A/N: Alright. This chapter gets…interesting, towards the end. Itachi gets himself into a situation that I'm 99.9% positive would never, ever in a million years happen, based on his character. However, he is my favorite character, and I have to write this. So, forgive the blatant OOC-ness that unfolds, and I hope you enjoy.

The morning had ticked by into afternoon, and then early evening, with Sakura spending a painful amount of time doing absolutely nothing. In hindsight, she shouldn't have been so restless and impatient, as boredom and frustration was a far easier pill to swallow than the other unspeakable possibilities a captive could face. As grueling as her small amount of time had been with the two Akatsuki members, she did understand it could have gone so much worse for her…and it still could, if she wasn't careful.

It was just so hard sitting idly by while two murderous monsters dictated her fate, and made it all the more aggravating by refusing to divulge any of their reasoning to her. Well, to be honest, Kisame was the only one she had tried to get answers from so far, and look how well that turned out…

Ever since the morning's nerve-wracking events, Sakura had fallen mute, and tried to make herself as unappealing and uninteresting as possible to the both of them. Kisame, who she now viewed as a volatile, hormone-driven brute with no sense of decency or honor, was her biggest fear now. Every time he passed within ten feet of her, all of her focus went to him, yet she never looked up, never made eye contact, and never addressed him for any reason.

Itachi, who had been doing a fabulous job of acting like she didn't even exist, made her nervous in his own way. Still, it was difficult to pinpoint why, but she was beginning to realize that she feared him almost as much his aquatic partner. Ironic, considering he had never bothered her. Could it be because she never had a clue what he was thinking or feeling, if it was even possible for him to feel? Maybe.

Or maybe it was the pure shame that threatened to unravel her every time she thought about Sasuke or Kisame, and what'd he done to her hours ago. Yet…why should she feel shame? Neither had been something she could have controlled. They just…happened. And why should she care if Itachi judged her? Why would she even think that he had enough of a heart to care about anything at all?

No…he had to care about some things. If he hadn't a care in the world, he wouldn't have shouted at Kisame when he had her splayed across the bank of the river.

So many unanswerable questions. Questions that were gradually dissolving her sanity, as she sat there close to the campfire that never died. Thinking was all she could do. Nothing else was permitted her.

Her clothes had completely dried over the hours she had spent huddled close to the flames, green eyes spacing out into the gleaming orange that flickered through the broken, ashy logs and sticks. They were still dirty, and now wrinkled, but they were dry, and for that she could be thankful.

Every so often she'd feel a pair of eyes drilling into her from somewhere. She never looked to see who it was, but she always assumed them to be Kisame's eyes. Watching, waiting for her to make another stupid move so he could pounce on her. Well, she wasn't going to give him the chance anymore. No matter what he did or said, she wouldn't feed into his game. This whole thing was a joke to him, and he loved seeing her wriggle like a trapped insect under a microscope.

It wasn't knowing that he was watching her that made her so uncomfortable, however. It was the feeling she was getting. As if his very chakra was invading her from several paces away, regardless of where he was. Here and there, she'd have to shut her eyes to concentrate on blotting out the sensation of him pressing her to the ground, and the contrasting feathery touch of his hand exploring between her legs.

That morning had left her a paranoid, shaking mess, but it had also done something else to her that was far worse, and she utterly despised it. He had left her to wallow with a dull, though persistent throb deep inside her. An itch she couldn't scratch that made her furious at him. The truth was there, screaming in her mind, though she would never admit it to anyone. The fact was that she had never been so aroused in her life, and now she was left to deal with the aftermath, and no way to remedy it.

Why wouldn't it go away? Why couldn't it just stop? It made no sense to her. Nothing did, anymore. She hated herself for it. It made her feel weaker, and even more ashamed, and truthfully she didn't know how much more of this humiliation she could take before she broke. To be beaten senselessly would have been a preferred fate over this. To be captured and tortured to death by ANBU would have been a more tolerable and honorable way to go. Not this…

The sun's rays had been smothered by the horizon of treetops by the time they had returned to the fire, their footsteps meandering around her, though she kept her trance-like stare at the blazing firelight that cast a neon glow over her short, messy pink hair. They had been talking out of earshot. Well, mostly out of earshot. Every once in a while she caught a word or two that was exchanged between them. Kisame was always easier to hear than Itachi, but none of the information that was leaked to her helped her understand the catastrophe they had dragged her into. At one point, she had glanced their way as the rustle of feathers stole her curiosity, only to see a raven bounce from Itachi's shoulder and soar up into the sky and out of sight.

