Disclaimer: One day I'm going to surprise to you all and tell you I own Naruto, but today is not that day and tomorrow's not looking good either.

A/N: A thank you to all my reviewers, whose comments are greatly appreciated.

"Inner Sakura/ Sakura's thoughts"

"Normal speech"

Chapter Four

The Red Moon Falls

Sakura felt the heady pull of chakra flowing through her veins as she prepared to channel a malicious wave of chakra into the fist she held firmly in her own. Admittedly, she had never done this before, so she wasn't sure exactly what it would do, but she was fairly sure it would be an interesting result to say the least. The chakra felt as cold and sharp as if she had blades running through her chakra channels and she took the opportunity, her lips forming an unconsciously intent expression somewhere between a smirk and a sneer as Sasuke's eyes widened as he tried to pull his hand back.

If either Sasuke or Kakashi had their Sharingan activated they would have noticed the ominous change in the nature of her chakra, the natural cool green of her chakra turning a poisonous black. With a metaphorical push, Sakura channeled all anger and chakra into a single blow. There was a long moment where time seemed to stand still, but then Kakashi was between them knocking her hand away and sending her stumbling backwards in pain.

"What was that for?" Sasuke asked their teacher.

Kakashi's gave him a cheerful smile from beneath his mask. "I don't think you would have liked it very much if I let Sakura do what she was trying to do to you."

"What was she trying to do Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto asked eagerly.

Kakashi's smile turned into a disapproving frown, which he turned on Sakura. "Something she should never have tried at her level, especially on a teammate. I guess this settles it. You are going back to the hospital until you're healed."

All her protests were ignored, which explained to a restless Sakura why she was still in the hospital several days later. Her physical training may have been significantly curtailed, but her stealth skills had received a boost from the need to sneak around under the ever watchful gazes of the worried hospital staff in order to complete ever more complex chakra control exercises. Of course, she wasn't sure exactly how effective these were, given that she was more or less working blind, but her chakra control had always been extraordinary. It had been her only talent, and an ignored one at that before Gai-sensei had taught her taijutsu.

But still, she had been in here for almost a week. So today she had resolved to sneak out again. If she could find Gai-sensei, she was certain he would at least offer encouragement, if not exercises she could complete even trapped in a hospital room. It would probably be a useless exercise to find Kakashi-sensei, because it was he who had sent her back to what she was quickly coming to think of as her personal purgatory. Both Naruto and Sasuke had been too busy with training to see her much and her only other visitor had been Ino.

Even as she jumped through the window, she knew she should at least go see Kakashi-sensei. He was a great ninja, and perhaps even a great teacher, but he had never really taught her. So it was the affection one felt for a rather eccentric uncle she felt for Kakashi, rather than the respect a teacher would earn. But even then, she still owed him a lot. So with those thoughts to quicken her steps she took off in search of her wayward teacher.

Perhaps it was instinct or simply some sort of twisted luck that guided her steps to the green park where even as she had made her decision to search for Kakashi-sensei, a heated battle was taking place between the ninja of Konoha and two members of the infamous Akatsuki. As it was, she arrived just in time to look death straight in the eye as Itachi used the Tsuekyomi.

Sakura found herself alone in a world with a dark moon hung in a sky as red as blood. "Well, this is rather unexpected." A smooth baritone voice rang out in the empty world. A flock of ravens flew from unseen perches to form a ninja whom Sakura had never seen in her life.

"Who are you? What is this place?" Sakura asked carefully, falling instinctively into a position that would allow her to lunge as soon as this person provided her an opening.

The ninja appeared to ignore her questions in favor of staring at her in such a manner that Sakura felt like he was stripping her down to her soul. "You are one of my foolish little brother's teammates, are you not?" It was only in that second that she finally caught sight of those too familiar eyes.

She felt her breath catch in her throat and her heart skipped a beat. "Who are you?" This time it was a demand, not the nervous question of before.

"Uchiha. Itachi." His words were slow, measured to give her plenty of time for reaction, but she refused to give him the pleasure. His expression never changed, his eyes flat and unreadable. Sakura allowed her bangs to fall in a veil over her eyes, giving her at least some measure of protection from that piercing gaze. All her nervous courage fell away the moment she was trussed to the iron cross that had appeared to bind her.

"What is this?" she stuttered, struggling with all the chakra-enhanced strength she possessed against the cold metal. Realization followed a moment later when it had no effect. "Genjutsu."

