'Sealing the deal, eh? You truly are a horrible, despicable creature.' Inner laughed. 'What a loathsome piece of trash you're turning out to be!'
Sakura exhaled softly and leaned back in her chair. Kabuto paused whatever he was writing and glanced over.
"Is she acting up again?" he questioned softly. She nodded before looking back down at the files on the Rinha Clan that were on her desk.
"Yeah. Since I'm really going through with this, she hasn't shut up for a second."
Because the Rinha Clan weren't just known for their medical techniques. They had a special kekkei genkai that practically guaranteed her getting erased from the grid. Now was truly the moment she couldn't turn back, and she hoped to the gods that she wasn't making a mistake.
'And you know very well that you can never see Naruto again, traitor.'
She shut her eyes.
No. No, she couldn't.
Not ever again.
Day 4
"Do you... Do you not like her or something?"
Itachi looked over at a dumbfounded Kisame, his anger subsiding just the tiniest bit as he regarded his partner coolly. "Pardon?"
"I mean, it's pretty obvious from the look on your face and that ridiculous killing intent that fills the room when Sakura-sama's in. You haven't even met her before. What I really don't understand is how much hate you have towards her. You're Uchiha Itachi for damn sake!"
Itachi raised an eyebrow. "And?"
"And? You don't hate anyone! Not even your enemies! What is it about her that gets your boxers in a twist?" Kisame questioned incredulously. Itachi's jaw tightened slightly as he turned his head to gaze up at the Otokage's office. Hate? It wasn't quite the right word he would use for the situation. Anger? Rage? Resentment? Fury? Those seemed more applicable to what he felt this very moment.
The minute he realized who Haruno Sakura was, he came to despise her.
He knew who she was. Who hadn't heard of her at least once before? She was his otouto's teammate and was supposed to be one of the people who would draw him back to Konoha. It was all part of his plan for Sasuke—he would die for his younger brother's sake. With Sasuke fulfilling everything he ever wanted, he'd return to the village he left and into the waiting arms of her and Uzumaki Naruto. It was perfect. It was foolproof.
But Sakura ruined it. He saw a flash of pink through the office window and frowned. It wasn't just the collapse of his plan that pissed him the hell off. It was also the fact that she was previously the Hokage's apprentice. She had access to an extensive amount of village secrets, knew how the village worked, and was in the know of nearly every major thing that happened. Sakura could very well be the person who could bring the destruction of Konoha with the snap of her fingers.
There was absolutely no way he could let that happen. With everything he sacrificed to keep everyone in Konoha safe, he wasn't going to allow someone to waltz up out of nowhere and crush all his hard work.
His family didn't die for this happen.
Unconsciously, killing intent slowly seeped out of his pores and bubbled around him like a tightly wrapped cloak. Kisame cringed and slowly inched away.
"I didn't mean to make you upset, it was just a question!"
::
Sakura peered out of her window and shivered when she met an intense, red glare. She backtracked into her office and sat in her chair.
"Did I make a bad first impression?" she wondered aloud. Kabuto scratched the back of his head and looked out the window as well.
"I thought you were just as polite as you were with the others. Perhaps he's just having a bad week?"
Day 10
Sakura was starting to think that Itachi just didn't like her. Every time she passed him, she'd wave, give him a small smile, or say a soft 'hello'. Half the time, he'd ignore her and the other half he looked at her like he wanted to stab her in the throat. Kisame had even taken the liberty to stick close to her in fear that Itachi might actually lash out and kill her at any second.
What did she ever do to him? They did cross paths once or twice back in her days as a Konoha shinobi, but other than that, she couldn't think of a single thing she had done to offend him. When Deidara learned of this development, he waved it off.
"The Uchiha isn't the most personable, un. You shouldn't worry so much," he said when he came to report his mission with his genin team. "Besides, I'm sure he's gone all ice queen on you because he can't stand your good looks, hm."
Sakura chuckled at the compliment while the genin groaned.
"Ugh, you're so lame, sensei," Isaribi whined.
"No kidding," Menma sighed. "Sakura-sama's way too pretty for you."
"Completely out of your league!" Yukimaru chirped. Deidara jerked his thumb at them.
"Can I change my team? Preferably to the nice, cute genin they're supposed to be, un?" he asked. There was no real anger in his words, Sakura noted happily. She was glad that Deidara had settled well into his new role like all the other members who chose to stay with Otogakure.
"Sorry, Deidara-san. You're stuck with them until they become chuunin. Maybe even a little after that," she grinned. Deidara returned the grin before turned around and ushered his team out the door.
"If that's the case, you little craps are going to train even more so I can get rid of you, un!"
He was met with a chorus of protests before he threw a wink over his shoulder and shut the door behind him. It was nice that there were so many people in the village who could lift her spirits to the point where she could nearly forget about her worries.
Nearly.
Marisu came through the door, having just returned to the village a few days prior, not too long after Deidara and his genin had taken their leave. She had a short stack of papers in her hands and a serious expression on her face.
