Sakura back in time ❦ (Naruto BIT fanfic)

14

If I change Itachi and keep him from killing the clan, I'm not exactly failing what I came here for and I can stay here, Sakura silently told herself as she walked down the hallway. Sakura was about to knock on Itachi's bedroom door, but hesitated when he heard the voice of another man.
This unnamed man and Itachi seemed to be whispering about something...

Shisui-san must be here, she thought, shrugging and started to walk off, but then stopped dead in her tracks.

"Madara," Itachi had said. Who was Madara? Was he an Uchiha, as well?

"Sasuke is capable to access Mangekyou. My brother was capable, as well. As soon as your vision fails, his eyes are yours for the taking and, not only will your vision be restored, but you'll be granted immortality. An added bonus."

"Are you sure this could work?"

"I'm positive."

Silence. "Alright."

"And, when you do this, you're pretty much guaranteed a spot."

A spot...? Sakura mentally asked herself. T-They're not talking about Akatsuki, are they?

"Sakura," she heard Itachi call her name. "Why don't you go get some lunch?"

Surprised and confused, Sakura silently ran out of the hallway and into the kitchen. She couldn't help but feel the tears well in her eyes as she sat at the table.

"Sakura-san?" asked Mikoto, looking at her with worry evident on her face. "What's wrong? You look like you just lost your best friend, dear."

"Oh, uh, i-it's nothing," she lied, shaking her head. "I think I just need some air." She rushed out of the house and down to the dock where Itachi and she had shared their real first kiss. After taking off her shoes, she dipped her feet into the water and ignored the feeling of the tears slowly rolling down her cheeks.

She was such a fool. To believe that she could actually change the stone heart of an Uchiha? To have fallen in love with another one? How stupid could she be?

"Sakura," she heard the sorceress behind her and wasn't surprised. She had a feeling she'd be coming by sooner or later.

"Hm?" she asked, brushing the tears off her cheeks.

"It is soon," the sorceress told her. "The massacre, I mean. Untold tragedies will not only befall the Uchiha clan or you."

"So, what?" Sakura asked. "Are you going to say, "Take one for the team, Sakura' or, 'There are plenty other fish in the sea'?"

"It's for the best," the sorceress told her. "Trust me, and your head. You saw what happened because of Uchiha Itachi, your heart, however, doesn't want to remember it. Follow your head, it knows what it's doing."

"Some pep-talker you are," Sakura replied dryly. "Usually, people say to follow your heart."

"I'm not trying to cheer you up," the sorceress corrected. "I'm trying to show you the truth, the reality of life. Though he doesn't seem like it, he's a cold-blooded killer and a leopard never changes its spots."

"But aren't we all cold-blooded killers?" she asked. "That's what shinobi are, hired killers, right?"

"Itachi is not like any shinobi you've ever met, Child. He is not a proper shinobi and you should know that. He kills for entertainment, not for duty; for what he wants, not for what is right."

"No," she replied.

"What do you mean, 'no'?"

"No, he's not like that!"