Ahh! Oh my god oh my god! So, this is my new story! *Shot in face* Yeah I know I shouldn't write more, I still have a story to finish. But I needed to get this out! So this story is about Sakura (Oh my god no way!), but not only our sweet pinkette! Just to let you know there will be some Sakura and Sasuke goodness for those of you who go for that, but also some Sakura and Itachi goodness. It's totally an Itachi Sakura story, but there will be Sasuke in there later on. Want to find out more? Read the story and you'll see!

Thoughts~

I do not own NARUTO, or Itachi would be naked, as would Sakura, it would be a Hentai, and there would be lots of it tehehe~

Pain was all she could feel, not whether or not she was on the cold forest floor, or if she were on a soft bed. Every twitch of her fingers caused a silent scream to rip its way out of her, only adding to the amount of pain she felt.

All she could remember was asking Naruto and Sasuke if they had something to light the fire with. Sasuke had thrown something to her and then…Nothing but pain. Had…Had Sasuke done this to her? A choked sob came from her mouth as the pain in her right shoulder tripled.

"So you are awake…"

She tried to force her eyes open, to see who the deep voice belonged to, if he was the reason she felt so much pain in her shoulder. But it was pointless. The small amount she was able to see once her left eye cracked open was blurred.

"Do you hear me, kunoichi?"

She tried to speak, to tell him she could, but only accomplished opening and closing her mouth like a fish out of water. A light gurgle left her throat, making her stomach clench tightly. Why in the hell had she just gurgled? Did something happen to her throat?

"I'll take that as a yes."

Her vision grew dark suddenly, causing her to gasp slightly for fear she'd pass back out, only to feel something warm lay over her eyes. Fingers lightly dragged her partly open lid closed, then disappeared.

She heard clothing move to her right, and felt something move off of her chest, assaulting her with cool air. A whimper left her as her body tensed, causing her hands to shake from the pain. She could feel her mind start to slip.

"You must rest." His voice took on a gentle tone as he spoke. "You have been hurt very badly; there is still a chance you might not make it through the night. I will do what I can to keep you safe…"

Every part of her brain told her to move, speak, anything. She'd been hurt, how? Was it Sasuke's fault? Did they get attacked or something? How did she know she could trust this man?

Something warm was laid over her right shoulder, a groan leaving her from the pain but oddly…It was soothing. She felt part of it lift, and then carefully be dragged across her flesh. A broken scream ripped its way out of her throat. Oh gods stop!

Blood assaulted her every sense, she was bleeding, since when? Perhaps it was what the man was talking about; he was trying to clean her shoulder as gently as he could.

She gagged as she felt the skin move with the cloth, flesh barely hanging to her body pulling with the material. Her stomach clenched, and to her utter embarrassment, she peed.

Tears spilled from her eyes, she wanted the pain to end so badly. Her fingers clenched to whatever they could, the pain only getting worse as her right arm moved. She laid her head back, she was done trying to be strong and hold in her pained yells; she had just pissed herself from the pain. Opening her mouth she let it all out, feeling the presence next to her tense as she let out a blood curdling scream. It was the last thing she remembered as her mind went blank and feel into the darkness.

The next time she came to, the pain had turned into a dull but constant throb. She had little to no trouble this time opening her eyes, and thankfully, her vision wasn't as blurry. But she was cold…

Birds chirped somewhere near by, chimes clinking only feet away, at least it sounded like they were only feet away. Mentally preparing herself from the onslaught of pain, she tried to move her head, only to be stopped by a warm hand resting itself against her forehead.

"Do not move kunoichi, save your strength."

She frowned, and was about to disobey as a large figure moved its way from her head down to her left side. He was old, if the wrinkles on his skin were anything to go by. His silver white hair was long and choppy, reminding her of the raven haired boy whom she had a crush on.

"It is good to see you're awake again…I was afraid you wouldn't wake."

"Wh…Wha-"

"As I said before, you have been badly wounded."

She watched as he turned himself and reached for something by her head. Before she had a chance to look, he held up a small clay cup, sliding his hand under the back of her neck.

Without a word he lifted her, placing the cup to her lips. Without hesitation she took a sip, stupid of her to not be cautious but…She was so thirsty. Pulling the cup away before she could take a second drink, he laid her head back down.

