A/N: my first Naruto fic, please go easy on me. It's a Sasuke x OC x Itachi story, the Uchiha love triangle without any yaoi. If you don't like it, please don't read it, but if you do, please review. Constructive critisism is always appreciated.

I'll try to keep them as in character as possible. :)

I do not own Naruto or any of the lyrics I use in this story. Circa Survive owns most of these lyrics, and I forgot the creator of the Naruto series. But you get the point.

Right now, I want you to say it
I wanna know why you abandoned this and now hate it
just why?
But you don't know why
Such an elusive, guileful, meaningless sham

The air was crisp; the wind cutting through it like a knife. She felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand up as she awaited the morning sun.

Those who possess the power will flee from it. In all my life I have never seen anyone stand up to face something they knew to be more powerful then themselves.

She let a small smirk escape her lips. The once dark sky was beginning to lighten, becoming a dark blue instead of midnight black.

Just the thought of being you could send a man to tears.

The dark blue sky started forming colors. Different shades of blue scattered around white, and orange started forming near the horizon line. She started to take off the bandages from her arms, starting with the left one. She took her time with them, and in her mind she started to calculate the exact moment the sun would appear.

I've only met someone like you once before. He was eventually killed off by his village. They thought that he could, at any moment, subconsciously slip out vital information. His head wasn't in the right place and with the amount of time he spent unconscious - he was practically already dead.

A single tear fell down her face and she finished tearing the bandages off her second arm. Blood poured from the wounds she had earlier gotten, coloring the green grass a dark shade of red.

I don't want to see you end up like that. Never let anyone know who you are, and for the people who already do your best option would be to kill them.

She looked straight at the rising sun. The bright rays blinded her, making her squint. The old man's words were her last thought before she collapsed in a pool of her own blood.

The pink haired girl looked herself in the mirror one last time before grabbing her purse off the table and exiting her house. She hadn't worn black since the previous Hokage's own funeral, and had vowed to herself to never again put on that color. She wouldn't allow anyone else valuable to her give her any reason to wear it.

But here she was, exiting her house, in the same black attire.

They hadn't been great friends. At some point, they had been enemies. They had always been competing for the younger Uchiha's attention when they were younger, and Sakura had been jealous of the bond the two once had, even though they hadn't spoken since the night of the massacre. Once they had graduated from the academy and became ninja, they had both taken their separate paths. Sakura had followed in the same direction as the raven haired boy they had fought over, being selected to be on his team, and Jin had been placed with shinobi who had graduated the year before, but had failed to participate in the chuunin exams due to the loss of a team member.

Jin had eventually given up on Sasuke, which made Sakura feel less threatened. Eventually, the two had begun to talk as normal people, and not as rivals, and the pink haired ninja took a sense of pride in being her friend. She didn't feel as if she was just a tag along to Sasuke and Naruto anymore; she actually had someone she was equal to.

But eventually the equivalence stopped. Jin had started to surpass Sakura as a ninja. Her skills had grown so great she had been promoted a Jounin not three months after the Chuunin exams, in which only she and Shikamaru had passed.

Sakura had blossomed since the Chuunin exams. She was getting stronger, both physically and emotionally, but her feelings towards Sasuke didn't fade. They got stronger as she started to get to know the avenger, and after all the days and training sessions she spent with him, she had a pretty good outlook on what his perfect girl would be.

Someone skilled, who could maybe surpass even him as a ninja. The only people worth his time were people who could make him strong enough to kill his brother, and even though Sakura was growing up quickly, she would never be that girl.

But that girl was someone she considered a friend, and though she hadn't yet realized that Sasuke had no time for girls, she had felt threatened once again, and pushed her aside.

Sakura couldn't help but feel a bit of regret as she walked up to Naruto and squeezed his hand lightly. She didn't hold onto it, but dropped it back to his side. He looked down at her, his usual smile replaced by a sad one.

If she could go back in time, she would change the way she thought back then. Becoming a strong ninja for the sake of a boy who would never notice you was the wrong path to take. If she had focused more on becoming a better ninja for herself, and for him, she could have had a better friendship with Jin before she died.

She knew she couldn't have prevented Jin's death. The people of Kohana said Jin had died from her sickness, as well as the injuries she had received from the previous battle. She had fallen unconscious - again - with unbound wounds and had bled to death. She had taken her bandages off before her blood had time to clot and fix her wounds. The medic nins had predicted that she died before sunrise.

Sakura knew the truth; that Jin had faced the sun on her own. She wanted to be rid of the two worlds that had lived on her shoulders for her entire life, and with the death of Uchiha Itachi, she had no other reason to live. She was ready to go, but Kohana wasn't ready to set her free.

"We are here to mourn the death of Kui Jin..." Kakashi, Sakura and Naruto's former sensei started off the funeral.

"I can't help but think how this ended up as it did..." he began. He spoke of Jin in the highest respect, but as his words continued his mind stopped at the beginning.

I can't help but think how this all began...

