Hey everybody! Um... Is anyone else slightly unnerved by how quickly these are getting updated?

Right, I'm just going to let you know in advance that I'm going on a school trip to Poland next Saturday! How cool is that?! IM SO EXCITED!

It's been my dream to go since I was young and I can't wait to get there! I'm going with my absolute best friend and we're both looking forward to it.!

I can't believe how lucky I've been! It's an absolute dream come true!

IMPORANT!

Anyway, I'd just like to put in a recommendation for another Itasaku called 'A Cherry Blossom's Compromise' and its written by aniimefreak161!

I absolutely 100% recommend you read this fic it's one of the best I've ever read and it definitely deserves some more recognition. It's on the same level as some other amazing Itasaku fics that are some of the most reviewed on the site like 'Before the dawn' and 'Perception'. Please don't let the number of reviews fool you! It's worth reading!

On with the chapter!

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Chapter 4: A fine line

They managed to make it to the town they could rest at early the next morning; they were all beyond exhausted and even the 9 year ANBU captain Itachi was visibly becoming tired.

Once they ordered their rooms, three of them, one for the team captains, one for Sasuke and Naruto and one for Sakura, they all went into the captain's room.

Sasuke and Naruto leaned on the wall, Sakura sank into the lumpy sofa and Kakashi and Itachi stood before them. "I know you are tired," Itachi sighed wearily. "But we need to all be on the same level before we can retire to our rooms." Naruto groaned and rubbed his eyes sleepily. (AN: Awww! Kawaii~!)

"Come on Itachi, what could possibly be so important that we have to speak about it now?" Itachi's eyes darkened. "First we need to know what happended to Sakura after we all got separated." All eyes turned to Sakura, who's eyes were dark and very stressed.

She sighed. "When the tree fell, I got caught off guard by the one falling behind me and I was knocked unconscious. But when I woke up, I had no idea where I was, no comprehension that the area I was layed in was the area I fell in." She shook her head and let out a hollow, amused huff. "I healed my head but I was completely petrified; I wasn't sure if I had been kidnapped, moved or being watched."

Continuing in the same disheartened monotone, she plowed on. "I jumped onto the nearest fallen tree and imagine my surprise when I found that all trees in a two mile radius had also been levelled to the ground. I was just about to start making my way towards the nearest forest when..." She closed her eyes and swallowed. "When... The little girl called out my name from only feet away from my back." There was a deadly silence for a moment before Sakura continued, her voice becoming more obviously distressed.

"I didn't know what else to do, so I ran. I just panicked. I ran as fast as I could but she taunted me, asking me to... Play with her..."

"Why are you running Sakura Haruno? Don't you want to see me again? Don't you wanna... Play a game?"

"She knew my name, my full name; how did she know that? I just had no idea what she wanted but I didn't want to find out, I ran to the forest edge but she got quicker and I started screaming, hoping I'd be able to catch your attention."

Kakashi inclined his head slightly, his brow furrowed. "So that's why you were so worried; you thought she might have had a plan." Sakura nodded, her eyes watering slightly in her worry. "When you called back I ran but as I got close, the girl managed to appear a few metres in front of me and it would have been impossible to avoid had that man not intervened. I don't know what would have happened... But I doubt it would have been good." She shrugged. "You guys know the rest."

Sasuke narrowed his eyes. "I don't know what caused those trees to collapse... But it wasn't accidental." Naruto snorted. "I could have told them that bastard." Sasuke gave his best friend an irritated look. "Tch. Whatever idiot." Before Naruto could retort, Itachi intervened. "We need to discuss one last thing them we can rest; what do we do about that man?"

The mood darkened considerably after that and tension rose in the room. "He's incredibly strong," Kakashi murmured. "That chakra wasn't normal. It's strong enough to physically hinder someone if he releases it at any one time." Sakura nodded. "And he knew my name; that's not a coincidence, he wouldn't have been there to hear it from the girl. I couldn't sense any other presences in the area."

Naruto sighed and leaned his head farther back against the wall. "Damn Sakura, you sure are popular recently aren't you?" Sakura growled irritably. "Shut up Naruto," she hissed. "It's damn frustrating; what reason would he have to know my name?" She narrowed her eyes. "But that guy seems familiar to me; VERY familiar. It's really starting to piss me off."

