Summary:

Summary:

Sasuke has come back to Konoha after his dream of crushing Itachi failed again. Sasuke tried to kill him, but after the fight, Itachi left Sasuke alive, just unconscious. He decided to go back to Konoha because he inwardly knows he needs more training, but since Orochimaru is dead, who else is left? So he decides to go to Konoha. And also of course he'd never tell the others! He wants to get IN Konoha, not banned again, so they all think he's back as one of them, (get real…)

It's the Shippuden time (age wise). Sakura left from Konoha to try and get Sasuke back, after the failed mission with her, Naruto Sai., and Yamato. She just recently joined the Akatsuki, because she gave up on trying to bring Sasuke back.

Sakura is Itachi's partner. Warning, in this fanfic, there will be some ItachixSakura moments, YOU'VE BEEN WARNED If you're wondering what happened to Kisame, because he was Itachi's partner, here is the situation. Kisame is Deidara's partner, because Sasori is dead. Why did they switch partners? Because Deidara flat out refused to work with the woman who killed his sempai.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Sasuke just kept on running forward, trying not to get pre-occupied or distracted, though it was a little difficult with having Naruto whining behind him, and Kakashi staring at his back-side. Sasuke knew that Kakashi was mentally trying to decipher Sasuke's extreme actions that had appeared all of a sudden.

He was on a mission with Naruto and Kakashi. It was to retrieve Sakura back. Sounded easy, sure, but there were a few twists to it. Sakura had happened to an Akatsuki member. It made it harder to retrieve her back for now she had many of her 'comrades' guarding her, but there was a plus side to these turn of events… If she was with the Akatsuki that meant that she was with Itachi. Just because Sasuke got beaten by him the last time, didn't mean that he would give up.

Sasuke, remembering the fight with Itachi got him riled right back up again. His face twisted into a grimacing smirk as he remembered how weak he probably was at that time, he pushed his feet to go faster.

Sure he didn't really need Sakura, she was just a ploy; an excuse to get closer to Itachi again while still on Konoha's side. It fit perfectly actually. The minute he came back to Konoha, she left to the Akatsuki's. This was a good sign from Kami, most likely. He hated to sound like the Hyuuga, but it certainly did seem like 'destiny'.

Though Sakura was just a distraction, he could use this I'll-save-you plan better than it actually was. He did, after all have this plan for reviving the clan. It would be too simple, two birds with one stone…plus, Sakura was probably dying for him to be her husband; he wouldn't be begging, she would. Pride all safe and sound there.

He WOULD bring Sakura back, he WOULD save her, and he most definitely WOULD kill Itachi.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

As Sasuke ran faster, he got more determined, he just kept on running, and running, until Kakashi, seeing Naruto on the verge of collapsing. At long last, he finally decided that he was getting a little tired himself, so they all agreed on taking a break.

"Man!" Naruto said while panting, "I haven't ran that fast except for this one time when Sakura tried to kill me because I said something stupid."

Sasuke glared at him, knowing Naruto was trying to make a joke, but if he said one more thing about Sakura like that…wait, what was he thinking?? He only liked Sakura as a friend now…barely. And the only reason he was so determined was so that he could kill Itachi and finish his goal. That had to be it, he couldn't think of another reason why he was in such a rush to catch up to Sakura.

Pushing those thoughts away because he felt no reason to delve into those problems, he thought about some tactics on how to get past Itachi's Mangekyou Sharingan. It was working and he was thinking more onto that problem then the one previously. That is, until he felt a person's chakra, it was fading away, but not that fast. It seemed so familiar, wait, could that have been….Sakura's!? He had to act quickly before he lost the presence of it.

"Naruto, Kakashi, I need you two to go back and get back up, quickly" Sasuke said, shaking Naruto, trying to get him to open his eyes.

"Arrrrggh, momma! Gimme more time, I'll promise to make you cookies….." Naruto spoke, half consciously, still in the middle of his dream.

Sasuke looked at Naruto with a questioning look, but disregarded it. This was Naruto, the number one unpredictable ninja. He'd seen worse from him. Inside he was grinning gleefully at his thoughts on how to arise his sleeping teammate. Forcing some chakra into his hand, it almost instantaneously began to crackle with electricity. It was only a small voltage…but it would work.

