"For her outstanding work over forty eight long hours assisting in healing all injured patients, despite having already participated in the Chunin finals and then in the fight against the Sound and Sand Ninja. I promote Sakura Haruno to the position of Head Nurse" Tsunade announced.
She stooped down a little and pinned a small gold badge in the shape of a syringe to the collar of Sakura's nurses uniform.
"I hope I made the right decision here Sakura. This position comes with a lot of responsibility and you still have much to learn. But congratulations nonetheless" Tsunade muttered and stood upright again.
"I won't let you down Tsunade-sama. I promise" Sakura replied confidently.
"We're totally getting ahead! This is so freaking cool!"Inner cheered.
"Alright Sakura-chan! Way to go!" Naruto said standing up and clapping loudly, knocking his chair over in the process.
The other members of the Konoha Hospital staff clapped as well, doctors and nurses alike muttering their approval, Shizune smiled brightly and clapped loudly for Sakura as well. Many of those who Sakura had assisted in healing during the invasion had also attended the hospital when they heard about her promotion ceremony. Kakashi clapped too smiling through his mask and felt very proud of his female student. Sasuke kept his hands deep within his pockets but he caught Sakura's eye and smirked at her from across the room. But a group of nurses remained huddled together, three or four of them and their thoughts and whispers were by no means approving.
Sakura brushed it off she knew there would be some who would not be thrilled with the situation. Even she had doubts when Tsunade had decided that she was being promoted, Sakura knew head nurse had charge of all the other nurses, attended all the surgeries and saw to all the recoveries in the hospital. Balancing that along with her training with Tsunade and Team 7 Sakura wasn't sure if she'd even have anytime to herself. But it was all to get stronger and ultimately to find her parents and bring them home.
It hurts they're not here to see this, and to have to lie to everyone and say that my mother was sick. That she couldn't make it. How long now until everyone finds out? After the death of the Hokage they'll find someone else to take over and then they'll come looking for answers.
"Shows over! Back to work all of you we have a lot to clean up and restock now that everyone's treated. Sakura you have the rest of the day off but you'll be here early tomorrow with Shizune so she can show you what you're responsibilities are as the head nurse. I suggest you use the time to prepare and study" Tsunade instructed and the hospital staff dispersed, with a nod towards Sakura her sensei then departed with Shizune following close behind her.
The villagers looked at each other half confused and half scared before leaving the hospital quickly. Clearly the extent of Tsunade's temper had reached even the most out of touch civilians, no one wanted to get her on bad side.
"Congratulations Sakura, it's such a shame your mother couldn't attend. I hope she feels better soon" Kakashi said ruffling her hair.
"Thanks sensei. I'll pass on your thoughts to her" Sakura replied trying her best to be cheerful.
"You have the day off Sakura! What are you going to do?" Naruto asked excitedly bouncing around.
"I don't know Naruto. I guess I should probably go home and see about my mother and then brush up on everything I need for tomorrow like Lady Tsunade said" Sakura sighed feeling the tiredness setting in.
"Aww no you can't just do whatever that big boobed granny tells you! Besides you should take the time and relax!" Naruto exclaimed and Sakura stiffened at the words he used to describe Tsunade, fearing she might here.
"Hn shut up dobe you're so loud even that deaf old man over there can here you" Sasuke said as the deaf man in the wheelchair glared at Naruto.
"Be quiet Teme! Sakura-chan hasn't rested once since the invasion and she needs to go out and have some fun instead of sitting at home and staring at boring medical books!" Naruto whined.
"Naruto it's because of those medical books that I was able to accomplish all this. If you're so keen to go and do something then I'm up for it" Sakura laughed.
"I would Sakura-chan but the Pervy Sage wants to leave the village for the next phase of my training! And I'm totally late I have to get to the village gate now! I'll see you guys in a few days!" Naruto babbled before tearing out of the hospital.
Sasuke looked a little put out and this didn't go unnoticed by Sakura.
"That idiot! Why did he make such a fuss about doing something if he had to leave!?" Inner demanded.
"Of course I would love to spend time with you all but I have other things to do. Sasuke there's no training for you today so you're free to do as you please. Why don't the two of you do something together hmm?" Kakashi suggested before disappearing.
