Warning: There's a bit (alot) of Sasuke bashing here so if you want SasuSaku this is definitley not the fanfic for you. No flames pleasssseeeeee...READ AND REVIEW!

Angel of Vengence

sasuxsakuxita

"Sasuke-kun! I can sense 2 chakra signatures over that direction." Karin said pointing to the east, "The greater one is definitely Itachi."

"And the other?" He demanded, his sharingan flashing the moment his wretched brother's name is mentioned.

Karin hesitated, closing her eyes in concentration. "I'm not sure...I haven't felt it before."

'His partner, perhaps?' Sasuke thought. He remembered the blue-skinned shark man that followed his brother around, it could be him.

He instantly ran to the east, Team Hebi followed closely behind. Not half a mile he sensed his enemy's chakra. Indeed it was his brother, but the other one startled him- it was familiar. He had felt it before, it seemed so long ago during his much naive days.

He finally arrived at the clearing. With his sharingan swirling, he glared intensely at the man before him, his brother, Uchiha Itachi.

"I know you'd come." He said blankly with calm that seemed to anger him further.

"I'm going to end this once and for all!" Sasuke roared,

"What else is new, foolish little brother?" With the same bored look on his face.

Sasuke charged his chidori, a powerful surge of electricity on his palm. Itachi however seemed unfazed, like this had been done sooo many times before. Again, the phrase repeated within his mind 'What else is new?'

And with blinding speed he charged. To the normal eye it would seem that the boy had disappeared into thin air, but with the eyes of a master sharingan holder,like Itachi, it would look like Sasuke was slowly walking towards him with an electric ball on his hands.

Surprisingly though it hit him square in the chest. A fatal hit if it weren't for the fact that Itachi had substituted himself long before the attack even hit.

Cursing, Sasuke broke, not his brother but a mere log.

He cursed even more when he felt his enemy's chakra slowly getting further away with amazing speed. Another escape and another loss for poor Sasuke. He was so close. The murderer was teasing him. Like waving a piece of meat over a dog and pulling it back the moment he reaches for it.

"Coward..." he muttered under his breath, "Running away is useless, I'll still find you." He said this more to himself, comforting his lost and adding hope to his goal.

He turned and went off for his teammates but something made him stop. It could have been an ambush or a barrage of kunais but no, it was something much simpler but still as dangerous.

"Sasuke-kun?"

At first he though it was Karin but no, this one was different. That voice. He heard it a thousand times before but now it's soft melody felt like he had heard it only today. Hundreds of memories flooded his mind of pink-hair and green eyes.

"Sasuke-kun"

He heard it again, it was getting closer. He turned and saw the person whose voice stopped him dead on his tracks. Her appearance was unmistakable, there was only one girl he knew who had that peculiar shade of hair. Yet at the same time she had grown so much over the past 4 years.

"...Sakura" her name trailed off his lips before he could stop them,

He activated his sharingan checking for any signs of genjutsu, there was no way this was real. Yet it was. She was there, flesh and blood, no illusion what so ever. Scared by the hostility of the crimson eyes, she retreated a few steps back. Sasuke did not dare remove the sharingan, her presence was still very strange.

"You're far away from Konoha, Sakura." He said casually, "This is no place for someone like you." He meant to say 'someone weak' but he did not want to insult her with the truth.

Sakura lowered her head, "You haven't changed a bit, Sasuke-kun."

He didn't know whether to be insulted or complimented. Which did she mean?

"Why are you here?" he asked

"Same as you."

He was startled "You're here for Itachi?" his eyes narrowed with suspicion, "Why?"

Her answer was simple. "I figured if I find Itachi, I find you."

Oh, so that was it. A clever ploy, Sakura was always smart. Too bad her skills weren't as good. She would have made a powerful kunoichi. "So your going to bring me back to the village?" It was her and Naruto's goal after all. 'I'd like to see her try...' he thought,

She looked up at him and surprisingly- she smiled. "No."

Sasuke couldn't help but be shocked and it clearly showed through his once stoic face. He quickly composed himself. Was it not her and Naruto's dream to have Team 7 be reunited? A foolish dream but a promise made for a lifetime. Was it not her who begged him to stay and be with her? Who confessed her love and even asked if she could join him? What happened to her?

