Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ The Contentious Heart ❯ Chapter 9 ( Chapter 9 )

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

Disclaimer: Naruto and its characters are created by Masashi Kishimoto, but the new plots (meaning the ones you don't recognize!) are mine. This fanfiction had been written for entertainment purposes only and without intention of infringing upon any copyright.

The Contentious Heart by elle6778 - Chapter 9

It took them a few hours to get to their destination. During the entire trip, Sakura continued to worry about the signs that pointed towards Akatsuki spies in Konoha. It was obvious that she needed to get this information to Tsunade, but how? They were down to carry out missions after missions for the new few weeks and she doubted that she could get far enough away from the rest to send a message.

“What's wrong with you, kunoichi?”

Kisame's voice snapped her out of her contemplations. Keeping her expression even, Sakura glanced at him out of the corner of her eyes. “Just thinking. You have a problem with that?”

The Mist shinobi snorted but said nothing else, much to her relief.

When they arrived at a secluded structure high up on a snow-covered mountain, Itachi held up a hand signaling them to halt.

“Wait.”

Understanding the need for caution, Sakura scanned their surroundings carefully. Nothing seemed to be amiss. She raised an inquiring brow at Kisame.

“It's safe,” Kisame confirmed.

Assured that there would be no ambush, they sped towards the building. The frigid wind swept against them, but it did not hinder their movements. Once there, Sakura gestured for them to wait and then went to the door to rap against it.

It opened to reveal a middle-aged man who had been her contact for two other prior jobs.

“Ah. You're here.” His eyes paused briefly at her Akatsuki cloak, but wisely, said nothing.

“You have everything ready for us?”

“Yes. Yes,” the man said as he reached into his pocket. Then he extended a piece of paper towards her. “You came at the right time. It's not an easy job, but I've seen enough of your work to be confident that you can pull this off.”

Sakura unfolded the paper. It was a blueprint of sorts with a small area map in one corner, and a crumpled picture of a shinobi attached to it. The hitai-ate on the shinobi's forehead told her that he originated from the Hidden Village of Grass.

“The client agreed to the fee?” she asked as she slid the paper and the picture into her pouch.

“He would pay the forty million Ryou,” he confirmed. “The terms are as usual. You get a quarter now and the rest on completion. There's one other thing though.”

“What?”

“He wants this resolved within five days. The missing-nin needs to be out of there before the period is up. Otherwise he would be executed.”

Eyes narrowing, Sakura bit out, “You said nothing of that before.”

The man shrugged. “I didn't know about it until my meeting yesterday. So, do we have an agreement?”

Five days. Five days to plan and execute a mission to break a missing-nin out of some high security holding area. The fact that the client had agreed to pay such an exorbitant fee meant that the holding area was likely to be heavily guarded. She would not be able to manage this alone in that time span, but it should be possible with Itachi and Kisame by her side.

“Haruno-san?”

“I accept.”

Nodding, the man said, “Wait here.”

Sakura glanced around cautiously as the man went into a room at the back. When he returned, he was holding a pouch.

“Here's ten million Ryou. Go ahead and check it.”

Knowing that it was expected of her, she took it and tilted the contents out. Kneeling down, she quickly counted the money before sweeping the notes back into the pouch.

She stood up and adopted an uncompromising look. “I'll return in five days. Make sure you have the rest of the fee.”

The man smiled slightly. “You know I won't dare to do otherwise.”

With a nod, Sakura left the building and made her way across the snow to her companions. They were so well-hidden that she had a hard time spotting them. But as she neared them, they revealed themselves.

Kisame inclined his head at the pouch fixed to her waist. “How much?”

“Ten million. We'll get the other thirty when we complete the job.”

Shaking his head, Kisame grinned. “Making us rich, are you?”

Sakura chuckled softly, and then she sobered. “We only have five days to do this.”

“In that case, we should start,” Itachi pointed out. “Let's go.”

She nodded.

…***…***…***…

It had taken them one day to locate the holding facility. The subsequent day had been spent scouting the area, to study the movement of those Snow shinobi guarding the building within the stone walls. Which left them with two days to execute their plan, and one last day to transport the missing-nin back to the mountains.