Itachi sighed. "I think the best course of action would be to try and get some info out of him; his name or even his appearance if we can. He knows something about that little girl, you can tell by the way he reacted; if he is as unaware as he let on earlier, or was indeed apathetic of the whole situation Sakura was in, he would have done nothing." He narrowed his eyes slightly and Sasuke continued for him. "Yet he did; he deliberately put himself in danger to get Sakura out of the way. Selfless acts are not a common occurrence among rogue ninja, if that's what he is."

Sakura shook her head, wearily placing a hand on her temples before letting out a slow sigh and glancing up at the worried looks her friends were giving her. "Look guys," she started quietly. "I'm sorry but I don't want to talk about this anymore. I'm tired, I'm scared and I just want to finish this mission. Please, let me go back to my room." For a moment there was quiet, then Itachi nodded slowly. "Of course, I'm sorry; we didn't take into account how taxing this must of been for you. We'll see you in the morning."

Sakura rose from her seat on the sofa, wordless and silent, before leaving the room and shutting the door behind her; an awkward silence descended upon the room as they heard her own door open and shut and muffled, quiet crying made itself known.

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She was running, filled with so much horror and adrenaline that her body was moving without thought or consent as she practically flew down the dusty streets. Suddenly, she stumbled and fell in mid-stride, her small fragile body colliding painfully with the cold hard ground beneath her and drew blood from her exposed right arm and leg.

She sucked in a deep, panicked breath when dark shinobi shoes came in her view, illuminated by the pale moon above, and a cruel chuckle escaped the persons throat.

"Sakura," the person spat, tone dripping with pure hatred. "You're weak. Running from the truth like a coward and here you are now, laying in the dirt like a little worm that's waiting to be eaten by the bird."

Tears welled up in her eyes at the words but they were true, they were all true...

Suddenly, it was dark; it was dark everywhere. She was floating in the sea of darkness. Her heart pounded in fear; she had heard of this type of ninja technique before; genjutsu was it? Yes, that was it; you could manipulate a persons senses and make them see and feel what you wanted them to...

Then the world came back into startling clarity. It was almost blinding and as Sakura sat up, she rubbed her eyes to adjust to the brightness of her surroundings. Then when she finally cracked her eyes open, she wished she never had. The world was red, there was no life in the bodies before her.

There was only death.

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Sakura woke up to screaming; she realised a moment later that it was her. Her breathing was fast and panicked, tears already streaming down her cheeks, and she covered her face in both hands and let herself sob. She was gently pulled into a comforting, warm chest. "It's okay Sakura, it wasn't real; it was only a nightmare."

Sakura shook like a leaf, her movements uncontrollable and frightened, and shook her head; there was no way that could possibly have been a dream. It was too real; she could still feel the cuts from falling on the path and the blood trickling down her legs...

Gradually, her breathing slowed and she stopped shaking; but she wasn't ready to face them yet, she couldn't face there questions and she didn't want them to see her tear stained face.

When she finally plucked up enough courage, she pulled away from the person, who could now be identified as Itachi much to her embarrassment, and kept her eyes fixed on the blanket she was now holding in her hands.

For a moment there was silence, before Naruto softly asked. "Do you want to talk about it?" Sakura slowly shook her head; this wasn't something she wanted to even think about.

Letting out a shuddering breath, she slowly looked up and smiled. "I'm okay now; thank you for coming so quickly." Kakashi had concern lacing his next words. "You were very distressed for a while before we managed to wake you up; we couldn't touch you without you wrenching away as if we'd burned you."

Sakura sat in silence, mulling over his words before a light tapping came from the window.

Kakashi sighed. "Probably a messenger bird from the Hokage; she said she wanted regular updates from us and it's probably a reminder that we've not done it yet." Sakura smiled slightly "I'll go get it; probably something for me as it came to my room." She glared at him playfully. "Lady Tsunade probably knows that you would just ignore it and wait for it to go away."

Kakashi scratched the back of his head, awkwardly chuckling about the honest truth, while Sakura sighed and rose from the bed. Walking gracefully over to the window, she threw open the curtains with a smile, ready to read the letter her mentor had sent.

Only to come face to face with the bloody smile of a little girl.

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Ooooo! Cliffhanger! Again I'm sorry but this was just begging to be left!

I hope you guys enjoyed this one; I think it's one of my best ones yet!

What did Sakura see after she opened her eyes in the genjutsu? Why was that person being so cruel? And OMG THE LITTLE GIRL WAS IN THE WINDOW!

Sorry this chapter took a little longer to update than usual; no valid excuse but I hope it was worth the wait!

Ja Ne everyone! Please leave me reviews they make me so happy!

Sakurablossom606 xx