A basket was dropped with a soft thud to the ground on one side of her. Sakura turned her head, staring with little interest at the parcel, until the scent of food reached her nose. This hadn't been there earlier…they must have brought it from somewhere. That meant they couldn't be too terribly far from civilization. That was a glimmer of hope for her…for she did plan on finding a way to escape, but she still hadn't figured out all the details yet.

A strange sensation tickled over her wrists just in time for a clear pop and tink of metal had her eyes snap down to her hands. A pale hand painted with dark nail polish pulled out of sight, leaving her to stare in blissful wonder at the confining shackles that had encircled her wrists, resting now lifelessly in her lap. Her skin was red and sore underneath, maybe even a little bruised, but they…they were free now?

"You need to heal your ankle." His explanation answered her before she could rouse herself from her confused state. The Uchiha circled around the fire and sat down, his own bundle of food in one hand. Kisame landed with a heavy thunk not far from her, and their positions created a perfect triangle around the fire.

"…You…you trust me without these?" She asked skeptically, though she didn't know why, as she flexed her fingers and rubbed her wrists.

"I trust you to value your own safety, kunoichi." Was his not-so-cryptic, stony reply as Itachi began unwrapping his dinner.

Sakura said nothing more as she registered the smirk inching its way up Kisame's face. She imagined he'd be the guard dog to fetch her if she didn't value her own safety. So that wasn't going to be a problem. Maybe if she played nice and continued to cooperate, they'd even let her keep the shackles off…though she no longer had enough hope to believe that would happen.

Her hands moved slowly to the basket beside her, bringing it into the cradle of her crossed legs so she could open it and eat, truly eat, real food for the first time since yesterday afternoon. That morning's breakfast hadn't lasted more than a single bite, as naturally, Kisame hadn't give her a second chance to get anything in her gut.

Yeah, she'd heal her ankle…but not before stuffing her face. Her growling stomach was a bit more obnoxious than her injury in the present.

The three of them ate silently amongst themselves, Itachi keeping his eyes down, Kisame doing the same, and Sakura….well, every once in a while she couldn't help but spare a glance in enemy number one's direction. But he wasn't her target. It was the long sword that was laying in the grass behind him, stretching longer than Sakura's own height.

Last night, before the initial chase has started, she had struck her own bound legs across its jagged surface, finding it capable of snapping the metal that had rendered her immobile. Fleeing hadn't done her an ounce of good, but she knew that it would work on her wrists as well, if she could just find the chance to make use of it. Kisame always kept it right next to him, if not attached to him. Of course, it would only be necessary if she was bound again after she finished healing herself, but it was still an option to consider. An option she could not ignore, for she was beginning to feel like it might be one of her very few opportunities.

She wouldn't even try to fight either of them, even one-on-one, and even if she had all of her chakra returned to her. That was one thing she wasn't stupid enough to do. All she needed was to be able to outrun them…theoretically. Run, and never stop, not until she reached the gates of Konoha. A shot in the dark, but it was better than accepting whatever fate they were weaving for her.

"Can you at least tell me why I'm here?" She asked quietly after a period of silence, hoping the Uchiha would offer her something…unlike Kisame.

"The Kyuubi." Itachi answered without missing a beat, and Sakura paused with a mouthful of rice.

"…Naruto?" She looked positively clueless as she stared wide-eyed at him from across the flames that separated them, just as they had done the previous night.

"He is loyal and determined by nature, and you are valuable to him." He explained simply, and Sakura looked down, feeling the weight of dread increase on her shoulders.

"You will never catch him." Eyes closing calmly as she gave a quiet voice to the rebelliousness that continued to hide inside her, daring to stick its neck out again and possibly get her in trouble, as it was so adept at doing.

"We won't have to. He will come to us." Itachi reasoned as if this were a mere business transaction, with her starring as the offer that couldn't be refused.

"No… No. He wouldn't risk so much for me. He knows better." Sakura felt her fists clamping, and she forced her last bite of food down roughly, losing her appetite almost instantly. Her eyes remained closed, as it truly was one of the few things that helped her calm down, if even a little.

"People do crazy things for the ones they love." The black, white and red figure across from her, wading in the drifting spikes of fire was unaffected, and yet his final words caused her eyes to crack open and look at him.