"It's fine if you want to train on your own Sasuke I need to study for tomorrow anyway" Sakura began but Sasuke looked at her pointedly.
"Hn. Dobe was right you need a break. I'm hungry" Sasuke said emotionlessly and walked out of the hospital leaving Sakura to follow.
The central marketplace of Konoha had sustained the least damage during the invasion and the citizens seemed determined to carry on as normal. Everything was open for business and Sakura practically drooled all over the ground as the delicious smells wafted through the air.
How long had it been since she'd had a proper meal? It had to be before the second Chunin exam and her stomach rumbled in agreement.
"I don't mind what we eat. As long as it's not sweet, I don't like sweet foods" Sasuke said bluntly, stuffing his hands further in his pockets. He balled them into fists at the recollection of Naruto running out of the hospital to go and train with his Sanin sensei.
Has Kakashi decided that training isn't important since the Chunin exams are over? How is Naruto stronger than me? Even now I remember that toad summoning he performed against Gaara. How did he go from no chakra to plenty so quickly?
"You're thinking about Naruto leaving the village for training right?" Sakura asked midly, scanning for a suitable place to eat.
"Hn" Sasuke replied and chose not to elaborate any further.
"If it makes you feel any better I don't exactly have a line of sensei's knocking down my door to train me. With Naruto's new sensei Jiraiya and Kakashi focusing on you I'd have been swept under the proverbial rug if I didn't choose to take that volunteer position at the hospital" Sakura commented offhandedly.
It's true, if I hadn't sought out Tsunade to train under I would be completely behind and not advancing at all. It's sad when you think about it like that, Sakura thought.
Sasuke consider this and felt a little guilty, it was true that Kakashi had been giving him all of his attention and Naruto had that new sensei leaving Sakura dangling. But Sasuke needed to get stronger for a worthwhile purpose, although Sakura was working hard to be a medical ninja Sasuke couldn't help but think their purposes were too different. She wanted to help save lives; he wanted revenge on his brother for taking the lives of his family. His seemed selfish in that respect but it was the only thing Sasuke wanted in this world, apart from the revival of his clan.
Sakura took his silence for acceptance of the situation and felt a little disappointed. But she quickly perked up when she found the perfect place to have lunch, a market stall that sold yakitori and bento boxes. A well-made bento would hopefully remove the hunger pains in her stomach, plus Sasuke could purchase something that was to his liking. Completely forgetting Sasuke's bad mood Sakura grabbed onto his arm and pulled him towards the stall.
"Welcome! Oh it's you, the pink haired girl from the Chunin finals with ground smashing power in her fists!" The old lady who ran the store exclaimed.
"Oh uh right. I'm Sakura Haruno and this is my teammate Sasuke" Sakura replied a little taken aback by the attention.
"Sasuke Uchiha of course you're both very welcome. So lovely to see a nice young couple like you out on a date even after the terrible happenings the last few days"
"Oh we're not on a date" Sakura interjected before things could get out of hand. But the villagers around her in the crowded market place began whispering to each other. Sasuke Uchiha and Sakura Haruno were out on a date.
"Of course not your secret is safe with me. Now what can I get you two this fine afternoon?" The lady said giving Sakura a wink.
"Hn. One bento and two skewers of yakaitori grilled chicken" Sasuke said and reached into his pocket for some money before giving it to the woman.
Sakura stared at Sasuke incredulously and Sasuke looked back at her blankly. "Don't you want a bento? The dobe mentioned you eating them once before so I assume it's what you'd want" he asked.
"N-No the bento's fine it's exactly what I was going to order anyway. I'm just surprised you remembered" Sakura replied caught off guard.
"It's not a big deal" Sasuke said and collected the change from the lady and taking their ticket moved to wait in the order collection part.
"Right well at least let me give you some money towards lunch, it's not fair you should pay for it all" Sakura replied and quickly dug around in her pockets for her purse.
Sasuke however reached out and stopped her, Sakura gave him a quizzical look and Sasuke frowned at his automatic responses to her. That wasn't normal, he'd become too comfortable around her and clearly comfortable enough to drop some of his guard. Grabbing her arms and hands as if on auto pilot, paying for lunch, remembering a stupid fact about her that Naruto had been babbling about one morning before their training as genin. What exactly was happening to him?