The wind howled, whipping the snow around them in an erratic pattern. Still, it served to hide their present location, no matter how uncomfortably cold it was. From his hiding place behind a large boulder, Itachi used his Sharingan to study the movements of the guards. They appeared to be working in pairs. The pair at the gates was the most obvious, but there were also those hidden at the top of the stone walls. As expected, they were now changing rotation, and would soon expect the delivery of their dinner.

How predictable, Itachi thought with distaste. He expected more from them since those Snow shinobi within seemed to be at least jounin level in terms of skills.

“She'd better be prepared,” Kisame growled under his breath.

“Hm.”

“I can't wait to leave this damned place,” the Mist shinobi grumbled.

“We'll be staying in this country for a few more weeks,” Itachi reminded him.

“What possessed her to pick this country?”

Itachi had wondered the same thing, until he came to the conclusion that most mercenaries, shinobi or otherwise, tended to steer clear of this area particularly at this time of the year. Which meant higher fees for jobs, as evidenced by the forty million Ryou they would get by extracting an unknown missing-nin.

“Money,” he finally said.

Kisame huffed.

Itachi held up a hand, cautioning silence when he caught sight of two Snow shinobi stepping out of the gates. They seemed to be expecting something.

Then Itachi caught sight of a heavily cloaked figure making its way through the snow. The figure stopped at the gates to speak to the guards, opening her basket to hand each of them a box. Sounds of flirtatious giggles reached him. Then she entered the gates, leaving the two guards to begin eating. It was hard to tell from this distance, but he hoped Sakura had managed to intercept the real delivery girl, and that this one at the gate was really a henge.

Itachi's question was answered when the two guards suddenly slumped to the side. Not long afterwards, those at the top of the wall began to do the same.

It was time for them to mobilize.

Soundlessly, at a speed too swift for normal human eyes to follow, both of them streaked towards the gates. The fast-acting poison in the food Sakura had delivered earlier ensured them an uninterrupted entrance. Their light footsteps skimmed over unconscious shinobi guards littering the floor as they entered the building. Keeping the layout of the facility in mind, Itachi led them to the basement, where their target was supposedly held.

Then he stopped, his senses prickling in warning.

His crimson eyes scanned their surroundings as Kisame stilled beside him. The long basement corridor before them was damp and mossy, lit only by a few lamps mounted on the wall. The darkness beyond should lead to their destination, but it was far too silent. Furthermore, he did not see any signs of guards, unconscious or otherwise.

A trap, he decided.

Then, all of a sudden, a stab of suspicion took hold of him. Was the kunoichi responsible for this?

Before he could think about it further, a loud hum vibrated through the air. Eyes narrowing, Itachi watched as parts of the corridor wall began to shimmer. A moment later, two teams of Snow shinobi leapt out of the shimmering wall, sneering darkly.

“My, my, it looks like we have intruders,” one of them drawled.

“The Akatsuki, huh,” another one remarked before he grinned maliciously. “But even the Akatsuki won't stand a chance against all of us.”

“Hm. How annoying,” Itachi remarked softly.

Taking a step forward, Kisame snorted. “This won't take long.”

Four of them darted forward at once. Deciding that his Sharingan techniques were far too sophisticated for the likes of those before him, Itachi raised his hands to perform a rapid series of seals. A simple technique would be sufficient to take out of all of them.

“Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu,” he called out, lifting his fingers to his lips.

Cries of pain erupted from the guards as the flames from the giant fireball engulfed them. One by one, the guards fell to the floor, writhing in agony.

“Pitiful,” he murmured in distaste as he stepped past one of them.

Kisame shifted beside him as the walls shimmered again. “It's not over yet.”

Unsheathing Samehada from its wraps, the Mist shinobi charged forward just as more guards broke out from the shimmering films. Once again, they were easily taken care of. But as soon as they were taken down, more guards appeared from the walls.

Itachi's lips thinned at the sight. They were there to clear an exit path for the kunoichi, but this was getting tedious. They were wasting time here. Where was the she? Had she found their target yet?

His thoughts were cut short when a blue-haired shinobi rushed head on towards him. With a flick of his wrist, Itachi's kunai embedded itself in the shinobi's chest. With a small poof, the man disappeared, leaving a substitute bunch of straw.

