Hey everyone! This is another fic dedicated to another bff! Hope you like it girl!

Decadence From Jealousy:

Chapter 1

Team seven stood in the Hokage's office. Well, what was left of it. They had one strong willed kunoichi missing from their group. Actually, it was the reason that the stoic Uchiha and the exuberant blonde had been called for. And let's not forget the care free sensei of theirs. They all stood in shock at the news they had just heard.

"She what?!" Naruto yelled at the Hokage.

Tsunade rubbed her temples in frustration. Just how many times was she going to have to repeat this today?

"Naruto, just calm down for a second. I know this has probably shocked you all, but my request is you go after her." She said calmly while pulling out a sake bottle.

'Why Sakura? What would possibly drive you to do such a thing?' she thought to herself as she poured her drink.

For once Kakashi had put his Icha-Icha Make-Out Paradise book away. He looked quite laid back, but you could tell from the tone of his voice held concern.

"Do you have any leads Hokage-sama?" he asked.

As Tsunade downed her fourth shot, she shook her head.

"Nope. They were pretty good at covering their trail out of the village."

Sasuke stared out the window, his hair shadowing his expression. He gazed over the buildings in silent worry.

'What the hell is wrong with her? Doesn't she realize how dangerous that man is? Typical Sakura, playing the damsel in distress so we can rescue her butt…' he thought slightly annoyed at the turn of events.

He turned his attention back to the Hokage as she was debriefing them.

"Now remember to stay cautious. As you know Itachi and Kisame are a very formidable duo. And now that Sakura has joined the Akatsuki, her abilities as a medic could be extremely dangerous. Bring her back by force if you must, just bring Sakura back. I'm classing this as an S-rank mission. You three will have to be on full alert. Especially you Naruto. Leave as quickly as possible." She dismissed them with a wave of her hand.

As the three filed out of the office, the atmosphere changed from worry to that of dread. Wasn't the point of teams to learn to fight alongside comrades, not against them? Why? Why did Sakura just get up and leave the village for Akatsuki?

Kakashi kept on walking as he stated, "Well, you two go get some supplies and meet me at the gate in a half hour."

"Hai!" the two chunnin replied.

The two then leaped across the roof tops toward their apartments.

Decadence from Jealousy: scene two

Sakura stood in front of a steep mountain alongside Itachi and Kisame.

"Welcome to your new home girly." Kisame said to her.

Sakura just sighed. Home. It was a term that never applied to her before. Konoha never felt like home without Sasuke. Now that he was back, she finally realized that she would never be good enough for him.

She looked at Itachi's face and smiled a bit. She had found someone who openly cared for her now.

"Hai." She whispered.

Itachi looked over to her and wrapped an arm around her waist. He gently hugged her to him and kissed her cheek.

"Forget about Sasuke now. You never meant anything to him, but you mean the world to me. Forget that wretched place. We'll start over together, just like I promised you." He whispered in her ear.

Her eyes closed slightly as she settled against his warmth.

"Mmhmm." She murmured as she leaned against his shoulder.

Kisame started tapping his foot.

"Why don't we go inside so you can finish this elsewhere? That way, you can be all lovey dovey and I can go puke." He asked sarcastically.

Itachi nodded, never leaving Sakura's eyes.

Kisame rolled his eyes, "Great, well, I got to go and find a bathroom before you two start making out."

With that the shark man released the genjutsu on the mountain to reveal a cave. He walked briskly inside the dark cavern.

Sakura giggled as she watched him walk away.

"Is he always like that?" she asked once her giggles quieted.

A smile tugged at Itachi's lips.

"Pretty much." He answered.

He let go of the embrace and led her into the cave. Sakura was soon engulfed by the darkness.

"Come, we must go see the leader."

Decadence from Jealousy: scene three

Night had fallen over the dense forest that surrounded Konoha. A young man leant against the wall of the great gate of the village. Accompanying him were three dogs. His Konoha forehead protector slid further down one side of his face as he sighed.

Kakashi opened one eye as he heard someone approaching. He turned to see a familiar shock of bright blonde hair jogging towards him.

"Hey Kakashi-sensei. You're actually not late for once!" Naruto smirked at his sensei.

Kakashi didn't answer at first. He looked up towards the stars and smiled a bit.

"Yeah, ironic isn't it? The one who usually comes last is first and the one who usually comes first is lagging behind."

