Chapter One – Another normal day

I had been spending the past week studying all the different kinds of herbs and noting down their locations if I find they're not in Konoha's book of official herbs and where to find them. I've also been pushing my physical limits during every day I spend looking for herbs. It's turned out quite well so far as I've discovered 5 new herbs that aren't listed in the book and 2 rare herbs that seem to have been growing in their areas for years.

I found that these past few days have helped me open my mind up more to nature of my own body and how pushing my body past it's physical limits isn't all too bad as I've learned how to regain chakra at a fast rate…I'll probably share my knowledge with Tsunade when I return home later on tonight.

I sighed and furrowed my brows before laying down and staring up at the sky. These must've been the best couple of isolated days I've experienced in my whole life. I was doing the small things I enjoy and learning new things at the same time.

I sighed again and closed my eyes.

"I wonder what I'll find today." I muttered out loud to myself as I rummaged through my pouch to find the book.

I hoisted my body to a sitting position and opened my eyes whilst flipping the book to the last page. My eyes skimmed through the list of herbs and locations before my attention was drawn to a scribble, marking over a herb and its location.

I took a closer look and saw that it was situated only a few miles to my north.

Letting my curiosity get the better of me, I closed the book and stuffed it back in my pouch before sprinting off towards the area of the unknown herb.

I wonder why it was crossed out, was it a poisonous herb? Or was it a useless one.

Before I could think of a conclusion, I reached a small clearing in the forest and I decided to stop on top of a flat rock in the middle of a large pond.

This area looked quite peaceful, I should keep this place in mind if I ever want to escape the chaotic life I live.

I quickly glanced around at my surroundings, looking for anything that stood out to me. I soon found a small area of grass and leaves that looked slightly out of place, so I hopped off the rock to examine it closer.

The leaves were dotted with a purple colour and the stems were a sickly pink. The more I looked at them the more of the herbs I could see.

I couldn't shake off the feeling that the herbs looked familiar in some way. I looked around briefly before taking out a medium sized test tube to harvest a significant amount of herbs in. I stowed it away before looking at the remaining herbs.

I frowned at myself before harvesting the second lot too, making sure that the remains will grow again one day.

Just as I carefully placed the second test tube next to the first, I could hear muffled voices in the distance.

'Shit, this could've been someone's home grown herbs…or something' I cussed in my mind as I masked my chakra and found a vantage point in one of the heavily dressed trees.

"Finally, after almost ten years we can take Sasori's herbs he planted for us." I heard a rough sounding male voice emerge from my left.

My heart sank…they couldn't possibly be speaking about Sasori of the Red Sand…could they?

A few moments later I could see three tall males heading towards the location of the herbs I just picked, they wouldn't have been able to see that the herbs they were looking for had already been picked, as their view was blocked by a small bush, full of leaves and flowers.

My brain was telling me to make an escape whilst I could as three of the most dangerous s-ranked criminals came into view. Itachi, Kisame and finally Deidara had come into full view.

My curiosity wanted to know more about what the herb was and its medical properties…and why the Akatsuki would want it...And why Sasori planted it here in the first place, it is quite an open place after all, why would they expect a herb to still be in one place after 10 whole years? Unless...

"Well you'd think after waiting so long it would feel almost rewarding to take it for ourselves. However," Itachi's voice bored as he was a few feet away from the herbs. "someone has beaten us to it." He finished. I felt my heart drop slightly, knowing that I've caught myself up in Akatsuki business.

"What the hell! Sasori said it would take exactly ten years to grow…to the hour." Deidara grunted through his teeth before looking from Itachi to Kisame. "He was lying!"

"He wasn't lying." Itachi said as he looked down at the herbs. He'd stood there in pure silence, whilst closing his eyes.

The wind raced past my hair as the birds sang its usual tunes. My heart started to beat at a faster pace. My gut instinct was warning me to leave but my unspoken questions hadn't been answered. I could only imagine how proud Tsunade would be if I returned home with intelligence on the Akatsuki.

"The herbs have been picked recently, you can tell by the faint sour smell." Itachi finally spoke, making my heart jump slightly. I discreetly sniffed my pouch and soon discovered the herbs had a sour smell to it which was quite weird.

I tried to mask the smell with a small amount of chakra as Itachi turned to face Kisame and Deidara.

"We will split up. We can cover a five-mile radius within ten minutes." Itachi said as Kisame and Deidara nodded. "I'll cover this area, no time to waste." He said as the two darted off. I sighed silently in relief.

I would have definitely been spotted whilst off guard and found for sure if I'd left when my gut instinct was telling me to.

I concentrated heavily on my breathing and my hiding as Itachi stood still on the flat rock I'd been standing on only a few moments ago. He closed his eyes and stood silently.

He's supposed to be covering ground to find me…why is he standing in one place.

It seemed like 10 minutes had passed by as Itachi hadn't moved an inch…something didn't seem quite right, but I remained in my spot with an intense glare fixed on Itachi's person. Another ten minutes had passed and now my heart was racing, something was definitely not right. Itachi hadn't moved one inch and Kisame and Deidara hadn't returned yet…

Crap…this is genjutsu isn't it. I quickly made a handsign with my right hand before inaudibly repelling the genjutsu, only to be met with Itachi's piercing red eyes.

"Ah." I unwillingly made a sound as I jumped back onto the branch behind me. Shit, I'm in trouble. I didn't hesitate to sprint away back in the direction of Konoha. I need a small amount of time to think about how to deal with this situation.

I could hear Itachi's light but speedy footwork chasing after me, only making my thoughts more jumbled.

I think I could make it to the small area I set up in case of a speedy chase like this…but gauging the speed Itachi is following me with…there's a very high chance that I'll injure myself too.

I couldn't waste another second thinking; this was my only option.

I could see Deidara in the distance, I think he was trying to examine what my explosive flowers were.

"Hey!" I shouted at the top of my lungs, gaining Deidara's attention as I was closing in near him at quite a speed.

He readied his arms and threw something in my direction as I was a few feet away from him. I simply avoided his attack by making a last minute decision to slide under his legs. I swiftly got back to my feet and continued running forwards. Deidara's attack had halted Itachi's movements long enough for me to get a small lead.

I made a few handsigns just as soon as I finished passing all my handmade explosives, activating all the bombs behind me, I daren't look back as I continue sprinting for my life.

I was so foolish…I still don't know what this herb is used for but my goodness was it something dangerous to possess if the Akatsuki are hunting me for it.

"Deidara?" I heard Kisames voice from my right. I quickly glanced at him before speeding past him.

Shit, I forgot there were three of them…Kisame is the one with the most chakra, or so I've heard. Maybe It's better if I engage in a fight only for him to exhaust his chakra so that I can tire him out…or will that only slow me down?

I didn't have the luxury of making that choice for myself as Kisame's huge sword struck the ground in front of me, causing me to stop my body in an unnatural way, causing me to lose my balance as Kisame raised his sword and clumsily rested it on his shoulder.

"Is if I'd let you simply be on your way. Who are you?" Kisame grunted through gritted teeth. My body involuntarily shivered.

This isn't going to be easy at all…I clenched my fists and prepared myself for my first attack.

A/N

ayyye :D I'm back into Fanfiction and I'm gonna rewrite my old fanfiction "Sakura's journey to power"

So as always I hope you enjoy and please review ^_^

Front cover can be seen on my DA - art/Sakuras-Journey-612555175?ga_submit_new=10%253A1464786196