It appeared that this shinobi was more skilled than the previous one, he noted idly. Then he spun around as his opponent reappeared behind him with a large shuriken. The weapon descended and the blade sliced into his arm before he could move out of the way. Irked at his carelessness, Itachi immediately fixed his eyes onto the Snow shinobi's.

His opponent immediately froze. A blink of an eye later, the shinobi was on the floor, clutching his head while cries of horror escaped his lips. Stepping towards him, Itachi raised a foot and brought it down hard on the writhing shinobi's neck, sending a loud crack echoing throughout the basement. The shinobi instantly stilled, his unseeing eyes dimming in his death.

Satisfied that this one was dealt with, Itachi turned to face the other guards.

A familiar voice reached him then. “What happened here?”

So Sakura finally decided to appear.

Itachi snuck a glance to find her dropping an unconscious body against the wall, presumably their package. Then the kunoichi spun around, directing a chakra-filled foot towards an approaching enemy. The guard raised his weapon to block, but her foot simply broke through the katana and before it connected with his gut. Crashing into the wall, a harsh cry escaped his lips he slumped down unconscious.

Turning to face a fresh batch of opponents, Itachi registered that he was somewhat appreciative of the fact that Sakura was on their team. He would not want to be on the receiving end of the kunoichi's attacks. Her chakra-fuelled strength was insane, coming from such a deceptively small body. Furthermore, their sparring session a few weeks ago had told him that she was not at her full potential yet.

The corner of his lips tilted slightly when he remembered how it had ended. Perhaps he should enlighten her on the reason behind her loss. Besides, if she succeeded in overcoming that little disadvantage of hers, she could turn out to be a worthy opponent. If that were to happen, he could allow himself to engage in another `training' session with her. Otherwise, it was pointless to do so, for fighting with someone weak even in practice was simply a waste of time.

Making up his mind to do so the moment he found an appropriate time to speak to her about it, Itachi returned his attention to the fight. While Kisame and Sakura fought their opponents some distance away, he dealt with his with a mix of normal genjutsu and ninjutsu techniques. However, it was not long before he decided that the fight was pointless, for they already found what they came for.

“We need to leave,” Itachi announced levelly as he threw a handful of shuriken at two approaching guards.

Kisame glanced at him sharply. A look of comprehension crossed his face before he nodded. “Let's go then,” he agreed, bending down to heft the missing-nin onto his shoulders.

“You go first,” Sakura called out, still occupied with a persistent enemy shinobi. “I'll catch up.”

For a brief moment, Itachi wondered why she wished to remain behind, until he decided that she must have some plan in mind. Without asking for an explanation, Itachi leapt towards the stairs and ran up with Kisame close behind. Glancing briefly over his shoulders, he caught sight of Sakura drawing back her chakra-enhanced fist. His eyes widened when he realized that she was aiming towards the ground. She could not possibly be serious…

Kisame must have seen the same thing, for he rasped urgently, “We need to hurry!”

They broke out into the open just as a thundering crack sounded behind them. A moment later, large fractures began to spread up the walls. Frantic cries sounded as the awakening guards began to scramble to safety.

Then the building caved, throwing up clouds of dry snow into the air as the rumbling sound echoed through the night.

Breathing heavily, Itachi could only stare at the destruction before him.

Shaking his head, Kisame muttered darkly, “She's almost as crazy as Deidara and his bombs.”

“Hm.”

Itachi flicked his eyes back and forth, trying to see past the clouds of dust and snow. Where was she? Surely she was not foolish enough to bury herself in the rubble. If that was the case, her lunacy was certainly on par with Deidara's. Still, Pein would be most displeased if they lost her so soon after her initiation.

“She said she'll catch up,” Kisame remarked with a frown.

Itachi glanced at his partner, not missing the uncharacteristic flash of concern across the Mist shinobi's features. Kisame appeared to be growing increasingly fond of the kunoichi, as evidenced by their frequent sparring sessions and their meals together. He would not be surprised if Kisame suggested that they searched for her.

But before he could say anything, a loud crack sounded from the pile of rubble. Pieces of broken stone shot into the air just an instant before a dark form followed through.

