At long last, a new chapter. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: Its only mine in my head.

Chapter 5 Traveling

Sakura was torn between both liking and hating her new hair. Her father had always told her that her mother had blue hair just like hers was now, but that fact that she had anything but her natural pink locks irked her to no end. Not to mention she'd been tricked into it by Itachi of all people. Why did they think that this would make her blend in with them? She finally posed that question to Kisame as they traveled.

"There's a woman in our organization with blue hair." Kisame answered "She's not well known or often seen, but its possible for the yakuza boss to have heard of her. It protects you from suspicion. As Hanuro Sakura they would immediately mistrust you. Being from Leaf makes anyone suspicious. Mostly 'cause its full of soft, tree huggers."

Sakuras knuckles crack threateningly.

"I'm not soft. Want me to prove it?" She growled.

Kisame chuckled.

"Now, now. Don't get your panties in a knot, girly. You might hurt yourself."

Sakuras eye twitched and her chakra spiked warningly as she gathered it into her fist.

"I'm going to tie you in a knot you fish freak." She hissed.

"Time to rearrange that ugly face of his! CHA!" Inner Sakura shouted.

Kisame bared his sharp teeth and unshouldered his sword. However, any action was swiftly cut off with a glare from Itachi.

"You two will cease these ridiculous hostilities at once." He said, voice quiet but sharp. "Until our objective is reached and we have been paid for our services we must act as a cohesive team."

Kisame gave a long, drawn out sigh and relaxed from his battle ready stance.

"Whatever." He grumbled.

Sakuras chakra slowly returned to circling her system.

'Punching that ugly blue face isn't worth dying for.' She told herself. And she had no doubt that, in a confrontation with the two she would die. Even going against Kisame alone she was almost certain to lose. She'd often been told by Tsunade that she underestimated her own power but she still wasn't vain enough to think herself worthy of the level of an S-ranked criminal.

She sighed and shook her head. She focused on the road, looking forward to the approach of trees. It allowed her to focus on something other then her intimidating new team mates.

The next solid forty-eight hours were spent in silent, tense, relentless travel. Finally, Sakura had to call a halt to it. She still wasn't used to going too long without stopping for sleep. As the sun started to set she moved ahead, cutting off Itachis path.

"Look, I know you two can probably go forever but I can't. I'm tired and hungry I need to stop."

Kisame chuckled.

"Weakling." He taunted.

But Sakura knew it wasn't up to him really. He would follow Itachis lead in all things, as Sakura was temporarily forced to do the same. There was silence for a moment as Itachi stared at her quietly.

"She's no good to us if she collapses from exhaustion." He said at last "We'll rest now and continue at dawn."

Sakura sighed in relief and jumped from the trees to the ground. She slipped off her pack and immediately began setting up her small tent. While she did that Kisame started building a fire pit They'd stopped in a decent enough area, with a spot clear of just enough to have a fire without catching a tree ablaze. He gathered wood and brush, not even seeming to bother to look for small tinder. Sakura watched curiously as she finished setting up the simple tent. Suddenly Itachis fingers flew through a jutsu that was heart achingly familiar. A controlled ball of fire erupted from his lips, catching the wood in the fire pit. He cut off the jutsu and Sakura forced herself to look away. She didn't want to think about how he reminded her of Sasuke.

Her stomach grumbling, Sakura shifted through her pack for something to eat. She bit her lip as she found an instant ramen cup. Apparently it was the day of all days for her to be reminded of her lost team. She wondered if Naruto was alright. She wondered if Kakashi was looking for either of them and if Sasuke even cared what had happened to the village. She took a deep breath. She couldn't dwell on that now, it would make her weakness only that much more noticeable to Itachi and Kisame.

Deciding to busy herself with her pitiful meal she began reached for her water canteen. It wouldn't be hot, but it would be food. And the pure starch would be good for her the medic in her reasoned.

"Don't bother." Itachis soft voice interrupted her. "Kisame, its your turn to go hunting."

Kisame grunted, picked up his sword where it was leaning against a tree and disappeared.

Sakura chose this moment to pick a spot by the fire. Itachi sat on a thick branch above her. She stared into the fire contentedly, curling into the thick Akatsuki cloak like it was a blanket. She spent sometime like that, as relaxed as could be with Itachi Uchiha hovering at her back.

"I don't know where he is you know." She said finally, softly, not tearing her gaze from the flames. "I don't know where any of them are….not that I'd tell you if I did of course." She hadn't fallen that far after all.

"If there was even a hint that you did know the jinchūriki then your feelings on the matter would be irrelevant." Itachis voice was smooth and emotionless and Sakura couldn't muster even an ounce of doubt at his words. "Why did you feel the need to state things of which I'm already aware?"

Sakura blinked and peered up at Itachi. He gazed down at her, red eyes burning brightly in the firelight and giving the appearance of a vicious demon. She shivered.

"Just in case you're only not killing me and continuing with just Kisame and you because you think I can offer you some sort of information on Naruto."

Itachi stared at her unblinkingly, red eyes boring down on her.

"I am acting in the best interest of the Akatsuki." He said blankly. "You are a talented and powerful medic and a strong kunoichi. Tsunades prodigy. It is an asset to have you on a mission."

It confused Sakura to hear the compliments without any emotion, as if it was facts instead of compliments. She hoped her blush was disguised by the firelight.

"Oh…well…thanks." She managed. Damn him for looking like Sasuke! Not that Sasuke ever gave compliments, no matter how much she wished for it.

"Hn." Was Itachis response. If his ever sharp eyes noticed her blush he said nothing, much to Sakuras relief.

Suddenly Kisame appeared a large stag slumped over his shoulder.

"I got dinner! Damn thing put up a fight to."

Sakura moved to take the carcass, kunai in hand.

"I'll start preparing it, shall I?" She said cheerfully. Her stomach grumbled at the thought of a full meal for once.

Kisame relinquished the stag without fuss.

"Whatever, pinky."

Sakura smiled cheerfully and got to work.

Yeah, I know, crappy place to cut off but I could think of a good ending.

You know the drill! Review!