Kiss The Rain

A/N: Thanks for the support on this fic, guys. I really appreciate all of the reviews and they really keep me upbeat. Sorry about the lull in chapters. I needed a short break and now, I'm here.

I know that, at times, Itachi will seem a bit OOC. It is my goal, and for the sake of this fic, that Itachi have another side, a side that he has long since repressed for the sake of surviving. It is that side that reaches out to Sakura. If you are wondering why the mangekyo keeps failing on Sakura, well, you will simply have to wait and read.

Please review. Reviews to authors are like gas to cars. They keep us going. Thanks!!!

~!~

She stood in the middle of the field. It was bright, and she could hear the chirping of the birds as she looked around. However, her eyes came to a sudden halt, when she saw that she was not alone in that field.

He stood a few feet away, his long hair swaying lazily in the soft breeze, and she could not help but be mesmerized at how those strands fell back into place. She waited for several minutes, but when nothing happened, she frowned.

Her eyes slid over the field, once more, but quickly froze when she heard his voice.

“I loved them.”

Snapping her eyes back to where the young man stood, she found that she was no longer looking at his back, but was now looking into his eyes.

Eyes that were filled with pain.

“I loved them so much that I would have done whatever it took to make them happy.” He said, his tone soft. “In the end, I wasn’t able to do anything.”

She looked around, trying to see if he was talking to someone else, seeing as how he had never spoken to her, before. When she didn’t see anyone else, she timidly asked, “Are you talking to me?”

Itachi moved forward and stopped right in front of her. He looked up at the sky, and when he returned his gaze to her face, she could see that he had activated his sharingan.

“Do you know what the greatest folly of the Uchiha clan was?” He asked, his head cocking to the side. When she didn’t respond, he allowed a bitter smile to cross his lips. “We were always looking at outsiders, suspicious of their motives towards us, and we never gave thought that one of our own could ever betray us. We were fools.”

Sakura took in a deep breath and asked, “Why did you take the blame for what another did?”

Itachi frowned. “You don’t have any siblings, do you?” He asked, curiously. “When Sasuke was born, I was happy and I was the first one, even before my mother and father, to get to hold him. When he began to walk, I was there to catch him when he fell. When he began to speak, he called for me. When our family was ripped away, I had the choice, either tell him what really happened and risk him going after Madara, or telling him that I did it, and have him come after me. I chose the latter. I wanted him to become strong enough to kill me, so that if he did face Madara, he would have a better chance of survival.”

“Madara?” Sakura murmured. “He fought the first hokage, and lost.”

“That is correct.” Itachi confirmed. “He lost not only the battle, but the Uchiha clan honor. He had even gained the mangekyo, and yet, in the end, he could not beat the hokage. That is why he waited for the Uchiha he felt would finally wipe that dishonor away. He waited for me, and I refused.”

He looked away for a moment, but when he turned back to her, his eyes were in the mangekyo form. “I refused, and he did the only thing he could think of to punish me. He took away my family, my village, and worst of all, he took my little brother.” He said.

She felt the hot tears sliding down her cheeks, and froze when he reach over and gently brushed them away. “Don’t cry.” He murmured, his tone soft. “Sasuke used to cry when father ignored him. The time for tears has long since passed.”

~!~

Sakura’s eyes opened, and she noticed that this time, she had made it to her bed. She was about to close her eyes, once more, but a loud knock on her door forced her to get up.

She moved sluggishly down her hall, and when she got to her door, she frowned. She recognized the chakra signature that was radiating from the other side, and she sighed.

Naruto clearly followed through with his threat, and now, she was to be escorted to her sensei.

Naruto was going to get it.

~!~

He knew that he was a dead man. Despite what people believed, he wasn’t dense. He watched as her green eyes narrowed at him, and as Shikamaru guided her to the chair in front of baa-chan, she made sure that he knew that he was in big trouble with her.

Thankfully, he healed really fast.

Tsunade watched as Sakura sat down, and she glanced up at Kakashi, who happened to be standing with Jiraiya, behind her. Sasuke, Sai, and Naruto were also attending, mainly because they were very concerned about her.