There it was again. That brief flicker of something slightly human on his face that she had sworn emerged sometimes. He hadn't moved his gaze from the food he was consuming, but she had seen the evidence. It was there, only for a second. And his words…she found that she couldn't disagree with them.

"Like masturbate in your sleep." Kisame chimed in out of the blue…further emphasis that was bound to hit the nail on the head for her.

Sakura felt a tangible, electric current of pure hate streak through her limbs as she fought to remain seated. There was nothing, absolutely nothing in the world she wanted more right then, in that moment, than to lunge at Kisame and strangle the life out of him as she repeatedly smashed the back of his head into the ground.

Directing a practiced stare into the earth, Sakura felt her jaw knotting into cramps as she sealed it shut. He wouldn't win this time. He wouldn't draw a reaction from her.

In her training, she missed the slight rigidness that had overcome Itachi's hands as they slowly closed the box of food and set it on the ground. His form, taller than her, yet shorter than Kisame, rose without a word and walked away from the fire.

His partner looked up, watching him meld into the waning light of the drowning sun, now hidden as a dark turquoise and blue glow was cast over their heads. "Was it something I said?" He called humorously after him, only to receive no response. Odd that the Uchiha would have given more to work with than Sakura, whom the comment had been directed to in the first place.

After a few minutes, Sakura heard a growl-like sigh come from the blue hulk of a man, and watched as he, too, abandoned the firelight to trail in the direction Itachi had gone…being sure to take Samehada with him, as if Sakura had any use for it now.

A bitter smirk crossed her features as she imagined he looked a bit like a scolded husband running after his housewife to beg forgiveness. About the only amusement she could find in the whole ordeal. If she only knew what the mounting tension between the three of them was bound to manifest into…

Alone again, she reopened her box of food and searched its content for any scraps left behind, willing herself to eat whatever she had, since she honestly didn't know when her next meal would be. If breakfast was going to be served by Kisame, there's no telling what would actually end up in her stomach after all was said and done. And that's when there was enough peace for her to recognize that steady pulse she felt, hidden away below her skirt.

It wasn't the easiest thing to describe. It was just…dominating in its presence. A switch had been turned on and she didn't know how to turn it back off, which was beginning to scare her a little. How had he done that to her? Kisame… He was disgusting. In fact, there was not one nice thing she could say about him if her life depended on it. And yet there she was, fighting off the first tormenting images of a fantasy her perverted mind was cooking up against her will, centered on that towering bag of muscle.

Thick muscle…without a trace of fatty tissue that she could find. Perfectly shaped, smooth and…

"Damnit!" She whispered to herself as a sharply creased brow brought her internal struggle and worry to the surface.

BOOM!

Sakura's head snapped up, searching for the deafening thunder that shook the very ground beneath her and cascaded over her like a shockwave. Out in the darkening field, she saw the two distant Akatsuki coats poised opposite one another, with a cloud of dust billowing out past Kisame. Itachi was skidding backwards, balance evenly placed with his feet spread apart and a defensive hand guarding his chest. The only weapon visible on his person was a small kunai, while Kisame's intimidating sword was angled out to the side.

They were sparring…? Now?

They must be, as Sakura registered the gleam under Kisame's pointed gill markings that meant he was grinning.

Itachi blinked out of sight, moving faster than Sakura's intent gaze could follow. But she didn't bother to wait and see where he would reappear, as her attention shifted to the ankle that needed tending. Might as well get it out of the way so she could focus on planning her escape. An escape that would have to be set in motion whenever she found herself alone with Kisame. He might have been terrifying, but it seemed like a surer bet than trying to outmaneuver the Uchiha. The last thing she wanted was to make him mad, and subsequently get caught in his genjutsu. She had heard tales of what he had done to Kakashi-sensei once with that technique.

The rest of the evening transpired uneventfully with the two men pulverizing the earth with their attacks on one another. Dents and gashes marred the field, chunks of uprooted plants, grass and rock, and patches of charred, crispy debris littered as far as the eye could see.

After she healed her wound, Sakura had lain down on her back to lose a longing stare into the brightening stars above, content to have her wrists free for a while as she steadily grew numb to the sounds of chaos echoing back to her.

She didn't know when she fell asleep. It hadn't been a goal of hers to drift off so early…but the previous night's sleep had been lacking enough that the moment her back had touched the ground, she was gradually lulled into the embrace of anti-reality.

