mounting the counter before she was forced to turn the corner. _Everyone in this village seems to be so... fragile. It's a wonder how they manage to produce any shinobi at all._

"Sakura." She jumped when Itachi's voice rung in the empty corridor.

"What?" She snapped, annoyed that he had disturbed her thoughts. He nodded into the room and she looked in, gasping in awe. It was huge – rather plain – but huge nonetheless. White walls, black carpet, one elegant table and a huge double bed rested in the centre of it. She froze, not noticing as Itachi walked into the room straight past her.

"One bed?" She growled, making Itachi look over his shoulder. She could see the gleam in his eyes and the quirk of his eyebrow that seemed to suggest 'well, duh?' She gritted her teeth and crossed her arms almost sulkily, the chain rattling in the silence. Itachi turned to face her fully, crossing his own arms too.

"What did you expect, Sa-ku-ra?" She swallowed, pushing down the strange feeling that had arisen into her chest and wrapped itself around her heart, making it beat almost irregularly. She scowled at him.

"I expected to at least be able to have my OWN bed. I've decided to trust what you've said to me, but that's no reason to go and make us get all cosy-" She stopped, noticing that her voice had suddenly become uneasy. He was staring seriously at her again, that curious, strange look in his eyes.

"I believe sleeping in separate beds will only cause more trouble for the both of us." He turned away, stopping as he reached a door that split the bedroom from the bathroom. Even _he _had not thought through the difficulties of using a bathroom between the two of them.

Sakura seemed to notice why he stopped and she uncrossed her arms. "Oh, hell no. HOW ARE WE SUPPOSED TO SHOWER?!" She exclaimed, forgetting that the door behind her was still open. A maid ran past hurriedly, looking into the room almost fearfully.

"Looks like we shall be showering together."

Sakura choked on her own saliva. Did Itachi Uchiha just say that to her? Was she hearing things? When he turned around, a completely serious expression on his face but one eyebrow raised... she knew he had done it to invoke her reaction. A reaction of her coughing, a wild blush spread across her cheeks and her eyes widened in surprise. Who knew that the Uchiha was so... un-Uchiha like.

As soon as his amused expression had come, it was gone. Back to his usual passive face, showing nothing but his blank red eyes and thin lips. It was as though he had never said it.

"You can't be serious?" She whispered hoarsely after having got over her little spat. Itachi just stared back.

"I cannot remember a time when I have not been serious, Sakura." His voice was low and deep, bored and monotone. Sakura kept her gaze on him, her eyebrows slightly turned down toward her eyes, setting a light frown across her face. She just couldn't figure him out. One moment he was almost like Kakashi and the next, he was solemn and stern.

"The chain is not long enough to stretch out of the door as the bathroom is abnormally large. It would seem we would have to stay in the bathroom with each other, or we resort to going to hot springs, which may revoke some peculiar reactions as men and women are not supposed to bathe together in public." Itachi walked toward Sakura and for a moment, she thought he was approaching her. But he reached over her head – him being a head taller than her – and closed the door. Now he was within a meter of her.

Sakura let out a quiet groan of exasperation, raising her hands to place the palms into her eyes, so her fingers could entwine into her dirt-ridden fringe. "I just want a shower." She whispered quietly into her elbows. An unexpected hand grasped hers, pulling it from its hold in her hair and then she was pulled into the bathroom with Itachi, thrown towards the step-in shower. A click echoed around the empty bathroom as she regained her composure and she stood with her knees facing inwards, clenched fists held at her front. A vein was throbbing above her forehead and her face was contorted with rage.

"ITACHI! I AM NOT SHOWERING IN THE SAME ROOM AS YOU."

Itachi stared back, watching as Sakura's anger seemed to release a red aura around her being. He turned to face the door, unlocking it.

"Suit yourself, Sa-ku-ra." He opened it and walked back into the bedroom, yanking the chain so she fell flat on the floor and out of the bathroom. He stood facing away from her, his arms obviously crossed. She lay, trembling with the difficulty of controlling her rage.

"Do you _want_ to see me showering or something?" She muttered under her breath, her cheeks tinted with what she was implying. Her words caused the Uchiha to stiffen.

"I assure you, Sakura; that is the last thing I want at this current time." Itachi's voice was cold and rather bone-chillingly terrifying. Sakura frowned at his back. So seeing her naked disgusted him?

"Fine," she got to her feet and stormed into the bathroom, Itachi slowly walking behind her. He locked the door and turned around to meet her gaze with his own. She placed her hand on her hips and deepened the frown.

"You have to turn around. And no peeking!" She stabbed a finger at him and almost regretted it when his eyes narrowed threateningly.

"Sakura..." He warned. She dragged her finger back quickly, clutching it with her other hand protectively. She let out a nervous laugh.

"Okay, so you won't peek. I get it."

The Uchiha gave her one last, grave look before turning around to stare hard at the wooden door in front of him. It was disconcerting enough that he was going to be standing just meters away from Sakura while her bare form cleaned, but the movement of the chain as she discarded her clothes was even more distressing.

A sudden jet of water, bouncing loudly off of the tiled floor, made him stiffen. As the patter of water was interrupted – obviously because Sakura had stepped under the shower – he felt his mouth go uncomfortably dry. How easy would it be, for him to strip down and join her?

Disgusted, he pushed the thought away to the back of his head, locking it tightly into a box. No; there would be no such thoughts. His mind was focused on only getting revenge – not getting pleasure. Yet the squeak of the faucet behind him and the light pad of footsteps approaching out of the shower still send a rigid shiver down his spine.

"Alright. I guess I'm done." He turned, scanning Sakura's body quickly. A towel was wrapped around her pale form, yet two straps that entwined over her shoulders meant that she was not entirely naked. That only made Itachi more uneasy. She held her clothes in her arms that were crossed over her chest, emphasizing the little cleavage that was rarely on show.

She knew she was pushing him too far. She could have worn the clothes she was holding, but in all honesty, she thought it would have been best if she wore the long t-shirt that Itachi had stolen for her on the way to the lodge, to bed. That way, she still kept some sense of moral hygiene.

But Itachi's eyes were burning through her again, that strange dark fire igniting in the usually blank crimson orbs, seemed to tell her that Itachi knew she was using her beauty and figure in an attempt to disorientate him. It was unnerving for her. She seemed to get a thrill of seeing Itachi's usual mask discarded; she liked to see his eyes burn with that strange emotion that she couldn't quite place her finger upon. She swallowed as silence stretched between them, before the corner of his lip twitched upwards.

"I am afraid you may have to wait a little longer before returning to the room. I wish to rid myself of filth, also."

Sakura went rigid at this, her eyes hardening as she stared back at Itachi. Was this another part of his game? Why was it that he would keep his distance and then so easily bounce back? She couldn't open her mouth to object – he had just stood patiently while she showered behind him. She wondered whether that had made him feel uncomfortable.

She shook off the thought. _He's probably been in a more embarrassing situation than this. Who knows what you go through as ANBU..._

"Turn around, Sakura." Sakura didn't realise she was staring into space and brought her eyes down to Itachi, who had moved to stand in front of the shower. She opened her mouth to apologise, but clammed it shut and turned to face the door. It was eerily quiet and the only acknowledgment that Itachi was still even in the room was the light clinking of chain, the quiet rustling of material and the gentle thud of clothing being dropped to the floor. The moment the shower head propelled a jet of water behind her, her stomach seemed to clench with an unreadable sensation. _You're standing in a room with a naked Itachi Uchiha..._

One peek. She only needed one peek. Not even a strong, hardened kunoichi like herself could resist this opportunity. It was like Kakashi's mask all over again; it was something everyone – boys included – wanted to see. Sakura was sure there must be a fair amount of men in Konoha who would seize this chance to compare their own physique with the mighty Itachi Uchiha. Slowly and cautiously, she moved her head ever-so-slightly to the side, peering through the steam. Her heart beat quickened.

It was like an unfair scene in a romance movie. The steam seemed to covering his most vital parts – just like Naruto's disgusting Sexy-Jutsu – but her mouth still ran dry at the view of hot, moist steam engulfing the Uchiha, fiery water cascading down his slender chest that she could only barely see a glimpse of. His raven hair ran down his back, the length increased because of the upward tilt his head was in. His face was being hit by the shower and it looked so peaceful and unguarded – some part of her wished his face would always seem so relaxed. Yet there was still a twitch amongst his brow, his face still set into a light scowl. It didn't matter. It was a vast difference to how he usually looked.

Hurriedly, she turned back to face the door before she was caught. Her face had developed a light pink tinge that she wasn't aware of and her insides were in utter turmoil. She had seen it. She could run back to Konoha and exclaim to Ino that her eyes had been set on the naked form of the Uchiha prodigy. Of course, the details that _steam _seemed to block out his more endowed places wouldn't matter; Ino would be too busy pounding Sakura into the ground with jealousy.

The faucet squeaked and the water stopped. Sakura went stiff, raising a hand to scratch at the wood on the door she was facing, almost innocently. Maybe it was a mistake to have snuck a peek at him. He had once told her that he could read her like a book – maybe her awe and excitement would be readable from her face. She frowned. She knew how to hide her emotions – it was something she did on multiple occasions. But being around Itachi had made her want to show them, not caring if the world saw what she was feeling.

It was settled; she would replace the same mask Itachi used. That way, he would struggle to find what she was thinking. It could even rile him up.

Rustling was heard from behind her. "You may turn around now. I'm sure the wood is beginning to bore you."

She turned slowly, glad that she would no longer have to withstand being in a room with naked Itachi. Or not.

His shirt was in his hands, as were the majority of his clothes. A simple towel was wound around his waist – black, ironically – and it made his pale skin seem to shine. She watched almost hungrily as a single water droplet fell from his hair, trickling down his chest and between the middle of the towel – practically teasing her.

She brought her eyes back up to Itachi. There it was again, his eyes twinkling in amusement, yet his face saying nothing. Sakura remembered her mask and mirrored his expression, showing nothing but a twinkle in her emerald eyes. Was there even a reason for him to be half-naked? It didn't seem like it. Perhaps he was trying to get some sort of twisted revenge on her for not putting her clothes on. But she hadn't _purposely _decided to get changed in the bedroom - it was just a coincidence that the rucksack happened to be left in there.

Sakura cleared her throat. "Now we're all clean, I guess we can go to sleep." She turned and unlocked the door, pulling Itachi along with her. He stared at her back curiously. Why was it he couldn't tell what she was thinking? Her face was unreadable.

She strolled over to the shabby, dark blue rucksack and pulled out the long t-shirt, holding her towel in place with a hand pressed to her chest. Itachi didn't seem to care that his towel was becoming more low slung around his lean hips, so Sakura avoided looking at his body and instead, focused her eyes on his.

She didn't have to say anything and he turned around, crossing his arms as he did so. The chain pulled her toward him a little and she glared at his back, dropping the towel to the floor and hurriedly pulling on the t-shirt.

"Done." She said casually, throwing back the blankets on the large bed. She felt Itachi's eyes scanning her, but the black t-shirt came just a little above her knees meaning that not much of her was revealed.

Itachi moved around to the other side of the bed, lifting his right wrist to stretch it over the bed. Sakura's left rose too and she was pulled forwards a little. Her glare went unnoticed to the Uchiha as he slipped into the bed, removing his towel after he settled down. Sakura froze. Oh no. She was NOT going to sleep in a bed with a naked Uchiha. That was out of the question.