"It's not a big deal" Sasuke huffed again and passed Sakura her bento box and collected his own food.
"If you're sure then. Maybe we should eat down by the river then?" Sakura asked and Sasuke nodded.
The two members of Team 7 made their way down to the river when both suddenly became aware of a high pitched noise. It was the sound of giggling, teenage girl giggling and Sakura looked over her right shoulder to see a group of girls trailing a few metres behind them. But when Sakura caught their eyes the giggles quickly turned to angry whispers and their bright eyes narrowed. Among the group Sakura saw Ami and knew this couldn't be good.
Sasuke's fan girls huh? Most of them are female ninja from other squads. What are they doing? Out for an innocent stroll is the answer I'll get if I ask, Sakura thought and shifted a little uncomfortably.
"Hn. Are they bothering you?" Sasuke asked looking visibly annoyed.
"Not really. But you look annoyed so they must be bothering you. Want me to tell them off?" Sakura asked sounding a lot braver than she felt.
Enemy ninja she could handle even Orochimaru she handled okay but hormone drive teenagers from her academy days who used to bully her. Maybe not so much but if worse came to worse she could always chakra punch them back into the centre of the village. With that thought in mind Sakura smiled.
Sasuke shrugged he didn't really understand or know why groups of girls followed him around in their droves. Apparently it was due to his looks he'd heard but Sasuke didn't know or care about that. Maybe he should ask Sakura considering she used to follow him around like that, but she was never part of a group. She would always be solo and somehow not as annoying as they were.
"Consider it a favour for you buying lunch. I'll meet you at the river, you can start your lunch without me" Sakura continued, having already made up her mind to speak with them.
"Don't be too long and don't waste your chakra on them" Sasuke smirked knowing full well what Sakura could be like if people didn't listen to her.
Once Sasuke was out of sight Sakura turned to face quite a large group of angrily looking and disappointed girls.
"Where's Sasuke?" One of the girls demanded angrily.
"We know what people have been saying, you're Sakura Haruno and you and Sasuke are dating!" Another accused jealously.
"He's gone to eat lunch somewhere. Listen ladies I'll say this once and once only. Leave Sasuke alone, stop stalking him and following him around like a bunch of lost puppies. He doesn't like it and frankly it's creepy" Sakura said confidently, deciding to ignore the whole girlfriend comment.
"This is coming from you Billboard Brow? The girl who used to follow Sasuke Uchiha around like a pathetic loser. Oh wait nothing's changed!" Ami taunted stepping forward, the other girls some younger than Sakura looked at Ami with a sense of awe. Clearly she was the leader of the group.
But this wasn't the academy and Sakura wasn't a scared little girl anymore. Ami didn't intimidate her, none of these girls did. She was the student of Tsunade one of the three Sanin and a bunch of teenage girls (some ninja drop outs) weren't going to scare her.
"Yeah I used to follow Sasuke around but I grew out of that. I'm not some immature girl who follows around a boy who'll never show any interest in me. It's a shame you don't seem to have caught on Ami, you're as immature as ever" Sakura retorted coolly.
"Well well looks like the forehead loser has a bit of backbone to her after all. You don't fool me Sakura and you never will. People are talking about how great you were during the Chunin exams but I don't care. You got lucky to be on the same team as Sasuke and you don't deserve your place there. But I've had enough of talking with you, there's a whole group of us and only one of you. I'm feeling good about those odds, how about you girls?" Ami asked and cracked her knuckles.
The other girls laughed and began to surround Sakura who stood her ground. She was most concerned about how to take them all down and not get caught or damage them too much otherwise it would be more work for her in the end at the hospital. That meant using one of her chakra related moves would be out of the question especially the crater punch move she had just learnt, the village was damaged enough.
But all the ways in which to fight Ami and those girls disappeared when Sakura sensed Kakashi's chakra but it didn't have the strong presence it normally would. Something was different, the chakra was weak and tired and that wasn't like Kakashi at all. Deciding she needed to find out what was wrong Sakura performed a quick substitution jutsu leaving a clone of herself that would turn into a log when hit.
"Seriously we're going to let Ami away with that? No way!" Inner fumed and Sakura had to agree it seemed pretty pathetic to just do a substitution jutsu and run away.