"I've approved everything we need, Sakura-sama. Would you like to start the procedure?"
"... Yes. I'll meet you at the hospital right away."
Marisu nodded and placed the papers on the desk before turning and leaving the office. Sakura stood to follow her, but not before opening her drawer and giving a wobbly smile at the Team Seven photo she stashed in there.
"Happy Birthday, Naruto."
Day 15
She was looking worse for wear and almost everyone who saw her took notice. Sakura was weaker and paler than she normally was even though the had that same bright smile and cheerful attitude. Various people questioned her well being out of concern for her health, but she reassured them with her light, uplifting words that she'd be fine later on in the month. There was nothing actively wrong with her. A small setback had popped up in her way, is all.
Despite disliking her to a great extent, Itachi couldn't help but grow curious at what was going on behind the scenes. Sakura was a medic, obviously, and he didn't think she'd let herself get that sick for this long. So he subtly brought it up to Kakuzu.
"She's... removing any chance for attention to be brought to her," he answered as he tried to put Sakura's situation into words. "The Rinha Clan have a special kekkei genkai. They're able to take someone's chakra and place it into a puppet—creating a perfect copy of that person. I'm still unsure of what she wants to do with that copy, but I'm positive that it has something to do with Konohagakure."
Killing intent began to swirl at his core, but was carefully controlled in his associate's presence.
"Ill intent?" he suggested nonchalantly. Kakuzu shook his head.
"Of course not. She loves that village too much," he said. That killing intent disappeared in a second and Itachi's mind stalled. Kakuzu took this moment to continue. "She tries to hardest to avoid Konoha and their forces as far as I've seen. There may have been one incident where a Konoha shinobi had been killed, but that was long before I arrived here. Tobi, Kisame, or Deidara may know something about it if you wish to look into it further."
Day 23
"Oh! I remember that! Sakura-sama saved Deidara-senpai's life!"
It was half an hour before classes started and Tobi was writing some problems on the chalkboard. Itachi was leaning against the doorway, watching the other man's profile. He was very curious about the Deidara story, but there was something nagging him at the back of his head. There was something disturbingly familiar about him, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it.
"I heard that Sakura-sama had to choose between senpai and one of her old sensei. Sarutobi Asuma, I think? But she didn't want to kill him."
Itachi crossed his arms. "How can you be so sure?"
Tobi set his chalk down and turned to the younger man with a smile. "'Cause she's kinda like you, Itachi-senpai. Haven't you noticed?"
Day 29
Itachi received a summons to the Otokage's office, much to his confusion. He and Sakura didn't talk much at all. Even after he discovered she had nothing against Konoha, he only replied to her greetings with the slight incline of his head before going about his business. They didn't socialize, try to get on friendly terms, or resolve the previous tension between them. They didn't feel the need to. So being asked to come on her request was somewhat odd to him.
Tobi's words had also played over and over in his head since he went to go and talk with him. Like him? He couldn't find the reasons to deny it. Leaving their home village for the better, joining a place that's considered the enemy, and a wish to kill as little as possible.
Huh.
When he stepped into the office, he noticed that her skin had gained some of its color back and the bags under her eyes had lessened a bit. Kabuto was absent from his spot beside her desk and Sakura's chin was propped up on one of her palms. At his entrance, she straightened and smiled wearily.
"Good afternoon, Uchiha-san. Sorry for bothering you like this, but I need you to tell me something."
He was silent for a few seconds. "Tell you what, exactly?"
His question was immediately answered when Kabuto came through the door with an exact replica of Sakura in his arms. Everything about her was just like the original in her healthiest state to the shade of her eyes to her body proportions. He gently placed the replica on her desk, Sakura gesturing towards the dummy.
"Tell me how real your sharingan makes this puppet out to be."
Itachi stepped forward and observed the chakra coils that ran through the imitation, secretly marveling at the detail put into this physical, practically human clone. He took out a kunai and made a small cut on the arm, fresh blood dripping from the cut.
"The blood?"
"Mine. Drawn one pint a day and preserved until we had enough to put into the 'body'. The chakra is also mine, taken and stored in tags for transfer, and the organs were artificially duplicated from my tissue. So what do you think, Uchiha-san? If you hadn't known it was a puppet, would you have thought it was a real body?"
He surveyed the body for a few more moments before meeting her expectant gaze. "... Yes. I would have."
She then turned to Kabuto. "Yours and Marisu-san's opinion?"
"As real as anyone could ever expect."
Sakura sunk down into her chair with a lengthy sigh, a quiet good slipping from her lips. For once in the past few weeks, she allowed herself to relax. She was tired from all her overbearing paperwork and the stress of Marisu's procedure was starting to catch up to her. Zetsu emerged from the wall behind her and gazed interestingly at the 'body' on the desk.
"You needed me for something?" he asked. Sakura drew in a deep breath.