He extended his finger and aimed for the spot that Kakashi had taught Naruto from long ago, was very painful…aha! No, just kidding, that would be too cruel, he just poked him in the stomach. At that moment, Naruto shot up yelping from the shock. Suddenly finally materializing his thoughts back, he said "Sasuke, what the heck was THAT FOR?! IT HURT!"

"Hn, Get Kakashi up, go back to Konoha quickly, and get back up. Meet me in the village of the mist in 4 days." Sasuke said, not caring that he had just recently shocked him awake.

After a couple of minutes of grumbling, mumbling and incoherent swearing, Naruto shifted towards Kakashi. "Kakashi! Sasuke wants us to go back to Konoha quickly, and get back up. Meet me in the village of the mist in 4 days. ALLLRIIIIGGGHHTT?"

Kakashi, woke up slowly. To his credit, even though Naruto was screaming in his ear, he still was unfazed. What Sasuke said was apparently, indeed true! With Naruto living in the majority of your life, you tended to get used to these things. Naruto was about to continue on his giant hyper rant, but Sasuke swiftly blocked his mouth with his hand, and explained the situation more clearly to Kakashi. Absorbing the information of what Sasuke (not Naruto) said and what he was trying to do. Kakashi felt Sakura's chakra for a quick second, so he nodded, understanding what Sasuke was getting to.

"Alright, I know what you're up to, and don't take the risk if it's too big for the price." Kakashi said, giving him a warning that Naruto wouldn't understand, because then he'd want to tag a long with Sasuke. "Naruto, we're leaving, now."

"Erm, okay…?" Naruto said, wondering what the both of them were talking about but decided to give it a rest. If Kakashi knew what he was talking about and was ok with it, then he was too.

Once Kakashi and Naruto briskly left, Sasuke tried to refocus his energy and concentration in on the chakra, but to his dismay, it was gone. 'Shit!' he mentally cursed. Just when he was so close! Now he only had the general idea of where Sakura's direction was from her chakra previously, before it disappeared.

He jumped on the nearest tree, closest to him, and went to go get Sakura, but more importantly, kill Itachi. He wouldn't let him get away with the humiliation he got last time.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOO

"Itachi-sempai, can we take a break?" Sakura asked, a little out of breath. She was surprised and shocked when she realized Itachi had this much stamina, but mentally bopped herself on the head, of COURSE! Itachi would have a lot of stamina. She had underestimated him by a long shot; he wasn't even tired one bit.

Itachi, remembering this fact (that Sakura was at a far lower status on power than him) gave in, and allowed her to know this by giving her a curt nod.

They both sat down, leaning on a tree, when all of a sudden, Sasuke came bursting out of no where.

Sakura, because of her tired state, was quite shocked, never recognizing his chakra or even a chakra of others in their area. Itachi, on the other hand, had noticed him quite a while ago.

"S-S-Sasuke?!" Sakura stuttered, not really believing her eyes.

"Ahh, so you've finally caught up, brother." Itachi said, getting up. "I expect you are here to try and defeat me? Well, lets just get this over with. Sakura and I have some business to do, and I'm afraid you're letting us up." Itachi said getting up, his Mangekyou Sharingan shining with the intent of killing.

Sakura just sat there petrified, was this all she could do? After working so hard! Training, day after day, she just sat there. Staring at the fight unfolding. She didn't want this to happen, Sasuke was going to get hurt, but she didn't want to disobey Itachi. He was…well Sakura didn't know what Itachi meant to her yet, but still, she couldn't just WATCH this. But, Sasuke did deserve this, didn't he? Also, he was attacking her sempai!

Suddenly, an amazing thing happened, something she had never experienced. She felt enraged, at Sasuke!

How dare Sasuke treat her like dirt still, after he dragged her through hell, he still hadn't acknowledged her existence. Rage poured through her veins. She was losing control over herself, she knew it. And yet, she didn't want it to stop. She knew it was somewhat wrong, and she should resist this, but it felt so…new and exhilarating.

Itachi, feeling Sakura's new chakra surge, knew what was coming. "Actually, Sasuke, I won't be fighting you this time, Sakura will." And with that he walked to the sidelines.