"Of course she'd run away. Those rumours are clearly false as if Sasuke would date someone like the Forehead" Ami laughed and all the other girls joined in.
However Sakura found it much more amusing when they all fell to the ground, sprawled in the dirt due to the near invisible ninja wire wrapped around each of their ankles. Sakura resisted the urge to collapse into a fit of laughter but then she remembered the reason she'd used the substitution in the first place.
"Hn. I thought you said it'd be quick. You were supposed to eat lunch" Sasuke said appearing next to Sakura who was still trying to restrain her laughter as the girls tried to get up and fell down again.
"Sorry I got preoccupied. But lunch will have to wait anyway. I just sensed Kakashi's chakra; it's weak and tired which is not like him. He might be injured or it could be his Sharingan so I'd like to check it out" Sakura decided.
"Alright. Eat on the way then" Sasuke said and handed Sakura her bento box.
"He's definitely inside but I sense the presence of three more chakra signals. I guess this is where Kakashi-sensei lives, I wonder why we've never seen this before?" Sakura asked Sasuke as they stood outside their teacher's house.
"Probably because Kakashi likes his privacy, can't say I blame him" Sasuke muttered as they walked inside and up a flight of stairs. Opening the door to where Kakashi's chakra signal was coming from Sakura and Sasuke saw that Kurenai, Asuma and Gai occupied the room.
Kakashi lay on the bed looking tired and worn out, Sakura noticed that next to his bed stood the picture Team 7 had taken when they were first formed. She, Sasuke and Naruto all had a copy as well, but next to that team photo was another one of Kakashi as a younger ninja with a girl and a boy beside him. Sakura guess that must have been Kakashi's genin squad but her eyes widened significantly when she saw Kakashi's sensei looked a great deal like Naruto.
"Why are all you Jounin here? What happened to Kakashi?" Sasuke demanded not noticing the pictures.
"Kakashi-sensei looks completely drained and his chakra is almost gone. He's used the Sharingan as well so his opponent must have been of a high skill level" Sakura added having done a quick observational scan of her sensei.
"Nothing is wrong, Kakashi is just a little worn out from training that's all" Gai said but it was clear to Sakura and Sasuke that he was lying. Suddenly another Jounin burst into the room, someone Sakura had never seen before.
"Is it true then? What they're saying? Itachi Uchiha has returned and he's going after Naruto Uzumaki?" The Jounin blurted out thoughtlessly before his eyes came to rest on Sasuke.
But in a split second the Uchiha boy was gone using his chakra to propel himself out of the window and onto the roof. Sakura immediately followed him using her heightened chakra senses to follow the spike of angry revenge driven chakra he was giving off.
"Sasuke slow down!"
"No! This is my one chance he's finally come out of hiding and is in plain sight. It's my one chance to kill him!" Sasuke yelled back and pumped more chakra into his body.
"We don't even know where Naruto is, all we know is that he left the village with Jiraiya. If Naruto's in trouble I'm coming with you there's no question of that. But we need to know where they are, it saves time and chakra" Sakura spoke calmly finally catching up to her teammate.
Sasuke gave her an angry look but seemed to see the reasoning behind it. "Fine you have five minutes to find out where they are. If you're not back I'm leaving"
Sakura took less than two minutes and quickly returned to the spot on top of a building where Sasuke stood ready to go.
"Headed towards an outpost town just outside the village, let's go" Sakura said leading the way and Sasuke followed quickly behind.
They ran quickly using as much of their chakra as they could. Sasuke pushed himself hard for speed, this was the first time Itachi had shown his face since he murdered the Uchiha clan in cold blood. All but Sasuke himself were killed and now Sasuke was finally ready to get revenge and kill his brother once and for all.
Sakura worried about Naruto's safety, the only thing a man like Itachi Uchiha could want with Naruto was the Nine Tailed Fox and the power it held. Sakura knew what Itachi had done, her parents had told her about the Uchiha massacre when she was old enough to understand. Looking across to her teammate Sakura knew things couldn't end well but kept that opinion to herself. It was a fight that didn't concern her but she would do all in her power to keep Sasuke and Naruto safe.