By the expression on his face, Itachi was actually unaware of the uncomfortable Sakura, but that could have just been his impressive ability to shield emotions. She cleared her throat, getting his attention.

"You're not planning to sleep like that, are you?" She asked, her throat annoyingly shaky. This time, she saw his amused smirk twitching around his lips and she felt like wrapping the chain around his neck and strangling him with it. He grasped the edge of the quilt and threw it back suddenly, catching Sakura at unawares. Then she noticed he was wearing underwear. Black boxers, to be precise.

"As most of the clothes I have managed to borrow were for you, Sakura, I do not have any sleepwear for tonight. I would preferable not wear the clothes that are covered in filth and dirt until they are cleaned tomorrow."

Sakura's eyes slipped into slits, staring at the Uchiha. This was too much. Why was he playing around with her head? Did he think she was some sort of lovesick female who would melt into a puddle at his command? That was unlikely.

She slid into the bed next to him, keeping her distance as far from Itachi as possible. It was a huge bed, so this was relatively easy. However, when she laid on her right side, the chain brushed against her left arm, causing her skin to itch considerably. She was forced to turn and Itachi found himself doing the same. Her eyes connected with his.

"Goodnight, Sakura." He whispered, the last of the light that the setting sun shone into the room, finally extinguishing as it disappeared behind hills. Sakura could still see his luminous red eyes in the darkness and never broke her eyes away, until he finally closed them.

"Night, Itachi."

But Sakura was far from tired. Her mind was crammed with questions, worries and thoughts. This game between her and Itachi – what exactly was it? Itachi was still very traumatised by the incident with his parents, yet he spared her smirks and quips that made her stomach turn. She knew the reason for it. Itachi needed a distraction from his thoughts and she seemed to be the easy way out.

She wouldn't deny that – before the whole incident – she had found herself rather warming to the Uchiha that lay beside her. He was a mystery, but just one of those people she would pass on the street without a sparing glance. But now, he seemed to have almost opened up. She resisted the urge to snort. It was strange to say, but she actually thought Itachi was someone who knew about their good looks and used them to their advantage.

He'd never had sex with a woman. His file at the hospital had clearly stated that, as she had once been filing for the Uchiha's and had come across it. Why was it he knew what to say to make her become nothing more than a stammering child, when clearly he had never attempted to even _seduce_ a woman in his life?

She frowned at him as his breathing evened out, meaning he had fallen asleep. Although she had told herself that playing his game would be fun, she was becoming increasingly concerned that sooner or later, it may not be a game anymore. There was still that minute chance that she could go back to Konoha and let Itachi deal with his own problems and she knew that there was still no proof exactly that he was not the killer. She was almost positive he wasn't the murderer, but her opinion didn't matter.

Because, when it came down to it, if the real murderer was out there somewhere – with Itachi's face, scent and chakra – then there was just no way to prove Itachi's innocence. Which could mean that – terrifyingly – she may just be attached to him forever.

Via handcuffs, or not.

* * *

**A/N: I read Perception last night and most of this morning. It's pretty damn good. **

**For future reference, Sakura is cuffed on her LEFT wrist and Itachi on his RIGHT. Sorry if in earlier chapters, this is vice versa. It's just, this is how it'll be from now on. **

**I'm really dodgy when it comes to Naruto Geography, so in future chapter just ignore my futile attempt at it. There is also the possibility that this story may turn M-rated. Depends how it all works out. Shower scene was immensely cliche, but for some reason I felt the need to clear up how they would deal with that kind of department. **

**Going to the toilet... well, I don't really want to cover that. Use your imagination of how they would relieve themselves. Again, I'm getting a bit quick with the whole ItaSaku thing, but it'd be boring if there was none.**

**Who else wants to sleep beside a half-naked Itachi? ;)**


	5. Trap

-

**Snowbows**

_''A weed is no more than a flower in disguise''_

_-_

Sakura grumbled to herself as she and Itachi progressed slowly up the hill. Not only had Itachi woken her at stupid o'clock in the morning, he had also insisted that she be ready and out of the door within the first two minutes of waking up. She was definitely not a morning person.

And judging by the silence coming from the Uchiha's end – not to mention the deadly glares he threw at birds if they chirped too loud – he wasn't either.

So why wake her up at an absurd time if he didn't want to be up either? She sighed, running a hand through her hair. The positive thing was that she hadn't awoken sprawled over Itachi's half-naked body – as she had suspected she would have.

She brought her eyes up to Itachi's back, staring at him in thought. Well, she had heard enough stories from kunoichi in the past to know that they had awoken many times, spread across particularly good-looking male shinobi that they had been forced to share beds with.

She considered herself lucky she didn't have to endure the embarrassment they had gone through. She had kept her distance, even while sleeping. That was a good sign.

The Uchiha turned suddenly, obviously feeling her gaze planted on his back. She brought her eyes to his, unfazed that she had been caught staring.

"Is there something you need, kunoichi?"

Sakura winced. _Kunoichi? _Why had Itachi suddenly brought himself to call her that, of all things? It was like he was undermining her talents and making out that he was the stronger ninja between the two. Well, technically speaking, that was _true._ But that didn't mean it was still disrespectful.

"I was just wondering why you woke me up this early in the morning, you obnoxious loser."

The look that spread across Itachi's face was positively wonderful. If you could call his eyes widening and a horrible grimace a 'look'.

She threw him a victorious, yet irritated, smile. He narrowed his eyes, the creases underneath them duplicated from the day before. He had obviously had little sleep.

"Although we may be on closer terms then most shinobi, Sakura, there is still a level of respect that is to be maintained-"

"Oh, respect. Funny." She interrupted, stopping her footsteps. Itachi was forced to stop also, casting his eyes into the direction of the cottage. They were only a five minute walk away and she decided to be difficult. He was finding her attitude rather shocking, surprised as to why her fun banter and kind personality had evaporated. Surely she wasn't that disgruntled that he had awoken her early?

He resisted the urge to sigh and walked down the hill so they were closer, enabling him to observe her emotions across her face clearer. His Sharingan definitely helped with this. She was irritated, flustered and slightly angry. But why?

"_Kunoichi?" _She spoke through gritted teeth. "I have a name, Itachi. You've used it often enough. There's no point getting annoyed with me because you're sick in the head and decided to shake me awake incredibly early."

He winced, almost guiltily. She'd struck a nerve with the whole 'sleeping' thing. Itachi noticed the curious expression that crossed her face and hated himself for showing even one ounce of emotion at her words. Realisation spread across her face.

"You're an insomniac," she whispered. She had read it in his file once before, when he had come in for a rare examination.

He looked at her stiffly, drawing his gaze away from hers to stare off of the hill at the village below them. It was uncomfortable subject for him, so he turned and walked onwards, lengthening the chain in order to make sure Sakura stayed a safe distance behind him.

But she ran towards him, looking at his face.

"When was the last time you slept?" Her voice was sharp and prying. It wasn't Sakura's voice – it was the voice she would use with medical patients back at the hospital. Itachi grinded his teeth, hating her snooping. But she was a medic, after all. There was no way he could deny that she could help.

"Five days ago," he replied, curtly. Sakura's eyes widened with a strange sense of awe. To think, that Itachi hadn't slept in that long yet still managed to keep going. Suddenly, she frowned.

"But you were asleep last night," she passed him a curious glance. His lips twitched humourlessly.

"I was taught to go into a deep meditation at night in order to keep my energy up." Sakura pulled a face, noticing that Itachi's voice seemed a lot weaker and slightly slurred than usual. He was really bad – not sleeping for five days was sure to have had an effect on him.

His past attitude forgotten, Sakura stepped forwards and took his hand, pulling him faster up the hill. Itachi's upper body was forced to lean forwards as she dragged him, an alarmed expression across his face. What was she doing?

Sakura turned back around to him, a sweet smile on her face. It seemed slightly forced, but it still took him off guard all the same.

"We're going to see if these silly things can get taken off," she shook their conjoined hands, "and then we're going back to the lodge to make the most of the rest of our stay. You're no good when you're lacking sleep." She opened her eyes that had crinkled with her smile, staring sternly back at him. He looked back passively.

They reached the top of the hill quickly – due to Sakura's increased pace – and Sakura raised a hand to hammer on the wooden door. It swung open at her touch, creaking slowly open to reveal Akira's dark hallway. She frowned, turning to look uncertainly at Itachi. He was too busy focusing his eyes on the inside of the hallway, his senses overpowered by the Sharingan. Sakura noticed the uneasiness about the Uchiha and instead of asking him, she sent chakra to her nose and eyes – a technique she had taught herself and was yet to use in battle. She done it discreetly, so she could hide her technique from the Uchiha next to her. She didn't want to reveal it just yet – not until she really had to.

It hit her strong. The scent of blood and fear still blew in the humid wind coming from inside the cottage. Now she knew why Itachi had acted so strangely. Without warning, she hurried in, dragging Itachi behind her.

"Sakura-" He protested, attempting to pull her back. But she entered and her eyes scanned the main room hungrily for the signs of death. They connected with the body on the floor. Akira's.

Her throat closed up as she observed the simple kunai that had been thrown into his chest. Stepping forwards, she rolled the man over. He was still breathing and his eyes were open, although he was too close to death to save.

"Who?" She whispered hoarsely. Akira's face was twisted in to a look of absolute horror and he raised a weak hand towards her face.

"Trap," he croaked, bending his fingers inwards toward his hand to point. A kunai flew from the corner of the room and knocked his hand away, making him yell in pain. Sakura flew backwards to Itachi's side, staring into the corner of the room. Where darkness had obstructed their vision, two blurs walked out of the corner. They were using a form of jutsu that made them blend into their surroundings, like a chameleon.

As the disguise fell, fear struck through Sakura. "Grass ANBU," Itachi growled, pulling a kunai from his pocket to fend himself off. A masked ANBU stepped forwards, a protective kunai in his hand also.

"The Land of Wind warned us that you may be heading this way," the voice was muffled behind the painted mask, but it was still clear. "Hand over the girl, Itachi Uchiha, and you will not get hurt. If you leave with us obediently, we shall not have to use force."

Sakura's eyes widened in surprise at this. They thought she was a hostage? But that meant she could go home!

The chain between her and Itachi tightened. She cursed under her breath, her celebration quickly evaporating. It didn't look like she was leaving anytime soon – the cuffs still attached the two of them together. A thought suddenly struck her.

"Itachi, why don't we let them bring us back to Konoha? We can explain everything to the Hokage!" She whispered to him, making sure the other ANBU couldn't hear. Itachi threw her a sparing glance, bringing his eyes quickly back to the enemy in front of him.

"Sakura-" He stopped himself. He couldn't tell her what happened – not yet. "Sakura, I cannot go back."

The images from that night flashed before his eyes once again...

