Author's note:

This is the longest chapter, I guess, I'll ever write. I hope you like it, cause it sure took me a lot of time. So enjoy, Read& Review.

Chapter three: Strong will, Weak form.

(NEXT DAY).

Sakura woke up on the sound of the birds singing outside the window, she looked at the clock beside her bed, it was 9:04 am. She wondered what a weird dream she had yesterday, her head hurt every time she tried to remember, then she tried to get up but she couldn't. The chain pulled her back into the bed. When she looked at her hand, she realize that it wasn't a dream and that it was a reality, then a big frown came to her face.

She turned around to the other side of the bed to look at the only thing that will convince her it was a reality, and she saw it chained to her own hand, she saw Itachi.

She checked if Itachi was awake but he was still sleeping, or at least that what she thought, his eyes were steadily shut. It was the first time she sees him this peacefully, he wasn't making even the slightest little sound, he was just sleeping like a normal person.

Itachi opened his eyes at the second he felt her looking at him, he looked at Sakura blankly, sat up on his mattress, then he narrowed his eyes on her. Sakura felt threatened by his look, she didn't know what she did to deserve it, so she cheerfully said "Good morning." Trying to ease the situation. Itachi didn't return her greeting, he only asked her "Why were you looking at me like that?" Sakura blushed greatly, and murmured trying to answer "I….wasn't…I…..am …I….didn't…I mean…." Itachi only became more annoyed by her uncompleted sentences, he stopped her by returning her greeting "Good morning."
He was relieved that she finally stopped talking, and that she got her sense back then she started smiling at him, he looked away from her happy bright smiling face, confused.

He has just insulted her ,because when you interrupted someone talking it counts an insult to him/her, and now she awards him with a smile? 'What's up with her?' He thought to himself.

Itachi curiously asked her "What happened to you yesterday? Were you sick?" Sakura responded with a voice that barely left her throat "I had a bad dream and when I woke up you were…..," "I was awake, so that was a surprise to you, right?" Itachi interrupted then he continued "So that dream was the reason why you were red and hot?" That wasn't why Sakura was red and hot at all, however, she answered "Yes, that is exactly what happened."

Because she couldn't tell an s-ranked criminal that she thought he was cute in the moonlight. Neither could Itachi understand the actions this pink haired girl.

Itachi noticed no lies in her answer, because part of it was true. She really had a bad dream, so she drew the nicest smile on her lips, which made Itachi turn his face just to see it not that he liked it but he wanted to make sure there isn't something behind it.

After she made the breakfast, Itachi following behind her everywhere she moved, they sat down next to each other on the table and ate their breakfast soundlessly for like ten minutes, or at least Sakura did.

While Sakura was watching her food and eating it. Itachi was watching her, confused (he seemed to be having that expression more often, after meeting Sakura) and worried. All the girls he met in his life, either were afraid of his cold dark unemotional look, or were astonished and amazed by it. None were like Sakura, she was, in a way, not like the other girls. She looked at him like if he was a normal person.

What really confused him is that even though he is a criminal, and she knows it, she didn't show him hate, she was smiling at him most of the time, like if he was one of her friends. She even asked him what he wanted for breakfast. He didn't see any look of hatred towards him from her, all he saw was an innocent, pure and a nice person, the kind of person he never thought existed anymore, he didn't like it, he didn't believe there would be a people like her in this world.

She was either a really stupid, fast trusting person. Or a very good lying, deceiving one (but that was unlikely cause he is Itachi, he would've noticed if she was lying or deceiving him, I mean he is the master of deceiving).

This girl proved, in one day, that the only thing he had faith in was wrong, he used to believe that "Nobody is innocent, and everybody is looking only for their best interest." But what would be her interest in being nice to him?

Sakura noticed that Itachi was looking at her thoughtfully and that he hasn't touched his food yet, though she would've asked him about that look, she only smiled at him politely instead and said "Is my cooking that bad?"