Kakashi's not here to back us up and kami only knows where that pervert Jiraiya is. With any luck he'll be with Naruto and protect him but I can't count on that. So it'll be just us three against Itachi and whoever else happens to be there.
It wasn't long before they reached the outpost village. The streets were busy with street performers and other forms of entertainment as well as market stalls. Sasuke looked around frantically, where could the dobe and the old man with white hair be?
"Sakura can you sense Naruto's chakra signal anywhere?" Sasuke asked knowing Sakura had the better chakra sense.
"I don't know it's hard to tell with all these people around. We need to go further in and look for a hotel or something? That's probably where they would be unless they're out training" Sakura said trying to focus her mind to find Naruto's signal.
They ran quickly through the streets and Sakura continued to scan for Naruto's chakra signal until she felt a huge amount of chakra being produced. Stopping outside a hotel Sakura closed her eyes and focused more. The chakra spiked a little but still contained an airy like feel to it. The chakra belonged to Naruto for sure, Sakura would know his chakra anywhere.
"Sasuke in here!" she yelled and ran into the hotel.
"Listen have you seen a blond kid in here around our age and a white haired old man?" Sasuke demanded scaring the receptionist with his intensity.
"Um let me see" The receptionist began and reached for the sign in book.
"We don't have time for this. I'll just follow his chakra signal now come on. I sense two other chakra signals as well and that can't be good" Sakura said and ran up the stairs towards the main part of the hotel.
Sasuke followed her ignoring the receptionist's cries that they weren't allowed inside. Taking a quick turn left down a hall full of hotel rooms Sakura suddenly stopped and tensed up. Sasuke quickly followed her line of sight and froze in place as he laid eyes on his brother Itachi and another man standing in front of Naruto. Sakura noticed the two men were clothed the same, their cloaks black with red clouds covering them.
"Naruto are you alright?" Sakura asked worriedly and both men turned around. Sakura recognised Itachi immediately his pupils were a blood red indicating he had activated the Sharingan. Like Sasuke he possessed it in both eyes.
"I'm fine but these guys aren't going to take no for an answer" Naruto replied looking at Itachi and his companion warily.
"Well well, it's been a long time hasn't it Sasuke?" Itachi asked quietly, his eyes finally landing on his younger brother.
"Who is that Itachi?" Kisame asked curiously.
"Sasuke Uchiha, my younger brother" Itachi replied evenly.
"Itachi Uchiha. I've fostered my hatred for you ever since you murdered the members of our clan and now the day has come where you die" Sasuke said angrily, he too had activated the Sharingan and began to gather his chakra.
The familiar sound of a thousand birds chirping echoed around the small hallway as Sasuke's hand became enveloped in blue coloured chakra. Itachi's face remained completely emotionless as Sasuke's face became twisted with pure rage. Dragging his arm backward so that the Chidori destroyed the wall next to him, Sasuke ran forward with his arm raised.
"DIE!" he yelled as he drew nearer to Itachi with the full intention of destroying him. This was going to work; the jutsu that Kakashi had taught him would be the thing to kill Itachi. His parents and the other members of the Uchiha clan would finally have peace and Sasuke's goal would be realised.
Sakura and Naruto watched as Sasuke drew closer to Itachi and were shocked when Itachi simply deflected the Chidori into the wall causing it to explode from the impact. Itachi grabbed hold of Sasuke's wrist and looked at him emotionlessly, the last of the chakra from the Chidori slowly fading to nothing.
Chidori is nothing to be overlooked Sasuke managed to wound Gaara with that jutsu. What kind of strength Itachi must possess to be able to counter it so simply, Sakura thought as she looked at the two Uchiha brothers in disbelief. They were definitely way out of their league here against those two men.
Sasuke was horrified that the Chidori hadn't been enough. He had worked hard on that jutsu with Kakashi and it was completely useless against Itachi. He was completely useless against Itachi. It was as if his worst fears had been confirmed, his goal was nothing but a joke to Itachi and everyone else.
Naruto sensed there was trouble coming their way with Sakura alone on the other side of the room and Sasuke trapped with Itachi, not to mention the fish looking guy in front of him with a huge sword ready to chop his legs off. Pushing his hands together in a jutsu pose Naruto quickly activated the Nine Tailed Fox's chakra in hopes of performing his summoning jutsu.