~*~

_The man turned Sasuke's unconscious head to the side, holding him upright by the back of his collar. Itachi watched angrily as the man drew a long finger down the young boys face, staring at it fascinatingly. _

"_You should have seen the look on his face when he saw you, thrusting a sword in and out of his parent's bodies like they were nothing but soft toys..." The loud laugh cackled down the lane, again contorting Itachi's unwanted clone's face into a strange expression. "He looked like he was about to break into a thousand pieces."_

_Suddenly, like a gust of wind, Sasuke was dropped and Itachi found himself staring into his own eyes. The look was murderous._

"_Come back, Itachi, and you _will _find him in a thousand pieces. Physically." The eyes narrowed. "And you know I can do it. Can you imagine, Sasuke's last memory of life was his cold-hearted brother's murderous face?"_

_The face was torn away from his own, going back to stare at the Uchiha lying on the ground. A sick, twisted grin crossed over the man's face._

"_Happy birthday, Sasuke." _

~*~

Itachi's skin had gone a chalky white. Sakura sent him a worried glance. Not only had Itachi suffered from lack of sleep, he also seemed to have become rather ill. Itachi had still not told her his side of the story, still hadn't proved that it wasn't him that killed his parents. And she wanted to know the story – wanted to know so badly about the one thing that was so classified, it _surpassed _classified.

Sakura turned her face toward the Grass ANBU and settled a fierce scowl on her face, reaching into her back pocket for a kunai.

"I'm sorry. We're not going anywhere," A smile spread across Sakura's face. "And I'm _not _a 'girl'..." She lunged forwards, the clinking of the chain dragging Itachi out his stupor. Sakura's kunai clashed with another. She brought her face threateningly close to the mask.

"I'm a _woman._" She spat, jumping backwards to throw a leg at the green-cloaked man. Itachi watched her movements, becoming increasingly aware that the chain seemed to be tightening with every step she took. He leaped forwards too, at a speed that seemed almost inhuman and instantly, the ANBU's neck was sliced open. Sakura jumped backwards, avoiding the spurt of blood that threatened to spill over her only change of clothes.

She was entranced, yet horrified, at the sudden change in Itachi's attitude. While he was graceful as he fought – forcing her to jump in time to keep the distance between them – he was also terrifying. The intensity of his face as he killed yet a second ANBU with such ease...

Her left arm lurched forwards, almost sending her to the floor. She cursed as her right arm instinctively headed to the floor to keep her balance. She moved in time with Itachi, waiting for her opportunity as he fought with the last two ANBU. Suddenly, she leaped, rolling over his bent back with her own and placing a hand to the ANBU's chest. There was no time for him to avoid what was happening and within moments, he found himself on the floor in a crumpled heap.

Itachi spared Sakura a curious glance, wondering how it was she had killed instantly. He imbedded a kunai into the last Grass nin's heart and jumped backwards as the dead shinobi collapsed to the floor. Sakura wasted no time in running over to Akira, who was now panting and had gone a pale white.

"Akira!" She shook his shoulder, gaining his attention. He threw her a weak smile.

"Don't worry about an old fool like me. You should get out of here while you still can," he coughed and Sakura moved forwards, placing her hands to his chest in an attempt to heal him. His lung had been pierced and he had several broken ribs – it was going to take at least fifteen minutes to heal his injuries.

"Sakura," Itachi said warningly, his eyes throwing themselves out of the window as a crowd of shinobi – jonin mixed with ANBU – appeared over the hill. Sakura was looking between the two, torn at the choice she had to make.

"We can take you with us-" She began to say, stopping when the man shook his head. He lifted out a hand to cup her cheek, like a grandfather comforting his granddaughter.

"Leave me. It's about time I gave up my struggle to keep living." Sakura shook her head stubbornly, setting a determined frown on her face. "No I won't-"

The entire front wall to the cottage was ripped off, revealing the crowd of shinobi that had been sent after both her and Itachi. Itachi pulled on the chain that connecting him and Sakura, diving forwards to lift Sakura into his arms. It took her unexpectedly and when she opened her instinctively clenched eyes, she found herself being held by Itachi, who was running and jumping in order to avoid the kunai and shuriken flying at him. She noticed with horror that he several dug into his right thigh, one near his abdomen and another in his left shoulder. Moving an arm out, he formed a simple hand sign and suddenly, she found herself flying through darkness.

She landed with a bump to the floor, letting out a yelp when her bottom came into contact with wooden leaves and sticks. She opened her eyes, observing her surroundings.

Itachi had teleported them. Hurriedly, she turned to Itachi – whom she was resting against – and observed his worn out, almost unconscious face. Teleportation was only ever used as a last resort in a shinobi fight – especially if you were in unknown grounds. In order to reduce the amount of chakra needed for teleportation, you needed to know the location you wished to go to. As it was for such a short distance, using it in a fight was risky. But by the looks of it, the Grass ANBU and shinobi were nowhere near as experienced as the Konoha shinobi.

In the distance Sakura could hear the angry shouts of the shinobi, but she knew that her and Itachi were safe as both of their chakra was being hidden, thanks to Sakura's cloaking ability.

Itachi had blood trickling down his chin and had several scathes down his face, the weapons still sticking horribly out of his body. Sakura observed them quickly, taking out each one with a quick flick of her wrist. Itachi winced, but didn't say anything to object to it.

Sakura lifted Itachi to his feet, too worried to find the fact she was helping the great Uchiha prodigy amusing. She had plenty of chakra left and used this to drag her and Itachi far away from the hill that the cottage resided on, until she came to a short ditch that she figured would be a perfect place to relax her exhausted feet.

She laid Itachi down into it, noticing that his eyes seemed to have glazed over in tiredness. They shot open at the feel of her removing his shirt and moved to look at her. Sakura was too focused on healing him to notice his chest, bringing her hand up to it to heal the not-so-fatal wounds that he possessed. He watched her quietly, finding himself slowly relaxing under her warm touch. She moved to his shoulder, brushing her hand over it.

When her eyes moved to his thigh, she finally had the decency to shuffle uncomfortably. But she pulled down the edge of them all the same, fighting the blush that threatened to cross over her face. When she had replaced all of his clothes so he was decent, she brought her eyes back up to his. He was looking down at her, his eyes blank. She moved back from him and leant against the wall of the ditch, tucking her knees into her chin and resting her arms on them, looking at the floor distractedly.

"Will they kill him?" She whispered after an unendurable silence. Itachi seemed to understand her and continued to keep his eyes firmly on her drained form.

"No. They will more than likely keep him safely imprisoned for not warning them of our arrival," he noticed Sakura's horrible grimace, frowning slightly himself at her depressed attitude. It wasn't like her.

"How did you do it?" He asked after a few moments silence. She brought her eyes back to his, her temporary daydream gone and now her jade eyes were focused on the Uchiha in front of her in slight surprise.

"How did I do what?" She replied. He kept his eyes on her, before twitching his lips upwards into what could have been a smile.

"You killed the Grass nin almost instantly. I'm simply curious as to how you did it," he replied, his crimson eyes staring more intensely at her than ever before. Sakura shuffled uncomfortably under his stare, hating it when he seemed to talk to her personally instead of about things that were unrelated. When his entire attention was focused on her, it did funny things to her that she preferred to keep locked up.

But his question about her technique did sent a pleasurable, smug shiver down her spine.

"I stopped his heart," she smiled at him, tucking her hands into each other while her knees loosened up, unblocking her chin so she could speak clearer. When Itachi didn't reply, she continued, stretching her hands out.

"We medics can sent chakra into the body to fix internal organs," an evil frown crossed over her face. "But we can also sent it in to destroy them."

The sly grin of satisfaction that had spread across her face surprised Itachi. She seemed to be filled with pleasure at having killed – and that was only slightly worrying. Sakura lifted her gaze to his, her former expression gone and replaced with an apologetic smile.

"That was the first kill I've made in five years – there's so many things I've learnt that I want to try out," she sighed contently and her old, relaxed smile spread across her face. Itachi felt a strange surge of emotion through him. It was like he was happy that a smile had returned to the girls face.

"Sakura," he spoke to her, alerting her from her relaxed trance. She brought her jade eyes to his. "We need to train."

Her face contorted with confusion. "Huh?"

Itachi looked down at the floor. "Our only key to this lock is now being held prisoner and as you have already witnessed, I am not at my full ability while we are attached."

Sakura ran a hand through her hair, her face slipping into a look of realisation. "Gosh, you're right."

A silence followed.

"When are you going to tell me?" Sakura whispered. If it wasn't for Itachi's senses, he wouldn't have heard her question. But he heard it and went rigid.

"When I feel it is appropriate." He replied stiffly, standing to his feet. He wobbled slightly, clutching a tree beside him for balance. Sakura was on her feet in seconds, stepping forwards toward him.

"We're not going anywhere until you've slept." She frowned at him and wrapped her hands around his right arm, dragging him away from the side of the road and further into the woods.

"We do not have time to rest. We will be found."

Sakura snorted, leading the way through the woods and to the place she had seen moments before while she was dragging Itachi to the side of the road. "You know full well the shinobi back at the village were almost too stupid to talk. If they had considered for even a moment that we had just used teleportation, we would have been found in seconds."

Itachi seemed to find some sense in her words and allowed her to lead the way through the woods. As they approached an opening, Sakura's face lit up. A large mountain face greeted her and Itachi.

Why this pleased Sakura, Itachi was unsure. It wasn't until she approached it and smacked her fist to the side did he realise. A clean-cut, huge, gaping hole formed in the side, providing a nice shelter. She crossed her arms and turned to him, smiling happily.

"A place to rest..." she turned, placing her hand to the side of the mountain face. A green glow spread over it. She turned back to him. "...our chakra hidden."

Itachi was too proud to admit that he was impressed, but he was, deep down. She had thought through the whole situation.

She gestured inside with her pale hand and Itachi obliged, fully beginning to feel the effects of five, sleepless days.

Sakura watched as he walked inside calmly, feeling like she had in the hospital as she watched patients walk into their ward rooms. Although her and Itachi definitely didn't look their greatest and certainly wasn't in a place as unhygienic as a hospital, she still had a solution to his insomnia. Many shinobi suffered from insomnia, but after a visit at the hospital they usually left and had no issue with it afterward.

Itachi – however – had always been an insomniac, even from his records as a child.

She stepped forwards, watching as Itachi sat in the centre of the cave. Slowly, she sneaked behind him and sat on her knees, making sure they didn't bump into his back. He froze.

"Relax. I have a solution to your sleeping problem – it's worked for countless other patients so I don't see why this shouldn't work now." She brought her hands to his shoulders and sent a warm glow of chakra through her delicate fingers, slowly pressing them into his shoulder blades. She was surprised to find that he almost instantly relaxed, the tense knots in his shoulders falling out.

When he let out a deep breath, Sakura resisted a blush that fought it's way up her cheeks. _Stay medical, Sakura, _she told herself, moving her hands away from his shoulders to remove his shirt. The cold air that hit his chest made him freeze, the tense knots returning.

"Chakra works better on skin to skin," she commented casually, although it was forced. Itachi didn't notice, as her hands had replaced themselves on his now bare shoulders, removing every ounce of stress that he had been burdened with.

He was feeling more relaxed then he had in a while. Although the Sharingan was still straining his head, his entire body seemed lax and at ease.

He'd never thought to get a massage before. Then again, with his phobia, he really hadn't wanted to be touched by a stranger. But with Sakura – he actually fought a growl that crawled up his throat as she dug her knuckles into a particularly tight spot – with Sakura, he felt comfortable. He had figured that the reason to this was the handcuffs. They were enchanted, after all, and whilst they were connected, it was as though they were one person.

