1000 Words

A/N: I know that you are probably looking at the screen and yelling, "Finally! An update." This is not my fault. I got lost on the long road of life? Will that get me out of trouble, or does that only work for Kakashi? Anyways, please enjoy my latest chapter. Also, if you are a fan of A Soul's Salvation, please visit http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qsdk2yLQGPY. It's the first video anyone has ever done of one of my fics. So, please go and show some love to Black Flicka/Dobrila1995).

~!~

As she walked, Sakura thought about many things. While she had been made aware of many treacheries that Konoha had committed in secret, the worst had to be the slaughter of the Uchiha clan. Itachi had explained his role in the massacre and despite having followed through with it, he once stated that he often wondered what his life would have been had he fought for his clan instead of against it.

She knew that one of the main culprits had been Danzo. The man’s ego was simply too much to bear and when he had finally been called out on his actions, he attempted to justify his orders and tried to have her removed from the seat of hokage.

Of course, the damiyo’s council had seen enough of Danzo’s behavior to have formed their own opinions about the man and in the end, he had been forced out of power and removed from Root. Of course, many of Root’s members attempted to rebel, but with the help of those loyal to both her and Naruto, along with Sai at her side, Root was quickly brought down and put out of commission.

When Itachi and Kisame became part of her life, she had resigned herself to an early grave, watching as the days passed by and praying that she could be reunited with her beloved Naruto. But, the two men simply refused to allow her to fade away. Itachi, despite her best efforts, had refused to take her place as hokage, even though his battle strategies were nearly legendary, and he stood firm in his belief that his salvation could be found beside her, not only as her adviser, but as her friend and protector.

Kisame had taken a while to get used to. The man was foul-mouthed, loved to piss her off, and was basically a giant pain in her ass. However, like Itachi, Kisame took great pains to ensure her well-being, and neither man left her side when the anniversary of Naruto’s death came around. More often than not, it was Kisame who would hold her as she cried for Naruto.

She knew that a good shinobi never showed emotion, but damn it, a shinobi who had no emotion was better off dead. A shinobi who could not care for his comrades would never be able to watch their backs as effectively as a shinobi who had a personal interest in his teammates.

Pausing in her steps, Sakura frowned. The forest around her suddenly went quiet and she was not a stranger to being ambushed. In fact, after Naruto died, she made sure to learn how to get out of the most dangerous situations that could occur. With his samehada, Kisame took great delight in listening to her curse and scream that he was a ‘giant asshole’ when he would ambush her when she least expected it.

Itachi called it ‘training’. She called it ‘them having fun at her expense’.

So, when the hairs on the back of her neck began to stand on end, she quickly readied herself for whatever might happen. When two figures leapt out of the trees and came to land before her, she could not help lifting her eyebrow.

Standing before her, as if they had been summoned from her thoughts, were Uchiha Itachi and Hoshigaki Kisame, and neither man looked happy to see her.

“Kunoichi, stand aside and let us pass.” Itachi ordered, his tone covered with steel. He and his partner had traveled for several days, only to find that all of their contacts had been eliminated. It would seem that his brother had done his homework well.

Sakura took in a deep breath. It was clear to her that they were being chased, but before she could open her mouth to reply, three hunter nins appeared.

The leader stepped forward and pointed at her. “Stand away.” He sneered. “We have some unfinished business with these two freaks.”

Sakura smirked. “Do you know who these two ‘freaks’ are?” She asked, her tone soft. “If I were you, I’d back the fuck off.”

The three hunters stared over at her, while Kisame scowled in her direction. “Will you butt out?” He snapped. “Let the men handle this.”

“Oh, you’ve handled it real well, haven’t you, Kisame?” She drawled. “I’m sure that you are simply taking your time and savoring this, but don’t you think that you’ve played around long enough?”

Itachi held out his hand to prevent his partner from approaching the girl. “This is not your concern.” He said, his tone hard. “Return to your village and do not speak of what you saw here.”

Out of the corner of her eye, Sakura saw the leader of the hunters motion to another hunter, and she steeled herself for the coming attack. When it came, she didn’t even think. The stance she used was the same stance that Kisame used when he fought hand-to-hand. She and the hunter nin traded blows for several minutes, but when he reached behind him to grab a kunai out of his pouch, Sakura decided that the fight was over and quickly delivered a punch to the face of the nin that went through the mask and landed on the forehead of the man. A loud crunch was heard as the nin’s skull gave way to her inhuman strength. When the man crumbled to the ground at her feet, she turned and gave the other two hunters a grim smile.

“Well now, have I proven that I can play with the ‘big boys’?” She asked sweetly.