Itachi and Kisame quickly turned their attention to the blond boy who was now covered in orange chakra, taking this as his chance to escape Itachi's grasp Sasuke attempted to move but Itachi pulled sharply on his wrist causing it to crack. Sasuke yelled loudly in pain and Sakura winced at the sound feeling completely helpless.
"That's it! Ninja Art Summoning Jutsu!" Naruto said and bit his thumb and began performing the hand signs necessary for the Great Toad summoning but Kisame was quicker.
Bringing his huge sword down an inch away from Naruto, the fish looking man cut off the orange chakra surrounding the blond boy. The sword itself began to move, clearly something was hidden beneath the white bandages it was wrapped in.
"My shark skin sword absorbs chakra and consumes it. So no luck whipping out that jutsu and to make sure you don't try that again I think one of your arms may need to come off" Kisame hissed and raised his sword again.
Sakura knew she had to do something and quickly ran forward intent on hitting Kisame with her chakra infused fist. She managed to make it past Itachi who could have easily have stopped her but decided he should give Kisame some enjoyment in killing at least one person.
Kisame saw her coming a mile off and quickly raised his sword cutting off the chakra to her fist immediately. Sakura was terrified as she felt the power leave her attack and watched the sword move again, swallowing her chakra.
"That was a foolish mistake but no harm done. More chakra for my sword and now you've brought yourself into the middle of this fight so I think I'll have to do away with you. Make an example of you to the blond one" Kisame said triumphantly and raised his sword again.
Sakura closed her eyes and prepared for impact, Sasuke and Naruto were both helpless to do anything and could only watch as Kisame turned on their teammate. But Sakura felt no pain and opened her eyes to see something had blocked the sword and that something was an orange and black speckled toad.
"It was stupid of you to think you could outwit me with just one good looking woman! When you're someone of my level of pure awesome then the women flock to you!" Jiraiya exclaimed appearing behind Naruto.
"YEAH RIGHT YOU TOOK ONE LOOK AT THAT WOMAN AND YOU FELL FOR IT COMPLETELY PERVY SAGE!" Naruto yelled angrily.
"I told you not to call me that! In any case it's no guess what you two are after but to put an innocent young woman under genjutsu just to separate me from my student was low" Jiraiya said his voice taking a serious tone.
"Maybe by your standards but not by ours. The Akatsuki will have Naruto there's no two ways about it" Itachi replied calmly.
"Naruto's not going anywhere with you but the situation does work well for me. I can get rid of both of you now" Jiraiya said.
"Back off! I'm the only one who gets to see him die" Sasuke said getting up slowly.
The toad in front of Sakura disappeared and Kisame lowered his sword and turned to face Jiraiya who was more of a threat.
"Sakura run! Get out of here!" Naruto said loudly.
"I'm not leaving you two here by yourselves!" Sakura said back and Itachi's eyes landed on her for a moment before flickering to Sasuke.
"You don't interest me at the moment. Go away" Itachi said brushing Sasuke off completely. Sasuke wasn't taking that for answer and ran forward quickly with his fist raised but Itachi used minimal effort in retaliating with a sharp kick.
Sasuke hit the wall hard and his body slumped over a little. Sakura decided that although Itachi was a formidable ninja there was no way she would let Sasuke become injured when she had the power to prevent it. The crater punch was out of the question; it would destroy the whole hotel and cause copious amounts of damage not to mention it would take the fighting out onto the street where innocent people could get hurt.
A taijutsu style chakra infused attack was a risk to be sure but Sakura didn't have much else she could use apart from the poison senbon attack but she was sure Itachi would deflect it easily. Head on it was then. Gathering her chakra again Sakura moved forward towards Itachi.
"No Sakura stay out of this! This fight is mine!" Sasuke said angrily and Sakura stepped back letting the chakra run back through her system.
"So be it then" Itachi said growing tired of Sasuke's persistence and walked past Sakura towards his brother.
Jiraiya could see that Sasuke was no match for the older Uchiha and all that he would receive would be the beating Itachi would give him. Moving forward slightly Jiraiya wanted to intervene but Kisame placed his sword in front of the Sanin.
"Do pay attention Jiraiya and let the two Uchiha's hash it out" Kisame said arrogantly.
