Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Soul-Mirror ❯ A Treasure ( Chapter 1 )

Disclaimer: Naruto and all the rights thereof belong to Kishimoto Masashi-sensei.

Note: Believe me, when I first got into the Naruto fandom, I never dreamed I would one day like this coupling. Blame it on the fanart. My first time writing an ItaSaku. I must warn you that this will be slightly AU; no alternate universe, per se, but it will alternate between anime and manga realities, as I know more about the anime than the manga, yet this will be placed in the future beyond the battle with Sasori, etc. Hope you enjoy, but please be careful if you don't want spoilers!

Soul-Mirror

Kyuubi Tenshi

 

Chapter 1- A Treasure

 

A dim light fell on her eyes, soft, like it were of fire. She couldn't remember a fire… only snow. A blizzard surrounding her as she tried so desperately to get away from pursuing enemy shinobi from Bloodmist. She was positive that she'd collapsed; how was it there was something so warm and soft wrapped around her? She opened emerald orbs to gaze at her surroundings.

 

A small room, cozy, with a gentle blaze crackling in the stone fireplace- lavishly furnished, it was, and the rugs looked thick and intricately designed. The quilt that covered her was handmade and of the finest quality, the woods all about the place obviously mahogany, their dark hue nearly black in the warm lighting. She sat upright slowly, and suddenly realized, with a bit of embarrassment, that she'd been changed from her usual garb into that of a man's, though it was in true shinobi style. The embarrassment faded, though, and she was again curious about her surroundings. Attempting to stand, she found that her ankle was twisted, and fell, but she found that, rather than meeting the rough thickness of the rug, she encountered something firm, covered in a soft cloth that was soothing to her chapped skin. She grunted at the impact, nonetheless, and when she regained her senses, gathered the courage to look up into her savior's face.

 

Uchiha Itachi.

 

She knew him well enough, from her fight with a clone of his, and from the files she had tirelessly gone over once she returned to the Fire Country. She knew all his past that the Hokage could've known.

 

Mass murderer.

 

S-class criminal.

 

User of the Mangekyou Sharingan.

 

The demon behind Sasuke's every waking nightmare.

 

And he was sitting here, looking at her oh-so-calmly with blank, black eyes, holding her as though she were something breakable that he wished to remain whole. He didn't move, and she didn't dare try. In a way, she was mesmerized.

 

“You are Haruno Sakura of Konohagakure, Tsunade-hime's apprentice, are you not?”

 

She started. Thrown well enough out of her fear, she drew away from him, standing up and toppling back onto the bed, scooting until she was pressed tightly to the wall.

 

No place left to run, and no means to do so, even if there were. He stood, onyx orbs roving over her body in slow scrutiny.

 

“Answer me, kunoichi. Are you or are you not the Jounin Haruno Sakura, Tsunade's apprentice?”

 

Her throat like cotton, all she could do was nod. Jounin though she was, she wasn't ANBU trained; even then, only Tsunade could have even a fighting chance. He seemed satisfied enough with the answer, and came to perch at the end of the full-size bed, his right hand reaching out towards her injured ankle. Instinctively, she pulled away, but he caught her leg by the calf and drug it back to him anyways. It amazed her, though; there was nothing that she could sense that was dangerous or held killing intent in him. He was completely docile at the moment. And what surprised her even more was the sweet way his fingers probed her ankle gently with healing chakra, taking away the swelling and healing the damage done to the muscle. It was ticklish, almost, how light his fingers trailed over her skin, but she could still say nothing, fear having managed to seemingly destroy her ability to communicate.

 

“Are you mute, kunoichi? I suspect you have questions, and I lack the time for you to pull yourself together.”

 

She startled again. Shaking her head gently, Sakura attempted to snap out of her stupor. Questions? Probably more than he would answer. Unable to voice, though, the most pressing ones, the most obvious found her vocals first.

 

“Did you save me?”

 

It seemed that, for the briefest of moments, amusement glittered in his eyes. He turned to her from where he'd gone to stand in front of the fireplace. His face blank, he answered, “Yes. Though why you were running from such pathetic shinobi, I haven't the slightest. You say you are Tsunade-hime's apprentice, and yet you exhibited none of her bestial strength.”

 

She resisted the urge to scowl at his degrading remark. “My mission required stealth, not brute force.”

 

“And yet you lacked both.”

 

It was a rather pointed comment, and the beryl-eyed kunoichi could do nothing but bristle. Insulting her skills as though she were a common genin, he was; she was trained by the Godaime! She snorted indignantly. “Not my fault Shizune's assistant handed me the wrong blueprints.”

 

If a moment before the kunoichi had been timid, there was no indication of it now. The oh-so-infamous S-class criminal seemed a perfect gentleman, and courteous, though insensitive when he wished. She folded her arms across her chest in annoyance, turning away from him with a disgusted look on her face. Though, had she been looking at him, she would've noticed how, once again, a sparkle of amusement presented itself in his onyx orbs, however veiled it was.

 

“But, that aside, why is it that you saved me at all? Obviously you seem to hold no animosity towards me, though to be labeled as anything other than your enemy would be unthinkable…” she trailed off, unable to continue her train of thought at the sweet, yet slightly pitying look he gave her. She blinked. “You… do consider me your enemy, don't you? I couldn't possibly be anything else to y-!”

 

“I consider you a treasure.”

 

She couldn't help but gape a bit, and her eyes widened in surprise as he came to stand in front of her, his movements lithe and silent. He leaned forward, hands coming to rest on either side of her in the softness of the quilt, face mere inches from her own. Once again, her throat felt like it had been stuffed with cotton. But as his eyes stared into hers, she could see something unexpected.

 

“You're… going blind?” A smile seemed to quirk the corners of his eyes. She sat silently before him, dumbfounded. But when she thought about it, Kakashi-sensei had asked him how bad his eyes had gotten from constant use of the Sharingan, but she had dismissed it at the time. Yet here and now, the infamous murderer leaned in close to her, and she could clearly see his eyes wavering in and out of focus, and a slight fog covering their surface. She couldn't help herself; tentative fingers reached up and set themselves at the corners, and she sought inside his cells with her chakra, curiosity reigning over her for the time being.

 

Itachi watched as her emerald orbs went out of focus, her chakra coursing through his eyes, making his sight a bit sharper for those few moments. It was soothing… that feeling of her chakra; it felt like a gentle, cool liquid, and he enjoyed it until…

 

He jerked back in pain, and Sakura faltered, her fingers trembling violently in mid-air at what she'd felt behind those ebony depths. He looked at her, menace and displeasure apparent in his features, but since there had been no intention to give him pain on her part, all she could do was stare at him, a broken look on her face.

 

“You belong to Akatsuki now. I suggest you be more careful in the future.”

 

The look disappeared within that split second. Surprise first found her, then sadness, and then extreme outrage. The kunoichi clenched a tight fist.

 

“Belong to Akatsuki? What makes you think that I'd agree to that?” she asked, her voice a threatening growl as she stared at him with mistrusting eyes. His emotionless façade was back, but he looked down at her with equal mistrust. “I would never defect from Konoha!”

 

“You haven't a choice,” he stated, turning to go. But as he turned to shut the door behind him, his sightless eyes looked back up at her again, and for a moment, she was sure that sadness and uncertainty tainted them. And with stunning final words, he left her to her thoughts.

 

“But if it means you'll come peacefully, I will offer you anything you wish, if it is within my grasp to give you.”