Sasuke looked confused. "Sakura, fight me? Do you even know what you're talking about? She couldn't punch me even if she tried!" He exclaimed.

Itachi, hearing this, smirked, he had no idea what he was saying. He was just making it harder on himself.

Sakura, hearing Sasuke talk about her, thinking she was that weak, it made her even more angry, if that was even possible, and was ready to prove him wrong! She was going to prove how strong she had gotten, but this time, she would WIN. She was going to make him eat his own words.

With this thought, she gripped her hands tighter into a fist in her gloves. Leather was squeaking under strain as she gripped tighter. She swung hard at him. He dodged, a little surprised at this new version of Sakura. She jumped up at him, trying to punch him again, she was NOT going to let him win, not now, not ever. He dodged this, but the debris of the rubble exploding of her impact on the ground, sprayed him. She was furious now.

Itachi, looking on the sidelines, smiled maliciously under his cloak (because no one, practically has seen him smile, and he sure as hell wouldn't let Sasuke, or all people, see it) This was going to be interesting, he couldn't wait to see this battle.

Sakura yelled a battle cry as she tried punch after punch, kick after kick. Sasuke was getting scraps and cuts here and there, but he was still in shock, and wasn't fighting back. Sakura, seeing this, made her even madder. She didn't like the fact that he was going easy on her, and she wasn't beating him to a pulp. Smirking, she made 5 shadow clone jutsu and twirled around, confusing him. Using a new technique she learned from Kakashi previously, leaves swirled around him. Of course she altered the technique to make it much more extreme, it was almost impossible to break out of it. She attacked him at all sides. Sasuke shocked, looked at the seeping blood on his stomach. It wasn't that deep. But they both knew the wounds could've been if much more severe if she had not held back as much.

Sasuke, suddenly snapped out of his shock and knowing that in this mode of Sakura, he would never successfully be able to reason with her to get her to stop attacking him. So he finally decided the last and alternate decision. He'd simply just fight back. Not full force, of course, he still needed her intact, but simply to make her unconscious. Untying the wrap of cloth on his bandage cloth and tying it around his wound on his stomach, he then activated his Sharingan and was ready to fight seriously.

Sakura, satisfied of Sasuke's seriousness now, stood on fighting position.

After Sasuke bandaged himself, he didn't waste any time. Using chakra to accent his speed towards her, she blocked his blows.

He gradually picked up his speed of attacks, reaching to a practically impossible speed to parry from. Sakura was having a hard time to defend herself while Sasuke back-flipped and used his Katon jutsu to spray flaming, fire balls at her direction.

"Crap!" Sakura cursed as millions of suggested thoughts came to her mind of how to get out of this attack in mere seconds. She found the most reasonable resort and quickly went through many hand signs, finally slamming her palm to the ground to create a water shield.

Once the flames disintegrated, creating steam in the air, Sakura used this to her advantage by taking out her weapons consisting of senbon, kunai, and even a couple of Kage shurikens. Creating a couple of shadow clone jutsu's to around Sasuke and silently throwing her weapons at him, she waited to test his reflexes.

They were apparently really good because he sensed them coming and agilely moved out of the way so none of the weapons would land a blow on him. Sakura had to congratulate him, she had really underestimated him.

She sighed quietly, apparently, she was underestimating a lot of people these days…her eyes snapped open attentively and she swung her leg around which was high enough so when he tried to aim his chidori at her, her leg pushed him in a different direction when it landed gently on his back. It worked and he just passed her. To make up, she tried to punch him, but with no avail as he swung around un-expectantly to her forcing her to back up before his chidori still in hand would've made contact with her.

Sasuke smirked as well as she did, and then fought again, taking turns parrying and attacking. They were both concentrating on an opening.

Okay, so Sasuke attacks in groups of 3 or 4. After that, he builds his chakra up for a big blow, and then repeats the procedure. If I attack multiply, he'll be forced to block, but then he'll probably use a chakra to punch me. If I use this opportunity to quickly swing around, I might be able to knock him from the back. Sakura thought, processing all his attacks.