Actually, Naruto was concerned. Sai was there to annoy the hell out of everyone, and Sasuke wanted to know anything that had to do with Itachi.

Before she could say a word, Sakura beat her to the punch. “Let’s not waste each other’s time.” She said, her tone clipped. “Yes, I was tortured. No, I don’t want any help dealing with it. Yes, I am mad as hell at Naruto. And, yes, he will be visiting you in the hospital, very soon. No, I will not be the one to heal him.”

“Well, now this is the kind of interrogation that I like.” Jiraiya exclaimed, happily. He tried to walk around Tsunade, but froze when she snapped, “We are not done, and you are not going to go and peek at women. Besides, if Kakashi had not saved your sorry ass, Anko would have put her fist right through your skull, so shut up and stand there.”

Her honeyed colored eyes turned back to her student, who was glaring at the blonde knucklehead. She quirked her mouth up in a smile, but then shook her head. She felt a twinge of pity for the young man.

“Why didn’t you report this?” She asked, her tone telling Sakura that it would not be wise to be anything less than truthful.

Sakura sighed. “Because I didn’t think that the damage was so bad.” She replied, her head hanging. “I didn’t realize that there had been significant damage, until I began having the nightmares. After that, I decided to just deal with them.”

Kakashi stepped forward, and even though he wasn’t her sensei, anymore, he decided to use ‘the voice’ that she would recognize as being the one that she could not dismiss and give him some flippant answer. “You asked Tsunade-sama to see Itachi’s file. You also asked me about the mangekyo sharingan. Sakura, you must be honest with us and tell us everything.”

Sakura lifted her head, and snuck a glance at Sasuke. Her eyes quickly averted, but the action wasn’t missed by the copy-nin.

“All of this has to do with Sasuke.” He concluded, and watched as the younger Uchiha’s back stiffened. “Sasuke has the right to know, Sakura. Anything that you know about Itachi, he has the right to know, as well.”

“Then perhaps he needs to go and speak with his brother, instead of continuing to fight him. He might be surprised at what he finds.” Sakura snapped, and then clamped her hand over her mouth.

The occupants of the room looked stunned, and her eyes widened. Normally, she had excellent control over her inner personality, but at Kakashi’s statement and her constant exhaustion, inner Sakura just snapped, and she had been powerless to do a thing to stop her.

Oh, this was not good.

~!~

The bird flew back and landed in its master’s palm. After a few chirps, the blonde glanced over at Itachi and said, “She’s been hauled into the hokage’s office, yeah. She’s told them that you tortured her in the mangekyo, but that isn’t the most interesting thing.” Deidara said, smirking. “When the copy ninja told her that she needed to tell them all that she knew, and that your brat of a brother had a right to know, she blurted out that perhaps the little fool should talk to you, instead of fight you, yeah.”

Itachi’s eyes opened, and he calmly asked, “Is that all she said?”

Deidara’s face lit up into a huge grin. “Pretty much, yeah.” He drawled, and then began to laugh. “However, after her little tirade, the kyuubi container drew attention to himself by coughing and the girl decided that it would be a good time to introduce him to her fists. He screams louder than a girl, yeah.”

Kisame joined Deidara, and laughed loudly. Itachi turned away, and stared at the village. He needed to get to that girl quickly. She was slowly starting to give into their demands, and he had to make sure that she didn’t reveal what she knew.

He gave Kisame a quick nod, and when he received a nod, in return, he left, and headed towards the village. It was time that he and the kunoichi had a talk.

~!~

Tiredly, she closed the door behind her, and moved over to her couch. She sat down and brought her fingers to her temples, massaging the area as a headache threatened to overtake her.

As thunder began to rumble in the darkening skies, she turned her eyes to the sliding-glass door, and wondered if Naruto would awaken soon.

Then, she remembered that he was the cause of her headache, and then decided that she didn’t feel any sympathy for him.

In fact, had he not gone to Tsunade-sensei, she would not have had a horrible day, and she would not have had to beat his ass. He should have kept his nose to himself.