An odd feeling coursed through Itachi as the panting kunoichi landed before them. She was covered in dust and scratches, but her features displayed nothing but excitement. Her green eyes were gleaming, almost captivating in its intensity. She was truly enjoying this. Idly, he wondered if Kisame was right, that she was indeed crazy.

Patting the dust off her body, she smirked at them. “Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go deliver this runaway boy.”

Kisame snorted and then inclined his head towards the rubble. “Anyone left alive in there?”

“It's taken care of,” she replied absently.

Itachi did not know if she meant that those shinobi were dead or incapacitated, but he supposed that it did not matter. Together, they headed for the leafless forest. To Itachi's relief, they were not pursued. He had had enough of fighting for the day.

…***…***…***…

Sakura averted her eyes from the other two as she ran, relieved that neither Itachi nor Kisame bothered to ask for details. Yes, she had blown the place up, but what they did not know was that she had done it to trap the guards, not to kill them.

From what she had seen when she returned with the Grass nin, Itachi and Kisame had killed enough of the Snow guards. And although she knew not to expect otherwise from the Akatsuki, she had felt sick at the sight of those lifeless bodies littering the floor.

“How did you get past the guards?” Kisame asked as they launched themselves from branch to branch.

“Huh? You mean those in the corridor?” She frowned she traveled alongside, her breaths coming out in small white puffs. “They weren't there before.”

Itachi glanced at her without breaking a step. “They appeared from the walls.”

She tried to think back to what she had done. “I must have set off some hidden alarm when I broke him out of his cell.”

“Hm.”

“He's heavy,” Kisame complained irritably as he shifted the body on his shoulder. “Why is he unconscious, kunoichi?”

She made a face. “He didn't want to come, so I knocked him out. Something tells me that our client is the Hidden Village of Grass.”

“So they want their missing-nin back bad enough to pay for it, huh?” Kisame remarked, casting a thoughtful look at the unconscious shinobi. “I wonder what's so important about him.”

“It is none of our concern,” Itachi pointed out flatly.

She nodded quickly. “Yeah. So long as we get him back to that mountain, our job is done.” The last thing she needed was for Kisame to tear the Grass nin apart to find out what was so special about him.

Hours passed as they continued to traverse across the almost bare treetops, eager to complete the mission. She could see a pinkish glow in the horizon, telling her that soon it would be dawn. There was another half a day to go before she could sleep, she thought as she stifled a yawn. Idly, she wondered how Deidara and Tobi were doing at their end.

“Sakura-san.”

Hearing Itachi's call, she cast him an inquiring look, slowing down slightly. To her puzzlement, she found him drawing closer to her, his expression betraying nothing as usual.

“How would you judge your own abilities?”

Bewildered by the suddenness of his words, Sakura frowned slightly. “It's adequate for my purpose,” she replied cautiously.

“Merely adequate.” His eyes flickered. “Then you lack practice.”

Sakura tensed, her brows immediately twitching in displeasure. On her other side, Kisame chuckled, but he said nothing. Her temper rising, she clenched her hands into fists. There she was, traveling silently between them, minding her own business, and Itachi suddenly decided to insult her? Who did he think he was?

“Itachi-san. Are you trying to get on my nerves?” she finally ground out.

Glancing sideways at her, Uchiha quirked a brow before replying blandly, “It was simply an observation.”

An observation? An irritated huff escaped her. “In that case, do you mind not observing me so closely?”

Kisame laughed. “Why, kunoichi? Can't take a little advice?”

“Advice?” Sakura sputtered incredulously. “If I want advice, I'd ask for it.”

“You did.”

Surprised, she shot Itachi a questioning look.

“This is the reason behind your pitiful loss during our sparring.” Itachi's tone was flat, almost uninterested.

Her temper flared further. Who was he calling pitiful? How dare he…

Wait…

She blinked in comprehension as his words sank in fully. “So I lost to you because I lack practice?” she ventured uncertainly.

Eyes fixed to the front, Itachi nodded. “The medical jutsu you applied on your eyes allows you to track my movements. However, your body is far too weak, far too inadequate to react to the information.”

Weak?! Inadequate?! Her eyes narrowed into slits, and once again, her brow began to twitch. Why must Itachi use all these words? It was almost like he was taunting her.