Of course Naruto knew who he was referring to. Sasuke usually was the first one to show up for anything. Naruto looked around for his teammate but found nothing but the eerie silence of the village. He looked down at his feet when he felt something cold on it. He saw a small nin-dog sniffing his foot. It raised its head.

"Yo, Naruto." It said, raising its paw.

"Hey Pakkun! What are you doing here?" Naruto asked the dog.

Naruto studied the other two dogs. One was a huge grey mastiff and proceeded in drooling on Naruto. He recognized it from a mission he had awhile back. If he remembered correctly, the dog's name was Bull. The one that sat obediently at Kakashi's feet was new to him though. It was medium sized and had a wild black coat. Naruto was at a loss for what breed it was, but it resembled a wolf more than a dog.

Kakashi glanced at him with a bored expression.

"They're here for the mission. You already know Pakkun and Bull, but Tsume is a new recruit. Even so, she's very good at tracking. I went to Sakura's house earlier and found a few items that still had a strong scent on them. We're going to be splitting up, each of us taking a dog with us. I have to tell you now though; if you spot an Akatsuki member alert me at once via radio. We're taking a big risk sending you with only a nin-dog as protection, but I figured you wouldn't want it any other way if it meant finding Sakura." He explained.

Naruto nodded vigorously. Kakashi smiled at the response. Although Naruto had matured greatly in the three year long training period, he held the same will of fire to protect those precious to him. Most called it ridiculous to be so energetic when it came to his friends. Kakashi however, thought it quite noble for such a young shinobi.

Kakashi was pulled out of his thoughts as he felt another familiar chakra signature approach.

"About time you got here Sasuke-teme! You should have been here ten minutes ago!" Naruto shouted as Sasuke leapt to the gate.

"I lost track of time walking down the road of life." Sasuke muttered.

Kakashi looked in surprise at the excuse. That was always the excuse he used when in reality he was late because he was thinking of his late teammates and sensei. Did Sasuke really take the blow of abandonment harder than he let on?

He shook these thoughts away as he focused on the task at hand.

"Alright, we'll be splitting up in search of Sakura's scent. Bull will be teamed with Naruto, Tsume will be paired with Sasuke, and I will go with Pakkun. Our priority is bringing Sakura back, but be weary of other Akatsuki members. Especially you Naruto." He paused as the nin-dogs went to their partners, "Now, I assume you both have your radios?" both shinobi nodded. "Good. We're going to be splitting up to do a five kilometer search for her scent. If the scent leads to what may be their hide out, radio each other and we'll regroup. Any questions?"

Naruto and Sasuke shook their heads. Kakashi looked between his students and their partners.

"Good. Disperse!" he motioned for them to leave as he gave the command.

Decadence from Jealousy: scene four

The room was lit by a few torches, but shadows still lingered among the dancing tongues of flame. Sakura looked forward into the seemingly endless hall and bowed slightly to the person at the end of it. Itachi bowed his head in respect.

"Pein-sama, I have brought Sakura Haruno as you asked. She wishes to become a member." Itachi stated in a low voice.

"Very good Itachi. You are dismissed." The cloaked man said.

As Itachi left the room, Sakura started to feel a bit nervous. She bit her lip slightly and she glanced back at the stone door as it slammed shut.

"Step forward." Came Pein's bored drawl.

Sakura did as she was told. She walked down the stretch of stone floor. Her heart beat synchronized with her footsteps on the floor. She took a deep breath as she reached Pein's sitting form.

As soon as she stopped, Pein got up from his seat and circled her.

"Hmm, by your build, I assume you're not a taijutsu specialist?" he asked.

Sakura shook her head.

"You don't seem like a prominent genjutsu user."

Sakura shook her head again.

Pein stopped circling and faced her.

"I can tell that your chakra control is desirable though. What exactly is it that you do Miss Haruno?" he asked her.

Sakura obediently replied, "I specialize in healing Pein-sama. I have a large gauge of stamina and strength, but I do not specialize in any jutsu. However, I'm able to determine genjutsu from a far distance and avoid most taijutsu based stances. My ninjutsu is average, but my stealth has been ranked well over average ability for my rank."

Pein's strange eyes stared down at her with interest.

"A med-nin? I have been told that you were under the tutelage of the sannin Tsunade correct?"

Sakura nodded.