That was his reason.

He heard movement behind him and noticed the warmth of her hands drop from his shoulders. He opened his eyes to figure out why exactly it was that she had stopped, only to come eye to eye with Sakura, who was kneeling in front of him. Her hands came up to the side of her head and a focused frown spread across her brow.

"Deactivate your Sharingan," she ordered. His eyes narrowed and she rolled hers in reply. "Just for the minute, Itachi. You won't get the full result out of this otherwise."

Surprisingly, he did what she said. Sending chakra into her hands, she placed them either side of his head, massaging his temples. His eyes closed instinctively a shiver ran down his spine. If he could have this massage every day, he would have no issue sleeping in the future-

A tiny squeal suddenly came from Sakura, but he failed to realise. She – however – was completely aware of Itachi's hands that were holding around her waist tightly, making sure to keep her in place. It was distracting to say the least, but she continued her ministrations on his temples, making sure that his stress would be blown away.

His head suddenly lulled forward and fell onto her shoulder, making her smirk in victory. He had fallen asleep. For the first time in five days. She laid him on the hard ground, before settling herself down beside him. Frowning, she struggled to get comfortable.

_I already miss the bed back at the lodge... _She thought to herself, sighing in annoyance. She raised her eyes back up to Itachi to stare at his content, sleeping face.

_Akira never told us if there was a way of getting these off, _she looked down at her wrist, before bringing her eyes back up to Itachi. _I wish he'd tell me what was going on. What our next move is or what's going to happen to us._ She sighed again and rolled onto her back, placing her hands behind her head to stare at the ceiling of their cave. _ I wanted excitement. And I got it._

_Funny thing is, now I'm out here, looking danger in the face and using my five years of training..._

She rolled over, facing Itachi yet again.

_... I just want it to go back the way it was._

_

* * *

_

**A/N: Not the most best of chapters. I apologise in advance for any mistakes - I'm tired and want to go to sleep, but thought I best get this done.**

**My writing's certainly become a lot more sloppy. I guess I'm lacking self-motivation.**

**I've decided that - after this - I'll be doing a KakaSaku fic, maybe. Or a serious ItaSaku fic, that doesn't contain as much cliche-ness or humour.**

**I'll straighten the mistakes when I get back from school tomorrow - hopefully you can forgive any I've made until then.**

**Review, tell me how much you think I need to improve. I'm thankful for it all, really.**


	6. Oxygen

-

**Snowbows**

_''A weed is no more than a flower in disguise''_

-

Sakura awoke, pressed against warmth that made her stomach gurgle with sudden turmoil. She knew, even before she opened her eyes, that she was pressed against Itachi. It was only predictable, after all. They had both fallen asleep on a cold, hard cave floor and both sought out warmth during the night in order to keep their body temperatures at a relatively normal level.

But that wasn't the main embarrassment. She was pressed against his _bare chest. _She hadn't replaced his t-shirt the night before after giving him a massage. She almost choked in her head. It sounded so… wrong, to say that she had given the ANBU legend a _massage _of all things. But there she was, tucked neatly – and rather comfortably – into the crook of his neck, her forehead resting nicely on his shoulder and her hand pressed lightly to the pale skin of his chest. It certainly didn't help that he had thrown a careless arm around her waist during the whole incident. But she sighed, noticing that the Uchiha was still asleep. At least he had slept – five days without sleep was a big danger, especially in their situation. And she even had to admit, she had slept rather comfortably against him. She hadn't woken up once.

He moved and she went rigid, knowing full well that she couldn't pretend to be asleep. Itachi was a shinobi after all – he wasn't that stupid. She held her breath, hoping that he had done nothing but move in his deep slumber. But all hope evaporated when she heard – and felt - as he took in a sharp intake of breath. Oh, so he was awake. She slowly lifted her eyes up to meet his and found him staring back down with her, a slightly amused twitch in his lips.

"You seem rather comfortable, Sakura," he said in a sleep-laden voice. She scowled up at him, knowing full well he had noticed the stiffness of her posture and the frozen expression on her face. She removed the scowl and smiled sweetly up at him.

"Very funny, Uchiha. I'm surprised you're capable of making sarcastic comments this early in the-" She hesitated. The sun was pouring in from outside and she knew for a fact that it was definitely not morning. They had slept until early in the afternoon. "- afternoon." She finished.

Itachi removed his arm from her waist and she held in her breath as the warmth of his hand slowly dragged along it. The moment he removed it, she almost wished it had stayed. She lacked warmth.

She unpeeled herself from Itachi, sitting up from the floor. She pressed the palm of one hand against her eyes, screwing them shut in the hope that the light could fade away. She may have slept well, but she still felt the need to continue to sleep.

Movement beside her caught her eye and she watched as Itachi pulled on his shirt. The chain clinked and she felt it tug on her wrist.

"Watch it," she muttered to him. He turned after pulling the shirt over his head and raised an eyebrow. He was rather amused that she had snapped at him, seeing as though she had awoken this late into the day. He himself felt more rested then he had in ages. He froze, realising that he had Sakura to thank for that. He watched as she stood to her feet, wobbling slightly.

"Our pursuers have probably given up about now – the Grass nin are a lazy bunch." Sakura commented, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear to look out of the cave. Itachi followed her gaze.

"I still think it's unwise for us to leave," Itachi replied. She frowned at him, turning to face him and crossing her arms.

"Oh, so you think spending the whole day in this cave is going to get us anywhere? You were the one that said we needed to train with these blasted things attached to us." She shook her wrist for emphasis. Itachi crossed his own arms and took his gaze away from her, looking outside of the cave entrance warily.

"We can train without a wide space. The first thing you will have to do is show me which skills you possess. The only knowledge I have of you is that you are a medic-nin," he paused to turn his twinkling gaze towards her, "with very brutal methods of killing."

Sakura snorted, but bunched her lips to the side in thought all the same, thinking about the skills she could show Itachi.

"Well, you know I have very precise chakra control and you know I can stop the hearts of my enemies," she turned her head to him suddenly, her eyes alight. "There is _one_ skill I've been trying to develop, but it's not perfect yet."

She closed her eyes and a few minutes passed. Itachi looked at her hopefully. When she opened her eyes again, they had turned a delightful shade of blue. He could barely hold his surprise.

"It's a little like the Byakugan," she commented, staring around the cave like she had never seen it before. "It allows me to see things that are wrong with the patient, without having to send my chakra inside. Makes everything clearer, just like slipping on a pair of glasses."

Itachi approached her and she watched him warily. His Sharingan clashed with her glowing eyes and she jumped backwards when he dipped his head so his nose was almost in contact with hers. He took her face in his hands, crouching slightly so his face was level with hers and she felt the urge to tear herself away when an uncomfortable feeling spread over her body. He was staring deeply into her eyes.

"That is very impressive," he whispered, obviously too focused on examining her eyes with his Sharingan to notice how uncomfortable he was making the kunoichi. It wasn't only his close proximity that had made her uneasy – she could see every detail. His eyes that usually seemed so dull were now shining, his skin was smoother and absolutely flawless, his hair was shiny and shimmered in the sunlight that poured in from the cave. His touch on her face was intensified – the only flaw of her eye infusion. If the enemy was to stab her with a simple kunai, the cut would hurt almost three times as bad.

But in her current situation, the warmth of his hands seeped deep through her skin, sending it through her entire body.

And suddenly, it was gone. Itachi had moved backwards and removed his hands, but was still staring at her with a strange expression.

"How can it be used in combat?" He asked. Sakura almost yelled at him. Such an innocent action he had done had set her on fire and he simply asked her how it could be used in combat?

"I-I can detect traps and with a little training, I might even be able to predict their movements." She would have said it smugly, but the stutter would have made her sound stupid. Itachi hadn't failed to miss it either. But he couldn't understand why it was she was suddenly unnerved – their closeness had never seemed to affect her so much before.

She noticed his curious expression and ran a hand through her hair. "It's the only flaw to this. I have to send chakra up through my body to infuse my eyes and along the way chakra residue attaches to my nerves and intensifies the slightest touch." She tried not to meet his eye. He'd know that his skin to skin contact would have made her uncomfortable otherwise. When she finally had to bring her eyes to his, she found him only frowning.

"That's a severe disadvantage."

She resisted the urge to hit herself. Of course, the Uchiha wouldn't think back to him holding his hands against her face, he'd only notice the disadvantage to her newly-developed technique.

She rolled her eyes. "I knew that already."

He nodded and gestured for her to come over to him. She warily obeyed, crossing her arms as though she was unhappy that she had to do as he said. He shortened the chain as she walked, preventing her from tripping.

Alarm shot through her. They were more than a metre away – why was he still insisting she get closer?

Hands pressed to the side of her head again. She took a sharp intake of breath, bringing her eyes quickly up to Itachi. His eyes were closed and he didn't seem to be taking any notice of the reaction his movements had made.

"It seems there is no way to prevent the little disadvantage you have," he whispered quietly after a while. She resisted the urge to roll her eyes again as he took his hands away.

"I could have told you that," her heart beat had still not returned to normal after his actions and she cursed herself mentally, pushing away all feelings that had arisen. She took a deep breath and returned back to normal, bringing her eyes up to stare levelly at Itachi.

"I've got other things to show you, but I can't do that unless we go outside," she ignored the look on his face, "if you won't let me go outside and breathe fresh oxygen, then I'll just force you outside."

Sakura stalked over to the entrance of the cave, ignoring the chain straining against her wrist. Her footsteps halted when the cuff pulled on her arm, preventing her from walking further. She flicked her head around quickly to glare at Itachi.

"Move!" She ordered. Itachi raised one eyebrow, his face completely devoid of emotion. She let out a long scream of exasperation.

"Uchiha, I am _not _in the mood for your 'let's be careful' thing. I want to go get outside, breathe some air and train a little while." She pulled on the chain for emphasis, making Itachi take one step forwards. She smirked in victory and turned to exit the cave once again. The chain restrained her.

"Dammit!" She yelled, walking over to Itachi to swing a punch at the side of his face. He blocked it easily, barely able to hold in the surprise at her sudden assault.

"Sakura, you don't know what you're getting yourself into," he commented, twisting her arm around so it was behind her back, then bringing a leg around to kick her. Inner Sakura yelled in celebration. _Finally, another fight! _She blocked his kick, using it to flip over and break out of his hold. Before Itachi could have a chance to regain his stance, she flew at him again, her fist glowing a familiar green.

Itachi frowned in disapproval. "That could cause the ceiling to tumble through, Sakura. Then we'd be stuck in here for a lot longer then you'd like."

She ignored him, although she knew he was speaking the truth. She lunged for his stomach, but he dodged so quickly he almost became a blur. Itachi smacked her wrist, sending the chakra back through her body. Her eyes were still activated, he noticed.

"Stop it," he ordered, turning away as she sent a chakra infused kick towards him. She shook her head and kicked at him again.

"Not until you get your ass outside," she stopped throwing punches and kicks at him, running quickly towards the entrance of the cave that had become closer in their small spar. Itachi noticed this and shortened the chain at an immense speed, sending her crashing into his open arms. He grabbed her shoulders and turned her around, pushing her against the wall.

