Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Better and Stronger ❯ Chapter Three: Memories Or A Trick? ( Chapter 3 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto and NeVeR eVa will!

Chapter Three: Memories Or A Trick?


"You did it! You caught her!" The blonde girl exclaimed. "Don't underestimate us!"

Sakura growled, "Don't make me laugh, you pathetic pig!" She released all of her Chakra, the wind picked up again. "You are nothing compared to me! Don't think a simple jutsu can hold me down!" Sakura, slowly but surely, forced her trembling hands towards her holster. Sakura's own strength versed Shikamaru's jutsu, so far it seemed she had the upper hand in this situation.

This is so troublesome, damn women. "I can't hold her for very long, she's breaking my jutsu, go Ino! Get help, we'll hold her back!" The boy behind her named Shikamaru ordered the blonde. She hesitated for a moment, but decided it was best to listen to him. Ino quickly disappeared into the dark forest.

Sakura felt Shikamaru's hold on her die away, she smirked, finally able to have control over her own body. "Now, boy, tell me, do you have a brother by the name Uchiha Itachi?" She watched as anger crossed his face, the Sharingan activated once again. "Ah, so he does have a brother after all," Sakura thought out loud to herself.

"Where is he!? Tell me where he is now!" He demanded, his voice grew angrier with every passing word. "How do you know him!? Tell me, or else you're going to regret not saying anything!"

"How I know him is none of your business, neither are his whereabouts, and don't you dare threaten a lady when she has just asked you a simple question," Sakura provoked, extending her hand out, she flicked her hand at him with a smile. "Come."

He didn't have any second thoughts, and as soon as the words rolled out of her mouth, he charged at her. He threw several shurikens, but she easily deflected them with her kunai that she had pulled out. "Come now, be serious. Your life's on the line," She taunted. He came close and threw punches and kicks, but Sakura dodged them with ease. He's fast, but does he live up to the Uchiha name?

This is impossible! I'll never beat her in speed. My Sharingan can keep up with her moves, but my body isn't fast enough to react. He thought, grunting between his teeth, throwing more attacks at her, but she made it look like she wasn't even trying at all. Damn it!

Sakura grabbed his left leg, that he had used to try to hit her, and threw him as hard and high up as she could. He went up, but before he could recover, she quickly reappeared beneath him and threw senbon needles, hitting points that would make him paralysed.
I can't move.

Sakura jumped up after him, she turned the stiff body around, their eyes connected for awhile, Sharingan eyes into the sea of emerald, just like how it has always been. She smiled cruelly at him before throwing a hard punch at his stomach, making him cough out blood and sending him back down to the ground at a fast speed.

"Sasuke!" Shikamaru shouted, while he ran over and broke Sasuke's fall as he came down so heavily dirt flew up around them. How troublesome, I can't do anything right now. I don't have the power to match hers, not even close, and even if I try, my Kage Mane no Jutsu already failed once. I'll just have to stall until back up comes. He glanced up at the kunoichi, she had the most heartless face he had ever seen on a woman.

"Who are you? What are you?!"

Sakura smiled wickedly, an evil gleam flashed in her eyes. "I'm Sakura of the Akatsuki."

"You're one of Orochimaru's men!" Shikamaru assumed. Sakura only laughed at his comment. He was starting to think that maybe she was insane. With all these evil looks and scary laughs, maybe she was just a lunatic who thought herself as one of the Akatsukis.

"Orochimaru's men? Don’t make me laugh. The only person I take commands from is Itachi-sama. Orochimaru might be strong, but he's nothing compared to my sensei," Sakura corrected.

Sasuke gave a violent cough, blood spilled from his mouth. "Your sensei?!" He choked out, trying hard to stand, but failing miserably. Shikamaru helped him to stand up. Sasuke panted softly while struggling a bit. He had gotten the wind knocked out of him pretty bad, making it hard for him to breath. "Where is that bastard?!"

Sakura sighed, pink hair started to show up on the once brown, and green began to spread over the previous hazel eyes. "Don't you dare speak so ill of Itachi-sama! You're becoming quite bothersome to have alive, but that can be rearranged." Her appearance jutsu began to fade, she didn't even notice. In just mere seconds she looked like her old self again.