The two hunters didn’t even have time to scream. While they had been distracted by Sakura killing their teammate, Kisame had managed to slip behind them and allowed samehada to severe their heads from their bodies.

She watched as the bodies twitched for several seconds before stilling and then turned her eyes up to the two men. Both looked as though they had injuries and both looked as though they had not seen a meal in several days.

Sighing, she motioned for them to follow her and when she looked back over her shoulder, she realized that they were not following her. Instead, Kisame was glaring at her with very angry eyes while Itachi remained as stoic as ever. Kisame lifted his massive sword and pointed it at her.

“I’m going to kill you.” He growled. But, when Sakura failed to react to his threat, he snapped, “Are you fucking hard of hearing? I said that I am going to kill you.”

“Oh, I heard you.” She replied. “But, judging from the look of you and your partner, I doubt that you’d last against a genin team, much less someone who can uproot trees and toss them around as though they weigh nothing. Now, get your asses over here before I drag you over.”

Again, neither man moved. Instead, Kisame decided to engage her in a staring contest, mainly to see who’s will was the strongest. After several strained seconds, Sakura sighed and promptly gave up the fight.

“Look, I have food with me and the two of you are hurt. Let me at least see if I can repair some of your injuries so that you won’t have to worry about them the next time you come across hunters.” She reasoned.

She knew that Itachi would see the logic in her statement; however, it was Kisame who made the first move towards her. She moved over to her pack and pulled out some of the food that she had packed for her journey to the hot springs that Tsunade had forced to her go to.

When the food was plucked from her hands, she fought the urge to grin. Trust Kisame to be the one to be swayed by the promise of a full belly.

Itachi, on the other hand, was a different story. He was not as easily persuaded like his partner. At least, not with food. So, she decided on another tactic.

“I know about your eyes, Itachi.” She said and noticed that Kisame froze in his pursuit to lessen her food supply. “I know that you are almost completely blind and are allowing Kisame to lead the way, mainly because of the trust that the two of you have. But, what if I told you that your blindness can be reversed?”

She watched as Itachi quietly considered her words. Finally, when he had made his judgment of her suggestion, he calmly asked, “How is it that you are aware of my condition?”

Sakura took in a deep breath. She had to remember that this Itachi was not the same man who had become her friend. “I know of your condition because of Hatake Kakashi. I’ve studied his sharingan and know the side effects to its use. Much like you, he nearly lost his sight; however, I was able to figure out a way to reduce the effects and finally ending them. It does take several treatments to keep the eyesight from fading, but I suppose one would have to ask themselves which was more important: Their eyesight or their time?”

Of course, all of this was true. Before he died, Kakashi had lost his eyesight and it was through trial and error that she had managed to figure out that the pathways used to power the sharingan had become congested. Once she cleared them out, she had been able to heal the eye that housed the sharingan back to full health. Sadly, a month later she had been sworn into office and Kakashi had died.

Itachi took in a deep breath. “Make no mistake. I am not without ways to defend myself and if I think for even a minute that you are attempting to harm me in any way, I will kill you.” He promised.

Sakura gave a humorless laugh. “Fine.” She snapped, her patience all but gone. “Get your butt over here.” She ordered and then with a hint of sarcasm, she added, “If you can find your way without your seeing-eye shark, that is.”

Kisame snorted, but quickly shut up at the look that passed over his partner’s face. When Itachi finally moved over to where Sakura was standing, he passed by her and went to where his partner was sitting. Moving into a sitting position, he accepted the food that Kisame handed to him and proceeded to eat while Sakura went to her pack and removed her medical supplies.

When she gathered everything that she would need, she turned to the two men and noticed that they had removed their cloaks. Her eyes took in the damage and she sighed. It was worse than she had first thought.

Moving over to where they were sitting, Kisame was watching her with wary eyes. “Heal Itachi first.” He ordered. Knowing how protective he was of her when she was hurt or sick, she knew that he was simply watching out for the only person that he could safely call his friend. So, she didn’t take offense to his gruff order. Instead, she moved to Itachi’s side and allowed herself to examine him.

When she finally decided on which wounds needed her attention, she looked at Itachi. “I am only going to heal your wounds. Healing your eyes would take too much out of me. If you want your eyes to be healed, you will follow me to the town of Fugari and I will allow the two of you to take up residence in my suite while I work on your eyes.” She stated. “Of course, this would mean that the two of you would have to agree to a temporary truce with me, which means that you can’t try to kill me."

Neither man spoke and she rolled her eyes. “Look at it this way, it is a chance for you to rest and recover in a comfortable and private setting.” She said, wearily.