"No fair," she groaned, trying to rub her back that had been roughly shoved. When she opened her infused eyes, she felt a cold shiver run down her spine. _Oh no, _she thought, _Itachi doesn't look happy._

"As an ANBU, my word is always over yours," he started, whispering to her quietly. "Being out of Konoha does not change that."

Sakura gritted her teeth and attempted to struggle out of his grip. He kept a firm hold on her, pressing the side of his head against hers. She froze.

Itachi knew it was a bad idea to have approached her so stupidly. After waking up this morning to find her pressed against him, he knew that it would be best to make use a safe distance was kept between them. But now he had her at his will against the wall, it took a lot of will not to bend down and press his lips to hers. That frightened him – this urge to close the distance. He couldn't stray from the mission he had set himself; he had to avenge his murdered parent's.

He heard as she took in a sharp breath. He had moved his lips down to her neck and was gently brushing them against her skin, lost in his own thoughts. It seemed he had moved on his own accord, taking no notice of the turmoil going on inside his head.

He moved back, placing his hands either side of her head and hanging his own head in shame.

"I apologise," he said quietly, lifting his head back up to stare into her eyes, making sure he showed nothing but a plain expression.

Sakura was speechless. Had she imagined that? Had she imagined Itachi pressing a light kiss to the side of her neck? She swallowed. She had taken his rejection of going outside a little too far. Did she attempt to fight in order to get this sort of rise out of it?

"Yeah, well, I know that being stuck with a beautiful girl like me can make men act a little strangely," she said this with a slight waver to her voice but still released it with a sense of arrogance. Itachi looked at her, surprised that she had come out with such a comment. He had expected a blush, a break of eye contact and then awkwardness. But she had simply come out with a jokey, arrogant comment. He snorted and moved his arms away, not removing his gaze from hers.

"You are a peculiar girl, Sakura Haruno."

She tilted her head to the side and placed her hands on her hips, smirking proudly at him. "I don't know whether to say thanks or to pound you into the ground." Sakura was surprised with her own boldness. Inside, her inner self was squealing at the small smile and wide eyed expression Itachi had given her. But on the outside, she showed nothing but confidence and determination. She was impressed with herself.

She turned her head to stare outside of the cave, breaking eye contact with Itachi.

"Does this mean we can go outside?" She asked, flicking only her eyes into Itachi's direction whilst keeping her head in the direction of the opening. He turned his own head to stare outside.

"It's risky. If you wish to take that risk, then I will allow us to leave." He nodded and her eyes sparkled with joy.

"Fresh oxygen! I had no idea staying cooped up in a cave could be so uncomfortable." She ran quickly towards the entrance, causing Itachi to stumble after her. He sent a small smile at her back, knowing it was okay to release emotions whilst she was occupied.

She had changed his mind. Itachi Uchiha never switched his decision for anyone – except her. His eyes drifted to the cuffs connecting the two. Was the magical chakra running through them the reason for his sudden attachment to the kunoichi? He focused his crimson eyes on the back of her head. Or was their blooming, dysfunctional relationship forming a whole different sort of attachment?

* * *

**A/N: Okay, it's short. Well, more than short. It's puny. And it's late. Almost a month late.**

**I'M SORRY. I'm suffering from severe writers block. I had to squeeze this out of me during a business lesson once I realised I hadn't updated in so long. An uneventful chapter, but it sort of expands on the attraction between Sakura and Itachi. **

**I hope the next update will be a little quicker as I've found my writing has returned, somewhat. Unless I get sidetracked by amv making, which is another reason for my undeniable writers block. x_x;**

**Kudos to elle6778 and her story 'The Contentious Heart'. The idea of enhanced chakra in the eyes came from her, although mine is a little different.**

**Review, yell at me and tell me to hurry the god damn up. :)**


	7. Moan

-

**Snowbows**

_''A weed is no more than a flower in disguise''_

_-_

She jumped forwards, dodging an oncoming kick that was thrown at her side. Itachi swung to the left, back flipping once to avoid the chakra-infused punch that appeared in retaliation. Both of them jumped backwards from their onslaught, breathing heavily and staring at each other competitively, the chain stretching as far as it would allow them.

Itachi watched the pink-haired kunoichi catch her breath slowly, not showing that inside, he was completely surprised at the strength she possessed. He had an awkward feeling in his chest – something that wasn't emotionally related. She had made him out of breath.

He attempted to hide the fact he was breathless, but he was unable to. He leaned forward slightly, breathing heavily and closing his left eye as a dribble of sweat trickled over it. It had been a long, long time since someone had given him such a workout.

When fighting with Sasuke, it was easy to predict his brothers movements as they were blood-related, therefore making the same choices. But with the kunoichi, she had skills that he had rarely seen in his missions as an ANBU. Chakra-infused punches with enough strength to knock down the Hokage Mountain, swiftness in her movements that put Sasuke to shame and logic that could easily challenge his own.

Years, he had figured the female in Team 7 was the weakest – it was nearly always the case with shinobi Team mates. But in this case… he narrowed his eyes at the kunoichi, straightening up as his heartbeat returned to its normal pace.

In this case, she seemed to be equal – maybe even stronger – then her fellow teammates.

"You're quite a challenge," Itachi said levelly to her. Sakura smiled, still out of breath from their spar. Itachi's movements were no surprise to her – he was ANBU after all and his skills were renowned to be some of the best in Konoha. But she knew that her five years of training had paid off. Techniques that she had learnt alone worked better then she would have thought. She had deactivated her eyes for the spar, too. With them, she may even be able to land a hit on the Uchiha.

"You're quite a challenge yourself, although that's expected." Sakura straightened up, blowing a strand of hair away from her face. Itachi's lips upturned into a slight smile, but he froze.

Footsteps were approaching in the distance. He turned, narrowing his onyx eyes before activating the Sharingan. Figures were coming towards them.

He turned quickly, grasping Sakura by the hand and pulling her into the woody depths that surrounded their training area. The chain clinked.

"Wha-"

Itachi pushed her against the tree, placing a hand over her mouth. He pushed a slender finger to his lips and gestured with his head towards the field which could be seen through the gaps in the trunks. He removed his hand, allowing her to move her head and look out.

"Michio, I wasn't hearing things."

"Yagami, you were being ridiculous. See? No one's here." The voices came closer and Sakura saw two figures approach, their backs facing her. They seemed to be low-rank shinobi of the Grass – barely chuunin.

"Kami, look at the size of those craters! What do you think done that?"

Sakura stiffened, although it was followed by a wave of relief. It was obvious they were not sent to find Itachi and her, otherwise they would have known about her special technique. Itachi was still frowning in concentration in the shinobi's direction, his crimson gaze trained on them.

"Come on. Haruhi's probably still waiting for us." One of the figures lifted an arm to pull at his friend, fear tainting his once cheerful voice. Whatever it was that had made the crater was obviously not something to be messed with.

As they began to depart, Sakura sighed. And trod on a stick.

Itachi's eyes snapped to hers and she mouthed an apology, looking worryingly over to see if the two had noticed. They had.

"Hear that? Someone's here…"

Silence followed, and then the conversation continued in a more hushed, scared tone. "Think its enemy-nin?"

"Not sure. I'll go check."

"Are you crazy? If it is, we'll get slaughtered!"

"Stop being such a wimp. If it makes you feel better, I'll go check first."

Sakura's eyes widened. Oh no, the game was up. If she and Itachi were seen, she was sure they would notice that the two were shinobi. Questions would be asked and they would be forced to reveal the reason why they didn't want to wear the headbands.

Quick footsteps got louder as they approached Sakura and Itachi's hiding place. _We should run, _Sakura thought. Itachi seemed to notice her thoughts and shook his head. It would be too risky…

"Yagami!" The man shouted after his quickly departing friend. Itachi's mind buzzed with ideas, when one came to him.

"Moan," he growled in Sakura's ear. She looked up at him, startled and flushing a crimson colour.

"What?" She squeaked. The footsteps were getting closer. Itachi hissed in annoyance and placed his hands under her thighs, hoisting her up so they wrapped around his waist.

"What are you doing?" She whispered, her face turning a darker shade. Itachi pushed her hard against the tree that was behind her and tightened the grip on her thighs.

"Just do what I say," he ordered, casting a worried glance into the direction the man was currently pursuing from.

Sakura's eyes widened as the reason behind his plan became clear. Itachi pressed his head inwards towards her neck, making it look as though he was pressing light kisses along her pale skin. She couldn't help but partially wish that he DID do it.

She tilted her head back and let out the most convincing moan she could. Immediately, the footsteps stopped.

"Hello?" The scared voice they had heard earlier was now more wary and a little embarrassed. Itachi ran his warm hands further up Sakura's thighs and she gasped – more out of reaction then to convince their spectator – screwing her eyes shut as the Uchiha's skilled fingers brushed small circles on her skin. She shivered when he pushed his body closer to hers, dipping his head so he could brush his lips even more convincingly on her collarbone.

"I apologise for this. It was the first tactic I could think of," he whispered, placing a light kiss to the side of her face. Sakura lifted her arms and entwined them around his neck, pulling him closer.

"I understand," she muttered in reply, noticing that the Grass shinobi had moved closer to observe the two. She tilted her head to nibble Itachi's ear, knowing that she was taking the pretend situation a little too far. "Sometimes we shinobi need to make very… hard decisions."

She felt Itachi's chest move up and down and noticed with surprise that he was chuckling lightly to himself. Maybe he was delirious.

"Hey, Yagami, what's taking so-" The other man froze, seeing the two figures in front of them pressed against the tree.

Itachi was lost in the act with Sakura. His hands moved from the base of her thighs that were entwined around him, further and further up…

Sakura squeaked, feeling two warm hands now placed firmly in a more embarrassing place than her legs. An intense wave of emotion spread through her and she let out a groan again. Itachi didn't fail to notice that this time, it wasn't forced. And that caused a similar flourish through him.

"Let's leave them alone," one of the men said in a hoarse, embarrassed voice. The other coughed and they both fled from the scene, leaving a flustered Sakura and Itachi against the tree. Neither seemed to have the need to move.

"I guess it was a bad idea to train outside," Sakura said in a breathless voice. Itachi's forehead was pressed against the trunk beside Sakura's head, his eyes closed. She noticed almost immediately that something didn't seem right with him – a trickle of blood was journeying down his right eye. She frowned. And his nose, funnily enough.

She untangled herself from him, grasping his hand and interlacing her fingers with his, taking him towards the cave that – luckily – the Grass shinobi hadn't noticed. Itachi seemed to be exhausted, which concerned her. They had sparred for no longer than half an hour and his Sharingan hadn't been activated once during that time.

He was still walking, yet he kept his eyes closed and said nothing. She sat him down, resting him against the wall of the cave.

"Why didn't you tell me you weren't feeling too good?" She whispered to him, suddenly feeling that if anything happened to him, it would be her responsibility. Itachi opened his eyes.

Immediately, Sakura was in front of him, one knee on each side of his outstretched legs and her hands pressed to the side of his head.

"Turn it off," she growled. Itachi actually felt a wave of intimidation at the tone in her voice and did what he was told without objection. Chakra immediately mingled inside his head, clearing his blurred vision slightly so that the image in front of him was no longer out of focus.

When she was done, Sakura sighed and reached into the backpack beside him for wipes. She gently wiped the blood away from his face for him.