"Better?"

"H-hai…"

It burnt swallowing the water, but she did feel better. At least it didn't feel like she had cotton balls the size of her fist in her mouth.

"Please do not move, it took me quite some time to heal you, I do not wish to have to do it again so soon."

He set the glass down beside himself; turning his gaze below her face. Oh god was he looking at her chest!? Casting her eyes down, she couldn't see anything. Giving a small gasp she tilted her head down slightly until she could see a large blanket draped over her body, covering her chest. Thank god she was covered…

His hand suddenly in front of her face caused her to jump, a loud whimper leaving her. Gently he grabbed her chin, lifting her head back to where it was, his fingers lightly moving down her throat.

This is why you don't trust strange old men, even if they save your life! Oh god oh god oh god…Pain snapped her out of her thoughts as his fingers touched over her jugular. Was there a cut perhaps?

"It isn't deep, but you bled quite a bit from that spot. Be careful how you move, or it'll break open."

She didn't say anything, only glanced away from his form. She blushed; embarrassed she had just accused him of being a perverted old man that was taking advantage over her weakened form. He was just concerned she had broken open her wound by trying to look around.

"Do I have permission to look threw your belongings?"

Frowning, she turned her attention back to the old man, her eyebrows furrowing together. Had he really just asked her that, she figured he would have already?

"I do not want you to speak unless needed. I had not gone through your things to respect your privacy, but I wish to know what your name is."

She blinked, and gave as much of a nod as she could. She mentally winced as his eyes narrowed as her head moved, she should have just said sure…

He placed his hands on his knees and stood, the soft sounds of his bones creaking and popping making her wince for him. Slowly he moved away, shuffling sounds, then came back with her shuriken pouch…Covered in dirt and blood.

Her stomach tightened slightly, that was her blood isn't it? Laying the pouch in his lap; the old man popped open the button. There wasn't a lot inside, which was bad seeing as she was obviously supposed to be a kunoichi, but thankfully for him he was able to find a small pink wallet inside.

Grabbing it, he flipped it open to find the girls ID. He read it over carefully and turned his attention to the girl. She was so pale now, dark circles under her eyes.

"So your name is Haruno Sakura?"

"Hai."

Sakura winced as her voice cracked; her mouth was feeling dry again. Thankfully she didn't have to say anything; the old man had already put her pouch and wallet away and was lifting her head.

Taking a small sip, she waited for him to pull away the cup, only to find it still pressed to her lips. Relief flooded threw her as she happily took a larger drink. She was a little upset that he took the cup away after, but was glad she got more then a sip this time.

"T-time's it?"

"It is early morning. You have been asleep for three days."

He rested her head back down before putting the cup away, placing his hands on his knees as he looked to her. Sakura pressed her lips together as she glanced away, three whole days she's been out?

That means three days she's been missing, since she last saw her mom and dad, since she last showered or-

"You must rest now. I know you're confused, and I will answer your questions, but now you must sleep."

He rested his hand against her forehead, it was sad seeing her in such a weak and confused state, but she wouldn't get better if he let her do whatever. She didn't question him he noticed, her eyes slowly drifting closed as she let out a soft sigh.

Removing his hand he sat quietly, letting the sounds of the birds and wind chimes sooth her to sleep. Once her breathing evened out, he put away her pouch and wallet. Returning to his place by the wall he had been in before she awoke, he sat, watching over her as she slept.

It had been roughly four days since a certain pink haired kunoichi had been kidnapped, and to the tracking teams' disappointment, would probably never be found. A gloved hand pressed against the cool surface of the front door leading into the ANBU head quarters, lone footsteps echoing into the empty hall.

In all his seven years of being in ANBU, never had this member dreaded being in the corps. He's killed thousands of people within the first two years of joining, and made it to a captain of his own squad a year later, he should be able to handle something as simple as telling a young girls parents that they were giving up the search for her.

But it was different now…So much more different. He had never known the victim, or their parents, but this time he does. Her name was Haruno Sakura, only twelve years old, with not even twenty missions under her belt. She was also on the same squad as Uchiha Sasuke…His little brother.

"Itachi…?"

