Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

My Life On The Line

Chapter One – A repaired life shattered again

"Bye Naruto, Bye Sasuke, I´ll see you guys tomorrow." I called back into the large apartment that I had just left.

"Bye Sakura-chan!" Naruto yelled back while Sasuke added a more quiet 'see you tomorrow'. I smiled and closed the door firmly before heading out on the streets.

My name is Sakura Haruno and I´m 22 years old. I have natural pink hair and emerald green eyes rimmed by thick eyelashes. I am an average 5 feet 6 inches with a slim, athletic build and a C-cup chest. I am currently between jobs but I have enough money to not have to worry. My father worked as a successful lawyer when he was alive and since my mother left years ago, I inherited all his money.

My mother left my father and I a few days before my sixteenth birthday and I haven´t seen or heard from her since. Being abandoned like that put me in a light depression that triggered my longing for tattoo´s and piercing´s. The result was that my ears are filled with small silver hoops from top to bottom. I have a tongue piercing, a belly button piercing and an eyebrow piercing in my left eyebrow. I also have a dragon tattooed on my right shoulder blade, its colors black, red and blue and a tattoo of the grim reaper on my right calf.

My father died four years ago, right after my eighteenth birthday. I haven´t celebrated my birthday since then. But he didn´t die of natural causes, he was murdered.

The last case he worked was a nasty one, a gang with contacts in high places had their leader sent to prison for murder and attempted kidnapping. They of course were not happy and the police said that they were most likely the ones that ordered the assassination of my father.

I turned a corner and bumped together with a man dressed in a large black jacket despite the early summer heat. I apologized but he didn´t even stop so I shrugged and continued on my way.

Soon I reached my small apartment that was located on the second story of a three story building. I had a small living room, a tiny kitchen and a slightly larger bedroom and bathroom. The floors were wooden and the walls painted in different warm colors like yellow, cream and tan.

The furniture was nice but worn yet I didn´t buy new things despite having the money to do so. I dropped my bag by the door and clicked on the TV on my way to the bathroom to take a shower.

My hair was cut in a cute pixie style and was quickly washed, my body took a little longer with shaving and whatnot but soon that was done too and I exited the shower smelling slightly of oranges from my body wash.

I wrapped myself in a large baby blue towel and walked back out to the living room to go to the kitchen. But my eyes locked on the TV and I sank to the floor, shaking as I realized what was showing on the news.

The gang leader of the Sound gang, Orochimaru, had been released from prison. He was the one who ordered the murder of my father.

Suddenly I remembered the man I had bumped into earlier and a bad feeling erupted in my stomach. I went straight for the bag that I had dropped on the floor earlier and searched through it frantically.

I small piece of paper caught my attention and the feeling of dread only increased. I picked it up with shaking hands and read the short sentence that was written on it.

We will come for you

The note fell from my hands as I flinched when the sound of my cellphone ringing startled me back into the present. I picked up my phone with shaking hands and answered without looking at who it was.

"H…Hello?" I asked with a shaky voice.

"Sakura are you okay? I saw the news…" Sasuke´s voice reached me from the other end and I felt like I wanted to cry. But I hadn´t cried for several years and I wasn´t going to start doing it now.

"I´m… I´m…" I was stuttering and currently unable to complete my sentences it seemed, thankfully Sasuke knew me very well.

"Take it easy Sakura, breathe, Naruto and I are on our way over right now so don´t be scared when we unlock your door." He kept talking to me but I had stopped listening. They were on their way and that was enough.

We had been friends for what felt like forever but in reality was only fifteen years. We had met when we started first class and had been inseparable ever since. When we were seventeen they came to me and told me that they were gay and in love with each other, fully expecting me hate them.

But I didn´t care about that and our friendship grew even stronger.

I was still in a sitting position on the floor, clad in only a towel and staring blankly ahead of me when Naruto and Sasuke unlocked my front door and entered my apartment.

Naruto's spiky blonde hair and azure blue eyes appeared in front of me and I blinked twice before focusing on him instead for on nothingness.

His large hands clutched my shoulders and he asked me seriously. "Sakura-chan are you alright? Did something happen?"

I silently held up the note in front of his face and he took it carefully from my hand before standing up and reading it together with Sasuke.

