Sakura back in time ❦ (Naruto BIT fanfic)

15

"He's... dead?" she asked. "Why? How?"
"How do you think?" asked Itachi.

"You mean you-"

"He's an Uchiha, Sakura."

"I know, but already?"

"He was the end of the beginning and now all that's left is the rest of the clan."

"Your mission last night," she said. "You weren't really on a mission, were you? You killed him instead, right?"

"We can't talk about this right now," he told her. "Not here. Even the walls have ears in this household, especially with Tou-san around."

"Then, where do we go?"

"The dock," he answered. "Let's go."

Sakura followed him out of the room, holding his hand for appearances. They were just going for a walk, she told herself, a nice, innocent walk.

Just as the two got out of the house, however, a group of three men approached Itachi. "Itachi-san," greeted one of them.

Itachi gave them a curt nod as a greeting.

"I'm sure you've heard of Shisui-san throwing himself into the river last night, correct?"

"Yes," he answered. "How terrible."

"Well, we're going to investigate further into this and we thought we'd ask you a few questions since you and Shisui had been so close."

Itachi stayed silent, watching the men for a few moments, Sakura watching him with worry. "Sakura," he finally said, not taking his eyes off of the three men. "Why don't you go inside and wait for me there? Won't be long, I've got a few questions, as well."

She nodded and headed back into the house, listening in on the conversation.

"Why investigate a suicide?" asked Itachi.

"Because, we don't believe it was suicide."

"Oh? So, you believe it was homicide, then?"

"Precisely," answered one of the men. "You see, last night, during the clan meeting, there were two people missing. One of them was Shisui, naturally, and the other was you."

So, that's why Fugaku-san was looking for Itachi yesterday, thought Sakura.

"Shisui left this note," another man said, showing Itachi a note Sakura couldn't see. "He was known as Shisui of the Mirage and was known to take on any mission, so this is definitely an odd note. Of course, anybody with Sharingan could easily copy a person's handwriting."

"Are you implying that you think I killed Shisui-san?"

"Who's implying anything?" asked a man. "From what we hear, you looked up to Shisui like an older brother. It'd be unfortunate to hear that you killed him."

"I did not kill him," Itachi replied, his voice sounding angered.

Wow, he's a great actor... Sakura thought, surprised at how Itachi was able to lie through his teeth so easily.

"Alright, I guess were done here, Guys," another man said and she heard footsteps leaving. "Just remember that you're not the only one with connections through ANBU, Itachi... If we find out you're betraying this clan, we won't hesitate to take you down."

There was silence for a few moments until Sakura heard the three men yelling. She poked her head out to see the three men on the ground, Fugaku approaching, looking surprised.

"Clan, clan, clan," Itachi spat, "You overestimate the depth your abilities while you underestimate the range of my own!" Itachi continued to rant on this while Sakura and everybody else watched in stunned silence.

Then, one of the men yelled something and Itachi went back to beating the pulp out of them.

"Itachi!" she yelled, trying to stop him from blowing their cover. "Please, stop! Don't do this! Please, just stop!"

Itachi stopped dead in his tracks, a look on his face that made it seem as though he'd just woken from a trance, and fell to his knees and bowed before the men. "I am sorry for saying and doing such things. And as for Shisui-san, I did not kill him."

He stood back up and threw a kunai at one of the Uchiha Fans, rendering it cracked. As he took Sakura and left with her, he said, "I've lost all hope for this foolish clan."

Sakura held his hand and watched him as he looked ahead. He truly looked angry.

Instead of going to the dock as they'd planned, he took her out of the village and to one of the training areas.

"Let's see just how well-developed you are in your skills," he commented.

She knew this was really so he could work off some steam, but she nodded and took the weapons he offered her.

"Alright," he said. "Let's star-" Sakura threw a kunai at Itachi and it whizzed by his face. "... And here I thought I couldn't like you more," he commented, checking his cheek for blood.

She smirked, placing her hands on her waist. "You're not the only one that can make lessons out of jokes."

She placed the weapons on the ground, but kept a few kunai in her hand. As she ran toward Itachi, she threw a fist at him, which he easily dodged. Her fist crashed into the ground, causing a large fissure where Itachi once stood.

He stared at her for a few moments, then at the fissure, then back at her. "Looks like Konoha is losing one great shinobi."

She blushed slightly, and then asked, "C'mon, what's with the defence? Fight me for real, it'll be fun."

"You don't want me to," he replied.

"Oh, don't I?" she inquired, her smirk returning. "Aren't we confident?"

"Always."

She shrugged and charged at Itachi, aiming to punch him, but he took hold of her thin waist and flipped her to the ground, straddling her waist.

"Told you," he told her.

She saw him smirk as a blush surfaced on her cheeks once again. She placed her hands on his shoulders and lifted her head as if to kiss him, but, right before their lips met, she pushed him off and took her rightful place, straddling him. "What were you saying?" she asked, smirking devilishly.

"You cheat," he accused.

"All's fair in love and war."

"Ah, a philosopher, are you?"

"I wasn't the biggest brain in my team for nothing, you know."

"Well, you've won me over," stated Itachi. "I'll talk to Madara and have you come along."

Sakura whooped and threw her arms in the air in excitement. Itachi took the advantage and flipped her over again so he was straddling her and said, "Got you."

"You cheat," she hissed playfully.

"Now, now, Sakura," he told her. "Who was it that said, 'All's fair in love and war'?"

"I did," she mumbled, pouting.

"And who cheated first?"

"I did."

"Good girl," he teased, standing up.

He helped her up and they decided they'd spend the rest of their time walking around the village.

As they walked around, they noticed Kakashi heading toward the Uchiha compound, yet Itachi didn't even give him a second glance. She was surprised for the moment, but shrugged it off. Why should he care when they were all going to die anyway?