Sakura stood still and watched as Itachi began his merciless assault on Sasuke, the attacks were simple taijutsu style but it seemed that Sasuke had no strength left as he simply took each blow.
All these years I've been training for this one day to achieve this one goal. My whole purpose and motivation for continuing to live despite the death of my entire clan. How is it that nothing has changed? He's throwing me around as though I was a useless piece of trash, Sasuke thought as he fell to the ground.
Itachi reached down and picked Sasuke up by his shirt slamming him into the wall. "You're still too weak, you don't have enough hatred in you and you never will. You'll never be able to get revenge for our dear family" Itachi taunted whispering the words into Sasuke's ear.
"Put him down Itachi" Sakura said angrily, standing behind the older Uchiha. The chakra ran into her fist in huge waves.
"Who are you?" Itachi asked mildly, still pinning Sasuke to the wall.
"Sakura Haruno. Now put my teammate down or I'll make sure to break every bone in your body" Sakura spat.
"Haruno? Oh I remember now. Your dear parents Keiko and Takao were friends with my dear parents. Such a shame that friendship was cut short" Itachi said coolly.
"Don't speak like you feel any guilt for what you've done" Sakura snapped and Itachi simply stared at her.
"Sakura what are you doing? Get away from him, he'll kill you" Sasuke said through gritted teeth.
"It would seem my dear younger brother cares if you live or die. How touching. Maybe if you spent more time focusing on your hatred and revenge and less time with these teammates of yours you would stand a chance against me" Itachi said to Sasuke who struggled against Itachi's hold on him.
"Let him go now!" Sakura demanded and charged forward with her chakra fist ready to strike. Itachi quickly let go of Sasuke and deflected Sakura's punch into the wall creating a huge hole.
"Interesting attack. Your chakra control is impressive" Itachi commented and Sakura hissed in pain as he tightened his grip on her wrist.
"You know I think I'll show you something that I was saving for Sasuke just now. You seem determined to save him so it's only fair and I did as you requested" Itachi continued and closed his eyes for the briefest of moments.
"NO!" Sasuke yelled and tried to get to his feet but Itachi knocked him back down again and smacking his head against the wall Sasuke fell into unconsciousness.
"The technique is called Tsukyomi and is designed to inflict huge psychological damage. The only downside is it uses quite a bit of chakra and isn't exactly good for the eyes. So I'll give you a small taste" Itachi said calmly.
Making direct eye contact with Sakura, Itachi activated the Tsukyomi using his Mangekyo Sharingan and suddenly Sakura wasn't looking at the small hallway in the hotel but she was home and looking at the inside of her living room.
But it didn't feel right, the insides of the house were black and white but outside the sky was a blood red. Sakura heard footsteps behind her.
"Sakura sweetheart, help me"
Her father's voice rang out across the room and Sakura turned to see Takao Haruno littered with kunai, blood seeping out from every possible point on his body. His head dangled from his neck attached only by the smallest bit of skin. Blood gushed from his eyes and nose.
Sakura let out a blood curdling scream which left her mouth inside her mind and outside. Naruto's head snapped up as soon as he heard it. "Itachi! He's got Sakura and he's doing something to her!" Naruto yelled at Jiraiya.
Just as her father's corpse fell to the ground Sakura fell to her knees in absolute agony. She screamed again as she saw her mother approaching in exactly the same condition.
"Sakura sweetheart, help me"
"NO NO NO! MOTHER FATHER! MAKE IT STOP!" Sakura yelled tears falling freely from her eyes.
"ITACHI UCHIHA. REMOVE THE TSUKYOMI" Inner Sakura thundered loudly and appeared in front of Sakura.
Itachi did not appear himself and the vision created by the Tsukyomi remained except now Sasuke, Naruto and Kakashi appeared. Sakura opened her eyes and screamed again at the sight.
"ENOUGH!" Inner yelled and threw her hands out in front of her dissipating the visions completely. Sakura's vision went white before she blacked out completely.
Itachi's eyes blurred at little before he was able to see properly. Sakura Haruno was slumped over on the ground near his brother completely unconscious.
No one has ever repelled the Tsukyomi from me. No one can unless they are of Uchiha blood and can wield the Sharingan effectively. How did she?