Both Sasuke and Shikamaru's expressions changed in an instant, from anger to shocked in just a flash. The two of them stared at her with big widened eyes. "Sa-Sakura?!" Sasuke was so overwhelmed that her name was the only thing he could think to say.

"Yes?" She raised an eyebrow. She still hadn't noticed that her jutsu had dissipated, so she had no idea why these two all of a sudden started to act strange. What's up with them? They didn't say anything but just continued to stare at her with shocked faces. Sakura was starting to get slightly annoyed with all the staring.

But she soon felt two bodies of chakra coming towards them and fast, she grimaced. "Damn it, more time wasters."

Sasuke's shock was plastered hard on his face, he couldn't speak. His voice was caught up in the back of his throat. I-is this her? Could it possibly be her after all this time?

Shikamaru was confused, this couldn't possibly be their Sakura, no it just couldn't. Because their Sakura was sweet, nice, caring - well to some she was, but the Sakura he knew wasn't this harsh with her words, and on top of that, Sakura wouldn't hurt her beloved Sasuke. The boy who she has loved since childhood.

~*~*~*~*~

"This place seems so empty without Sakura, don't you think?" Kisame asked Itachi as they sat in the kitchen eating some dinner.

"Hn." Itachi placed his chop sticks down on the table, pushing his chair back. Although he would never admitted it out loud, he agreed with Kisame, the place did seem quite empty without Sakura. He stood and started to head out the kitchen.

"Where are you going?" Kisame asked without looking up from the raw fish he had just taken a bite out of. So good... He took another big bite from the side of the fish, its guts spilled out. Score! Tasty stomach and liver and all the yummy things, here I come! Kisame pulled himself away from his dinner and looked up at Itachi's back.

"Out." He's going to check up on Sakura, it's always like this. She goes out on a over-night mission, he follows after her and checks up on her. Kisame answered for himself instead of listening to Itachi's answer. Oh man, if she found out he did this, she'd be one pissed off Killing Machine.

He listened, as Itachi's footsteps grew softer and quieter. Kisame didn't know why Itachi was so worried about her all of a sudden. She was big enough to take care of herself, hell, she could probably hurt him badly if she was really angry.

Earlier, when she wasn’t as skilled, Itachi would always let her go on the missions without giving her these special checkups, but now seeing how Sakura is much stronger, he was constantly going after her.

This confused the shark man greatly. After thinking about this over and over, he finally came to a conclusion: Itachi was in love with Sakura. That might not be true, but still this was the only reason Kisame, and others that he had talked to, could think of that actually made sense with the information he was told and had gathered.

~*~*~*~*~

A blonde boy and white eyed guy jumped out of the trees and stood behind Sakura.

She turned around towards them, for some odd reason she got the same reaction from them as she did with Shikamaru and Sasuke. That was eyes widened, and the blonde haired boy's jaw even dropped.

"Sakura-chan?" He called to her. How the hell does he know my name!? I know him, but he's never even seen me before.

"You must be Uzumaki Naruto, the boy with the Kyuubi sealed within," Sakura stated. "And as for my name, how do you know it?"

"Sakura-chan, you remember me!" He beamed at her, than laughed. "You didn't think I would remember you, did you? How could I forget you!?" His smile was making her uneasy.

'You didn't think I would remember you? How could I forget you!?' What is he talking about? Sakura wondered. These people are messed up.

"First of all fox boy, you don't have the right to just call me 'Sakura-chan' when you don't even know me. And what are you talking about, 'You didn't think I would remember you?' What's that supposed to mean? You've never seen me before!" She frowned at him, not satisfied when he continued to beam at her.

Naruto just shrugged the doubt that was whelming in his chest, she was just being Sakura. "Sakura-chan, stop playing around, I know you miss us!" He smiled again, and was about to walk over to her when a hand grabbed him around his wrist.

"Can't you see she's not playing around? She's serious, look at her. Don't be careless," Neji warned. Naruto looked at Neji than back at Sakura, her face cold and seemed to be filled with hatred and anger.

Naruto gave a small laugh, "What are you talking about?! This is still Sakura even if she does look meaner!"

Sasuke grunted, "Naruto you dumbass, she was the one who did this to me. She isn't the same Sakura we knew, she's changed." He flinched and gripped his side as he coughed out blood again.

"Sasuke, look at her! It is her! She has pink hair and green eyes like our Sakura! So this has to be Sakura-chan!" Naruto cried out happily, thinking that this was all just that simple.