"I´ll call my brother, he might have an idea on what to do." Sasuke said and then discreetly told Naruto to take care of me while he did that.

Sasuke´s older brother, Itachi, worked with his friends as private investigators slash bodyguards. They did all kinds of work that was connected to security. They were known as the Akatsuki and the best in their field of work.

Sasuke disappeared into my kitchen to make his call and Naruto instead of helping me up, simply picked me up bridal style and carried me into my bedroom where he put me down on the bed.

He fetched another towel from the bathroom and dried my hair before grabbing my hairbrush and gently combing through my hair until all knots and tangles had disappeared. He then patted my body dry and dressed me in clean underwear as well as a pair of pajama pants and a tank top.

That he dressed me might´ve been uncomfortable and awkward had he not been gay and one of my best friends for so long. As it was now, it didn´t bother either of us, it was just another way to care for each other when something happened.

I curled up under the covers of my bed and felt Naruto follow me after shedding his shirt and his pants. It was close to 11 pm so it was no wonder he was tired as well. I felt his boxer clad body stretch out next to my own and then Sasuke appeared in the doorway.

"I couldn´t get a hold of Itachi but I left him a message, he´ll call back when he can." Sasuke told us before flicking off the lights and shedding his own clothes before joining us in my large bed. He crawled in on the additional side of me and I sighed contently and remembered when we had slept all three in one bed like this the last time.

It had been a few months ago, after an especially rough day and a visit to the cemetery in pouring rain. I hadn´t wanted to be alone so I went over to the apartment the two of them shared. They let me in of course and since I was both drenched from the rain and shivering with cold they first put me in the shower before tucking me into bed sandwiched in between them for warmth and comfort.

I felt a tiny smile graze my lips before I fell asleep.

I was heading home to the small house my father and I shared after a night out with my friends when it started raining. I swore quietly and ran the last way up to the door.

I fumbled to get the key inside the lock but when I put my hand on the door for support it opened and I was left standing with an increasing feeling that something was very wrong.

"Dad?" I called out and took a few hesitant steps inside the dark room. I found the light switch and turned on the lights, only to reveal the mess that had been hidden in the dark.

The entire room was trashed, like there had been a fight or if someone had looked for something that they didn´t find. I called out for dad another time and when I still didn´t get an answer I started to get worried. Had something happened to him?

I looked through all the rooms on the bottom floor without finding anything except from trashed rooms in complete disarray. I then turned towards the dark staircase and started climbing it with trembling limbs.

When I reached the top I saw that the lights were on in the room that was my father's office. I had to swallow a few times to get rid of the nervous lump in my throat before I could gather the courage to push open the door to his office.

The sight that met me was horrifying and scarred me for life.

The entire room was painted red with dark, half-coagulated blood dripping off everything. I turned to the side and emptied the content of my stomach on the hallway floor.

In the middle of the room was my father. He was on his back on the floor and his internal organs were spread out throughout the room, his chest and stomach just empty cavities.

I jerked awake and immediately noticed that it was no longer night outside, the morning sun filtered through my sheer curtains and made delicate patterns on the floor.

I was covered in a fine sheet of cold sweat from the lingering nightmare that really was a memory and looked around to try and locate where my boys were.

I was alone in bed but could clearly hear them talk as well as the sounds of cooking coming from the kitchen. It seemed as if they were making me breakfast.

I got out of bed and after a quick look at the thermometer; I picked out an outfit for the day and headed for the shower. When I exited the bathroom about fifteen minutes later I once again smelled faintly of oranges.

I was dressed in a pair of denim shorts and a loose fitting black t-shirt with a picture of a zombie-kitty on the front. I brushed my hair and pulled on socks before tying on a pair of black converse and joining the boys in my kitchen.

The boys seemed to just have finished making breakfast and on my table were pancakes, different kinds of fruits and berries as well as a small bowl of whipped cream and a bottle of syrup.

I poured all three of us some orange juice before we sat down to eat. The food was delicious and while we ate, Sasuke told me.

"My brother called back this morning, he and his partner are coming over in a little while, they wanted to talk to you directly Sakura." He said seriously and I frowned.

"They think this is serious?" I asked him and he nodded his head slowly.

"They might…We´ll just have to wait until they get here and see what they say about it."

