He was powerful. With the black flames licking before her, the heat around her scorching. It was a miracle that she wasn't consumed by the dark flames, but yet it was not.
"Itachi." Her voice was not her own. It held a note that was unfamiliar to her. She had tasted an array of emotions, everything from fear to a distant, cold love. It was different.
"Sakura." She heard his voice, crisp like the flames about her. But wasn't he like his Amearatsu? Burning with life and love, his beliefs scorching their way into other's lives. He had a powerful affect on people, but wasn't everything that Itachi did powerful?
"Yes?" She answered, her emerald eyes taking in his tall, thin form. He smiled at her, his hand extending outwards towards her face. He cupped her cheek gently, and a strange thought entered Sakura's mind. Itachi was a killing pacifist. It was, in every way, ironic. Suddenly, the trapped air around them seemed to shudder, and long black stretches consumed the image before her. The last thing she saw was a maroon liquid dripping from the Uchiha's mouth when...
_?_
Sakura woke up quickly, her breathing heavy. Noticing that her forehead was slick with sweat, she tried to push herself up in the bed. Frowning inwardly, she realized the bonds keeping her in the bed were laced with chakra. Sakura strained against them for bit, then stopped as they cut into and started to burn her wrists and ankles. She did not know where she was, but she knew she had to get out soon. Scanning the otherwise empty room, her eyes landed on a single chair next to the low bed she was restrained to. So, her captor watched her while she was unconscious, she duly noted. How interesting. Suddenly, the hair on her neck stood up, and she sensed a strong chakra behind the thin door. Unsure whether to pretend to sleep or not, she merely blinked as the door opened.
Slipping on her emotionless mask, she braced herself for an onslaught of torture that surely was coming soon. When the tall, dark figure entered the room, she blinked. And then blinked again. Not only did she recognize her captor, she knew him. They had shared a past. They has shared years together, relationships. Let the torture begin, she thought to herself grimly. He approached the bed, and met her emerald eyes with his onyx ones. They shared a gaze until the pain in her chest forced her to look away. But, she thought, this was not an injury. This ran much deeper than that. This was the pain of loss. The pain of losing someone precious to her; him.
Keeping her look at the bleak ceiling above her, she was all too aware of the ominous presence now standing directly above her. The cloaked man reached out as if to touch her face, which caused her flinch, the only emotion she allowed to register. He withdrew his hand, and then sat down in the wooden chair, keeping his eyes on her the entire time. He opened his mouth as if to say something, but Sakura kept her gaze steady on the ceiling.
"Sakura", he said simply, with no infliction in his voice. Just a simple word. But that word was her name. Ignoring this, she continuted her staring contest.
"Sakura." This time, there was a hint of pain in there. She slowly turned her head to look him straight inn the eyes. The onyx clashed with the emerald, and Sakura almost lost her composure. Almost. Inside, she was in turmoil, but on the outside, she was a cool mask of calm. His face was almost as impassive as hers, but her recent training beat his personality.
"Sakura." He was beginning to sound like a broken record, repeating the same thing over and over.
"Hn". This was her reply.
Knowing she was mocking him with the response, he continuted his broken speech.
"I'm sorry", he huskliy spit out.
Anger bubbled up inside her, threatening to take down her emotionless mask. He was sorry?!
"What for? Are you sorry for breaking my heart a year ago? What about killing Sasuke, or joining the Akatuski without me? HOW ABOUT KIDNAPPING ME?!" She lost her temper, arms trying to break the bonds, chakra flaring.
"How DARE you tie me up!" Focusing not on his surprised face, but rather the charka bonds, she pushed destructive chakra to her the areas she was tied down. She no longer cared if she was burned, or the fact that he was merely sitting there with a disgusting smirk on his face. She wanted, no needed, to release her anger, her hatred towards the man next to her.
Her hate overflowed into her chakra reserve, adding to her power. All at once, the bonds snapped, allowing her to break free. She bolted upright, standing on the bed, now eyeing the man who had not moved.
Now suspicious, she leapt down from the bed, flicking the pale pink strands away from her eyes. He flinched as she touched the back of her head, her hand coming away with a sticky red substance. Because of her recent chakra use, she dared not waste precious medical chakra on a mere head wound.
Itachi, on the other hand, seemed almost desperate for her to heal herself. His hands twitched towards her and she tensed. Crouching lower, straining her tight muscles even more, Sakura let a slightly feral growl resound from deep in her throat. Something clicked inside of her. Why was she acting this way towards him? She didn't act this way even when she was corned by other Akasuki. Of course, the kunoichi thought to herself, she was hurt much more deeply by this man. Itachi had betrayed every emotion she had showed him. These dark thoughts clouded her mind as she sprung towards the cloaked missing-nin. Swinging her chakra laced fists with the intent to seriously injure, Sakura unwillingly screeched to a halt as she met her captors eyes. Realizing her mistake half a second to late, she froze in his infamous justu.
She spun in a circle, desperate to find a way out of the darkness that was quickly descending upon her. Suddenly a crow swooped down and tore at her flesh. It was followed by another, and then two more, until a whole flock of them surrounded her. Unable to breathe, Sakura fell to the ground, the pain in her head unbearable, and she slipped once again into unconsciousness.
Waking up the second time was much less bearable. Her head was pounding, making her grit her teethe in pain. This time, she was restrained with some type of curse justu, one she knew she wouldn't be able to break with only destructive chakra and raging hormones. A blurry face lingering above her slowly came into focus, and she gasped for breath as Itachi stared into her emerald orbs. This time she decided to let him do all the talking, trying to keep her unstable emotions in check.
"I don't want to hurt you anymore, Sakura, but if you keep resisting I am left with no choice but to use my sharingan on you," he paused. Obviously waiting for her to respond, he left a pregnant silence to fill to stagnant air.
Instead of replying, she chose to surprise him and she blinked again, this time the atmosphere in the room taking a plunge when her eyes turned a dark crimson. She heard him take a deep gasp, and then felt his hands on both of her cheeks. He climbed on top of her, hoping to get a better look at her face. Itachi's frigid hands raised the hair on her arms, and she stared into his shocked eyes.
"How?" He said this as if asking how there were four seasons. He made the question sound almost boring, like he didn't really care about the answer. To anyone else, this is what his tone would have said. But to Sakura, it was as if he was screaming at her.
Just the reaction I wanted, Sakura thought. Mmm hmm. Just the reaction.
"Do you like them? I believe you are familiar with how they work. I mean, you should know considering they are part of your lineage," she taunted him with this answer, not really replying to his desperate question. Why should she give him answers. All he had ever done was hurt her. And now it was her turn to hurt him.