Shikamaru shook his head. We're all going to die at the hands of this kunoichi that everyone thinks is Sakura. Maybe I should help out. He looked up at the sky and paused, not taking his eyes off of the fluffy clouds. Too troublesome, maybe when things get worse.

"Stop talking nonsense! I've never seen any of you in my whole life! Stop saying you know me, because I don't know you!" Sakura exclaimed. She really wanted to smack the idiotic boy across the head, it just seemed so tempting.

She wasn't exactly sure if this was the actual fox boy the people have been telling her about, they said he was strong and unstoppable. But when Sakura looked at him, all she see's is this blonde headed boy who was ridiculously senseless and the most dense guy she'd ever come across. How could this be the Kyuubi boy?

"See! She even has the fiery temper like Sakura-chan!" Naruto added, grinning even more.

Sakura groaned in annoyance, "Would your 'Sakura-chan' ever kill you?" The only person out of the five of them that didn't have a serious expression was Naruto.

"Of course not!" Naruto exclaimed. After all these years away, Sakura sure seems a bit on the edge. But he continued to smile and brush away all thoughts of uncertainty about Sakura. All he wanted right now more than anything, was to have the good old days back, when Team 7 was still around.

"I am not 'Sakura-chan'! I am Sakura of the Akatsuki! Stop talking to me like you know me!" Sakura yelled. "Enough games, I've already wasted enough time!" With that said, she drew out a short wakizashi. "Don't hold back, because I wouldn't."

She ran at Naruto, surprising the blonde, her wakizashi across her chest, the blade pointing downwards. Naruto couldn't move, his body just wouldn't react; he froze on the spot. She was able to made a deep slice across his shoulder before Neji came to Naruto's rescue and pulled him away so that Sakura had missed Naruto's heart and instead got his arm.

"She's not playing around." Neji repeated, helping Naruto up. Blood soaked through his left arm. Sakura straightened up from behind the two boys, she turned and faced them, a glint of wickedness flickered in her eyes. "I promise I won't miss next time."

What's going on!? She looks like Sakura, but she's not Sakura. Naruto thought, fear and sadness played on his face. "Why?" He lowered his head.

Sakura raised an eyebrow, confused at his question. "Why do you look like Sakura? Why are you rejecting the fact that you are Sakura? You look exactly like her. You even have almost the same attitude as her, but..." He paused, lifted his head, eyes filled with determination. "You have to be Sakura-chan! No matter what you say and how much you deny this! You. Are. Sakura!"

Those three words seem to have triggered something inside of her because as soon as he said those words, huge waves of pain swept through Sakura's body, the pain was unbearable. She dropped down on her knees and dispatched her weapon, clutching her hands around her head. She gave out a loud cry of pain, her head felt like there were little explosions, all just popping at the same time and continuously. The pain just kept coming in waves and waves.

~_~_~_~

"Sakura-Chan!" Naruto called, running towards her. His blue eyes were filled with excitement and they seemed to sparkle.
~
"Ohayo, Sasuke-Kun!" She saw herself greeting the black haired Uchiha boy. He just nodded at her. Sakura couldn't help but smile wider, she had no idea why she did so, but she just couldn't help it.
~
"Forehead girl! I won't lose to you!" Ino growled, sending glares at her.
"The same goes here, Ino-pig!" She saw the image of herself glaring back at the blonde. Anger and determination flashed in both their eyes.
~
Naruto was squatting down in the desk, looked fiercely into the face of Sasuke. They glared at each other, for what seemed like eternity, until someone behind Naruto accidentally pushed him. He was sent straight into Sasuke's face, before anyone knew it, they had their lips locked tightly together.
Other students looked at the two, while they had quickly pulled away and spitting out saliva, saying things like "Ah, poison in my mouth" and "Naruto, I'm going to kill you!"

~_~_~_~

"What the hell's happening to me!? What did you do!?" Sakura managed to get these words out of her mouth. Her eyes were shut tight; they burned like acid had gotten into them, and her throat felt constricted and dry.

Block it out! She screamed at herself. Sakura preformed some seals with slow and trembling hands. Dissipate! The pain was supposed to dissolve and she was supposed to feel normal once again but the pain came at her much more harshly. She tried again, but the pain pounded even harder. Her whole body was aching horribly right now, it was even hard to breath.