"It's getting worse, Itachi. You have to stop using it so frequently." Her green eyes moved from his eyes down to his nose. "As for the nosebleed, well…"

Her cheeks went pink and she focused on placing the wipes in her hand back into the rucksack. A hand captured her cheek and her head was forced to turn toward Itachi. A strange, unseen serene smile was spread across his face and his thumb brushed gently over the top of her cheekbones. His onyx eyes were unfocused and it was clear that he had become almost delirious.

"You look beautiful when you blush." He whispered it so quietly, Sakura wondered whether she had misheard him. But before she could ask him to say it louder, his head lopped sideways and his hand fell from her face. He had fallen asleep.

Sakura lifted a hand, brushing back the black strands from his eyes and tucking it gently behind his ear. She couldn't help it – it was as though she felt responsible for him. Like she was his mother, someone to take care of him when he refused to take care of himself.

_It goes deeper than a motherly love, Sakura, _her Inner self contributed, urging Sakura to lean forward and press her lips against Itachi's thin, silky ones. She shook her head and scrambled off of him, moving to head to the other side of the cave. The chain refused her. Sighing in defeat, she took a seat next to Itachi and looked up at his sleeping face.

_Complicated, _she thought. _Too complicated._

~*~

"Lady Tsunade, we have word of Itachi Uchiha and Sakura Haruno."

The blonde Hokage sat up immediately from her nap, a piece of paper attached firmly to her forehead. She tore it off and wiped away the drool that had formed on the side of her mouth, gesturing for the masked ANBU to step forwards.

"Let's hear it," she ordered. The ANBU bowed.

"They were spotted by the Grass shinobi. It seems they were pursuing the retired medic Akira Watabe for reasons unknown to us. It seems the Grass were harsh when it came to receiving information as Akira has been fatally injured and captured." Tsunade winced, but urged the ANBU to continue.

"Witnesses say that Itachi Uchiha was indeed with Sakura Haruno. Both showed signs of refusal to return to Konoha and several shinobi were killed as a result."

A smash rung around the office. The ANBU remained unfazed at the fact the Hokage's desk was now in pieces, but Shizune – having heard the loud sound – ran in immediately. Tsunade's face was hidden by her blonde hair.

"Get me Kakashi Hatake, Naruto Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha. NOW!" She yelled, looking up and glaring at Shizune. The black-haired woman nodded and bowed.

"Of course, milady."

~*~

"I hate you," Sakura hissed at the black-haired man in front of her. Itachi ignored her and continued to drag her by the chain linking them, gritting his teeth in frustration at her stubbornness.

"If you don't cooperate, I will be made to use force," Itachi stopped walking and turned around to stare at Sakura square in the eyes. He wasn't in the mood for her immature acts. She folded her arms, tightening the chain.

"Where are we going now? Huh? Our last shot to be free of this thing is being held prisoner and we're being hunted by other shinobi. We're screwed, Itachi." Her voice dropped from an aggressive tone to a confused, lost pitch. He watched her mood slowly change and sighed inwardly.

"We're going back to Konoha…" he said, pretending not to notice when she looked up at him like a lost puppy. "…but not to try and feign our innocence."

"Itachi, we don't really have a choice. We really need to tell Konoha what happened – maybe they'll believe you."

Itachi turned away from her, tugging on the chain to indicate that they should continue to walk. Sakura followed slowly behind him.

"No doubt they would have got word of our antics in Grass. It won't matter that it was all in self-defence. We eliminated fellow shinobi and that alone is a punishable by imprisonment."

Sakura's throat closed up. That's right – she had used her new technique to kill the shinobi that threatened to bring them back to Konoha. Why had she done that? If she had left Itachi to do as he pleased, she would still have a clear name.

"You mean, we're technically missing-nin at the moment?" The wind carried her quiet words down to Itachi's ears. He inclined his head over his shoulder to make small eye contact with her.

"It would seem that way, yes."

Sakura swallowed, running a hand through her hair as she stared hard at the floor. He was right – there was no way they could go back to Konoha and explain themselves now.

A heart-wrenching emotion ran through her as she thought of Kakashi. What must he think of her right now? What if the next time she saw him, it was in battle? What about Naruto? Her best friend, her brother. The two were inseparable. Yet as far as Naruto knew, she had skipped off with a murderer. Tsunade, her replacement mother. She had taught her SO much and to her, it must be like Sakura has just taken what she wanted and left. She wondered whether her deceased parents knew about her predicament, about why she felt she needed to stay with Itachi.

Kakashi had helped her through her depression and how did she repay him? It looked like she had left Konoha with his rival, his enemy.

She hadn't even been able to say goodbye to him…

Distracting her train of thoughts, she realised that her fists were clenched and her teeth were grinding angrily against each other. It wasn't Itachi's fault – it was the fault of the person who had linked the two of them together.

She came to a stop. Itachi turned curiously, noticing that Sakura was staring hard at the ground with her pink hair creating an eerie shadow over her eyes.

"That's it. I'm not moving until you tell me who's responsible for this – for us. If it wasn't you, it means there has to be someone behind it." She looked up sharply, her face showing anger and pain. She began to yell.

"Whoever did it took away my life in Konoha! My friends think I betrayed them and my teacher – who is like a mother to me – must be hurting SO MUCH. And it's their fault! Whoever connected us is still out there and YOU won't tell me who it is." Her eyes watered and she hated that she had started to tear up in front of the startled Uchiha. Looking down again, she swallowed. "He didn't just hurt you Itachi. He's hurt me. For once, stop thinking about yourself and think about what your S-rank business has done to me."

Itachi swallowed. The kunoichi looked so… sad. So depressed. It was amazing that she had kept so many feelings inside and instead focused on keeping normal emotions on show.

He turned away, looking up into the sky and watching as the dull blue slowly changed into a bright orange. Sakura waited. And waited.

"My cousin," Itachi said finally, turning around to face Sakura fully. His face showed no emotion, yet his jaw was clenched and his eyes sparkled with venom. His next sentence came out in nothing but a hiss.

"It was my cousin, Shisui Uchiha."

~*~

There was silence. Tsunade held back the emotions she felt as she observed the reactions of the news she had handed to Team 7.

They had been told about Sakura's refusal.

Naruto was staring hard at the floor, his eyes shadowed and fists clenched into tight, curled balls. Sasuke's eyes were wide, as though he had seen something disgusting and shocking. Tsunade brought her eyes to Kakashi.

This was the reaction that hurt her the most. She knew the closeness between the two. The bond that had tied the two together.

And the result of it being broken looked catastrophic. His fists were clenched – clenched to the point where blood dropped soundlessly to the floor after trickling down his tense fingers. His hair had flopped forwards and – even through his mask – the tick in his cheekbone throbbed violently. Kakashi was not happy. He was far from it.

It had been the first time in a long while that Tsunade had seen Kakashi in her office without the infuriating orange book propped in front of his nose. She was so broken at observing Hatake that she actually began to miss the usual lazy copy-nin she had seen.

"What…" Naruto's voice broke the silence. "What kind of monster has he turned her into?"

This question echoed in the eerie quiet. Sasuke seemed unbothered that his brother was the subject of this question – why should he be bothered? He had experienced his parents' death at the hands of his sibling.

Kakashi said nothing. Without warning and without saying a word, he turned and stormed out of the room, slamming it with intense force. Tsunade winced and didn't bother calling after him. Her own eyes were brimming with the pain Team 7 was experiencing. They were a tight family. If one fell, they all fell.

"Your mission is to head to the Village hidden in the Grass. You are to scout the area surrounding it and find any information you can on Sakura Haruno and Itachi Uchiha. If you come into contact with them-" A single tear dropped onto the desk and Tsunade placed her head into her hands, letting out a quiet sob before continuing. "-bring them back by any means necessary."

* * *

**A/N: I managed to write this in a triple Business lesson, so sorry for any mistakes made. I was intending to make this chapter back to the old 4000 - 5000 word boundary, but found that it this seemed a fitting way to end the chapter. I'm being a little more speedy with my updates too. ^_^**

**The story will unfold a little more later on and please tell me if I've made any mistakes in the plot, spelling or punctuation. **

**If any of you are slight NejiSaku fans, I'm also doing a multi-chap fic on them. That's another reason you might experience some mistakes as the two fics are similar and I get confused. x_x;**

**I've made Itachi and Sakura get close too quick in this fic and I hope that after I've finished this and my NejiSaku fic, I'll be able to make a fic between the two where their relationship won't escalate so fast. **

**Thanks for reading, please review and tell me what you think.**

**Oh, and if I don't update before Easter... HAPPY EASTER! :)**


	8. Coincedence

**Snowbows**

_''A weed is no more than a flower in disguise''_

A loud groan echoed around the wooded area. A villager that strolled down the gravely pathway to enter the small town that rested a little further down the lane stared into the tree's suspiciously, blushing slightly at the implication the groan could mean.

"Itachi!" A girl's voice called out loudly. The villager hurried onwards, his walking a lot more speedier then before.

"You would not have to be dealing with this if you had just been watching where you were stepping." A quieter voice said. Sakura groaned again, sending an infinite amount of chakra to her hands but to no avail. She was dried out – the little she had left was keeping her walking. Well... limping.

She had stumbled on a tree branch, sending herself crashing to the ground and landing rather painfully on her back. After having sent chakra to her feet to ease the aching for the entire journey, she found herself dried completely out. Healing Itachi's eyes regularly was beginning to drain away her chakra. The worrying about it was also distracting her, hence the accident. It was lucky they had reached their destination only half an hour afterwards, but she had had to endure unendurable embarrassment by being carried by Itachi.

She hadn't asked him why it was only his Sharingan that was hurting his eyes. Only once had she had to deal with Kakashi's eye and that was after the use of Mangekyou. But she could see there was too much going on in Itachi's mind and her bringing it up would only make his temper worse.

He was currently poking and probing her foot in order to test for breakages. She watched his face frowning in concentration and noticed that they seemed to be furrowed in annoyance also. Sighing, she pulled her aching foot away.

"It doesn't matter. There's going to have to be some sort of medical equipment in the village up ahead. I've passed through it quite a few times before."

Itachi nodded and rose to his feet, holding out a hand. Surprised, she took it and ignored how the warmth spread through her entire arm instead of her hand.

Making contact with him seemed very difficult since the time they had almost been found. Every touch, every intense stare, every light breath caught on her skin made her jumpy and frightened. Faked make-out sessions were a well-used technique in the shinobi world that worked more often than not. She had heard stories about how teammates had sometimes used it as a last resort and have therefore completed the mission because of it. Making out with a teammate in pretence that you are doing something _else _was enough to put off any security guards.

That didn't mean she couldn't enjoy it. His hands _were _deliciously soft and warm, and his breath was also hot and enticing.

He shortened the chain between them and tightened the grip on her hand, pulling her more into him in order to allow the weight to lift from her foot. She smiled up at him in thanks and they strolled along the path, the gates of the village a dot in the distance.

They walked in a comfortable silence, both too exhausted to worry about bringing up conversation. Although there were so many things that Sakura wished to talk about, she was tired and her head wouldn't be able to take anymore. After telling her that it was his cousin who had done the bidding, she was speechless. Itachi didn't explain anymore then that, infuriatingly.