Said man stopped, almost jumping at the sudden sound of a male voice. Lifting his head to see who it was, Itachi was greeted by another masked member of ANBU, though he already knew who it was.

"Shisui." His voice sounded so dull to his own ears as he spoke.

The older mans shoulders dropped slightly as Itachi spoke, the younger able to see the sadden expression on his older cousins face even through the mask he wore.

"They've stopped the search haven't they?"

A small nod was Shisui's only response. He turned his face away from his cousin, closing his left eye tightly as he took a deep breath. They were supposed to be in a time of peace, yet they were still losing so many people

"She was so young, so…" Not us. Itachi's thoughts finished what Shisui didn't.

"Was it Danzō's idea to end the search?"

"It was an agreement between all members of the counsel…He wasn't the one to suggest ending the search."

Itachi could hear his cousin let out a deep sigh. Would it have made it better if Danzō had been the one to suggest they forget about the girl? He didn't think so.

After the he had taken Shisui's right eye and ordered Itachi to slaughter his own family, Shisui looked for any reason he could to bust the old man. The older man would never admit it, but he had actually been given on several different occasions to do so, but Danzō was an important part of the village counsel.

"We need to tell her parents."

Shisui spoke softly, but Itachi had heard him clearly. His stomach gave a slight twist at the thought of telling the two that they'd never see their only child again. It was something he seriously wanted to avoid, but knew he couldn't.

"Have someone send for them so I can speak with them-"

"-Itachi." Said man did nothing, but waited for the other to continue.

"…Let me tell them." Shisui lifted his hand, knowing his cousins' eyes had narrowed a fraction. "I know you're uncomfortable with this, so let me tell them. It'll be easier if you tell Kakashi's squad."

Oh how wrong you are…

Itachi gave a short nod, silently thanking yet cursing his cousin. He wouldn't have to deal with hysterical parents, yes, but he could barely handle looking at Sasuke's face right now, not with how the boys'attitude has been lately. Before anything else could be said, Shisui turned and walked away, leaving the younger Uchiha alone with himself.

Letting out a slow breath, Itachi made his way down the hall and turned, making his way towards the questioning rooms. They were used for questioning criminals, and in Itachi's opinion improper for breaking such bad news to family members, but if not these rooms then where? He felt his fingers twitch at the thought of doing it in the interrogation rooms; yeah he'll take the questioning rooms over the one with blood staining the walls.

Itachi stood with his head turned to the side, the sound of sobbing clawing at him like knives. The poor woman, Mebuki, had already been near tears when she and her husband Kizashi had arrived. Shisui had barely gotten out that the searched ended when she had let the tears fall.

Turning his head slightly to the two-way mirror, he could see Mebuki collapsed onto the ground, clutching her chest as she cried, Kizashi's head buried into her back as his body shook. He had meant to try and comfort her, and it must have hit him in that moment his daughter was gone.

"Itachi-san, squad Kakashi is waiting for you."

Itachi said nothing as he turned, pushing the door open and exiting the room. As the door clicked closed Itachi was yet again left alone in the silence, and he happily welcomed it. He took a moment, just standing there with his hand against the closed door, breathing deeply.

Watching Mebuki and Kizashi wasn't pleasant, it had frayed his nerves. Pulling his hand back to his side, the Uchiha made his way down the hall to the room he knew Sakura's team would be waiting in.

Naruto wasn't amazingly smart, but the kid would have been able to tell that something was wrong if he hadn't taken a moment to collect himself. Pushing open the door to the designated room, Itachi was met with Ibiki, Anko and the Sandaime Hokage watching the missing girls' squad through the two-way mirror. Anko was the first to turn her head, eyeing the Uchiha as he walked over.

"Sure you should go in? You did tell her parents after all, no need to push it."

"Shisui told them."

Itachi stopped between her and the Hokage, glancing at the old man from the corner of his eyes. He looked guilty, and Itachi knew why. It hadn't been Danzō to suggest the search be put off, it was the Hokage himself. He knew what it was like waiting day after day for a missing family member, only to never see them again; the older man knew it would slowly kill her parents to leave such hope like that. Yet it wasn't completely right to take away all their hope in such a way.