Itachi woke up from his thinking world and answered her emotionlessly "No, I'm just not hungry." But that wasn't the reason, he couldn't trust this smiling girl, she might have poisoned the food, Sakura frowned to his response and stated "You were on a mission yesterday, got into a battle with my team, and then you got captured by your enemy, and you are not hungry?" Sakura couldn't believe that the persona sitting next to her is most undetectable liar in Konoha. Itachi was really hungry, not like he would admit it, and the food really smelled nice but "How should I know if my food is poisoned or not?" He asked her looking for the slightest sign of guilt, to conform his concern.

Sakura wasn't guilty, she was surprised by that question but then, again, she smiled lightly at him and said, while raising the chain up so he can see it, "Because if you died, even if it was from food poisoning, I'd die with you, Itachi-kun." Sakura's eyes widened in surprise when she let the last word go off her mouth, why would she add 'kun' to his name? He isn't her friend, she didn't know him.

Itachi's expression wasn't shown obvious on his face, he was surprised of being called 'Itachi-kun' but he didn't show it. He hated this girl for disturbing his life pattern. Sakura, somehow, didn't notice the look he was giving her. He was getting tired of her smiles, they were so effective on him, for some reason. This girl ,he decided, is a threat to him, she was a bad influence on him. Itachi looked away from her before any other smiles get out of her face. He has to get himself out of this problem.

Unexpectedly, the door was knocked and Sakura stood up from her chair to open it. But Itachi's senses yelled 'danger'. His hand caught her wrist stopping her from moving, she looked at him trying to find a reason for his action. He had a serious look on his face and that made her wonder.

Suddenly, Itachi triggered his sharingan, to see if there is any chakra around the house. To his surprise, he noticed that the house had explosive tags in every meter of it, his eyes widened. Sakura felt worried when she saw his eyes turn from untainted black to pure terrifying red. Sharingan, she realized. And she became more worried when he tightened his grip around her wrist.

He would easily escape them but what about her. He never had a person to care about in a long time, he never cared about another person's safety in the battle, but this time it was different.

The door was knocked again, harder this time, but Itachi wouldn't let her go open it. "Is something wrong?" Sakura asked in concern "Don't move." Was Itachi's whispering command, Itachi then pulled her behind him as he stood up, and started walking fast, to find a way out of this trouble. He got up the stairs and pulled Sakura, who was now confused and scared, she didn't understand what was happening so she said "Itachi-kun wha…." Then suddenly….

*BOOM.*

The first explosion was at the front door, and Itachi could hear footsteps getting inside the house, hurrying. Sakura held Itachi's arm with her other hand after she realized what's happening, Itachi turned his face to his side to look down at her, cause she was shorter than him, she was scared, and a little blushed too, but mostly scared. Her eyes were shut when she asked "what's going on ?" in a rather panicked voice. Itachi's answer was "They're coming after me." Sakura opened her eyes wide and said "Who are (they)?"

Itachi answered "Your own people," with his eyes hiding behind his bangs.

Sakura let go of Itachi's arm and got her wrist free, she just stood still surprised that it might really be the ANBU who is doing this. Itachi stopped walking and turned to her saying "We don't have time for this, we have to leave now." Sakura was hiding her eyes, when she said "THEY are not from Konoha. THEY can't be." Itachi then know that she was not going to move till they reach them, only to prove to him that THEY are not from Konoha. Itachi was not ready to bet his life on it. He did the only thing he thought was going to save them. He went to Sakura, took her head in his hands, and looked her straight in the eye and then he said "I will get us out of this house even if I had to force you." Sakura knew that he'll use his eyes on her.

Itachi used his chakra to take the energy from her body, Sakura's eyes widened and look directly at his dim eyes.

Sakura fainted of energy drain, then he looked at Sakura's Emerald shining eyes, and as he expected, she fainted in his arms.

Now the ANBUs were behind him, he used his sharingan's black fire to block them for a while, and jumped out of the window covering Sakura's body with his own, to protect her from the broken glass.