"Yes, I do. I want you to take this replica of me, injure it convincingly like I was killed in a fight, and place it near Konoha. If you could damage the surroundings too, that would be wonderful," she said. Zetsu grinned and took the body in his arms.
"It would be my pleasure."
Once he left, Itachi sat down in the seat across from her and stared determinedly into her jaded irises. Kabuto quickly read the mood in the room and excused himself to run some errands. Itachi wanted to ask so many questions at her course of action, but one seemed to rise above all the rest.
"Why?" he questioned.
"I... With me gone, I know I've worried Naruto and everyone else. And after what I've done to Asuma-sensei and Kurenai-sensei?" she chuckled hollowly. "I can't go back after that. And I wouldn't even if I was given that opportunity. This way, we can move on from my defection. All of us can."
He laced his fingers together and set his hands in his lap. "Why leave Konoha in the first place?"
She leaned forward. "It's only polite if you answer the question too. But I don't think you'd want to answer that, right?" she said. At Itachi's blank face, her lips quirked upwards in the slightest. "Aha. That aside, I'm a little curious about your eyes. Your sharingan seems to always be on and I can't help but think that its causing a strain. Could I take a look? It'll just take a bit of your time, I promise."
At a few beats of silence, Itachi grunted and let the red fade into its regular dark color. Sakura grinned victoriously and moved to the seat beside his to begin the examination. As she raised her glowing hands to the sides of his head, she slipped into her bedside disposition and started up some trivial chatter.
In the beginning, it was just her talking with Itachi quiet and listening what she had to say. Eventually, he began adding his share to the conversation, though it wasn't much. After talking with her for much of the time, he inwardly conceded defeat.
'I was wrong about her.'
Together, in that office, they conversed until dawn.
::
Zetsu rose from the ground of Fire Country's border in the blanket of night, surveying his surroundings with a keen eye. Not too long ago, he felt a cluster of particularly large amounts of chakra before arriving to this spot. If he put Sakura's 'body' here and left as quickly as possible, someone would find her almost immediately and word of her "death" would spread to all the nations like wildfire.
And if those chakra signatures were who he thought they were...
A conniving grin crossed his lips as he placed the replica's battered body on the ground. He arranged its limbs almost artistically and used an earth jutsu to tear down trees and create craters in the ground. He sensed the chakra signatures pause and run in his direction. As he was about leave, a cruel thought popped into his head.
"How devious. I like it."
Zetsu reached down and tore the edge of his cloak, making sure the Akatsuki cloud was on the ripped piece. He crumpled it up and rubbed it in blood before stuffing it into the copy's hand and disappearing.
Not too long after, Team Hebi appeared in the clearing. Suigetsu set his hands on his hips and whistled at the damage. "Man, look at this! Total destruction! Must've been a real nasty fight, eh, Sasuke?"
He expected some snarky comment, but Sasuke said nothing. Suigetsu frowned and turned to see the Uchiha staring down impassively at the body draped across the debris. Unbeknownst to him, Sasuke's heart was pounding in his throat.
"Sas—"
"We're going to Konoha."
"Wh-What?" Karin stammered. "Why? Uchiha Itachi isn't—"
"And we're taking this body with us."
He scooped the body in his arms, uncaring of the blood that streamed down and stained his white shirt. Karin and Suigetsu both looked disgruntled at this turn of events but complied begrudgingly and started towards the direction of Konohagakure. Juugo hung back.
"Did you know her, Sasuke-san?"
Sasuke looked down at the woman in his arms and raised a hand to shut close Sakura's eyelids. Her empty green eyes was starting to unsettle him.
"I did." He began to walk. "Once."
Day 31
Itachi slowly strolled through the hallways of the hospital, committing everything to memory with his newer, clearer eyesight. He again had no idea why he was here. Sakura sent him over, specifically to the third floor. He was supposed to meet the receptionist because he supposedly had something he needed.
When he got to the front desk, he greeted the receptionist with a slight nod, his long bangs brushing against his new Otogakure hitai-ate.
"Excuse me, but Sakura-sama sent me here?"
The receptionist took a small packet off the desk behind him before handing it over. "Yes. Here you are, Uchiha-san. Haruno-sama said to have one of these applications ready for you today. If you could fill it out and return it within three days, we'll process it for you. If everything runs smoothly, we can schedule a date for your interview."
Itachi blinked a couple of times before looking down at the papers in his hands, having no idea what was just said to him. After reading the top of the application, he stifled an amused reaction.
Sakura really was something else.
Pediatric Department Application
Position: Child Counselor
There was small note scribbled at the bottom of the page.
From the way you were talking days ago, I kind of got the vibe that you were tired of being an active shinobi, forced to kill people and such. Maybe it would be a nice turn of events if you could start helping these kids out?
- Sakura
P.S.- I think Hidan-san will become your senpai if you do get accepted. Sorry about that.
::
EDITED 2.19.18