Knowing he had delayed enough, Itachi made his way to the door on his right, grabbing a hold of the knob and pushing the door open. Naruto's head snapped up as soon as the knob had turned, Sasuke's slowly lifting, followed by Kakashi.

Letting the door close behind him, Itachi made his way over to a single chair across the table from the three, their backs facing what looked like a mirror. The blonde leaned forward in his seat as Itachi sat, lifting his hand to remove his mask.

"Itachi! What's going on, why are we here? I thought we already answered all of your questions!"

The blonde didn't waist time, almost knocking over his chair as he stood, bombarding the ANBU member before he even set his mask on the table. To be honest Itachi had expected the questioning to start as soon as the door opened.

"Naruto-kun, sit down."

Itachi's voice was stern, but he kept it as gentle as he could without revealing anything. The boy puffed out his cheeks and lowered himself back into his seat, Sasuke giving an unsatisfied snort for the outburst.

Itachi turned his gaze to their sensei, Kakashi's eye glued to the table. The silver haired Jōnin looked as if he hadn't slept in days, which would be accurate considering for the first few days he scouted for Sakura non stop.

Letting out an inaudible sigh, Itachi folded his hands together on top of the table, leaning his weight onto his forearms slightly.

"To answer your question Naruto-kun, you and the others have answered all of ours. That is not why you are here."

Itachi turned his gaze to the boys, Naruto leaning forward in his seat as Sasuke sat straighter. If they weren't there to answer anything, then why were they there? Naruto's mouth opened slightly as his eyes widened. Slamming his hands onto the table he kicked over his chair as he stood.

"Did you find her!? Where is she, where's Sakura-chan?"

Itachi pulled back slightly as Naruto stood, almost wishing the boy had asked if she were dead instead if they had found her. At least he could have worked with that a little better…

"Naruto-kun…We-"

"-Naruto you need to know the chances of finding her alive are slim…"

It was Kakashi who spoke, causing the other three to look to him. Slowly he lifted his head to look at the blonde, who was about to burst with the lack of any kind of news. Kakashi felt himself want to hide himself in his house as Naruto's face fell slightly.

"What are you saying sensei…?"

How weak the blondes question sounded made both Kakashi and Itachi want to leave, to have someone else have this conversation with him. The longer it took anyone to say anything the more anger Naruto felt.

"What are you saying?"

"Naruto-kun."

Itachi was a little more relaxed when Naruto turned to him. Not because the now seething boy was glaring at him, but because the last thing Kakashi needed was a missing and possibly dead student over his head, and then one that thought it was his fault.

"As you know, as soon as we got word of what happened we began the search immediately." He motioned for the boy to sit, thankful he obeyed and plopped himself down once his chair was righted. "After taking both you and Sasuke back here, my squad followed Kakashi-san to help track her sent."

The boy was listening intently, Sasuke even looking more interested. Did he really care what happened to his only female teammate, or was he just faking it? Discreetly pressing his thumb nail into the side of his finger, he forced himself to continue.

"After an hour or so of searching, we found blood. Kakashi-san had Pakkun summoned already, who was able to identify the blood as Sakura-san's."

Naruto paled, both his and Sasuke's eyes widening slightly. Naruto couldn't believe it, what had that man, the bandit, done to Sakura? It felt like someone was slowly pushing their fist into his stomach.

"We kept pursuit, from what we could tell the blood wasn't that old, we could catch up. It took us another twenty minutes until we came to a stop. A tree had several of its branches broken off, and upon closer inspection noticed more blood…"

He paused, not because he wanted to, he just stopped. Naruto's hands shook lightly as he stared at him, a small spark of hope in his blue eyes. Sasuke was practically on the edge of his seat, something close to guilt flashing across his face.

"I'm sorry…" Itachi finally found his voice. "But with the amount of blood found, Sakura-san wouldn't have survived more then a minute."

A shaky breath wheezed its way out of Naruto as his face scrunched up slightly, tears threatening to fall as they formed in his eyes. Sasuke swallowed hard, his throat and mouth suddenly as dry as Suna's deserts.

"Are you saying…?"

Itachi looked to his little brother, only offering him a nod as an answer. Naruto let out a choked sob as the tears fulfilled their threat and fell, Sasuke's face paling as the realization dawned on him.