The four boys watched as the girl struggled, they didn't know what was happening to her. She had just dropped on the ground with her head in her hands all of the sudden. None of them had performed any sort of jutsu whatsoever.

Shikamaru was the first one to pull his eyes away from her trembling body. He went over to her cautiously. "Neji, do you think you can close off her main chakra openings, so that she doesn't unexpectedly attack us?" Neji nodded, he kneeled down beside the girl and did as asked.

Neji's gentle hits wasn't noticed by the girl, seeing how her pain was greater. Suddenly, out of nowhere, Sakura felt a hit at her neck, then she just blacked out.

The boys watched as Shikamaru hit her at a pressure point and knocked her out. "We should get her to Tsunade-Sama." Shikamaru said, the other three just nodded. They bandaged Naruto up before they left, taking Sakura with them. (Hahaha. I didn't really know how to end this part, and I'm getting lazy, I don't really want to spend another day trying to think of some way to end that part.)

~*~*~*~*~

The trip back had been fairly quiet, each lost in their own thoughts.

Ino was in total shock. Seeing her old best friend finally returning after all this time, was just crazy! But when she asked the boys how they found her, none of them said anything. TenTen was also shocked but more confused, she had stayed back at base camp with Ino, as Neji and Naruto left to find the other two.

Sasuke had came back looking a bit beat up, and Naruto had his left orange jacket arm soaked in blood, his blood TenTen later found out. She thought that maybe Sakura had attacked them. Not possible, why would Sakura all of a sudden attack her old team mates? Especially Sasuke, who she had loved since she was a child. And what confused her more was the fact that Sakura had suddenly turned up, out of nowhere, no news heard from before, just happened to run into them.

Awkward as it may have been, she was happy to see Sakura back. Ino as well, she couldn't wait to tell Sakura all about what has happened, after she left, with everyone.

~*~*~*~*~

Itachi picked up his pace as he felt himself getting closer and closer to where Sakura could possibly be. He concealed his chakra as he got closer, he could see the smoke from the fire coming nearer. He jumped out to the open area when he realized that she wasn't there.

A glint caught his eyes. He picked up the wakizashi, he recognized it. It was Sakura's. He had often seen her use it when they sparred. Itachi also saw some senbon needles laying on the ground. The wakizashi and the senbon needles were both tainted with blood.

Itachi touched the blood with his fingers. It was cold. He knew the blood wasn't hers because she was unstoppable. He had made sure of that. He trained her like there was no tomorrow and taught her all he knew. No, the blood had to be someone she had encountered. Itachi couldn't help but secretly hope that the blood wasn't hers and that she was alright.

He carefully placed the sharp wakizashi inside his cloak, making sure it was in a place where when he moved around it wouldn't unexpectedly cut or stab him.
Itachi shook himself. What has come over me lately? I am worrying. An emotion I, next to nothing, feel. He really didn't know why he was doing this; following her and worrying about her like this. It just isn't him.

It wasn't like him to care about anyone, he shouldn't have to worry about Sakura. But yet, when she's gone off on missions, his mind would constantly drift back to the pink haired girl. It was always a problem to concentrate when he knew that she was out and could be in danger.

Something was definitely wrong with him. Never in his whole entire life has he ever worried about anyone or anything as he did with Sakura.

He brought himself out from his thoughts. He really had to stop doing this, because if she found out about this, he was actually quite worried about the out come. To be more exact, he was slightly frightened that she might destroy the entire hideout.

When Sakura got angered, she would get very, very, destructive. The last time someone pissed her off, she ended up destroying all the practice dummies (they had been ripped to shreds), the halls where she had passed, there were crater wholes planted on the walls, and she had knocked down the trees that surrounded the lair, which was a pretty big give away.

She has one week to return. Itachi jumped up onto a tree branch and headed back to the hideout.

~*~*~*~*~

Oh ya, just to let you know I think I'm just gonna drop this FanFic at Chapter Four because I'm getting too lazy and not getting enough reveiws...

jUsT kIdDiNg! JuSt KiDdInG!! Of course I'm not gonna just end at Chapter Four and just drop this! Sheesh! I'm not like that!

Anyways!! PLZ REVEIW!!!!!!! I'll love you all forever if you reveiw (I already love the people who have already reviewed! Not to worry!)!!!!!