In the Blink of an Eye

(A/N: Yes, I know, I'm crazy for starting a new story. But when the mood strikes, you can't just put it aside. Just like my need to play the drums… sometimes I'm not around my kit to play so, chopsticks come in handy. Anyways, enjoy the show and drop a comment to let me know what you think.)

Summary: (Naruto/Ghost in the Shell Crossover) AU. Non-mass. Subbing as a medic on Squad one, Sakura's first ANBU mission to spy on the Akatsuki goes horribly wrong when she and her Captain are thrust into the future. Main pairing ItaSaku, minor ItaMoto and BatoSaku.

~xxx~

Sakura packed the last of her clothing into her pack with a sigh. This was going to be her first ANBU mission and she was a substitute medic. Sakura would have preferred to be a full status medic but she was 'too green' (or so Genma said) to be on the active roster.

"It's not fair, Sakura-chan!" her blonde brother cried as he crossed his arms and leaned against the wall, a cute pout on his lips. "You get to go on your first mission while me and Teme have to wait another month!" Sakura looked over her shoulder with a soft smile.

"I'm sorry Naruto. I'm only a sub for this mission and it's not like I'm going to see any action anyway." She said softly, amusement shining in her emerald eyes as Naruto turned his head and grumbled.

"Still… it's your first mission and we have to wait a month. A MONTH, Sakura-chan!" Sakura rolled her eyes.

"Just think, Naruto, if we do find anything… your team will be sent for sure." She said and zipped her back shut before she flung in over her shoulder. His eyes snapped to her, worry clear in his sapphire eyes.

"You take care of yourself, ok?"

Sakura grinned at him. "You know I will." He gave her a thumbs up before heading out the door. Sakura gave a small huff and steeled herself, calming her nerves before following her former teammate out of her room. It was times like this Sakura wished her mother was still around. But she pushed that thought aside and headed for the door with mask in hand.

~xxx~

Uchiha Itachi stood waiting for his team to arrive with his cousin and weapons specialist, Shisui. They had walked together, as per usual, and now they were waiting on their communications specialist, Genma and their substitute medic, Sakura.

"It's too bad Hana couldn't come. I have a feeling that this mission is going to be more trouble than it's worth." Shisui commented with a light frown and a finger tapping his chin.

"Are you referring to the fight between Genma-san and Haruno?" Itachi asked, fingering the small dent on his wolf mask. A dent he received when training with the very medic they were waiting for. Shisui grinned in response.

"That'll teach him for calling her 'Pinky'." He said as he sat back on his haunches, fingers now digging in the dirt.

"No one calls me that and gets away with it." Sakura spoke as she strode towards her temporary teammates. She smiled as she came to a stop before them, looking at Itachi directly. "Not even your brother."

"It is good to see you are on time." Itachi said with a nod of his head. Sakura just smirked.

"Actually, I'm five minutes early, Itachi-san."

Shisui rubbed the back of his neck. "I kinda figured you'd be like Kakashi-senpai and show up late for everything." His chuckle was met with a playful slap on the arm.

"I was only late for your party because Ino decided she wanted to change her clothes… again." Sakura grumbled with a mock glare. "I would have left her there had you not made me promise to bring her." Her eyebrows wiggled in suggestion. "Something you want to say, Shi-kun?"

"N-no…" he sputtered, turning away from her intense gaze. The trio settled on silence for the next ten minutes. Genma was now five minutes late. And when he arrived, Itachi was not too happy with him. But they continued with the mission briefing and set out moments later. Albeit, an hour behind schedule. Thanks Genma.

~xxx~

"Tobi and Zetsu will be meeting you by tomorrow." Leader-sama spoke to the two holographic images of his artisan subordinates. More bad news for the Puppet Master.

"We will wait for them at the southwestern peninsula." Sasori grumbled, glancing at his partner. "I hate waiting."