Sakura; the girl who had fawned over him throughout the Academy and their time together as a team, who had stabbed him in the back and withdrew from the Chūnin Exams because she was frightened, was practically dead.

He knew if they had found her body Itachi would have said so, that she was either gravely wounded or dead. By not saying anything, his older brother was telling them they had failed to find her body, but will claim her as dead judging by what they had seen.

Seeing Kakashi's hand lift, Itachi watched as the man hesitated before grabbing the shaking blondes shoulder, only earning more tears from the boy. Itachi stood as the Jōnin's eye clenched closed. He was close to this team, but this wasn't his place. He couldn't offer comfort to them, he had failed to return the pinkette.

"I'm sorry for your loss…"

His voice was empty of emotion as he spoke. Itachi waited for no reply as he turned, grabbing his mask and making his way to the door. Once outside he let out a small breath, closing his eyes and replacing the mask on his face. He hoped he never had to do something like this ever again, if he did he was tempted to off himself.

Itachi had never dreaded going home so much in his whole life. He didn't want to be the one to tell his mother the bad news; he'd done it already when Sasuke and Naruto had turned up without Sakura, claiming they had been attacked.

After the incident five years ago, where Itachi had been ordered by Danzō to murder the Uchiha, and failed to do so, Haruno Mebuki and her family were the first ones to set aside what they had heard and befriend the Uchiha.

The raven had made himself sick thinking of his orders, to kill his loved ones all himself. Danzō had said he could do it, but Itachi had doubted himself. He had almost completely drowned out that doubt when he went looking for his cousin, Shisui. That's when Itachi found him, hiding away from the village with blood running down his face from the empty socket that once used to have an eye in it. When Shisui explained Danzō had taken it, the young Uchiha's mind went blank.

When his elder cousin explained what it was he wanted Itachi to do, to take his remaining eye, he refused. Then began the lecture of how this was the only way, but a small part of Itachi was adamant that this shouldn't happen. But it had to, this hatred that surrounded the Uchiha needed to end.

No had left Itachi's mouth without him thinking, against his will. He had been moments away from agreeing to what Shisui had said, so why?...Why had he so easily refused to heal his clan, it was the only way…Or was it?

Itachi removed his keys from his right pocket, thumbing through each until he found the correct one. Pushing, or more like forcing, the key into the lock, the raven pushed his way into the apartment. He knew Shisui wouldn't mind if he stayed here for a while, the man didn't ever have company really, so he'd welcome the young man with open arms.

Slamming the door behind him closed, he made his way through the black living room, and into the kitchen, flipping on the overhead light. After giving the light a moment to flicker to life, Itachi gave a long sigh; Shisui's place was a mess. Not so much in the sense the man didn't clean, but the apartment was falling down around him.

After securing himself a glass of water, when the water had finally turned clear, Itachi sat himself down in one of the rickety old chairs at the table. When should he head home he wondered…Probably later then he should. After several long moments of silence, Itachi's attention was brought to the front door, hearing his cousin pushing his way inside.

"Good to see you made yourself at home."

"Aa…I wanted to avoid going home for as long as I could."

Shusui gave a small nod as he made his way through his home, plopping down into a chair across the table from Itachi.

"I don't blame you. Mikoto-kā was really upset just hearing Sakura-chan was missing, she'll take this bit worse. Maybe she'll have Sasuke go check on Mebuki-san and Kizashi-san."

Itachi gave a snort at the idea, earning a chuckle from the older man. Itachi's mother would have to practically force Sasuke into that position, though a look from their father and the boy would do as told.

"Perhaps he needs to."

"Do you think it'd change his attitude if he did?"

Shisui leaned back in his chair as he watched his cousin. Itachi said nothing, thinking it over. Since Sakura disappeared he didn't seem worried, and had voiced his doubts on her being able to take care of herself. The boy didn't care for her, which worried Itachi greatly.

On one hand, with how Sasuke's personality has been, watching the Haruno family mourn and shatter could strengthen his resolve that emotions hinder the person. That Sakura's whole family was weak, there for ensuring that the girl would have been weak no matter what. On second hand…

"Let's hope it does."