And, where in the hell was Gaara? She had gotten the feeling from him that he had been concerned for her, and now, he was no where to be found.

She was going to have to get him back, too. Of course, she’d have to think of another way besides pummeling him. Unlike Naruto, he wouldn’t be so easy to hit.

When she became aware of the other chakra signature in her apartment, she silently cursed herself. The intruder had not even tried to conceal themselves, and when she focused, she found that her un-invited guest had decided to wait for her in her kitchen.

She slowly turned her head and watched as the object of her nightmares walked out of her kitchen, a plate within his hand. His eyes were upon hers, and he calmly said, “Your friend’s mother dropped this off for you and I found it on your table. I found it to be quite satisfactory.”

She stood up, and clenched her fists. “W-what do you want?” She demanded, her tone telling him that she was fighting an internal battle. Fear versus indignation.

Fear was clearly winning.

“We must discuss our current situation.” He stated, his tone leaving no room for argument. She watched as he moved into her living room, and calmly removed his cloak. Once done, he hung the material over a chair and then sat down across from her, as if he didn’t have a care in the world.

She watched as he elegantly crossed his legs, and motioned for her to sit. “I’ll stand.” She said, her own voice telling him that she was going to be quite childish about this.

“We have found ourselves in quite a situation, you and I.” He stated, almost to himself. “I am sure that you have figured out my secret, and I can’t have you running to Sasuke with what you know.”

“What?” She asked, irritably. “That you actually have the ability to love someone other than yourself? Trust me, no one would believe it.”

His eyes cut over to her, and he could not help but notice that she was pouting. No, the little girl he had once known was long gone.

“Let us not play stupid.” He said, his eyes narrowing. “We both know what you saw, and we both know that my reputation has been blemished, due to that fateful encounter. As much as both of us would like to forget it, we cannot.”

Sakura crossed her arms over her chest and lifted her eyebrow at him as if to say, ‘Duh.’

He continued on, ignoring her, and said, “I cannot permit you to tell my brother what you know. As such, I am here to make you an offer.”

Now he had her attention. Akatsuki, especially this one, did not bargain. He knew that he held her attention, and said, “You are to come with me, and I will no longer pursue the kyuubi.”

“Why do you want me?” She asked, her headache growing stronger with each passing moment. “Look, we both know that you let me go and that I didn’t break your precious mangekyo. And, as for Sasuke, I’m not going to tell him anything. Besides, even if you didn’t go after Naruto, you’d send that sorry excuse for a shark, or someone else from your little club after him.”

He couldn’t stop the slight twinge of respect from igniting. He had to give her credit. She wasn’t stupid. But, then again, she was the fifth hokage’s apprentice for a good reason.

“Organization.” He clarified. When she gave him a puzzled stare, he said, “Akatsuki is an organization, not a club.”

“Who in the hell cares?” She snapped, her green eyes blazing. “All I know is that because you tried to put me in your mangekyo, I have to suffer through all of your little flashbacks. You think that you are a god among men, just because you have that freaky weapon at your disposal.”

He sat quietly through her explosion and when she quieted down, he calmly said, “A man who thinks that he is a god is a fool.”

“Then you must be the king.” She growled through clenched teeth.

For the first time, in a long time, he allowed his face to show his displeasure. But, she wasn’t focused on him, thus robbing herself from seeing a very rare occurrence. Instead, she decided to continue her rant.

“The way you play with peoples lives, using your sharingan to hurt them mentally, you are acting like a god.” She snapped, her eyes finally moving back to him.

He studied her for several minutes and then stood up. Sakura’s eyes were wary, as she took a step back from him.

“You are hurting Sasuke, even if you don’t want to.”

Her words froze him. He knew that he was hurting his brother, but to have someone else say it out loud, made the ache that lived inside of him, grow.

She took in a deep breath, and softly said, “What happened with your family was not your fault. Why would you ever believe it was?”

He didn’t respond to her words. He closed his eyes, and when he opened them, she found herself staring into the mangekyo, once more.