She wasn't surprised though. Shisui had groped her one too many times in the hospital, cornered her too many times and was all in all a disgusting pig. But he looked like a god, with his innocent face and glowing eyes.

In Sakura's opinion, that was just another reason to be wary of him. She had hated him from day one. Now, however, she was absolutely livid with hatred.

Itachi stopped walking. Sakura looked up from where she was staring at her feet and grimaced as Itachi's hold on her hand tightened, becoming almost painful. No words were spoken and for a moment, they stared in shock at the two figures in the distance.

A gust of wind blew between the two pairs of shinobi. Sakura watched as the black cloak ridden with red clouds blew in the wind and the straw hats that hid their faces rose. Blonde hair. Orange mask.

All three men were silent, staring hard ahead of them as they leaped through trees. The dynamics was wrong. They were like an unbalanced scale without their pink-haired nin to keep them in check. There was no banter between Sasuke and Naruto. No laughter from their sensei, no perverted comments.

Just silence. Agonising silence.

"We're approaching the village that indicates the border between Grass and the Land of Wind. We'll stop for supplies, a break, and then we'll continue." Kakashi's dead-pan voice caused Naruto and Sasuke to flinch. Naruto was in pain, Sasuke was bothered, but Kakashi seemed to be in anguish. They nodded anyway and slowed down to a halt, approaching the village slowly.

"Don't move." Itachi ordered to Sakura, who had begun fidgeting. She frowned furiously up at him, attempting to drag him away but to no avail.

"Are you kidding? They'll kill us both! In case you haven't noticed, my foot is sprained, I have no chakra and there are enough splinters in my back to start an entire forest." She hissed in a low voice to him. He ignored her and kept his eyes focused on the approaching clouded figures, who didn't appear to be running towards them to engage combat.

"It seems they don't wish to fight," Itachi murmured to her, loosening the hold on her hand and then squeezing it again reassuringly. Her heart skipped – she decided because she was frightened, not because of his gesture – and she swallowed loudly, watching as they slowly came into vision.

"Well, this is certainly interesting, yeah." The blonde-haired criminal grinned and took off his hat, throwing it carelessly to the floor in the ditch. His teammate did the same. When his intense blue eyes fixed on her, staring her down, a shot of fear ran through her. She'd seen him before.

"Ah, now this is a surprise. I thought it was you, Haruno."

Itachi flinched in surprise, only just managing to hold it in. How was it that an S-rank criminal from Akatsuki knew who she was? She didn't meet his eyes, just stared equally back at Deidara, glaring through him.

"Deidara." She said through clenched teeth. He grinned in reply and untucked his hands from his pockets to spread them out his side.

"Come on! We're buddies right? What's with that tone, yeah?" His grin was patronising. The orange-masked member from beside him perked up, looking at Deidara in surprise.

"But Deidei, she killed Sasi! How can you-"

"Can it, Tobi." Deidara muttered under his breath venomously. Despite the situation, Sakura found herself filling with a tiny bit of amusement at the childish nicknames and tone that Tobi had. Was he really a member of the Akatsuki? Deidara returned his eyes to her.

"So, what's a pretty girl like you doing out here?" His eyes drifted to her forehead, "without a headband," his eyes drifted to Itachi's face, "with a Uchiha, yeah." He looked down at their intertwined hands and scrunched up his nose, but said nothing. Sakura pulled her hand from Itachi's grip.

"That's none of your business. In fact, if you're not planning to fight, then we'll leave now." Sakura took a step forwards, forgetting about the situation with her foot. Her leg crippled forwards and she held back a groan as she stepped on her bad foot. _Bad move, Sakura, _she thought as she began to fall to the ground.

Cloaked arms came around to catch her waist. She looked up and found Deidara staring down at her appraisingly, grinning like a complete idiot.

"Careful, yeah. Wouldn't want to hurt that sweet face of yours," Sakura shoved his hands away from her waist and glared at him, before hobbling past and taking Itachi with her. Deidara noticed the chain and his eyes widened, but he said nothing.

"Is that it? You healed me and you won't even let me say thanks, yeah?"

Itachi stopped walking, pulling Sakura to a halt. She stared hard at the ground, her expression one of intense shock. He had said it. The stupid blonde had brought it up.

"Sakura?" Itachi's voice was frightening and rather angry. She didn't look at him, turning her head so she was facing the wood on the other side of the pathway. Deidara watched the scene in amusement, holding up a hand in Tobi's face when he protested at the information he had revealed.

"It was an accident," Sakura whispered. "He was lying on the floor, no headband, no cloak. I thought he was just a normal shinobi." She turned to her side and glared at Deidara in the distance. He waved back cheerily.

"I was a chuunin, split up on the way back from my first A-rank mission. I didn't know his face, Tsunade hadn't given me the file about the Akatsuki then. I didn't know-" She cursed and looked at Itachi. His eyes were shut and he let out a deep sigh.

"It's alright, Sakura. It seems they are not planning to attack us, so we may proceed to the village. There is nothing we can do."

Sakura nodded, swallowing. She felt like an idiot. It was true – she had once mistaken him for a normal shinobi. She had gotten along well with him in the three days and he had helped to point her back in the right direction to Konoha.

It was after she had killed Sasori when she finally realised his true identity.

Sasuke and Itachi had been away on a ANBU camp for a year-long course. They only heard of the details when they had returned.

"Don't think you're going anywhere," Sakura jumped, turning around quickly when she noticed Deidara standing barely a few feet away. Tobi was standing beside him, looking between her and Deidara. Itachi's eyes narrowed.

"We do not wish to fight you. You can see she's in no condition-"

"All the more reason to do it, right?" Deidara stepped forwards, a sadistic grin on his face. "She killed my teammate, yeah." Deidara took one more step forwards and took a strand of Sakura's hair. She would have taken a step backwards, but her foot remained on the ground, twisted in a painful angle. Deidara brought the strand of her hair to his lips, then blew along it before finally dropping it back so it framed her face.

"She'd make a great piece of art, yeah." He grinned at her and stepped away, proud of the fearful, yet mesmerised expression that was on her face. Itachi noticed it and frowned, stepping forwards to put an arm protectively in front of Sakura. Deidara took another step back and raised his hands up.

"Hey, I don't mean no trouble, yeah. I just wanted to talk." He gestured to the grassy patch and waited for them to move. They watched him cautiously before moving. Itachi placed a protective hand on Sakura's back as she walked, keeping an eyes on the blonde-haired criminal. Deidara quirked his lip upwards into a humourless, almost challenging smirk and kept his eyes focused on Itachi's hand.

Sakura was confused. What was with Itachi's unnecessary contact? He'd never touch her voluntarily unless he had no other choice. When they had sat themselves as far away from the two cloaked shinobi as possible, Deidara finally began to talk.

"Leader said something about you two and some vicious attack in Grass, yeah." He threw them a grin. "Leader was pretty pissed. He had some good men in there."

Sakura remained silent, as did Itachi. All they had to do was avoid talking and wait for Deidara to finish with them before they could leave. Staring up at Itachi's crimson eyes, she blanched. It was her fault they weren't already free – she had told him to restrict the use of the Mangekyou until necessary.

Deidara picked at the grass beneath his feet and Tobi decided that he would cut in.

"Leader said you were a missing-nin now, Sakura-chan. Is that true?"

Sakura stared at the orange-masked member in surprise. He used a honorific? And 'chan' no less. What was it with him? Deidara sighed and closed his eyes throwing out his left arm so it punched Tobi directly in the face, sending him backwards into the road. The blonde opened his eyes and his original confidence returned.

"If you are missing-nin, we'll more than happy to invite you to join our forces, yeah." He said to Sakura. She choked, staring at him in surprise.

"Are you JOKING?" She yelled, clutching at the grass beneath her so hard that her fingers began to dig deep into the ground. "Hell will freeze over before I do something like that!"

Deidara sighed, as though he had predicted her response. He sunk his head down, but raised his eyes to hers. "You'll change your mind, 'Sakura-chan'." He mimicked. He began to get up from his feet, ignoring the glare he was receiving from her.

But Deidara didn't move after he had stepped onto the road. Tobi had sat up and was staring in the same direction Deidara was focused on. Sakura rose slowly to her feet, wondering what had made the two freeze up. Akatsuki never froze up. It worried her even more when a sly grin spread across Deidara's face.

She stumbled quickly onto the road with Itachi following behind her.

And there, standing a couple of metres away, was her old teammates.

"Well, this is getting interesting, yeah."

Naruto, Sasuke and Kakashi walked through the village, venturing out onto the long, stretchy pathway that would lead them to their destination.

But they halted the moment they left the gate. Something was off. Figures in the trees, really far off in the distance. No one said anything as they studied the figures. Were they really badly hidden shinobi, awaiting their team to pass by?

Suddenly, a cloaked man flew from the alcove and tumbled into the centre of the gravelly pathway, his orange mask sending a shiver of dread down Kakashi. Judging by the cloak, the childish manner in which the figure was holding his head and the covered face, the person who all their eyes were upon was Tobi.

Meaning the other person in the alcove would be Deidara, the explosives specialist. Kakashi clenched his fists together. He wasn't in the mood for this. Not another encounter with the hot-headed blonde. He needed to find Sakura.

He watched as the orange-masked Akatsuki looked their way. There was no use hiding the fact they were standing there – nothing would have hidden them. They all glared at the shinobi, hoping that at least the daggers would affect them. Then the blonde appeared from the side, curiously looking around at Tobi's point of interest. When he looked their way, a sly grin came over his face.

That's when she appeared. Kakashi's heart fell through his stomach, then sucked right back up again into his head. Sakura was staring at them in horror. Slowly, Team 7 began to move forwards until they were within conversational distance of Sakura.

"Kakashi..." Sakura muttered. Kakashi heard her, even though their distance was still lengthy. Just hearing her say his name sent another wave of anguish through him and he frowned, breaking eye contact with her.

"Don't, Sakura." He said back, his voice catching in the back of his throat. Even without looking at her, he could tell that his comment had stung her.

"Ah, Hatake, we was just having a little chat. You know, us fellow missing-nin-" The end of Deidara's sentence was cut off by Naruto, who had slammed Deidara to the floor with his arm and was currently choking him, his eyes red with anger.

"Don't you EVER put Sakura in the same category as you, you stupid bastard."

Deidara grinned, despite his windpipes being completely blocked. "You can't run from the truth forever, yeah."

Sasuke was the only one who hadn't spoken. It was then everyone turned to see how the Uchiha was reacting to the sight of his brother.

Nothing. It was like staring at a brick wall. Both brothers were calm and composed, not spitting, not shouting. Sasuke's eyes drifted from his brothers face, down to his wrist. The chain glistened in the sunlight, now very noticeable to the three shinobi who had just arrived. Deidara used the opportunity to shove Naruto off of him, sending the kyuubi back onto his feet. He brushed off his cloak and stood up.

"Is she your hostage, brother?" He asked simply. Kakashi watched the Uchiha, avoiding Sakura's gaze that was stuck to him. Only the people close to Sasuke could see the clenched fists at his side. It took a lot for an Uchiha to keep composed.

"No." Itachi replied simply. Kakashi brought his eyes back to Sakura, whose eyes were filled with unshed tears. He knew they wouldn't spill – Sakura never cried.