"My, that's interesting. Although you are but an average chunnin, I will contemplate your worth through missions. We have never had a med-nin join are ranks, so I dare say you would be useful…"

Pein nodded for Itachi to walk back in the room.

"For now I will have you placed under the tutelage of Itachi on capturing jinchurrikis. Tell Kisame that he is on break for awhile and tell Deidara and Tobi that their target is the nine tails. For now I want you two to go after the two tailed Nibi. You are dismissed. Itachi will show you to your quarters."

Sakura and Itachi bowed and exited the room. Itachi led her through a corridor that was also lit by torches. At the end of the corridor was a door which opened to a living area. There she spotted more members. On the couch sat a blonde haired man with his hair pulled back in a pony tail. He had a large piece of metal covering his left eye. Next to him sat a brown haired man with a bright orange mask covering his face. In an arm chair sat Kisame. On the floor playing cards on a coffee table sat a woman with blue hair and another man with what Sakura thought was a venice fly trap around his head.

Itachi wound his way through the group and motioned her forward.

"This," he motioned at the coffee table, "is Konan and Zetsu."

Both people playing cards stopped to bow their heads and quickly returned to their game.

"You already know Kisame, but the two knuckleheads on the couch are Deidara and Tobi."

Deidara's head shot up at the remark.

"I resent that! I am NOT a knucklehead." He shouted at Itachi. He turned to Sakura, "However, Tobi here is an idiotic fag, so pay no attention to him."

The man donned with the mask yelled, "Tobi's a good boy!"

Sakura widened her eyes in disbelief at this exuberant fellow. She couldn't help but giggle as Tobi started to ask a bunch of stupid questions to Deidara. Of course, this earned him a smack to the head and the whole room began yelling at him.

"Oi, Tobi! Stop harassing Blondie over there. Pein-sama has awarded you two the chance to capture the Kyuubi. You better not screw this up." Itachi said bluntly.

Deidara perked up instantly. He smiled sadistically.

"What's that Itachi? You got pulled from your target? My, my, looks like Pein-sama finally came to his senses and replaced you. As if you and shark boy over there could ever capture the nine tails." he smirked at Itachi. "Guess that just proves that I'm better than you."

Itachi's face remained calm as he replied, "It is merely temporary as I train a new recruit." He tugged Sakura's wrist slightly bringing her in front of him. "This is Sakura and she has so graciously decided to render her medical skills to our group. Which reminds me, Kisame, you won't have missions for awhile."

Kisame's face immediately turned to a pout as he started muttering incoherent words.

Deidara also pouted for a bit. He brushed this away as he retorted, "Oh yeah, well Pein-sama still chose my team before anyone else!"

"Is that all you can come up with? What a lame come back." With that, Itachi dragged Sakura over to another door.

He opened it to reveal a hallway that had thirteen doors across it.

As they walked passed them, Itachi named them, "Behind that door is the kitchen and this one is the bathroom. This room is Pein-sama's and this one is Zetsu's. Next to it is mine, Kisame, Tobi, Deidara and Konan's room. There are extra rooms from members that have died, that I'm sure would accommodate to your needs."

They came to a door at the end of the hall. Itachi opened it to reveal a small room with the essentials; a bed, dresser, a bookcase, and a desk in the far corner. Sakura walked over to the bookcase that was full of ninjutsu scrolls.

"Feel free to read them if you want. They used to be Kakuzu's. I'll go find you a robe for you to wear outside. In the mean time, you can unpack. Is that all right Sakura-chan?" Itachi asked from the doorway.

Sakura walked back over to him and kissed his cheek. She then nodded her head.

"Thank you Itachi-kun." She whispered, a blush dusting her own cheeks.

He gave her a warm smile that was saved just for her.

"Anything for you Saku-chan." he kissed her softly.

Both their eyes closed as their lips made contact. It was short, but sweet.

Itachi muttered against her lips, "I guess I should go get that robe for you huh?"

Sakura nodded.

Itachi brushed his lips against hers and left the room. Sakura sighed and fell back against the bed. She sighed and smiled. How had it come to this?

She slowly drifted off to sleep as she rolled the answer in her head.

Decadence form Jealousy: chapter end

I hope you all liked the first chapter! I'll get to work right away on the second one. Please review. This is my first ItaSaku fic. Don't fret though; it will eventually turn to SasuSaku. Anyway, please tell me what you think and remember I do NOT accept flames! I also allow anonymous reviews. Till next time!

Hyuuga's pale rose