"Calm down Danna, yeah. You'll be back to your art in no time." Pein stared between the two as they began to argue about art… again.

"If you are finished." He said, his voice as cold as the steel of a kunai. "You are to gather information about this 'machine' and report back. If anyone should interfere; get rid of them."

"Hai, Leader-sama." The two chorused at the same time while glaring at each other. Their images flickered then disappeared.

"Seriously, we should have gone instead of those fucking heathens." Hidan voiced, turning his beady stare to their leader.

"You will get your chance, rest assured."

"Enough of this sharing shit! I need to sacrifice something."

"Calm down, Hidan. It is unwise to upset Leader-sama." Kakuzu spoke, turning to his irate partner.

"Eat a dick, Kakuzu. I'm outta here." His image disappeared shortly after that along with his partner. Pein really had some interesting subordinates.

~xxx~

Civilians had spotted two cloaked figures walking along the dirt road towards the ocean. That's what they were going to investigate. Tsunade had saw fit to make this mission top priority, seeing as how the civilians reported the men to be wearing black cloaks with red clouds. The higher ups knew the Akatsuki were after the tailed beasts; have known for some time now but never made a move until today.

Now, Sakura's experience with the Akatsuki was far beyond her temporary teammates'. She had destroyed Akasuna no Sasori during the mission to rescue Gaara. Deidara blew himself up in an effort to take out the Konoha team on his tail. Safe to say she was ready for active duty. That's why she was placed in the field early.

"We will approach the cliffs from the southwest." Itachi's voice beckoned Sakura back to reality. "Our mission is to investigate and avoid confrontation if at all possible." Three masked faces bobbed in understanding. "Sakura will go with Shisui and Genma with me. Search the area thoroughly but keep out of sight."

"Hai, Taicho." The three chorused in unison and readied themselves for action.

"We move now." Itachi commanded in a low whisper, blue and white wolf mask tilted in the direction of their destination.

Sakura and Shisui were the first to move, heading toward plateau parallel to the dirt road as Itachi and Genma bounded towards the upper cliffs. Staying within radio contact range was key to the operation, and Itachi made it abundantly clear that this mission had no room for error.

The rocks were sharp yet brittle, easily snapping off with the right amount of pressure. Moonlight cast eerie shadows on the rocky terrain as Sakura followed Shisui's lead just under the plateau. Movement to the left caught her attention as she and her teammate slowed to a stop, ducking behind a large boulder.

"Targets spotted, 100 meters northeast of our current location." Shisui whispered into his radio.

"Conformation." Itachi answered. Shisui turned to Sakura, waiting for an answer. Had she not been wearing a mask he would have been able to see her pretty face marred by horror.

"I-impossible…" she whispered, leaning over Shisui to get a better look. Two days! Two goddamn days of travel only to find her nightmare turned reality… standing on the plateau above her.

"Say again, do you have conformation?" her captain said slowly, irritation evident in his voice.

"Hai, Taicho." Sakura whispered, heart pounding in her ears. "Verified targets as Akasuna no Sasori and Deidara of Iwa." There was a pause over the radio.

"You are certain?"

"Of course, sir. I could never forget their chakra." Sakura answered, pressing herself against the rocks at her back.

"I thought you killed the Suna nuke-nin?" Genma asked over the radio, she could tell he was straining.

"I know I did." She about snapped into the receiver.

"Could it be a genjutsu?"

"No, it's not." Shisui hissed. "We would have spotted that a long time ago."

"Hold your position. We are coming to meet you." Itachi intoned, irritation replaced with a hard tone Sakura was unfamiliar with. And so, they waited.

~xxx~

"I hate waiting." Sasori grumbled for the umpteenth time. The duo had been waiting in this exact spot for hours and it certainly wasn't helping to calm their nerves knowing Zetsu and Tobi were an hour late. Well, Tobi can't travel the way Zetsu does; it could possibly kill him… not that the two really minded that bit of information.