"Kakashi, you have to understand," she croaked, taking a step towards him. He took a step back. The hands she reached out to him with had killed their allies – fellow shinobi. To protect the murderer standing next to her. Itachi watched the silver-haired copy-nin and with his Sharingan was activated, so he could analyse every move his enemy made. It was obvious – Hatake wished to reach out to Sakura. Itachi wasn't going to let him.

Stepping forwards, Itachi blocked Sakura from Kakashi's view. The ashen orbs drifted up towards his own crimson ones in confusion and hatred. Sakura peeked around Itachi's side, placing a hand onto his arm to look up at him.

"Itachi?" She questioned. Kakashi grimaced. Just hearing her say his name in that innocent tone made him want to disembowel the Uchiha in front of him.

Kakashi's eyes widened in surprise when Sakura pushed Itachi aside and stepped forwards. He noticed her limp but said nothing.

"Kakashi, you were always talking about how forgiveness was something shinobi only gave once?" She frowned and wiped her cheek, smudging a small patch of dirt on her face. "Now's the time to give me that forgiveness."

The copy-nin lifted up his headband. Everyone tensed – except Sakura – and watched him carefully. Her body movements were slow meaning she was drained of chakra and she seemed to be shaking. In emotional distress.

Deidara and Tobi had seated themselves on the floor to allow themselves a good view of the two sides. If popcorn were to be added to the scene, it would complete the look.

"This is way better then researching stuff about Konoha," Deidara whispered to Tobi. The orange-masked ninja nodded in agreement.

Sakura took one more wary step forwards. "I'm not his hostage and he's not the murderer-"

"Sakura," Itachi started. Sakura turned to glare at him, surprising the Uchiha and Team 7 with the anger that was in her eyes.

"You got me in this mess, you'll let me tell my team what I want."

For a moment, Itachi worried. Perhaps telling Sakura about his cousin was a bad idea? He had only mentioned his name and didn't want Sakura to reveal it. When he looked back at her eyes, it was as though she was mentally telling him that the name was safe with her. Strange.

She turned back to Kakashi, who was looking very confused. "Sakura, I don 't get-"

Sakura shook her head. "I don't get it either. I'm working on it," she sent her eyes into Itachi's direction, then looked back at her team, "those Grass-nin were attacking us. It was either die, or take down the shinobi that threatened us. Which option would you have preferred?" Sakura had begun to get her confidence back now. Kakashi grimaced. He wouldn't admit out loud that the choice she made was the right one.

Naruto stared at his best friend, his eyes searching and calm. They drifted down to the cuffs. As if Sakura could read his mind, she began to explain.

"The murderer clipped me to Itachi. I was in the wrong place at the wrong time and this is what I got for it. Apparently, he was pretty stupid or he would have chosen someone else to attach to Itachi." She lifted up her wrist, making the metal gleam in the sunlight. "They're enchanted. They can't be broken unless the person who attached them to us undoes them."

Kakashi knew this. But where this supposed 'other murderer' got them from was a mystery. They had all been stored away, out of boundaries for years. Stepping forwards, he lifted a hand to scratch at the back of his head.

"Sakura, I don't-"

She nodded, her face showing a look of hurt once more. "I know, you can't believe me. Which is why I apologise in advance."

Kakashi frowned at her in confusion. Then his vision began to blur and he collapsed to the floor, a blanket of black thrown across his eyes and his mind no longer able to function.

Deidara looked at the three bodies in confusion.

"Eh?" He said, looking at the kunoichi who looked down at her Team, sadness and sourness spread across her face. She threw empty capsules onto the floor.

"Oh," the blonde nodded his head. Sleeping tablets. Apparently the four of them were unaffected by them. He wasn't going to ask for an explanation.

Itachi was surprised. He hadn't even noticed her taking the capsules out of her pockets and neither had her teammates. To think that even his little brother was distracted enough for her to do it was quite surprising. Sakura tore her eyes away from her sleeping teammates and yanked on the chain connecting her and Itachi.

"Let's go already." She muttered sadly to herself. Itachi stared after her, for once being the one pulled along instead of leading the way.

"Wait, girly. I'm not done with you-"

"Well, I'm done with you," she was going too far. Deidara could attack them any moment and she would be unable to defend herself. Her feeble limping was making her look pathetic enough.

Deidara watched the retreating girl, feeling a rare wave of sympathy. It was only slight, somewhere in the back of his gut, but he felt it.

She was limping, dragging her foot along the ground pathetically, her wrist that was wrapped in the cuff was chafed and red, her pink hair was limp and her shoulders were tense with emotion.

"Is Deidei feeling sorry for Sakura-chan?" Tobi whispered quietly to the blonde. Deidara lifted his fist up, punching Tobi in the face above his shoulder without moving his gaze off of the back of the stumbling kunoichi.

Sakura sniffed, her vision blurred. Sending the little chakra she had regained to her eyes, she scanned for any concussion that may have been obstructing her vision like it was. Why couldn't she see? What was disorientating her vision?

A splash of water dropped onto her arm. She looked down at it in surprise, then rose her head to the sky. There was no sign of rain, so she instead brought her hand to her face, her feet coming to a halt as she checked.

Her eyes were watering. She dabbed at her cheeks with her limp hand and looked at the water in amazement. Was she… crying?

Her shoulders began to shake violently and she crouched down to the floor, entwining her hands with her fringe and screwing her eyes shut, water cascading down her thin cheeks. Who was she kidding? She didn't want excitement.

She wanted to go home. She wanted to see Kakashi's eyes crinkle in happiness at her again, see Naruto bound towards her, see Sasuke's disapproving expression. To think she wanted excitement in her life when she already had her team… how stupid of her.

"Man, I thought you were stronger then this, yeah."

Sakura's eyes opened, but she remained in her position. Deidara's disapproving tone came from behind her, in nothing but a quiet murmur, but she had heard it. Silent tears still streamed down her face as she heard him slowly approaching.

Itachi watched Deidara carefully and kept a wary, surprised eye on Sakura. He hadn't expected her to show such a weakness – in front of an Akatsuki no less.

He watched small droplet's drop onto the ground beneath her face, causing the dirt to darken. He hated to admit it, but he had absolutely no idea how to react. Of all the training he had received in the ANBU camp, the one thing he had not learnt was how to console a kunoichi.

"Get up, yeah. You're embarrassing yourself." Deidara grumbled. He didn't seem to look very amused. Itachi noticed that there seemed to be a sense of sympathy behind his eyes, joint with guilt. He was behaving like an adult who had hurt a child.

Deidara bent down so he was the same level as Sakura's. Her eyes jolted over to connect with his.

"You should kill us," she hissed to him, her voice quiet. The blonde looked taken aback for a second and stared at her questioningly.

"You're an Akatsuki. We're one less shinobi for you to deal with. If it wasn't for my drawback, you know we probably would be engaged in combat right now," again, she was greeted with a puzzled look. Then Deidara broke her gaze and turned away, pouting like a kid.

"I don't like unnecessary killing, yeah. Not if it doesn't involve art." He looked back at her. "Now get up, yeah. You're starting to change my opinion of you."

She sniffed and rose to her feet, wiping the tears away on the back of her arm. It paused over her eyes in shock. Had Deidara just tried to... console her? She moved her head sideways, keeping her arm on her forehead. He was watching her with a serious expression on his face.

She dropped the arm and continued to stare. Deidara shuffled his feet, uncomfortable under her gaze.

"What, yeah?"

"If I tried to attack you now, would you kill me?" She asked bluntly. Her eyes widened in surprise.

It was just a second. A small flicker of emotion had crossed over Deidara's face but it was there; revulsion. The thought of killing her made him grimace. Interesting.

She turned away and limped towards Itachi, linking her arm in his without asking for his permission. Slightly amused, Itachi looked down at her and noticed her reddened face, bloodshot eyes and distorted hair. She needed a lodge, far away from Konoha. If just for a while, until she was strong enough to continue on to Konoha. But they wasn't going to get anywhere with her limping. Her chakra still hadn't fully replenished and he knew no medical jutsu that would heal it.

Sakura let out a yelp of surprise when she was swung around by Itachi. She opened her eyes that had screwed up upon reaction and found herself on Itachi's back, her arms thrown over his shoulders.

"What a rare sight, yeah. Uchiha showing compassion."

Sakura looked to her right and saw that Deidara had rejoined Tobi's side. They were both staring at her and Itachi, walking behind them. She frowned.

"Itachi, what-"

"You were slowing us down. We need to find another place to hide out until Konoha is off our trail." He said, clenching his teeth. The shorts she was wearing had ridden up her thighs, meaning his hands were holding onto pure, creamy skin. She didn't seem to have noticed. Deidara had.

"If you let the Uchiha cop a feel, girly, why not me, yeah?"

Sakura's hands gripped Itachi's shoulders and she flung her head around to glare at Deidara.

"You're Akatsuki. Haven't you got anything better to do other then follow us?" She spat. The blonde shrugged in reply and placed both hands behind his head, just like Naruto.

"Leader wanted me to find you, yeah. I found you. Now I just need to await further orders, yeah. I can't let you outta my sight."

"Tobi mustn't either, Sakura-chan. But I will take care of you, so that Deidei will not harm you in-" He was silenced by a threatening glare from Deidara.

Sakura frowned at the two, then turned back around to Itachi. Wrapping her arms around his neck, she leant forwards to whisper in his ear whilst trying to ignore how nice he smelt.

"What do we do about those two?" She whispered quietly. Itachi's ear twitched and he swallowed, keeping his eyes on the road that they had travelled down only an hour ago. He turned a sharp left at an intersection.

"Allow them to do as they please. It doesn't appear as though they are willing to hurt us any time soon." Itachi replied, turning his head slightly to face Sakura. Their faces were within inches of each other and he moved back quickly.

She was emotional. No need to take advantage of that.

"When my chakra's back, will we fight them?" She asked the question in a sad voice, as though it was something she didn't wish to happen. Itachi considered her question for a moment.

Not engaging into combat with the two Akatsuki could class as fraternising with the enemy. But fighting them would also mean that him and Sakura would possibly die. They just weren't good enough at fighting whilst linked together.

"No, I'm afraid we can't." He ignored her sigh of relief. "Our list of taboo's seem to be piling up," he quirked. She rested her head on his shoulder, the emotional distress finally catching up with her.

"Hey, Itachi, where we going?"

He smirked, knowing she couldn't see him. "I believe this time, it shall be a surprise."

A loud sigh interrupted the mood.

"Get a room, yeah."

* * *

**A/N: Wow. Wow, I am so sorry. Really. Is there any other thing I could say to make up for how much of a terrible author I've been? So not only has my standards dropped, after I promised to update quicker, it also takes me almost a MONTH to keep to that promise.**

**God, I hope you're all reading this so I could say that I'm on my hands and knees here. **

**I lost the will to write the next chapter for this, really. Which is why this chapter is probably crap, forced, jam-packed with holes and events that I forgot to include and completely ridiculous.**

**If that's the case, I'm sorry... again. I've just found myself with a huge liking to NejiSaku now and Itachi really isn't doing anything for me. Neither is this crappy storyline filled with cliche's, fangirl bollocks and mood swings.**

**I'm updating quicker now - for real this time. I'm back at school, with no more business lessons, meaning more time to write the chapters. :D **

**Hope you enjoyed this piece of shit. -.-**


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