Finally, Itachi inclined his head and calmly stated, “Are you sure that this isn’t some sort of set up to get me and my brother face-to-face? After all, he has stated that he is going to be my death.”

Sakura was quiet for a moment while she worked on a large gash on his right shoulder. “Your brother has a lot of issues; however, I am certain that you will not be the Uchiha that dies.” She murmured.

Kisame snorted. “Oh, really.” He jeered. “And how can you be sure of that?”

Sakura allowed a smile to form on her lips. “Let’s just say that I have it on good authority that your brother will die by the hand of the one he calls teammate.”

“So, you believe that the kyuubi container will kill Itachi’s punk brother?” Kisame demanded and then threw his head back and let out a hearty laugh.

“I never said that it was Naruto that would kill Sasuke.” Sakura muttered, her tone now clipped.

Itachi stiffened. “You believe that you will be the one to take Sasuke’s life?” He asked.

Sakura paused in her ministrations. “I believe that your brother is nearly dead, anyway.” She replied and then stepped back to survey her work on Itachi’s shoulder. “The time he spent in Orochimaru’s service has cut short his life by several years. I’m not even certain that Sasuke is aware, but I know that the experiments that Kabuto performed upon him damaged him in ways that are too many to count. In the end, I have a good feeling that Sasuke will be nothing more than a rabid dog whom needs to be put out of his misery.”

Itachi inclined his head towards her. “And, do you believe that you could kill my brother?” He questioned, his tone soft. “After all, from what I have been told, you were known to have feelings for Sasuke.”

She wrapped the bandage around his torso and sighed. Rocking back on her heels to get into a better position to continue her wrapping, she quietly said, “Time has a way of making us see that the ones whom we claim to love are not the ones our hearts desire. I am well aware of how I am perceived and that my former affections have over-shadowed all of the progress that I have achieved. However, do not think that I won’t kill him if he attempts to harm Konoha or Naruto.”

“What if we are the ones who want to harm your precious kyuubi?” Kisame jeered. His mouth twisted into a sneer and he crossed his arms over his massive chest. “What will you do then?”

Sakura knew that he was baiting her. He was using ‘the tone’ with her and she knew that he was itching for a fight. However, the best weapon against Kisame in this situation was to throw him off balance. “Well, I doubt that you’d know what to do with him once you got Naruto. After all, now that the Akatsuki is all but destroyed, going after the kyuubi isn’t a priority for the two of you.” She stated and then shot Kisame a feral grin. “No, I think that the two of you have your hands full with being hunted and I know full well that it was Sasuke who sent them after you. What the two of you don’t know is why. Of course, it could be Sasuke trying to make good on his threats to kill Itachi, but the fact that the hunters have orders to kill you, Kisame, is a puzzle.”

“I suppose that you know his reasons why, kunoichi?” Itachi inquired as he allowed her words to filter through his mind. “Tell me, are you a part of what he is planning?”

Kisame narrowed his eyes over at the girl who was tending to his partner and allowed his hands to unclench. The girl’s body language softened and her gaze was now directed past them and into the distance. Finally, she sighed and shook her head.

“I think that interrogation time is over.” She announced and stood up. Walking over to Kisame, she knelt down and allowed a smile to cross her lips and she took in his injuries. “Your wounds are healing on their own.” She murmured and allowed her hand to run across his back. She felt Kisame stiffen and then allowed her hand to fall to her side.

She took in a deep breath and calmly stated, “I am going to the hot springs. Follow or don’t, it is your decision.” The two men watched as she calmly packed up her belongings and watched as she began to walk away from them, her posture relaxed as if she had not just spent the better part of an hour healing two of the most notorious members of the largest criminal organization in Japan.

When she was gone, Kisame glanced over at Itachi and gruffly asked, “What do you think?”

Itachi pulled his cloak back onto his shoulders and inclined his head towards his partner. “I do not sense any deception on her part. It would be wise for us to regain our strength in a more comfortable setting as well as decide on our next course of action. I am curious as to see if she can actually heal my eyes as she promised.”

Kisame nodded. “So, once she is done, are we going to kill her?”

Itachi allowed a smirk to cross his lips. “I mentioned before about needing an ally.” He said, his sharingan eyes spinning lazily. “Perhaps she is what we need in order to bring Sasuke into account for his actions.”

Kisame allowed a grin to cross his lips and quickly gathered his sword and their packs. Soon, they were following Sakura’s footsteps and made their way to the little hotsprings resort.

~!~

Tsunade pinched the bridge of her nose. This could not be happening. Not now. “So, what you are saying is that there is a good possibility that Sakura was right and there really could be a war brewing against Konoha?”