"Ah, Deidara-senpai! Tobi missed his senpai!" a loud, obnoxious voice cried from the distance.

"I apologize for the wait. Tobi is slower than originally planned." Both sides of Zetsu commented as he appeared from the ground. "Are you ready to go?"

"We were ready hours ago." Sasori snapped, glare honed on the orange masked man currently hopping around Deidara.

"Tobi, if you don't shut the hell up, I'll knock you into next week." Just as Deidara was about to punch Tobi, the masked man held up his hand.

"Tobi thinks it's time for you to go now." He chimed as he looked between the two. "Kisame-san is already waiting for you on the other side." There were nods all around. And, just like that, the two Akatsuki members were sucked into a void.

~xxx~

In recent weeks strange things have accrued around the city of New Port. It started with the assassination of the head of the governments weapons agency. The only evidence left behind at the official's home was a piece of white cloth. Which they had found imbedded in the skin of the man's back. Next was the sighting of a large cloaked figure just seconds before an armory was broken into. Oddly enough, nothing was taken. And the millisecond the man appeared on camera offered no answers either.

Major Kusanagi Motoko and the members of Section 9 had been called in to investigate numerous armory break-ins but came up with nothing. The Major parked her car and stepped out with a sigh.

"I take it you've had as much luck as the rest of us?" a beep voice called from the adjacent lane. Batou stood by his car with the door opened, one foot still inside the vehicle.

"Nothing checks out. Ishikawa hasn't turned up anything either. I'm beginning to think this 'Phantom' character isn't real at all." Motoko said as she locked her car and headed for the elevators. Batou followed suit, rushing to catch up with his superior.

"Pazu came back empty handed just like the rest of us. The guys down in information are calling our guy 'Ninja' because he's in and out without being spotted." Batou grinned as he stepped into the elevator with the Major.

"Who ever he is, he's been caught on camera once. We'll just have to wait for him to slip up again." Motoko supplied with another sigh, running her fingers through her cropped, purple hair. Before Batou could speak, Chief Aramaki, the head of Section 9, beeped their personal communicators.

"Kusanagi, Batou, head straight for the Tachikoma hanger. The 'Phantom' has been spotted entering an abandoned building in sector 4."

"Right away, Chief. Is there any other information on hand?" the Major asked as the elevator came to a spot. She and Batou bolted down the hall towards the holding bay for the 'spider tanks'.

"Uploading photos and data now." Aramaki spoke then broke communication. Their cyber brains processed the data in seconds as the pictures flashed before them.

"And just what the hell is that supposed to be? A man or a shark?" Batou roared as they turned down the long hall, hanger in sight. The picture was that of a tall, very, tall man dressed in a black cloak with red clouds. Strapped to his back was a huge wrapped sword… possibly. But the man's features really stuck out. Blue skin and hair, large flat brow covered by a metal band of some sort. There were black stripes under his beady eyes and sharp teeth gleaming menacingly from behind thin lips. "How close was the guy? I mean, this is up close and personal."

"The data says it was taken from the memory bank of an officer on patrol just before he was killed." Motoko stated as the hanger doors flung open and they set to work.

~xxx~

Sakura blinked… how could they just disappear like that? One second, they were standing right above her and the next…

"There are four shinobi in the area." The Venus flytrap said, half his body sticking out of the ground.

"I will deal with them." The masked man said. Did his voice just change? An ominous feeling pooled in the pit of Sakura's stomach as Itachi and Genma arrived. The flytrap vanished into the ground, no doubt keeping tabs on them, and Tobi moved away from the ledge. "Come out little shinobi. I want to play with you." As one, the ANBU squad appeared before him with various weapons in hand. Three men and from the looks of it, one woman.

"Haruno-san, hang back." Itachi whispered over his shoulder. He saw her nod and dip into a defensive position. "Squad one, formation nine-A." A heartbeat later, the team surrounded Tobi who seemed disinterested in them.