"Indeed. You are within a world of my own creation. There is no escape." He told her tonelessly as he watched her struggle with as little emotion as when he had announced his name.

Her struggles quieted with his proclamation. Does he really think we're so foolish as to believe him? It's a genjutsu. There has to be a way to break it! Sakura was rather disturbed by the sudden vehemence of the inner voice she tended to ignore. But with Inner Sakura's emergence, something about the dimension changed. She missed it at first because her world was suddenly awash with pain as Itachi rammed a katana through her abdomen. But as she grew used to the terrible pain that would not cease, she saw what had happened. Somehow, with Inner Sakura's interference, her entire conscience had not been caught within the nearly undefeatable genjutsu. And the part of her that lay dormant could see the lines of chakra that composed the dimension.

We can't cut off our chakra to interfere with the illusion and everyone on the outside who could help is probably as trapped as we are, so we'll have to do it ourself! If we can see the chakra pattern, we can duplicate it! So without a second thought for the consequences of trying to copy a jutsu produced by a kekkai genkai, especially one as complex and feared as the Sharingan, Sakura used her flawless chakra control to duplicate the chakra pattern.

And the dimension shuddered. The red sky bled black, crimson stars like trails of blood traveling across the sky filling the void. The blank emptiness beyond the cross was suddenly filled with the sickly white branches of dead cherry trees, their branches like skeletal fingers reaching into the moonless night. Itachi's eyes widened fractionally, as for the first time in his life, his Tsukiyomi was challenged. His weakened eyes couldn't take the stress and he released the illusion.

Both Sakura and Kakashi dropped to the ground. Kakashi was still murmuring words of warning to his teammates in the water, but Sakura lay silent and still on the shore, her hands covering her face.

Itachi said tonelessly to his companion, "Come. The noise will have attracted others. What we came for isn't here." With that, both the missing-nin made themselves scarce. Gai sighed, looking down at his rival, who had been defeated so easily. Then his attention was drawn to the shore, where his rival's young student still lay with her hands clutching at her face.

He was quickly at her side, noticing immediately that her breathing was too rapid and irregular for her to have fallen unconscious. There was tension in every line of her body, but she made nary a sound. "Sakura-chan, are you alright?" he asked gently.

There came a strangled sound from the rather pathetic form sprawled on the ground. "Is she okay?" Kurenai asked as she and Asuma came to his side.

"I don't think so. She was probably caught in the same illusion Kakashi was and I doubt she was as prepared for it as he was." He glanced down again as Kurenai knelt by the young kunoichi.

"Why is she clutching at her face?" her gentle voice asked.

"Hm." Gai too knelt so he could examine the student he had quickly become fond of. "Sakura, we can't help if we don't know what's…" his breath caught as he noticed the crimson liquid dripping from her hands. He heard both Kurenai and Asuma gasp as they too noticed the small pool that was forming. Gai's hands immediately grasped the smaller ones of the young girl and with all the gentleness he could muster with his concern about her condition, he brought her hands away. Desperate, pain-filled eyes met his own and for a moment the world stood still. For where once emerald green eyes had once shone with an innocent inner flame, irises black as pitch, outlined only in a thin line of poisonous green stared back. And in that same sinister green, three tomoe surrounded the pupil that was as black as the rest of the eye.

The damage didn't stop there. Blood leaked in steady stream like tears from the corners of her eyes and the surrounded skin was burned in patterns where chakra paths had been burned where none were before. "What have you done Sakura?" he asked, aghast. She turned her head away, but the effort took the last of her energy and she finally gave in to the peace the soothing darkness offered her.

"What was that?" Kurenai asked.

"I don't know." Gai admitted, pushing aside his personal feelings. "But I know that both of them need to be taken to a healer, and quickly."

But even the best healers could not wake Kakashi, and every healer who looked at Sakura was as baffled as Gai and the other jounin. Worse, Sasuke Uchiha soon joined his two teammates. But there was nothing to be done, except move Kakashi to his rooms and find beds for the two genin. The mystery remained unsolved, but other matters were more pressing to the elders of Konoha. The search for Tsuanade, the third of the Sannin, took precedence over everything besides the normal function of the village. For the people of Konoha, it was for the protection and leadership that only a Hokage provided. For Naruto, it was his only chance to heal Sasuke, and though he did not know it, Kakashi and Sakura as well.

A/N: Well, what do you think? Good, bad? Not what you expected? It's a little shorter than I would have liked, but I thought this was a good place to leave it. Feedback would be appreciated.