Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ AB Type ❯ My fault ( Chapter 3 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

Disclaimer: I don't own NARUTO series or any of its characters. They are property of Masashi Kishimoto
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There he was, alone in the middle of a forest he didn't know, looking for a person whom none knew anything about and without a hint of food in his stomach.

Finding Itachi had been harder than previously thought. All information given to him had leaded him to a little village in Grass. A bartender has told him that he had been seen there, about one day ago, and that a strange tall man accompanied him. That was an inconvenient, because given his currently state, he could barely fight Itachi alone, but two would be suicidal.

However, he didn't care, not at all, he would fight him anyways.

Therefore, he rushed to the direction he thought correct. He had to stop once to regain his breath and then returned to his journey. When he arrived to a little village, he confirmed his location.

Yes, he was right where he had to be.

The first thing he looked for was a market. His stomach was growling of hunger and he had to regain strength if he wanted to have a little fight today.

Sasuke entered the nearest one he found to buy some supplies with the little amount of money that he had left.

Ironically, the first thing he got into his basket was ramen.

'It's the fastest and cheapest thing to eat', he said inwardly, trying to justify his selection to his annoying conscience.

The girl that attended him looked at him with a strange face. It wasn't the stupid love faces he was used to receive, but a dislike and fear one. Though he didn't pay much attention to that, it just seemed a little bit weird.

His hair had grown much larger, so much, he had to tie it in a ponytail at the base of his head. It kind of bothered him, especially because it remembered him of his brother, but he hadn't had time to cut it, so he just tied it.

In the last month, he had gained a great semblance to Itachi, and that disturbed him a lot. The circles under his eyes and the long hair were a proof of that.

'Maybe that girl thought I was Itachi', well, if that's the case then it would be good, because it meant that she had recently see him.

'You are near, brother...I know it'

And of course, as -almost- always, he was right. Itachi was in a little restaurant, having lunch with someone he didn't remember.

'That must be the tall man the bartender mentioned', and he had been sure by telling him that that man was weird. His appearance was that of a shark, with gray bluish skin and little black eyes. He carried a very large sword on his back.

'I think I remember him...', he had seen him with Itachi the first time he tried to fight him, when they were trying to take Naruto with them, though Sasuke had barely glanced at him.

Sasuke decided to follow them to a place where they could not call much attention, like a forest or something. In the meantime he would eat the sandwich he bought and drink a lot of water.

He rested in the opposite restaurant while having his own lunch. There he could look directly to Itachi but he could not see him. He was cautious by masking his presence, reducing it to pass by a mere civilian.

Half an hour later they stood up and left the place, so he followed them from a prudent distance.

They were going to the exit of the village, which was absolutely suitable for Sasuke. When he got o the gates, he waited for a group of merchantpersons that were going out too, so that he could mix with them and wouldn’t be noticed, until they were about 500 meters from the gates. He then separated from the group and hid between some trees.

Sasuke approached slowly, little by little feeling the adrenaline run at high speed though his body. His eyes were big, his breathing quickened, his moves became more rushed.

'Calm down Sasuke...he doesn't have to notice you', but his body was acting on itself.

He quietly climbed a tree to see his surroundings clearly and have a better look of his enemy.

"You can't pretend to be hunting me by being so obvious, Sasuke" Itachi's voice resounded in his brain.

'He noticed me?!', he was desperate. Itachi was standing there, acting as if nothing had happened, not even looking nor searching him.

The only thing he could do was to show himself, which was embarrassing, because Itachi had already noticed him. So he jumped to the ground, and stood there in front of Itachi. The hatred filling the space between them.

"Uchiha Itachi..."

"I may suppose that you've come because you can defeat me", Itachi said plainly, though Sasuke caught the hint of mock that was in between his words. That only angered him more.

"I will kill you this time", Sasuke said, and for anyone who had listen to him he would have seemed to confident on his sayings.

"Ho, Itachi san, isn't that your little brother?

"Have you achieved it?" Itachi said.

"I've never needed any of your advices"

"I see", he still hadn't acquired the Mangekyou. "Well, I have no time for you today, Sasuke"

The bastard used that tone of voice he used with him in the past, when he asked Itachi to teach him shuriken techniques. He would pay it. That bastard would pay it with his pitiful life.