Genma punched and missed. Shisui teleported behind Tobi and aimed a kick to the back but it went through the man. The two team members jumped away as Itachi unleashed a fire jutsu. Nothing they did worked. Then the man just disappeared.

"Shit!" Sakura cried as she jumped away from the hands reaching for her. A chakra infused hand hit the ground with enough force to collapse half the mountain side. A chunk of land slid into the sea in the wake of her hit.

"Ooh, a feisty little kunoichi," the man sneered, obviously confident in his skills. "But you're in the way. With your healing abilities… you'll only delay the inevitable." Tobi made a move to grab her again but Sakura dodged his hands again. "Slippery too," he laughed.

"Bastard…" she hissed, gathering chakra in her fist. Sakura lunged, powerful fist raised and cocked. With a twist of her hips, Sakura aimed for the gut… and it went through him. Tobi grabbed her arm and flung her into Itachi.

"Are you injured?" Itachi asked her as they stood.

"I'm fine. What the hell is that guy?" she seethed, dusting herself off. Genma and Shisui were on the offensive, trying to land a solid hit.

"Annoying pests." She heard Tobi say then he turned to face her. "Time to disappear."

"What the--" Sakura cut herself off; it felt as if the air was sucked out of her lungs, the very air around her began to swirl. Arms and legs felt heavy as everything started to spin.

"Haruno!" someone shouted in the distance. Her eyes began to droop like she was being hypnotized and everything went black. Itachi was by her side in a flash as her body was being pulled into a vortex, he along with her. Shisui and Genma could do nothing but stare; their captain and medic were just sucked into Tobi's mask. It was time to retreat.

~xxx~

They were falling hundreds of feet per second and somehow, Itachi lost his hold on Sakura's shoulder. Her smaller frame limply plummeting to her death and he would not allow it. Making his body as straight as an arrow, Itachi sped towards her and grabbed a hold of her arm. Sakura jolted awake.

"What the hell?!" she screamed, clinging to her captain.

"We are going to land on the water." Itachi spoke over the loud whistling of the wind. "Turn you body and use your chakra to slow your descent." A quick bob of her head signaled that she heard him. They moved at the same time and began to slow down. It seemed like an eternity before they hit the water and skid across the surface. Coming to a stop, Sakura held onto Itachi's arm to stabilize herself. Flood lights snapped on suddenly, forcing the stunned shinobi to shield their eyes.

"This is Public Security Section 9." A voice shouted from afar. Sakura and Itachi whirled around to see boats coming at them quickly. Within seconds they were surrounded.

"What is going on here?" Itachi hissed. Things seemed a little off…

"Itachi," Sakura whispered, tapping his arm to get his attention. When Itachi turned to look at her, she was staring at something else completely. Following her gaze, this breath caught in his chest. "I don't think we're in Fire Country anymore."

Skyscrapers lined the skyline. Concrete and steel structures jutted from the ground, cement roads, flood lights and flying vehicles…? Where the hell did they just get transported to? This was definitely not the land they were familiar with.

"Drop your weapons and put your hands on your head." A man commanded through a bullhorn.

"Do you see that? They're standing on the water." They heard someone say.

"How is that possible?" someone else said as a boat slowly, cautiously made it's way toward them.

"Hey! I said, drop your weapons." The first person said again from the boat. Sakura looked up to see a bulky, white-haired man pointing a strange weapon at her. His eyes looked like the caps from a coke bottle and he was scowling at them.

"Do as he says, Haruno." Itachi intoned quietly. She watched him drop his kunai to the water, sinking into the dark depths. An odd thought struck her then… how was it that they could find two people, dressed in all black, standing on the ocean surface… in the middle of the night? The world may never know. Sakura dropped her weapons and the man on the boat instructed them to step forward with their arms raised. They were hauled onto the boat and promptly secured.