Chapter One

Hatake Kakashi was 21 years old when Uchiha Itachi slaughtered his entire clan. He remembered hearing the news of the tragedy - there had been only one survivor. Eight year old Uchiha Sasuke was currently located in Kohana's hospital, being treated for both physical and mental wounds.

"Where is Jin?" He asked his informer.

"How is this of any importance to our current - "

Kakashi cut him off.

"Where is Kui Jin?" His tone was serious, and the younger ninja let go of his accusations quickly.

"I'm not sure, sir," he replied. Kakashi waved him off and continued down the village streets. To anyone else, Kui Jin's location would be of no importance at a time like this. One of the strongest clans in Kohana had just been slaughtered - by their own prodigy, so why should they worry about some kid?

It was with this thought that Kakashi started to spring towards the Uchiha compound. No one would bother showing up for a few days. All the Uchiha members had been found dead, their bodies being proof of that, so why would they waste time searching the compound for any more survivors? They could clean up the mess once they were more comfortable with the idea of so many people being killed in one night.

No one in Kohana knew of the close bond the youngest Kui member had with the last two surviving Uchiha members. The family's had been rivals for as long as history would allow, so the bond was kept secret. She hadn't been at her usual bench that morning, where she would usually wait until the academy would open, so the possibility of the young girl sneaking out to visit the two the night before was very likely.

He arrived at the compound and began his search immediately. He went through every house and building. The walls both inside and out were stained of blood, but all the bodies had been already removed. He called her name with every house he entered, just loud enough for her to hear in a thirty foot radius. He didn't want to attract attention. If he did, he would have to tell the Hokage why he suspected her to be there, and that would get her in trouble with her clan.

With Kui Gu's temper, she would be better off not surviving the massacre then going home after he found out who she had been associating with for the past few years.

It was when he entered Fugaku's old home did he hear any response. He could feel the tension in the room, he could practically taste the torture. He called Jin's name once more, and got a muffled response.

"Jin? Where are you?"

There was a soft tapping coming from the closet underneath the stairs. He ran over quickly, practically a flash of light, and reached for the handle. It was melted off. Fire Jutsu.

"Try to get away from the door!" he said, before stepping back and sending a powerful kick towards the middle of the door. It fell down without a problem, unavoidably landing on top of two small legs.

"Ka-ka..." she mumbled. Kakashi moved the door off of her, and picked her up bridal style. He didn't notice how beat up she looked until he carried her outside the closet and into the light. Her clothes were torn, her small body covered in blood, and he was sure it wasn't all her own. Her hair had been cut; it looked as if someone had taken the ponytail she had always worn and snipped it right off. Her left eye was bruised with a cut that ran down the center of her eyelid.

"It's alright, don't say anything," he said. Speaking would only tire her out, and he had no idea how to respond to anything she could say, anyways. "I'll get you help."

She had blacked up before he finished his last sentence.

Jin blacked out regularly. One second she would be sitting there, talking to you, and the next she would be passed out on the floor. She had come out of the womb unconscious. It was unlike anything the medical doctors had ever seen. Most babies would be screaming and thrashing around, but she was sleeping. Because of this, Kakashi couldn't tell if she had passed out from being wounded so bad, or if it was just one of her regular cycles.

That was the first time Jin dreamed.

She dreamt of Itachi; his once warm face was now cold and menacing. She dreamt of his eyes, piercing through her like a knife, and his blade, which had cut her hair from her head.

Why, Itachi-kun... she had cried as he pulled her up by her ponytail. He slashed through the hair tie, cutting through her hair as well, which fell to the floor in one large chunk.

Jin... he mumbled softly. She screamed and lunged at him, but he just stood there motionlessly, his Katana in his right hand. She went to grab for it, pulling it with both hands and tugging it repeatedly. He got sick of her childish attempts and let go of the swords, but she fell back with it, and it ended up slashing her eye.

This happened to be the moment Sasuke ran in, tears already filling his eyes.

"B-br-brother.." he stammered.

Both of her hands flew up to her eye and she screamed again, falling to the ground. Itachi looked back at Sasuke, no emotion present on his face, and simply picked Jin up by the collar of her shirt and threw her to the side.

All she heard from then on was Sasuke's screams.

Everything had turned black, but the young boy's wails kept her alert. Her dream was becoming fuzzy, as if she was about to wake up, but she tried to hold on. She didn't want to wake up. She didn't want for this Itachi to be real, and if she woke up he would be. The Itachi she had seen in reality wasn't him. This was a nightmare.

Foolish little brother... If you wish to kill me, hate me, detest me, and yet survive in an unsightly way. Run, run and cling to life...

His voice said that, and she heard Sasuke's retreating footsteps, or what seemed like it. She couldn't see anything, until two red eyes materialized in front of her.

Little Kui... You have disobeyed and dishonored your clan. You are a traitor to them, for a now extinct bloodline... and yet I will let you live because of that. You chose your side long ago, but now you will pay for that...

but I will not let you run.

He picked her up and threw her in the nearest closet. She ran to the door, pulling on the door handle, but it suddenly turned hot and she fell to the ground in tears. Her eye still hurt, her vision was blurry, and it was dark, so dark…

I will not let you run...