Itachi landed on the ground lightly, and the broken glass pieces, cutting throw his back. He started running in the streets of Konoha holding Sakura in his arms, followed by the ANBUs. Everyone's eyes were on him, all the people in the streets thought, after seeing him with his scratched head band, holding the unconscious Sakura in his arms, and being followed by the ANBUs. That it was a big disaster and that Itachi is kidnapping Sakura. The whole way he was running, no one offered help, they just looked at him with fear and anger, and went inside their houses. But one woman, a girl more like it, saw him with Sakura and yelled "HELP." She was Ino, Sakura's friend, just getting inside her flower store. She thought of Itachi like everyone else did. The ANBUs heard her screams and came immediately to her spot, surrounding Itachi. He had already used his sharingan once before and it was not the best for him to use it again so he decided to just give up, they weren't planning on killing him, he realized, they didn't use weapons on him. If they were planning to attack him, they would have tried to, at least, stop his movement. But he looked at Sakura in his arms, she was so calm. Then he remembered the fear and concern she showed for her life, in her eyes. He never had that before.

He smiled lightly then he closed his eyes and after a second he opened them, showing his sharingan which compelled all the people, around him and for a very far distance, to drop unconscious. His sharingan eyes began to bleed, and his sight was weak and fussy, his whole body was screaming from the pain he felt. But he, somehow, managed to control the pain and he walked out of the village for a merely short distance. The ANBUs were still on his tracks. Then he reached the timber bridge, that was hanging by a few ropes. Itachi wasn't planning on crossing it, but the ANBU followed them fast, so he ran as fast as he could on that bridge, he felt wood breaking under his feet. Now the ANBUs were on the other side of the bridge incapable to cross. Itachi was almost there, on the other side of the bridge, but a strong sharp pain went through his body, convincing him to fainted on the bridge,(I mean, come on, he hadn't got any sleep and he was hungry and tired besides he used his sharingan too much).
The ANBUs couldn't cross that old, weak bridge. Because Itachi made enough damage by crossing it holding Sakura. While the two of them, Itachi and Sakura, were unconscious on the other side, the ANBU cut the thin ropes, that were holding the bridge. And the whole bridge fell down. Taking Itachi's collapsed body and the unconscious Sakura with it, to the far river below them.

Sakura opened her eyes to see Itachi bleeding from everywhere she could see, she also noticed that the blood, coming from his wound, was dropping up. That meant they were falling, and with her fast thinking, she held Itachi's hand and grabbed on some rocks on the cliff. She was barely hanging, with Itachi's weight and hers depending on her small hand. It was like a vision from the past, when she had to catch Sasuke from falling. Itachi was even heavier than Sasuke. Though She's stronger now but she wasn't that strong. Sakura called Itachi trying to wake him up "Itachi-kun ,Itachi-kun wake up." He did not respond. She looked on the other side to see the ANBUs staring at them, waiting for them to fall. With a look that said 'HE HAS TO DIE EVEN IF YOU HAD TO DIED WITH HIM'. Clearly they wanted to kill Itachi, but they wanted it to look like an accident. Cause Tsunade would never forgive them, if they had killed her best student. Sakura then noticed that a strange looking ANBU just arrived, he took his mask off, surprised, she recognized him as Sai, her teammate.

Sai was yelling at the other ANBUs, the second he saw Sakura, ordering them to help her, since he was the leader, they had to obey so they all hurried to help her and Itachi, after listening to the new orders.

Sakura's hand was badly hurt she looked angrily, after they got on the safe ground, at the ANBU and shouted "What in the hell were you trying to do?" Sai looked at her, like he always does, in his teasing look and said in his mischievous tone "He is a criminal."

Sakura then raised the chain, for the second time in this hour, and said "I'm still chained to him, if you had killed him I would have die with him." She was tired of repeating this sentence, everyone just forgot about the chain like if it isn't there. Well, it is there and it is long enough for a bat to see it.

Sakura then felt a shouting pain in her body ,the same pain as Itachi's. Because she was too stunned and surprised, at the situation, before to notice it her mind blocked it, but now that she was save the chain transformed the pain to her body.

The whole world was becoming darker, the picture in her eyes rotated, her head became heavier, Sakura fainted next to Itachi's peaceful body, hearing Sai's unclear voice saying "Sakura-chan are you ok?"

Another Author's note:

So the next chapter is going to take a while, and it might be short. But I'll work hard on it, you have my promise on that :D. And as always, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, all the reviews are appreciated, and if you found something is missing in my fiction don't hesitate to tell me :3.