Shisui gave a nod as I lifted the eye patch on his right eye, rubbing the pad of his thumb over the stitches keeping the lid closed. He hated the damn thing; his whole right side was vulnerable like this.

"How's your eye?"

"You mean the lack there of? It's alright; the stitches just itch every so often is all."

Itachi shot Shisui a disproving look, the only reason they itched was because his elder cousin refused to leave them alone. It seemed like he'd constantly mess with the patch, or feel the stitching.

"The hospital offered to find you a donor eye."

Replacing the patch the elder Uchiha gave a heavy sigh. He'd refused when he had been taken to the hospital. He had been tempted to out Danzō when he had been questioned what happened, but to claim one of the village elders had stolen your eye, it'd be far to troublesome.

It had been after the two boys went to the Hokage, telling him that Danzō had given Itachi the mission to kill the clan. The Sandaime had asked both of the boys not to say anything about what Danzō had done, and that he would handle breaking the news to their clan. And he had, he gotten Fugaku and the clan elders into his office within moments, explaining what had happened.

The Uchiha had gone into a rage, promising revenge, when Itachi had spoken. He had broken every rule his clan had in place, locked horns with the clan head and elders, but had opened their eyes to what was happening. Though it took some time, the Sandaime, Itachi and Shisui had begged them to think of the younger generation of the Uchiha. They had won, getting them to see that they would not survive if they continued, not only because the village would be against them, but their heir as well.

"I don't want someone else's eye…Not that I'd prefer an Uchiha's eye, I just would feel too weird knowing some dead dudes eyeball was in my head."

"You have a morbid way of thinking about this…"

The elder smirked slightly and nodded his head. It was morbid, he'd admit that, but he was fine like he was. Blind spot or not, he was still Shunshin no Shisui, there was no way he'd fail on a mission.

"Anyway, enough about me. How about you? How's your sweet little-"

"-I'm not here to talk about my relationship. If I were, I was better off going home where mother could hound me."

Shushi's head fell back as he laughed; it was so fun teasing his little cousin. Ever since Itachi had turned sixteen, the clan had immediately brought up him marrying his girlfriend of only three years.

Both had avoided the conversation completely, and Shisui kind of had a feeling he knew why. Itachi cared deeply for his girlfriend, but anyone who looked closely could see things weren't going as well as they thought. Both had grown away from each other, but were too afraid to leave. The clan would have a field day, and the girls' family would probably disown her for breaking up with the clan heads eldest son.

"Go to bed, you look tired."

"Your one to talk, you were in a meeting with the Hokage all morning."

Shisui stood as he spoke, he was tired. Watching the Haruno family break down like they did was taxing enough on its own, not to mention he had a short mission right after.

"Stay as long as you like Itachi."

Said man gave a small nod in thanks as Shisui made his way out of the kitchen. Listening to his cousin's disappearing foot steps, Itachi lifted his untouched glass to his lips and took a drink. He was tempted to almost spit the water back out, it had a rather raunchy stench, but he settled with a small sip.

"You seriously need to get a new place Shisui…"

Three days had passed, three long, and pain filled days. She was happy that the old man was there each time she woke up, to know that she was being taken care of. But her heart broke each time her eyes opened and it wasn't her mother and father she saw.

Today was no different, though the disappointment seemed more prominent. She had been too tired to ask the old man his name, but today that was her goal. Not to fill her stomach with food or water, not to move her arm, but to just ask what his name was.

As the man removed the soiled bandages from Sakura's shoulder, he laid the foul smelling material to his left, away from her. Were they supposed to smell that bad…?

"Ne…Ojīsan, what's your name?"

Her voice was small, so small she didn't think he'd heard her with the way he continued with his work. Though she didn't mind too much, she didn't really want to see the still gapping would on her right shoulder.

"Call me whatever you'd like, Sakura-san."

His eyebrow rose as she huffed, a grimace on her face at the puff of air she blew onto her shoulder.

"I wanted to know what to call you…And when I go back home, okāsan and otōsan will want to thank you. Not to mention Kakashi-sensei, Naruto, and…"

She frowned slightly. Would Sasuke be thankful she came back, that it was thanks to this mysterious old man that she survived?

"And?"