Sasuke tried to interpret what was going on in her mind. 'Hm, what is she doing? Her temper has toned down a bit. Is she trying to see my battle moves? Luckily for me, I haven't shown her ANYTHING yet…'

Sakura, putting her plan to action, started attacking aggressively now, and started pushing him back. Sasuke, getting tired of just blocking, needed an opportunity to advance HIS attacks, focusing his chakra in his hand, ready to punch.

Yes! Sakura thought He fell for the bait. She waited for the perfect moment, when he punched, she spun around, behind him, and forced chakra in her leg, swinging her leg around.

Sasuke, thankful of his Sharingan activated, caught her leg before it made any serious contact with him, though it did sting his hand a little.

They both fought hard for what seemed like hours to them (more to Sakura than to Sasuke) It seemed like a draw, sometimes differing from one side to another, but nonetheless mostly even. Though Sasuke had more energy and was still holding a lot in, he had thought of her as weaker than she truly was. This fight made him regard her to higher status.

Sasuke grinned inwardly and he began to make his attack well known, picking up the pace between each of his punches. The fight was moving more in Sasuke's favor now.

'What are you doing? You're letting this…Jerk push you around!' Inner Sakura roared, finally fully appearing in her mind. Very furiously.

'Uggh! I can't believe it either! Why am I so incredibly weak all the time?!'

'Calm down! It's not your fault, and I take offence to that! You're talking about me too! I'm part of you. So what are you waiting for?'

'What are you talking about?' Sakura inquired.

'No duh! You have to defeat him! Wipe that smug look right off his face! Aren't you mad at him? For what he put you through? He has done nothing for you, and you've practically given your whole life to him!' Inner Sakura encouraged, coaxing the flames of anger to burn more and more, at the highest extremities possible.

'You're right, I can't let him win, I'll definitely not kick his ass, he'll never beat me! Never!' Sakura yelled in her mind, charging up a new surge of energy.

Her attacks were getting more aggressive, taking a shuriken from her pouch, she threw it at him at an abnormally fast speed. He caught it, but barely. When he looked up, she was gone. She used the opportunity of surprise to punch him in the gut, and repetitively kicking and punching him. Once, he was on the ground gasping for air, she hoisted him up with her hand by his neck. He was slowly suffocating, looking at her, he noticed something. There was a glint of something…else in her eyes. It looked like some sort of malice that was going to unleash something. Was is just his blurring vision that he was imagining seeing this? It was so hard to tell, he was running out of oxygen fast.

Itachi, knowing what was happening, went up from behind her and put his hand solidly on her shoulder. Gasping, she knelt to the ground, her eyes turning back into her normal emerald ones.

Itachi whispered in her ear "You still haven't quite controlled your power."

"Y-yes, Itachi-sempai, I know, It's just that it was so hard to control it this time." She gasped, trying to catch her breath as well as regulate her mind so she was fully in control again. She had stressed the "this time" to make Itachi know that she lost control because of fighting Sasuke.

Itachi thought about it, and then finally decided his decision on what to do next. "Sakura, we're leaving, we both know what your Inner Sakura strength does to you later on."

"Understood" Sakura said, as she got up with Itachi's help, as they slowly got up and started to leave a very angry and confused Sasuke there alone.

"Wait!" Sasuke yelled at Itachi, infuriated at his seeming to be non-existent to them.

"What the hell is going on?!" He demanded.

They both ignored him, and left him on the ground, wondering what just happened.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Okay, so here's the deal with "Sakura's new power." If tempered or willing, she can let out her Inner Sakura, but she doesn't quite have control over it. It uses up a lot of her strength and chakra after though, which she gets very weak.

A/N I am not a master at remembering all the jutsu's and learning which one was which, so pardon me if I'm wrong, you could correct me if I'm wrong. Heck, most of them here are actually made up, so don't use this as reference! DX It makes sense in my head, but I don't know if you guys get it, make sure to tell me if it doesn't make sense to you.

PS, this was my first fanfic, but I've gone back to the beginning at this, because originally I didn't know how much pages equaled to how long it was on fanfic. You know, because they shorten. But over time, I've gotten the somewhat hang of it, so I altered the sad beginning, combing the 3 chapters into one.

Redone: June 23, 2008