Sasuke only grunted out of pure anger before coming incredibly fast at Itachi.

Of course he easily caught his fist and sent Sasuke flying away from him.

Itachi didn't even move.

Sasuke came again and when he was inches away from Itachi, he disappeared, directing from behind with a fist fully charged of chakra.

Again Itachi just avoided it and grabbed Sasuke's leg in the air. He supported his body in the ground with his left hand and turned around to kick Itachi with his free leg. Itachi grabbed this one too, so Sasuke's fist became a chidori and prepared to attack Itachi's stomach.

When he felt it didn't connect with anything, he realized Itachi had disappeared, and that he was falling, to finally hit the ground. He stood up and searched for his brother, only to find him behind him with a kunai nearing his throat.

He bended over and threw a kick from under Itachi, aiming for his groin, while throwing three kunai at his chest. A slight 'puff' sounded and his brother's figure disappeared to white clouds.

"Fuck" he had time to say while jumping backwards to avoid the explosion of Itachi's clone.

Sasuke got a little hurt, but most of all he was disoriented.

He felt a searing pain when a kunai pierced his right leg. He fell and hit his back on the roots of a big tree. A kick on his stomach sent him to hit that same tree, and Itachi grabbed him by the neck, to keep him in place.

Sasuke, not wanting this fight to be an unpleasant déjà vu, reacted by hitting his side and took the chance to escape. Again a 'puff' was heard, but this time it didn't exploit. He jumped away anyways, but was received by a rain of shurikens.

He finally hit the ground when he fell, all hurted and without strength to keep fighting.

He hadn't been able to hit Itachi not even once.

His brother stood beside him and stepped on him hard on his chest.

"I didn't even have to use my Sharingan on you, tell me, how did you plan to kill me?"

Itachi's red eyes where looking at him from above, and still he hadn't placed any genjutsu on him.

His only available move threatened him to steal all stamina he had left.

He did it anyways.

In an explosion of chakra, his all body started to emanate electricity, chidori to be more specific.

Itachi quickly took his foot out of his brother's body and moved backwards, surprised about this technique. It had reached his foot and leg and for some minutes his whole extremity felt asleep.

That surely angered him.

Itachi looked at Sasuke for a while, then turned around to leave. But suddenly stopped when a thought crossed his mind, a very useful one.

"Can I finish him?" Kisame said with a very amused tone. He was looking expectating at Itachi, with that sadistic face of him.

"No. We will take him with us" Itachi said without looking at him.

"Why is that all of a sudden?" Kisame was somewhat depressed. He really wanted to smash that boy's bones with his Samehada.

"We need the information he might possess", and with that he started walking. Kisame neared Sasuke and gave him one strong punch on the stomach to leave him unconscious. Then he threw him roughly over his shoulder and started walking beside Itachi.

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Sakura had been walking through the village all day. She went to the places team seven used to go.

The training field filled her with sorrow, to see those three logs where Naruto had been tied. That had been their start as ninjas, as a team...a team that had disappeared long time ago.

The memorial, the one she had been afraid of looking at when Sasuke had gone to Orochimaru, where she had cried so many times because of him.

The Ramen shop, when they tried to see Kakashi's face...

Finally the bridge, so many memories in there...

Every day in the mornings they had waited for Kakashi, who always arrived saying one thousand excuses.

She stood at the edge of it, resting her arms on the rail. Her eyes drifted to the water and looked at her changed reflection.

'Feels like Déjà vu'. The last time she had been there like that, Sasuke wasn't with them either. It was the same sadness, the same pain that gripped her throat.

Because of him.

Again.

Wasn't love supposed to fill the soul?, to make you happy?, then why her love had only made her cry?

It was unfair. In spite of all her efforts to make his life nicer, to make him happy and see him smile, he had always remained hidden beneath that cold exterior, he had always treated her like shit, as if she was useless, always reminding her that she meant nothing for him, that she was just annoying.

'You are...annoying'

'You really are...annoying'

And why?, why if she had given so much of her for him, if she had offered all she was and could be to him?

Definitely unfair.

But then again, he never showed any sign of attraction to her, he never feed up her love expectations. He never lied to her...well, not before her illness at least..

After that, he had been behaving oddly with her, it even seemed as if he had liked her, or maybe he had lusted her...who knows.