The elder man raised his eyebrow curiously as the pinkette stopped abruptly, her eyebrows furrowed in thought. Looking back to the girls shoulder, he shifted the thin sheet covering her chest, which had been requested by the girl, farther away from the wound.

He didn't say anything to her about it, but he was worried that an infection had begun to set in her, seeing how the skin was still swollen and rather tender.

"I don't think he'd really care if I came back or not…"

"Who wouldn't?"

Her head turned away as she let out a deep sigh. He'd rather not know, but he was bored as hell and with her as jumpy as she was around him, he'd rather have her completely distracted by spewing some crap about her life.

"Sasuke-kun…The boy I like."

The old mans hands paused as he reached for the disinfectant. Oh sweet mother of god it was a boy she liked…She was going to start crying wasn't she?

"I'd always liked him since we were in the Academy together, but he'd never paid attention to me…I never really cared though, I knew I'd have a chance to prove myself if I was able to get on the same squad as him. To my amazement I was put on his squad."

She gave a small smile as she looked at the wall to her left, away from the man. Thankfully so since every word she spoke his face got more and more annoyed, he did NOT save her so he could listen to her talk about her so called boyfriend!

"What happened after that?" He mentally slapped himself for even asking.

"He still acted like I didn't really exist, except for when there was danger, then he just acted like I was the weak link…And he was right."

Her voice grew soft as her eyes watered slightly. The old man stopped to look at the pinkette, his hands holding a brownish bottle and a soaked cloth full of disinfectant.

"He was right and I should have never entered the Chūnin Exams, but I would have been ruining his dream…"

Ok so he was a little interested, and he was mentally kicking himself in the ass for it. He was confused on how all of this fit together, but he was pretty sure the girl next to him would be more then happy to fill him in.

"What happened at the Exams?"

She let out a little sigh, her eyes closing briefly.

"Someone attacked us and both Naruto and Sasuke-kun were out of commission…I was so afraid of someone was going to attack, that when ANBU came looking for that person that had attacked us, I begged them to take us out of the Exams…"

"So without consulting your team you withdrew." It was a statement, not a question.

The old man was startled as Sakura's head snapped to the side, bright green eyes glaring up at him with nothing but hate, but then flashed guilt.

"I had no choice!" Her voice broke a little. "I wouldn't have been able to protect them, they would have died! Then what about their dreams? They'd be over, and that would have been my fault!"

She gave a small wince as she tried to push herself up, a pained gasp leaving her as her hair brushed over the top of her shoulder into the wound. Quickly pressing his hand to her abdomen, he pushed her onto her back.

So she had done it because she knew her limit, she was smart. Not many shinobi, including young kunoichi, knew what their limit was. When he had been young he'd watch as mere eight year olds took on those who had been lucky enough to make it to their teen years. They'd buried more children that way then the war it seemed.

"If you're smart enough to see your limits then, you should be smart enough to see them now."

A small frown tugged at her lips as she looked up into his deep coal eyes. She didn't want to see her limitation, it was too hard. She knew she was hurt, she wasn't that stupid, she just didn't want to believe that she was weak enough she couldn't make it home.

Before she had a chance to speak again the old man placed the soaking cloth to her shoulder, causing a choked yell to rip out of her. His hand pressed to her left shoulder to keep her from moving away, his other firmly, yet gently holding the cloth to the wound as it seeped its medicine into her body.

"When I was a boy, you worked past your limitations."

Watery green eyes found their way up to his wrinkled face, his eyes firmly glued to what he was doing.

"When I was a boy," He removed the cloth and replaced it with another, "You become stronger in different ways. If you are weak at Genjutsu, train your Ninjutsu and Taijutsu. Weak Taijutsu, train Genjutsu and Ninjutsu, and so on."

"I don't understand…"

A deep sigh left the older man as he removed the second cloth, setting it in a pile to be discarded later. He took his time putting together a good way to explain to the girl what he was trying to say, her shoulder had enough time to 'air out', it needed bandaged.

Grabbing a cotton ball he soaked it in a small dish full of herbal liquid. Sakura had asked him what it was made out of, but he had told her it was a secret, and it was. He didn't want anyone knowing his precious secrets!

"You will have to train very hard for a very long time in order to get your arm close to how it was."