Annoyance aside, it struck her as odd that the Uchiha Itachi had seen fit to enlighten her of something like this. Was he doing it just because she was on his team and he did not want her weakness to slow him down? When the hell had she given him a reason to think like that anyway?

“I see.” Her voice was brittle. “And why are you telling me this now?”

“To see if you could become stronger.”

Her only response was to stare at him disbelievingly. Stronger? Then, much to her annoyance, he cast her a challenging smirk.

Sakura immediately bristled. Now that was definitely something she could not ignore. Just wait and see, Uchiha. Now that he had tossed her the challenge, there was no way she was going to back down.

…***…***…***…

Finally, the last mission was now complete, Sakura thought as she peeled of her grimy clothes in the changing room next to the hotsprings. And this, this little break at a hotspring resort was a well-deserved reward for them. She would rest today, and then maybe tomorrow, she could finally start working on brushing up her skills.

After she had gotten over her initial annoyance, Itachi's words had nagged her for the last five weeks. It did not take a genius to realize that he was right. Although she could temporarily enhance her eyesight with her medical jutsu, it did not mean that her mind or her body could process the information fast enough to come up with the most effective counter attack. That was why she had lost so badly to Itachi even though she could see his every move.

But what baffled her most was his reasoning. Why did he want to see if she could become stronger?

Walking out of the changing room into the bathing area, she finally decided to shrug it off as another one of Itachi's peculiarities. Working close to him for the past six weeks in Snow Country, she had learnt more about the Uchiha. Like how he disliked delays, even though he could be infinitely patient when he set his mind to it. Or how efficient he always was, choosing not to do more than what was absolutely necessary.

`Or how he always frowns slightly when he pushes his hair out of his face,' Inner Sakura suddenly added in a dreamy tone.

Surprised at Inner Sakura's sudden appearance, Sakura's steps stilled.

`Oh, don't forget how much he likes sweet food. And he seems to have a special liking for dango. Remember the way he closes his eyes just after the first bite, like he wants to savor-”

Stifling a frustrated scream, Sakura slapped her hands to her head to stop Inner Sakura's rambling. Enough about Itachi! She inhaled deeply to calm herself, and only dropped her hands from her head when she was sure that Inner Sakura had retreated to the back of her mind.

The mission, Sakura. Focus on the mission. Shaking her head firmly, she forced herself to think about the events of the last few weeks.

Since their arrival at Snow Country, they had carried out fifteen missions between the five of them. Trying to make a good impression on their leader, she had pushed them hard until all the allocated missions were completed successfully. There was only one small hitch where Deidara and Tobi had to call her because one of her contacts had refused to hand the money over without her presence.

Her brows furrowed slightly. It was an understatement to say that she was surprised at how easy it was to work with the four of them. She did not know what she had expected, but definitely not the easy camaraderie they shared. In fact, it was disconcerting just how well she fit into the Akatsuki. It was almost as if she was back in Konoha, working with Naruto, Kakashi and Sai.

During the course of those weeks, they had reported to Pein twice by projecting themselves to Rain Country. The copy of the scroll Pein had obtained from Konoha helped a lot in the progress of the jinchuuriki work. There was only one more week to go before they had to capture the hachibi, but she was fairly certain that she had learnt enough to confidently execute the separation jutsu.

What worried her most over the last few weeks was the issue of spies in Konoha. She urgently needed to get a message to Tsunade, but with all these missions and the other Akatsuki's constant presence, she had not been able to do it. All she could do was to wait, and tell herself that since no one but Tsunade, Kakashi and Shikamaru knew about her true status, she should still be quite safe within the Akatsuki. She just hoped that those spies, whoever they were, would not cause too much trouble within Konoha.

Closing her eyes, Sakura sighed blissfully as she sank fully into the steamy hotsprings. It was good that she was the only one in there, because the recently healed wounds on her body would no doubt attract quite a lot of attention. The lack of patrons was unsurprising, considering that the country was often struck by snowstorms at this time of the year. In fact, they were probably the only ones there.

Idly, she wondered if she should go find another mission for them to do, seeing that they were now free. After all, there was no such thing as too much funds, right?