It had been her fault too...for believing that he would love her back, that he would say one day that he wanted her by his side for the rest of his life...

Stupid girl.

But leaving behind her ingenuousness and all her mistakes, he had been harsh with her. She did not deserved that sort of treatment.

Before, she had been weak, naive, and childish. But now she wasn't. She was strong and she was becoming a very pretty woman.

She didn't deserve this.

He didn't deserve her.

Suddenly she felt so angry with him...with her. She couldn't blame him for her love disgrace. She could only blame herself, and that surely hurt. She felt guilty, stupid, and ashamed for being such an idiot.

It was so easy to just blame him. All her mistakes could be his. But they weren't.

That's when all her love started to become in hatred, and revenge didn't seem such a stupid choice.

He wouldn't change, and she didn't love the person he had became. She loved Sasuke, not Orochimaru's pupil.

She unconsciously tightened her fists, so hard her knuckles went white.

She didn't love a monster.

Sakura had turned down an invitation from Naruto to go out. He wanted to go to Ichiraku's, but she didn't feel at all like it.

She had needed to be alone and think.

Now that all seemed clearer for her, she wanted, needed Naruto's company. So she went to his apartment.

Naruto had been so kind to her since the first day. Unlike Sasuke, Naruto had always been by her side, supporting her every time she fell.

Somewhere inside her, the thought that she had behaved with Naruto as Sasuke did with her, hit a sensitive spot inside her.

The guilt.

Yes, she had been mean where Naruto had been her most loyal friend.

She decided to buy some ramen at Ichiraku's to eat with Naruto in his place. She knew it was his favourite, so she asked for an extra portion for him.

"Hey, I haven't seen Naruto here for a while, do you know what happened to him?", the old man asked her. She didn't know that, it was strange of him anyways, because he spent eight of the seven days of the week eating ramen here.

"He must be on a mission", she lied as not to worry the old man.

"I see" were his last words before passing her the food, nicely folded in two boxes.

'Knock knock' and she waited the for a long time before Naruto opened the door slowly, to reveal himself in his pajamas and with one of his eyes closed, the other half-opened.

"Sakura chan?", he said a little lost and still asleep. A yawn followed his words.

"He-llo Naruto!" she said happily with a wide smile. "I rethought your invitation, so I bought ramen for us to eat", she showed the boxes as to prove her point.

"Oh... uhmmm -yawn- REALLY??, come in!, I'll be ready in no time...come in! Wait for me a little ok?!", he woke up in a second and was already being the outrageous boy she knew.

She laughed.

The house was a total mess, which didn't surprise her. But to find Naruto sleeping did. He usually didn't sleep during the day, he was always training, or eating ramen, or whatever thing he did on the day but definitely not taking a nap.

'Strange again'

So she opened the boxes and served the food on the table.

'It smells good...damn, I'm so hungry'

"Naruto! Hurry up or I'll eat you ramen!"

He rushed in at the mention of his ramen being taken away from him.

"So...why were you sleeping?"

"I didn't have anything to do, plus I was tired"

"That is so unlike you"

He laughed nervously.

"Yeah...but it doesn't hurt me to take one day free, you know?", he said laughing. "By the way...why did you change your mind, Sakura chan?"

"I just thought that spending the day with you wouldn't hurt me at all", she joked, "I definitely prefer that than depressing myself all day", she laughed inwardly at Naruto's reaction. He blushed madly and looked down, giving her an uncomfortable chuckle as a reply.

"Well...I'm glad you are feeling better now..."

She loved when he smiled with the eyes. It was pure and sincere, it showed his real self, the one she had come to appreciate.

Such was the moment.

It made her happy to have him by her side.

By the time they ended eating, the day had became night, and they didn't even realize. The eating itself didn't last much, they had been both starving like hell, so the food disappeared in an instant. It was the conversation that kept them both entertained.

"The perverted sannin said that Akatsuki were still behind me" Naruto said with a little of sorrow.

"Still? but they were supposed to do that long time ago"

"Yeah...but you know?, I'm much stronger this time, so they can come again, all of them if they want, and they will only get their asses kicked!"

"I don't doubt that", she chuckled.

"What does that mean?, I'm strong! and it's not because of the kyuubi" he said proudly.

"Funny, because that's the reason of their hunting" she said while scratching her eye.

"They will be surprised, yeah!"