Carefully lifting the cotton ball with a pair of tweezers, he gently placed it inside of her wound. He could tell she was trying to hold back whimpers, and he was proud of her for being so strong about this.

"After you are able to move your arm, you'll have to begin to train your mind and body in ways to protect you disability."

She gave a short nod as the elderly man spread the cotton through her wound, carefully placing a gauze pad over the wound to hold it in place. Letting out a small gasp as she was lifted slightly, she did what she could to hide her bare body with the thin sheet she had been given, letting her body be wrapped up.

He was a very secretive person Sakura noted quietly, but kind at the same time. She was thankful he had found her, and she'd forever be in his debt.

"Ne…Ojīsan?"

"Aa?"

She gave a sad smile at his reply, biting back a groan as he helped her lay back on her futon. His small replies reminded her so much of Sasuke, and it hurt to think of him. Almost as much as her wound…Almost.

"Will you train me?"

His hands froze above her form as he readjusted the sheet on her body, slowly pulling away to look up at her still pale face.

"What?" He couldn't think of anything else to say.

"Will you train me?...I know it's a lot to ask, especially after you went out of you way to save me…But I want to be stronger!"

He said nothing as he watched for the millionth time as tears filled her eyes, but it was different somehow. She was determined, not wallowing in self pity. She was one hundred percent serious about this.

"You are aware if I agree you will come to hate me…"

"Even if I do, I owe you my life. I'll do everything in my power, now and in the future, to help you in any way I can."

The tears still shone brightly in her eyes, but they held even more determination each second that passed.

Placing his hands onto his knees he leaned back, studying the girl. He could see her grow uncomfortable the longer he stared at her, but she refused to look away. If he agreed, would he gain anything from this?...A smile tugged at his lips, he'd gain everything he needed.

"You must rest, Sakura-san."

He stood, gathering the dirtied bandages as he did so. A panicked gasp came from the girl as she tried to push her left arm under her to sit up, sweat gathering on her broad forehead.

"B-but wait-!"

"If I am to help you, you must rest."

He smirked as Sakura blinked at him almost dumbly, realization dawning on her as hope filled her eyes and a smile pulling at her lips.

"You have a long road to recovery. As soon as I'm sure you're healed, we will begin your training."

"H-hai!"

Sakura couldn't hide the excitement in her voice as he turned away from her, making his way to the door and outside. Once the door closed she let herself fall back onto the futon, grunting in pain at how her shoulder jostled. She happily pushed that from her mind, staring at the plain ceiling as she clutched the sheet at her chest.

Starting tomorrow she'd do exactly as the old man said, starting tomorrow she'd eat not only all of her food, but take fewer naps through the day. Starting tomorrow, she'd push herself past her limitations. She'd finally be able to call herself a kunoichi and be able to prove it to everyone.

AN:

So there totally will be a time skip after this, just to let you know. I didn't know for sure how much of Pre Shippuden I should do, and I actually went pretty far back, all the way into the Chūnin Exams, but went against that. I figured it'd be better to fill you in as the story went along. And hopefully, HOPEFULLY I was able to do that, the same with the whole Uchiha thing. There will still be more on that later on. I have a killer migraine, I'm helping my mother move into a new house with my sister, and I'm finding my cat a new home. Everything's a total disaster…I'm not having a lot of time to proof read this chapter since I'm on such a short time crunch, my internets going out soon and I still have so much to do before I wake up at…Oh god, at 7 in the morning…Yaaaaaay, 2 days of getting 5 hours of sleep. *Sarcasm* Now to get on Heaven in Hell, I have it part way finished (I have like 1 page written). I should get some fan art for this story done at some point hopefully. I have a picture done I'll use as the cover for the story, which I might not have a link to show a better version of it because I'm pretty sure my commissioners on DeviantArt will kill me if I post something besides what they asked for. But yeah, this is going to have badass Sakura at some point. Sasuke won't have left the village because, well, yeah his family is alive. But anyway! Please tell me what you think through a review, they make me happy and want to write. If you see anything like a typo or grammar error, let me know and I will fix it! Now I better hurry off because I think my mom's about to eat my brain, she's so stressed! Fav and review!

Li