Itachi's scowl of displeasure instantly came to mind. Followed swiftly by Kisame's low growl and Deidara's loud cries of protests.

She winced involuntarily. Alright, maybe more missions would not go down too well with the rest. Just a week ago, Tobi had casually let out that they did not usually carry out so many side missions, especially without so much as a break in between. And although they had not said anything, she had clearly seen the relief written on their faces when she announced that they were done with the missions.

Her thoughts were broken when her senses suddenly pricked.

Fully alert, she glanced around her until her eyes settled on the bamboo wall separating the women's and the men's area. Something told her that her unease was caused by something from the other side of the wall.

Hand reaching out for the kunai she left under the towel at the water's edge, she slowly turned around. Then she climbed out of the water and wrapped a white towel securely around herself before walking towards the wall. Pressing her ear against the bamboo, she waited until she heard the muted footsteps and sensed the familiar chakra which informed her of Deidara's presence.

For a while, there was nothing amiss. Then she heard the not so subtle whispers.

“No. Don't do it.”

“Shut up, Tobi.”

“Tobi really thinks this is a bad idea. You're going to make her mad.”

“No one asked you to follow me, yeah.”

Sakura's eyes narrowed. What was Deidara up to? Could it be possible that he was trying to spy on her while she was bathing? She could hardly believe his audacity. It was something she expected from Jiraiya or Naruto. She could not believe that one of the Akatsuki would even think of doing something like this.

Her eyes widened incredulously when the tip of a senbon slid through between two bamboo slats to her left. Brows ticking, she clenched her hands into fists.

Then she saw red.

Without another thought, she drew her fist back and slammed it into the wall.

The fragile bamboo wall instantly shattered.

Amidst the sound of clattering bamboo pieces, a loud yelp of shock reached her ears. When the dust settled, Deidara was sprawled unconscious at the edge of the hotsprings, a large bruise forming on his left cheek. A similarly towel-clad, shaking Tobi was standing a safe distance away, while the other two simply stared at her intently from the other end of the hotsprings.

Hotsprings…

Sakura's face burned at the realization of what she had just done.

When she noted rather belatedly what all of them were wearing, or were not wearing, she instantly cursed her own stupidity. Especially when her eyes met Itachi's and Kisame's amused ones. Even though she saw nothing but chiseled chests, the fact that she knew that those two were naked under that steaming water did not do much to calm her mortification.

As a last ditch effort to save her dignity, she tilted her chin up proudly. “What are you looking at?” she snapped belligerently.

Kisame chuckled. “If you want to join us, you should just say so. There's no need to knock down the wall.”

Glaring at Kisame, she pointed a finger at the general direction where Deidara was down unconscious. “Don't you dare talk as if you didn't know what he was up to! And-” Her voice faltered when she noticed the direction of Itachi's gaze.

Cheeks flaming, she glared at him. “Itachi-san! Do you mind not staring?”

Obviously unperturbed, his eyes slowly traveled from her body up to her face. “I'm merely returning your gesture, Sakura,” he drawled smoothly.

Her cheeks heated further when his implications sank in, not to mention that he had purposely dropped the `-san' from her name. Stiffening her spine, she ignored the sniggering Kisame in favor of glaring at the now-smirking Uchiha who seemed to have resumed his lazy perusal of her body. His action was too blatant, giving away the fact that he was doing it deliberately just to rile her.

Inner Sakura chose that very moment to make her unwanted presence known. `He's looking at us! See that? He couldn't take his eyes off us! Shannaro!!'

Sakura mentally smacked her smug inner self out of the way before focusing on the smirking man before her. “Well, are you done staring?” she sniped irritably. “Your… fascination… is quite disturbing.”

Kisame let out a guffaw of laughter, slapping his hand against the water surface. “Itachi-san, I believe no other woman has ever said that to you.”

“Shut up, Shark-Face!” she snapped.

“Perhaps you should join us. You appear to be cold,” Itachi remarked casually.

She fumed. Just what the hell was Itachi looking at? Men, they were all perverts, Akatsuki or not! Aggravated beyond belief, she gritted her teeth and spun around to return to her side of the hotsprings. Pausing beside the now-awakening Deidara, she reached down and yanked him up by his arms.