We sank into silence after that and the rest of the meal passed quickly, I offered to do the dishes since the boys had cooked the food and they smiled at me before going into my living room to play left for dead on my x-box 360.

I heard the boys talk and laugh while killing zombies and that put a smile on my face while the dishes were done and then dried off and put away. I was thinking about what would happen when Sasuke´s brother and his partner showed up.

I remembered Itachi from when we were younger but I hadn´t seen or met him at all for about eight years since he had moved out when he turned eighteen. I knew nothing of his partner or the rest of the Akatsuki except for that their youngest member was only two years older than me.

I wasn´t sure what to expect and I didn´t like it.

Besides, the Akatsuki were quite expensive and I didn´t know if I could afford their help should they decide that I need it. But what should I do if it really were Sound coming after me because of my father?

I felt a headache start to build and I pinched the bridge of my nose to relieve some of the pain while pulling a glass from the cupboard before filling it with water that I used to swallow a pain pill.

I almost dropped my water glass when a voice sounded from behind me.

"How are you holding up Sakura-chan?" I spun around so that I was facing Naruto before I told him.

"Don´t sneak up on me Naruto! You´re going to give me a heart attack someday…"

"Sorry Sakura-chan…" He apologized and I sighed before answering his original question.

"I honestly don´t know how I´m holding up Naruto… I´m a mess… It´s like everything is coming back to haunt me and I can´t figure out why they would come after me now? They have already killed my father and my mother has been missing from my life for the last six years so I don´t understand why? I don't know anything about them except for what can be learned by watching the news… what do they want with me?" I ranted and Naruto let me talk without interrupting me.

When I finally ran out of words Naruto stepped closer and wrapped his arms around me in a hug and I let my body relax against his before admitting.

"And I´m not sure it's a good idea to involve the Akatsuki in my problems… What do I do if they decide that I need help? I don´t think I can afford them…" Another voice added his opinion from the doorway and I looked in that direction to see Sasuke´s dark eyes rest on me.

"Don´t worry about that just yet Sakura, Itachi is coming here as a favor to me so let´s just hear him out before deciding anything shall we?"

I nodded weakly and opened my arms for him to take Naruto's place in a hug. I was really thankful for having such amazing friends like these two; I would be completely lost without them.

A few hours later it knocked on the door and I immediately tensed up, but Sasuke stood from his seat on the couch and went to open. I paused the game Naruto and I was playing and watched Sasuke as he looked through the peephole before unlocking my door, opening it for his brother and his partner.

Itachi looked about the same as I remembered, he was a little taller, about 6 feet but had the same black eyes that seemed to see through your body to your soul and the same long, silky black hair that he kept back I a loose ponytail.

He was dressed in form-fitting black cargo pants and a black t-shirt with a red cloud with white lining on the back. He filled out the clothes with more muscles than I expected though. I recognized the red cloud as Akatsuki´s logotype and the thigh holster in which I could see a gun was both frightening and a little exciting.

His partner entered last and shut and locked the door behind him. He was a giant of a man, at least 6 feet 5 inches tall and built from only muscles.

I looked like a midget next to him.

His skin was peculiar though, with a pale blue-grey color. His hair was blue as well and he had pale golden eyes that looked oddly kind and gentle combined with his otherwise vicious looks. He was dressed in the same outfit as Itachi only he also had a black backpack over one shoulder.

Itachi should be 26 years old if I remembered correctly and I had a faint memory of Sasuke mentioning that his partner was a year older. I was pulled from my reminiscing when Itachi bowed his head in my direction and told me.

"It´s good to see you again Sakura, too bad it is during these circumstances." I smiled at the man that had been like an older brother to me ever since I first met him when I was seven and he was eleven and answered.

"It´s good to see you too Itachi." I opened my arms with a small smile and let the older man hug me. When he let go he gestured towards his partner and introduced him.

"Sakura this is my partner Kisame Hoshigaki." I had to tilt my head back to be able to look Kisame in the eyes but his wide toothy grin was worth the effort, he had a million dollar smile just like Naruto.

"Do I get a hug as well?" He asked in a dark, rumbling voice half seriously and half joking. I opened my arms wide for him and told him truthfully.

"If you want one, you can have one. I love hugs." His smile grew even bigger and then his massive arms were wrapped gently around my body and I was lifted into the air and pressed against a muscled chest.