Shikamaru sighed. This was going to be troublesome, he could just feel it. “The fact that the bodies were carefully laid out and that no one was killed slowly tells me that whoever did this didn’t want his or her victims to suffer.” He stated, his tone bored. He glanced around to see the males of team seven standing off to the side while the rest of the original rookie nine stood before their hokage. “I would say that Sakura hit the nail on the head when she said that this was just the first step in an upcoming war.”

Tsunade let out a harsh breath and sat down in her chair. “Kakashi, do you have any thoughts?” She asked, her tone weary.

Kakashi shook his head. Ever since returning from that village and reporting Sakura to their hokage, he had done nothing but keep a low profile. He knew that something was different about his only female student, but the fact that she openly defied him and contradicted his authority had made him angry enough to not consider her words. Now, he was regretting his harsh reaction.

“I think that perhaps Sakura may have been onto something.” He finally said, but kept his eye trained upon his book. “However, I still do not think that we should be making any hasty judgments.”

Naruto shook his head. “I don’t care what you say. If Sakura thinks that this is something to do with our village being attacked, then I believe her.” He replied stubbornly. “It isn’t like she was trying to disrespect you or your authority, but I can’t help but think that she is probably right.”

Tsunade held up her hand. When the room fell silent, she quietly murmured, “We will keep a close eye on the situation. Until Sakura comes back and is more rested, then we will speak to her about this and figure out what to do then. I don’t want anyone to leave the village unless it is for a mission. Is that clear?”

When she received a nod from everyone in the room, she dismissed her shinobi and turned to look out the window. For now, she would keep a close eye on the situation. With Sakura taking a forced vacation, there was little chance that she would get herself into any kind of trouble at a hot spring.

~!~

Looking around the room, Sakura took in a deep breath and made her way into the largest of the bedrooms. Setting her pack down on the bed, she slipped off her sandals and began to unpack her bag. Once her clothing was put up, she carried her shower kit into the bathroom and placed the bag underneath the sink. When she walked back into the bedroom, she heard Kisame’s gruff voice proclaim, “Well, isn’t this a cozy little getaway?”

Walking out from her room, Sakura stopped when she saw Itachi and Kisame sitting on the couch. Kisame had his feet propped up on the coffee table while Itachi sat primly next to him. Lifting her eyebrow, she made her way to the seat across from them and sat down.

For several minutes, the room was quiet. Finally, Itachi asked, “When will you be able to start work on my eyes?”

Sakura thought for a moment, but then said, “I would like to examine them this evening and figure out which course of action I want to take. Because you and Kakashi are not related, I wonder if perhaps your sharingan has other problems that I have not encountered. By studying the sharingan this evening, I will be able to tell just how badly the damage is and to what extent I can cure it. Kakashi regained full use of his, but then again, his sharingan was implanted.”

Itachi nodded. “I would like to rest before you begin your examination. Perhaps we can start after dinner?” He said. Turning, made his way to the second room and closed the door behind him, leaving Sakura alone with Kisame.

Turning to the shark, Sakura softly said, “While he is nearly blind, he still moves as though he has his full vision.”

Kisame gritted his teeth, but then said, “In the Akatsuki, if you are seen as weak, you are seen as a liability. If you are a liability, then you die. Itachi, even on his worst days, is a better shinobi than most on their best days.”

She nodded. “The two of you are close.” She observed and bit back a grin when his eyes narrowed upon her.

“We’re not involved if that is what you are alluding to.” He gritted out, his entire posture telling her that he was becoming extremely agitated.

“I never implied that you were.” She replied. “I was simply stating that the two of you certainly have a closeness that I don’t see in too many partnerships. I actually find it rather refreshing, especially since most teams break apart at some point.”

“Yeah, well when you are with someone every day, watching his back and allowing him to watch yours, and fighting together to stay alive, that tends to bring people together.” Kisame said, his posture relaxing slightly.

Sakura gave him a small smile and nodded. “Yes, it does.” She agreed. Standing up, she stretched and murmured that like Itachi, she was going to go and rest before dinner. When she left the room and her door closed quietly, Kisame turned his head to see Itachi standing at their door.

“That girl is weird.” Kisame muttered.

“Indeed, but she has a manner about her that makes her seem older than she really is.” Itachi replied. He moved over to where his partner sat and quietly said, “It would be wise to attempt to get along with her, at least for now. We will observe her behavior and re-evaluate our plan at a later time, especially if she proves that she is trust-worthy.”

Kisame nodded and waved his hand in the air. “Yeah, yeah.” He muttered. “I’ll play nicely, for now.”

“It is all I ask.” Itachi replied with a smirk and stood up. He walked back into the bedroom and left Kisame to his thoughts.