His blue eyes instantly shot wide open in alarm. “S-Sakura-san…” he stuttered. “I-It's not what it looked like, y-yeah…”

She shook him hard, repeatedly bashing the back of his head against the floor while she hissed, “Peek at me again and you will DIE! You hear me, Deidara?!”

With that, she punched the cross-eyed Akatsuki in the gut and then straightened to march back to her section. Ignoring Kisame laughter, she went straight to the changing room and began to throw her clothes back on. So much for relaxing, she thought darkly.

That was it.

Those four would go on a mission tomorrow.

Her eyes narrowed vindictively.

A long, cold mission.

…***…***…***…

Itachi could not help but smirk as he followed the sway of her hips as she strode away from them. Truly, her actions had been nothing short of foolish. Had she not considered the repercussions of knocking down the wall separating the two bathing areas?

Still, it allowed him and the rest a glimpse of what she had hidden behind her loose black and grey attire. As far a kunoichi went, her figure could even be considered pleasing to the eye.

“Not bad, huh?” Kisame remarked with a chuckle. “A little skinny for my taste, though.”

“Aa.”

Leaving the unconscious Deidara by the side of the wall, Tobi entered the water to join them. “I tried to stop him,” he said plaintively.

“He asked for it,” Kisame brushed off unsympathetically. “It's not like he doesn't know that the kunoichi can be brutal when she wants to be.”

Tobi turned to Deidara before returning his attention to them. “What now? He's out cold.”

“Throw him into the water to wake him up,” Kisame suggested.

“But he'll drown.”

Frowning impatiently, Kisame snapped, “Then just get him back to his room. He'll wake sooner or later.”

After a while, deciding that he had had enough of the bath, Itachi stood up and wrapped a towel around his hips. Besides, the owner of the resort would soon appear to demand compensation for the shattered wall, and he wished to be dressed for the confrontation. Idly, he wondered if they should hand over the compensation from their stash of Akatsuki funds, or simply get rid of the proprietor, and hence the problem.

A sudden flash of warmth around his finger drew his attention downwards. His ring was glowing. Glancing over his shoulder, he saw the rest doing the same. Even Deidara, who was just sitting up with a loud groan.

“Pein's calling,” Kisame muttered.

Itachi nodded. “I will project from my room.”

A short while later, he was dressed and back in his room. Closing his eyes, he focused a jutsu on the ring and projected himself towards Pein's location.

When his surroundings came into focus, he found himself standing in an unfamiliar place with the four men and Konan. Surprisingly, Sakura was not present.

“Where is this?” Itachi asked warily.

“Somewhere safe,” Pein replied vaguely.

Itachi did not miss the annoyance which flashed across Pein's features. Something must have happened while they were away.

“Why the change of location, hmm?” Deidara asked curiously.

“The main base was compromised about a week ago,” Konan told them flatly.

Kisame raised a disbelieving brow. “What? How did that happen? No one could get into Rain in the first place.”

Pein's eyes darkened. “Konoha and Suna managed.” His tone was cold.

Itachi frowned. So, Konoha and Suna had finally found their base. He supposed it was simply a matter of time, seeing how hard those two countries had been pursuing the Akatsuki in recent years. In any case, it had been rather foolish of Pein to insist on remaining in the same place.

“Are we retaliating?” Itachi asked.

“No. This is not why I called you.” After a short pause, Pein continued, “I want to brief you on another mission.”

Deidara sputtered, his eyes rounding. “Another one? But we've just done… what? Fifteen missions in the last six weeks, yeah!” he exclaimed incredulously.

Itachi's eyes narrowed in suspicion when an amused smile flashed across Pein's features. Then their leader replied, “I'm aware of that. And thanks to those missions, our financial situation is now more than healthy.”

Kisame growled. “The kunoichi must be the one behind this new mission.”

Itachi suddenly had the urge to tighten his fingers around a certain kunoichi's neck. The sheer number of jobs they had carried out over the last few weeks was nothing short of ridiculous. He was certain that his eyesight had deteriorated exponentially from overuse since the kunoichi joined them. This was not why he had chosen to join the Akatsuki. He joined Akatsuki to find answers to his questions and to give himself the opportunity to increase the level of his power, not to carry out these mundane missions.