His hugs were awesome.

He set me down carefully and then it became all business. Sasuke, Naruto and I returned to our seats on the couch while Kisame sat in my lone armchair, Itachi took a seat on top of my coffee table in front of us and asked.

"So what exactly did happen yesterday? Sasuke only said that you might be in danger and needed help." I glared at Sasuke for making it sound like I was some kind of damsel in distress. Just because I was shocked hearing that my father's murderer was released from prison and now was coming after me for some reason… I sighed and focused on Itachi before asking him.

"You know the circumstances around my father´s death right?"

"Yes he was murdered by the Sound gang because he had their Leader Orochimaru put in prison." I nodded.

"Exactly, yesterday when I was on my way home from Sasuke and Naruto's apartment I bumped together with someone who I believe placed this note in my bag." I told him and handed him the note. "When I came home I took a shower and then I saw on the news that Orochimaru had been released from prison, that´s when I remembered the man I bumped into and searched my bag, finding the note."

Itachi frowned as he looked at the note before passing it to Kisame who also looked at it before asking if he could keep it. I told him that he could and he put it in a small plastic bag that he pulled from the backpack.

"So what do you think?" Sasuke asked Itachi. "Are they serious or are they just messing with her?"

"I´m not sure yet… I have to check a few things but I don´t think this is someone joking." Itachi answered and the ominous silence that followed made chills crawl up my spine.

When Kisame and Itachi had left again, Naruto, Sasuke and I was sitting on the couch not really knowing what to do next.

Kisame had taken the black Ford explorer back to Akatsuki´s headquarters to search the note for fingerprints. Itachi had borrowed Sasuke´s deep blue Nissan skyline and was on his way to the prison where Orochimaru had been imprisoned to search for clues as to what he was planning.

The game was still on pause but no one seemed interested of playing anymore. There was a feeling in the air that something dangerous was about to happen…

We managed to entertain ourselves and keeping our minds off what might be going on with the Sound for a few hours but when we reached early afternoon I couldn´t take it anymore.

"Gah! I´m going crazy in here! Let´s go back to your apartment or something?" I begged the boys and they shared a look before shrugging.

"Sure we can go back to our place if you want to." Naruto told me and within five minutes we were ready to leave. We went down to the separate garage and I backed out my cute little wrangler jeep that wasn´t so little.

It was the military model, meaning it was wider and higher than the regular ones. It was military green and completely bad-ass. Since it was really hot outside today, I took out my screwdriver and took apart the doors. Leaving only the lower half of them in place, the upper half of them I put in the large trunk.

The boys and I then reentered the car and took off down the road in the direction of the boy's apartment. A few blocks away from our destination something unexpected happened though…

A series of muffled pops followed by dings in the metal of my car indicated that something was very wrong. Someone was shooting at me. A pained moan sounded from the passenger seat next to me and I turned my head to look, only to wish I hadn´t.

The dark blue of Sasuke´s shirt was drenched with blood that seemed to pour from a bullet hole in his right shoulder. I told Naruto and he pulled Sasuke from his seat and onto the floor in the back where he both tried to stop the bleeding as well as avoiding further injuries from the bullets that still bit into my car.

I did my best to zick-zacking through the traffic to make myself a harder target. I also sped up and changed direction so that we were headed towards the hospital. I felt a flash of pain on my left upper arm but it disappeared in the adrenaline rush I felt.

I searched frantically for my phone while still trying not to crash my car when Naruto handed me Sasuke´s phone, Itachi's number already dialed.

"Sasuke?" Itachi answered and I felt so relieved that I almost dropped the phone.

"No it´s Sakura, we´re in trouble! We were on our way back to Sasuke and Naruto's apartment when someone started to shoot at us!"

"Okay Sakura calm down and listen to me, are any of you hurt?"

"Sasuke got hit in the shoulder, he´s bleeding pretty bad. I´m zick-zacking through traffic trying to get to the hospital."

"Okay can you see what kind of car their driving?" Itachi sounded calm but I could hear the worry in his voice. I couldn´t see the vehicle following me clearly so I asked Naruto to look for me.

"It´s a… a ford Everest SUV, a red one." Naruto told me before he swore and pressed a hand against his own upper arm.