~xxx~

Bright. It was very bright. White walls, white ceiling, a metal table and chairs. It was an interrogation room. And if the white-haired guy was anything like Morino Ibiki back home, Sakura was in a world of trouble. She had been separated from her captain about an hour ago and hadn't seen or heard from any one since. Taking another look around, Sakura noticed a mirror mounted on the wall to her left… just like the rooms in the basement of ANBU HQ. They were watching her but she couldn't sense any chakra from the other side.

The door opened without her notice but the heavy footsteps caught her attention.

"Take off the mask." The white-haired brut said as he sat down. Sakura went to move her hands but they were cuffed to the chair.

"I wish I could." Sakura responded quietly, yanking on the cuffs to emphasize her point. The man sighed and reached across the table. One finger hooked under her chin and lifted the mask with a quick flick. The red and white cat mask fell to the floor behind her.

"You're a girl." He said more than asked, surprise evident in his voice. That was it! Sakura swore to herself that once she was free to go, she'd beat the crap out of this guy. Damn giant or not.

"Were you expecting someone else?" she asked, one pink brow raised in amusement. The man didn't reply right away.

"Your friend didn't say much." He started, leaning back in his chair. "Why don't you tell me why you're here and what you were doing in a restricted area?" Sakura blinked and clamped her lips shut. She rolled her shoulders in an 'I-don't-know' fashion. He sighed and rubbed the palm of his hand over his face. "Ok, how about you tell me who this guy is?" he held up a picture of the blue-skinned man.

"Where… how… when…" she sputtered, sifting through the images on the table.

"You know him then?" the man asked, a grin on his lips. Hard emerald eyes glared up at him.

"I wish to speak to my superior before I disclose any information to you." Oh, she was a feisty one alright. The man paused for a moment as if speaking to someone in his head before he nodded and stood. Sakura turned her head to face the mirror as the man left the room. She glared. She glared through the mirror and at the person she just knew was watching her. If looks could kill, whoever was behind the glass would be dead… a hundred times over.

Ten minutes passed and the door swung open again. She could feel Itachi's irritation in his chakra. And when she looked up at him, all Sakura could do was stare. Itachi had a fat lip, a bloody nose and his left eye was a bit swollen and turning purple.

"Taicho…" Sakura made a move to stand but stopped… and growled. If she weren't in an interrogation room, she'd break the cuffs and aim a chakra infused punch to the grinning man behind her captain. The next person to enter was a woman with purple hair, athletic build on her tall body and a slight frown on her lips.

"You have ten minutes to discuss your options then we want answers." She said then stepped outside the door. "Batou, let them be for now."

"Yes, Major." the white-haired man, Batou, sighed and followed her out. The door closed with a slam. A few tense moments passed before Itachi sat down across from Sakura.

"Are you alright, Taicho?" were the first words to leave her mouth. If she had the use of her hands, she'd heal him. But with the unknown element of their environment, Sakura was not willing to test these people. Especially the damned giant in the hall.

"I will be fine, Haruno." He said but didn't look it. "What is the meaning of this?"

"The Akatsuki are here. The masked member sent them here." Sakura whispered, watching Itachi's frame straighten in the chair.

"You are certain?" he asked, one eye focused on her. Sakura motioned to the table with a nod of her head.

"That's the Kiri-nin from the bingo book. They are definitely here, Taicho."

His good eye focused on the photos for a long time before he nodded in agreement. "Very well." The door opened again and the Major and Batou re-entered the room.

A/N: So, yes, no? Too farfetched or what? Drop a line and let me know what you think. PLEASE! If you're not familiar with the Ghost in the Shell series, I suggest you watch it. As in all three movies and both Stand Alone Complex shows. There's like… twenty-six episodes for each series. Ghost in the Shell: S.A.C and Ghost in the Shell: S.A.C 2nd Gig are worth the watch. I promise you'll love them. Anyway, enough rambling… review and tell me what you think. I seriously need the feedback. Thank you for your support.