That smile it felt strange to him. It wasn't the goofy smile she gave him when they were small. No, this was different. It was pity and...regret.

He was tempted to ask her why but his pride refused to show that he was affected. So he asked a more practical one.

"What about Naruto?"

She looked away and stared at a distance, almost as if she was searching for an answer herself. "He can get you if he wants it so much. He is strong but sometimes those who learn to let go are the stronger ones."

Her last words sounded strange. He recognized the tone as the same one he used after a failed attempt to destroy his brother. Almost as if she was saying it to herself than to him. It was very unSakura like.

"You've changed." He concluded,

"People do that sometimes," her gaze went back to Sasuke, burning him with her stare. "We learn from our mistakes."

'So that was it.' he thought. He was confused, her words were subtle but their meanings were the same but now with her final statement he understood. He always thought Sakura would always be Sakura. The little girl who would welcome him with open arms even though he shoved her away so many times. He once thought that if he had finished his first goal then when he moved on to the second, Sakura was the first of his list of candidates to be his wife. Yet here she is now, indirectly telling him, but telling him nonetheless, that she had moved on.

"I understand..." was all he could say,

Feeling that his presence was no longer needed he turned to leave. But once again he was stopped.

He felt Sakura's body crash into his. Her arms wrapped around his waist, her chest at his back and her breath on his neck.

Unbeknowist to him, his sharingan involuntarily deactivated. This scene reminded him of another memory. Long ago, Sakura was willing to risk her life save not only her enemies from him but also himself. But unlike the hug before, which was pleading, this felt more like goodbye. She was saying goodbye.

And she sealed it with words that came out of his own lips not so long ago.

"...Thank you" she whispered in his ear

The irony of it all was completely laughable but he dare not utter a sound. The words made an impact to his cold and frozen heart. Much like a punch breaking the solid barrier that sheilded his heart from useless emotions.

'So this is what she felt.' he thought, wincing slightly. He tried to imagine how much it hurt her more when he said it. His heart was protected, hers wasn't. The pain must have been unbearable. Guilt rushed down on his empty soul.

He felt her warmth leave him. 'No!' He wanted to say, he wanted her back. But he was too late, she stood behind him like a shadow, a shadow of her former self.

But she wasn't done talking yet. Her choice of words shocked him. "Good luck finding, Itachi. I've heard his new partner is clever, powerful and knows how to hold a grudge. I hope you don't get yourself killed, I want to see you again. When your ready, I'll be waiting."

And Sasuke went off, jumping from tree to tree. 'She'll be waiting' he smirked, 'I guess she isn't as over me as I thought she was.' With new hope rising from him, he went off to search for his teammates. He still had a chance with her.

Or so he thought...

sasusaku fans could stop here if they want cause the following will have a bit of sasuke bashing, just safe to say I warned you

She watched his back as he jumped off. She wasn't lying like you expected. She was honest and true, it was Sasuke who had misunderstood her meanings. She did want to see him again, but for an entirely different reason.

"'Till we meet again, Sasuke-kun." She said adding a sarcastic tone to the "kun".

Then she whispered to someone in the shadows. "He's gone you know, you can come out now."

A cloaked Akatsuki stepped from beneath the shadows of a large tree. His chakra was still masked.

"Did you enjoy the show?" she asked coyly,

"Did you plant the tracker?" he asked, ignoring her question,

She looked like she was offended, "Of course I did, Then that sickening display would have been for nothing."

The Akatsuki smirked, "I thought you were enjoying it."

Sakura smirked, "Seems not only have I tricked one Uchiha but two. Sempai, I thought you would know better. Feelings only make us weak, and that is something I never want to be. Why do you think I joined your little group?"

"You really wish to leave all that behind? Even my brother?"

"I do. And believe me sempai, the next time I cross paths with Sasuke-kun don't expect it to be a friendly one." She cletched her fist, a murderous look on her face, "I will have my revenge."