"You okay Naruto?!" I yelled over all the noise and got an 'I´m fine' back. Suddenly the windshield was shattered and flying glass cut my face and arms.

"Sakura! Sakura are you okay? What´s happening?" Itachi yelled in the phone and I gave the attention I didn´t need for driving on him. I blinked blood out of my eye and reported.

"It´s a red Ford Everest SUV following us, Naruto took a bullet in the arm and then the windshield shattered." I told him in a voice much calmer than I would have thought, inwardly I was freaking out but there was no time for that right now.

"Okay I have a team out to follow that car, Kisame and I will meet you at the hospital." Itachi told me and suddenly the shooting stopped. I looked back to see a black Ford explorer following the red SUV that had taken a left where I had gone straight.

I sent a quick thank you to the team in the following car and then concentrated on getting to the hospital.

A few minutes later I came to a stop with screeching tires outside the emergency entrance at the hospital and Naruto, despite his own injury got both Sasuke and himself out of the car and inside the building where I could see Itachi meet them and helping them in.

I was still as high-strung as during the drive over though and couldn´t get my seatbelt off so I could go inside and see how my boys were doing. I was just about to freak out when the door opened and a familiar massive blue arm reached over me and undid my seatbelt for me.

I more or less fell out of the car in my eagerness to go to my boys and only Kisame's strong hands held me on my feet.

"Whoa, slow down Sakura, look at me." He ordered and I complied, I could see worry in his eyes as he examined the cut on my forehead and then he noticed blood dripping off of my arm and onto the ground.

"Where does all the blood come from? Did you get shot as well?" He asked and when I didn´t answer he rolled up the short sleeve of my t-shirt, revealing a bullet graze that wasn´t especially deep but bled a lot.

"Come on kitten, you need to have this looked at." He said and before I had time to protest, he had picked me up and was walking inside.

"No I´m fine… I have to check on Naruto and Sasuke." I told him and squirmed in his hold in an attempt to get down.

"You will do no such thing until you get that looked at." Kisame told me sternly. "But if you let this doctor here look at you, I´ll go and check on the others for you, deal?"

"Deal…" I muttered as the doctor started fussing over me.

Half an hour later my wounds were dressed and the cut right above my right eyebrow had been stitched up. Now I was anxiously pacing the small waiting room for any news on my boys since Kisame hadn´t returned yet.

Suddenly he returned though, his tall, blue form hard to miss. He searched the waiting room with his eyes and when they locked onto me he made his way over, an unreadable expression on his face making me even more nervous. He noticed my expression change and quickly reassured me.

"Don´t fret kitten, they´re going to be fine. The bullets went straight through so they only have to stay for observation over the night; they can go home again tomorrow."

"Then what took you so long?" I demanded to know and he actually grimaced before saying.

"Well there´s a slight issue with the Uchiha´s father… But…" Before Kisame could finish that sentence I was on my feet and halfway through the waiting room, heading in the direction of the room my two boys shared.

When I burst through the door Itachi was on the phone with his father and Naruto and Sasuke were in their beds with similar shocked expressions.

I heard Kisame enter the room behind me and when he closed the door, Itachi hung up on his father with an angry frown marring his otherwise beautiful face.

"What´s happening?" I asked in a frightened whisper. Naruto looked up with tears in his eyes but had to look away again so Sasuke was the one who answered me.

"Father heard of my accident… He thinks it´s dangerous for me to be around you right now… He´s flying me and Naruto to Japan for six months, we´re leaving early the day after tomorrow…" He said and looked up at me with eyes filled with sadness that matched my own.

Since we met each other, we hadn´t even gone one week without seeing each other but this time it didn´t seem as if we had any choice. Sasuke´s father had always liked me, but now he saw me as a threat to his son´s health… And perhaps I was just that, a danger to those I loved. Perhaps the two of them leaving for Japan for a while was for the best, even if the thought of being away from them for so long almost broke my heart…

"Oh…" Was all I could say before darkness engulfed me and I fainted.

So what do you think guys? Please let me know!

If you have any suggestion as to who Sakura should end up with please let me know who and why in a review or a pm. It will be someone from the Akatsuki but Zetzu and Tobi/Madara/Obito won´t be in this story.

Love C