Scratching the back of his head, Tobi turned towards Deidara. “Do you think this is because you tried to…”

Deidara shot the masked man a warning glare, but he was too late. “Tobi…”

“… to look at her while she was bathing?” Tobi finished blithely.

Konan shot Deidara a frown of disapproval. “What were you thinking, Deidara? No wonder she was so angry when we saw her earlier.”

“Hey, who said I was peeking, yeah! I didn't even see anything!” The blonde pointed to the lump at the back of his head. “And look what I got instead.”

Displeased that Deidara's action had landed them yet another mission, Itachi pinned a steady glare onto the blustering blonde. “You deserved it,” he remarked coldly.

Deidara cast him a challenging look. “You're saying that you didn't look when she crashed through the wall in nothing but a towel, hmm?”

Itachi's eyes narrowed in irritation when he realized that he could not deny the accusation.

“That's enough,” Pein interjected calmly. “Whilst Sakura had indeed approached me earlier to request another mission, it is not the reason why you're here.”

Itachi reined in his surprise. So, if this was not one of the fund-raising missions, it must be an Akatsuki mission. The increasing frequency of these missions could only mean that they were nearing their goals.

“We are moving in on a new territory.”

“Which one?” Kisame asked.

“Tea Country. It is somewhat a follow up to the protection scroll mission. Without the scroll's powers, their defenses are almost non-existent. We'll be working on the weakest link first. The Daimyou.”

Itachi nodded. It made sense to take over Tea Country, considering its size. Its lack of a proper shinobi village also meant that resistance would be minimal.

“So, what do we do?” Deidara asked.

“You will get in contact with our spies in the country. Instruct them to gather men and begin launching attacks internally. When the situation becomes unmanageable, we will approach the Daimyou and offer to deal with the trouble, in exchange for his loyalty.”

Sakura was not present. Did that mean that they would mobilize without her? “What about the kunoichi?” Itachi asked.

Deidara smirked mockingly. “Looks like you're quite interested in her movements, yeah?”

“I merely wish to know who I'm working with,” Itachi responded blandly. Deidara's insinuation was not lost on him, and he could not help but wonder how the blonde arrived at such a ridiculous conclusion.

“But it's okay to be interested in her, right, Itachi-san? Sakura-san is strong and pretty,” Tobi added in an innocent voice.

Before Itachi could respond to Tobi's inappropriate remark, Pein held up a hand for silence.

“Our spies expect to be paid well for their efforts. Sakura's main task is to collect our money from the storage locations in Wind and Waterfall Country to fund this operation. Because she's new at this, there will be a slight reshuffle of teams. Itachi, Kisame, the two of you know where to find the money. One of you will go with her while the other will track down the next jinchuuriki.”

“Itachi-san could balance Sakura out with his genjutsu,” Tobi suggested. “Isn't that right, Itachi-san?”

“Aa.” Itachi kept his expression impassive, even though Tobi's words ignited another spark of suspicion within him. What was Tobi's real intention in wanting him to go with the kunoichi? Also, was there something behind Tobi's comment about the interest in Sakura?

“Well, that's settled then,” Pein concluded. “Deidara and Tobi will head to Tea Country. Kisame, you'll start tracking the hachibi. Itachi, you'll lead Sakura to our funds. You have a week to complete this. Then you will regroup and provide backup to Sakura while she captures the hachibi.”

Pein was doing it again. It was not obvious unless one was looking out for it. But it did not escape Itachi's notice that Pein was always too agreeable to Tobi's suggestions during these meetings.

Ever since their first meeting, Itachi knew that Pein took orders from someone else. But it was not until the recent years that he had pinpointed Tobi. With his orange mask hiding his identity and his seemingly carefree attitude, Tobi was the least suspicious of all of them, if Itachi had not known better.

And now, with the conversation with had with the kyuubi and other things he had discovered, the puzzle was beginning to fall into place.

…***…***…***……***…***…* **…

A:N: Finally! Itachi and Sakura will be ALONE in the next chapter. I know… I know… it took me long enough to get to this point, hehe! Well, as always, please review if you can. Thanks!