At that moment, as he stared at the her, he noticed something. Her look, it was the same as his brother's. The same bitter scowl he places everytime he thinks of his murderer brother. Despite her bitter hatred for him, Sakura may have more in common with her teammate than she thought. Just as well as Sasuke has more in common with Itachi. Both created a killer from pure hatred and betrayal, they're own little demons ready to end their life.

This Sakura was Sasuke's demon, the embodiment of his neglect and determination to kill his brother. And what sweet irony it is to have that person you neglect the most be the one that bites you in the ass. 'Foolish little brother.'

Sasuke has no idea what monster he has created.

And for that the Akatsuki finally decieded, this monster decerves a chance to take her revenge, just like Sasuke deserves his.

He tossed her a cloak. A token of acceptance to her new life.

"This this mine?" she asked as she examined the crimson clouds on her cloak,

The Akatsuki nodded, "Welcome to hell, partner."

Meanwhile with Sasuke...

Sasuke arrived meeting his team half a mile from the clearing. He was about to question them but Suigetsu answered him first.

"We thought you and your brother needed some alone time." Was Suigetsu talk for 'We don't wanna get our butts kicked by your maniac brother.'

"Hn" a typical Uchiha reply "Let's move."

They headed westward, a village was nearby so they might as well have some dinner. They arrived at dusk.

It was unusually quiet. Normally Karin would try flirting with him and Suigetsu would nag at her. But there was only silence as they slurped their ramens.

"What's wrong?" Sasuke asked, not that he wasn't enjoying the silence, although it did bother him a bit.

His teammates looked at each other, hesitating to answer. It was Suigetsu who decieded to speak.

"W-We were wondering why you suddenly abandoned your brother in mid-fight."

Sasuke's eyes narrowed, "I did no such thing. Itachi ran away."

"N-No Sasuke-kun!" It was Karin "I felt three chakras. Yours, Itachi's and someone else's. Itachi's never went farther than yours. Even when you left, he was still there."

His eyes widdened. "No! It's impossible."

He gripped the edges of the table. He left, he felt it. Unless-

No! Impossible but it was suspicious. Exactly at the same time he left, Sakura appeared. Sasuke was not the type of person that believes in fate and destiny (that's Neji's job) and this was too strange to be called a coincidence.

'Sasuke-kun'

Her voice sounded so convincing. So innocent...yet so untrue.

He slammed his fist on the table. She was decieving him. Faking that innocence. He should have seen through that facade but, as smart as he was, he fell for it.

He always does.

But now he truly understood.

'You haven't changed a bit'

Ah, that's what she meant. He was still clouded by the memory of that weak little girl that he didn't realize that she might just become a threat to him.

No, she didn't want to bring him back to the village. Because she already left it.

'We learn from our mistakes'

Apparantly she has. And he was the one that made the mistake, not her. He never should have left. If he didn't, she wouldn't be standing beside his worst enemy. She would still be with him.

'Thank you'

He growled. Those acursed words, it struck deeper than any wound could. She must have enjoyed it, seeing him in pain, making him know how it felt to be rejected, to be left behind by the one you love. Sasuke cletched his fists. He really did deserve it, after all it was all his fault. He created the monster. He created this killer from a neglected soul.

And now she stands beside his brother. Because she knows he'll never give up, just like she'll never give up on him.

Sure, He'll find Itachi and when he finds him, she'll be there. His creation, his vengeful angel. His end.

'...I'll be waiting'

"...Sakura"

"Atchooo!" she sneezed,

"Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." Sakura turned to her partner, "Thank you, Itachi-sempai."

And off they went, to the horizon. Matching red clouds on their cloaks and an interesting friendship brewing.

Yay! I'm finished!

No offense to all SasuSaku fans but if it isn't obvious, I REALLY HATE SASUKE!

-You may have noticed that at the end Sakura and Sasuke are compared. It was something I found interesting while watchin the first Naruto series.

-So Sakura joins Akatsuki to be with Itachi (in a way) how original of me, NOT

-To make Sasuke's babbling short: Sasuke broke Sakura's heart, the same way Itachi broke Sasuke's trust when he killed his family. It is a bit OOC of Sakura to want revenge but hey it is my story.

-And last, review please and tell me if you want a sequel or something...