As she began to lose consciousness, she heard a voice, but she could not be sure if it was the Itachi who stood in her living room, or the Itachi whom she had seen in her dreams.

“Because I loved them.”

~!~

He watched as her chest slowly rose and then fell, telling him that she was deeply asleep. He now knew that his initial suspicion had been correct.

She had a natural defense to his mangekyo. Before he could pull her into that dark world, something broke the mental bindings that had held her, and once free, she pitched forward, and fell into his arms, asleep.

He moved her to the couch, to begin his observation of her, and knew that he had to do something. This so-called ability that she had was dangerous to him, and if her new sensei, or even that copy-nin found out about what she could do, they would probably train her so that her mental stamina grew to the point where she would not pass out after encountering the mangekyo.

A smirk crossed his lips and he was about to pick her up, but the chakra signature that was nearing told him that he would have to leave her behind. He glanced down at the girl and allowed his hand to gently pick up a lock of her hair.

It was just as soft as he remembered it.

~!~

He found her asleep on her couch and frowned. He could barely detect a scent, and knew that Sakura had not been alone. The strength of the scent told him that whomever Sakura had been with had only left the apartment moments before he arrived.

Gaara’s eyes narrowed as he walked through the apartment, and when he was satisfied that there was no one in the apartment, he returned to Sakura and gently lifted her into his arms. He carried her to her bed, and once she was settled, he left the room, and walked back into the living room.

He was about to sit down, and begin his meditation, but a knock on the door stopped him. Standing up, he moved to the door, and when he opened it, he found himself looking into the eyes of Uchiha Sasuke.

“Where is she?” He demanded, his tone hard. “She and I are going to talk.”

Gaara closed the door behind the man and calmly said, “She is asleep, and you will not awaken her. This is the first time in days that she has been able to sleep, and you will not disturb her.”

Sasuke glared at the red head, but then looked down the hall to see that her bedroom door was closed. After several minutes, he turned and snapped, “You know what is going on with her, don’t you?”

“I do.” Gaara replied, nodding. “But, it is not my place to tell what I know, nor will I betray her confidence. She will tell you when she is ready.”

“That’s not good enough.” Sasuke snapped, his patience gone. “She knows something about my bastard of a brother, and I want to know.”

Gaara simply gave an elegant shrug of his shoulder, and then quietly said, “You are not the only one suffering. She, too, suffers, and as her friend, you should be more concerned about her, rather than someone who clearly isn’t concerned about you.”

Sasuke grunted, but then turned on his heel and walked over to the door. “If you are really her friend, then tell her to tell her team mates what she knows.” He said, his tone hard. “I won’t work with someone that I don’t trust, and she is making it very hard to trust her.”

“And, yet you are the one who knocked her out, left her on a stone bench, ran off with the snake, and still you stand here, talking about trust.” Gaara sneered, his own patience gone. “Don’t be such a hypocrite, Uchiha. It isn’t becoming.”

He fought the urge to flip the kazekage off, and left. He shoved his hands into his pockets, and began to walk towards his home. He frowned as he recalled Gaara’s words.

Was he being a hypocrite? All he wanted was for Sakura to be free of whatever was bothering her. He didn’t want to lose another loved one to Itachi’s madness. Perhaps he was going about this all wrong. Instead of bullying her to tell him, he would have to come up with another way to get her to trust him enough to tell him.

~!~

He stood in the room, the same room his parents had died in. At first, he wondered what he thought he would find here, but as he stared at the floor, he could almost see their lifeless bodies, and he could almost hear the childish cries of his brother.

Blinking, he forced the memories into the deep recesses of his mind, and froze when he heard the door to the house open.

Sasuke was home.

He moved into the shadows, and waited. But, when his brother did not appear, he narrowed his eyes when he heard the door open and close, again. He moved over to the window, and watched as Sasuke began to throw kunai at the targets.

He had to say that his brother had certainly come a long way. He used to miss. A lot. Now, as he watched his brother, he felt the ache in his chest grow, and he allowed his eyes to close. From out of nowhere, the question that Sakura had asked him came rushing forward, and though he had not answered her then, he soft said, “Because I loved them.”