"I heard many jinchuurikis from different places had already been taken...maybe you're the last one"

"I know...that makes me special, doesn't it?" he said smiling, which caused Sakura to laugh softly.

'You are special for so many more reasons, Naruto'

"Naruto...I wanted to tell you something that had been bothering me lately", she said seriously.

"What is it?"

"Well...I wanted to apologize for my behavior with you...I had been so idiot with you...I've always treated you bad and mocked you...and you instead had been so sweet and caring...it makes me feel so bad...", her heart pounding of pain, "I'm so sorry"

"You don't have to be sorry...Sakura chan...you're one of the most important persons to me, you know?...don't worry about it...it's past", he said tenderly.

She locked her gaze with his and her heart didn't hurt so much. She felt happy to hear Naruto held no spites.

"Thank you...for...for loving me so much...", she whispered at the same time a strong blush made her cheeks to burn.

Naruto smiled in a way she had never seen before, but it made her chest warm, and tugged the corners of her lips giving her an ear to ear smile.

She was so glad of her change of plans today.

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The next day Naruto went on a mission. He said that he was happy of being an ANBU captain, but it was sure exhausting. Sakura laughed and told him that he was becoming lazier with the passing of years. Look at you, first I find you sleeping in the middle of the day and now you complain of being an ANBU captain!

It was funny how everything had changed so much. Included her.

Besides her new power, new abilities and strength, her personality had suffered a lot. She still had some of the cheeriness that characterized her before, but now she was much...calmer. And unlike before, anger was frequently present on her thoughts. She felt down many times in a day, but she didn't show it. It wasn't like her at all...But it was the pain, the pain in the memories that kept her bound to the guilt, the sadness.

She hated that feeling, of self-pity, of shame.

Kakashi usually tried to lift her mood, he was the first to notice anyways, but it only lasted a moment. When she returned to her home, the walls became much bigger and darker, and there was nothing but to cry.

At least it was useful during missions. It made her act colder, killing her opponent without hesitating, accomplishing her missions in top timing.

She was a better killer now.

That thought bothered her a lot. It remembered her of Itachi, and was afraid of ending up like him, or like Sasuke.

Fortunately she had Naruto with her to remember her that her heart was still warm, and that a thing such as love could exist in her.

She really loved him, though nothing had happened between them yet.

The first thing she always did when she arrived from a mission was to run and see him, maybe drink something with him or eat ramen, or simply talk. She was so comfortable around him...

"Miss Sakura, Tsunade sama wants to see you, she's in her office", a nurse broke her thoughts and remembered her that she was still on the hospital, and supposedly doing her work.

"Ok, thanks" she said. Her cup of coffee kept her awake and energized for her patients. But it also made her go away with her thoughts into a world of reflection, where time and duties didn't exist.

'Damn' Sakura walked to the Hokage's office, wondering what would she want with her this late in the night. The corridors normally agitated were a pleasure to walk in during the nights, they were silent and relaxing, and except for three or four medics running to save some lives, the hospital remained silent.

When she arrived at Tsunade's office, she found her looking through her window with a worried face.

"Sit down, please", she said without turning to look at her.

"Why did you call me at this hour, Tsunade shishou?", she sat down and waited patiently for her reply.

"No other woman is competent enough, Sakura...only you can do this, but before, I have to tell you something very important"

Sakura was starting to worry.

"Listen...you have a great probability of developing a special doujutsu...maybe even the Sharingan"

"WHAT?!, Sharingan??...but, how is that?!"

"Haven't you been feeling weird in the last time?, haven't you eyes been itching a lot? don't you feel your eyesight tired without reason?...well, it's because your eyes are adjusting to the blood limit you received when the transfusion had place"

That was true, she had been feeling all those nuisances lately, but it never crossed her mind that it could be something like this.

"But...it had passed so much time from that...plus, wouldn't I need an Uchiha eye to do that?"

"That's why I say that you could develop the Sharingan, and that's the reason you are the indicated person to do this"

Sharingan...wasn't that too much? For a moment she felt exited. Only two persons in the world had it naturally and one had one half of it. It was indeed a big thing, to posses such abilities that is. But then she felt bad. It was like stolen, it was not right. Definitely not right.

"Not listen, this is your mission" Tsunade said.

Damn...she wasn't prepared for this.