Everything was so vivid, Sakura found herself staring in curious amazement at the wall that divided her from the hidden leaf village. She found herself wondering how she had gotten there so quickly…how she had escaped Kisame and Itachi. But she wasn't home yet. The barrier that shielded the safety of her family and friends from her had somehow grown immensely tall. So tall that she couldn't see the end as she peered up its vast, vertical length, disappearing into the inky blackness of the night sky. The sky, she noticed, that had lost all of its stars.

"Sakuraaa!" A faint voice called for her, and she stilled. It was Naruto's voice.

Bolting to the right, she sprinted along the endless wall, leaping over bushes and dodging under the low branches of saplings. "Naruto! Over here!" She yelled, hoping she was running in the right direction as she tried to follow the sound of his voice, and look for the main gate at the same time.

"I'm over HERE!" Again, desperation and excitement escalating her volume as twigs and leaves whipped over her bare legs. He wasn't answering her. Couldn't that knucklehead hear her? She had heard him.

Then she stopped, an unseen force causing her to redirect her attention into the shadowy depths of the forest at her side. Turning, she pressed her back against the wall as if to brace herself, and stared out into the maze of wild Fire Country. Her land…the land that was supposed to keep a buffer between her and unknown dangers beyond…yet a familiar fear had begun to coil its way around her heart. A fear of something unseen watching her from the darkness.

"Oh shit!" She hissed, and took off running again. They were out there. They had followed her, and they were going to take her back with them. That couldn't happen. Not when she was this close to the end…mere meters away from that damn ramen-loving blonde that had better wake the hell up and get his ass over to her with some backup.

"Naruto!" She screamed louder, trying not to panic as the seconds grew into minutes without a response from him. This was bad… She couldn't find the entrance, either.

Sliding to a stop again, her eyes widened as she stared at the aimless path she had been sprinting down, using the wall as her guide. It became a tunnel of black uncertainty, and she felt those eyes again. Closer and menacing in its intent.

"No…" She whimpered, hand gliding along the solid surface next to her as she started to back away, wanting to whirl around and run the opposite direction she had been going in, yet discovering she was too afraid to turn her back. He was there, right in front of her, and he could see her…but she couldn't see him. The man with the sharp teeth.

A surge of terror welled up inside her, getting the best of her as she finally turned to run, only to slam into something hard and unyielding.

Staggering backwards with a strangled cry, Sakura's glittering green orbs couldn't believe the sight that presented itself before her. Sasuke, in his loose white shirt and dark pants banded in a purple rope, staring calmly at her.

"S-Sasuke?" Her exclamation could reach only a sharp whisper as she looked him up and down. "What are you…? No! RUN!" Another spike of fear bolted through her as her senses relayed the information of another being standing all too closely behind her. Her adrenaline sent her careening past him. Or, what she had hoped would send her careening past him…for he snatched her up in his arms and locked her in a steel grip.

The ground slipped out from under her feet as she lost her balance, only to be swung unceremoniously through the air and thumped against the cool, grainy wall like a ragdoll. The look that met him conveyed the tidal wave of confusion that had crashed over her as Sasuke forced her in place, staring back with his trademark gaze that either made her weak in the knees or want to rip her hair out, depending on the circumstance.

"You can't go back." There was no pleading, no…it was a statement as factual as if he had pointed out the obvious bubblegum pink of her hair, and left no room for debate on the subject.

"What?" The strength returned to her voice as the adrenaline that had been denied physical movement remerged into her throat. Meanwhile, her eyes bounced this way and that over his shoulder, searching for the slightest movement in the dark. Waiting for that dreadful, smirking face to wade in from shadows behind her beloved, like she knew he would do at any second. He was there. He had to be. Nothing else would make her feel like a cornered animal about to be butchered.

"No! Sasuke! He's right here! He'll kill us both!" She scrambled to push him off her, but only failed. Damn…when had he become so strong? So strong that not even the best of her ability could get him to cave an inch in her favor. Or was she truly that weak?

"Stop right now." He countered, reasoning with her only the way a parent that knew better could reason with an out of control child.

Sakura's movements stilled as she stared at him in awe and disbelief. She was about to punch him if he didn't start moving his ass. Her mouth gaped open to begin a rant, but he sank into her, silencing her before she could speak as his hands cupped her cheeks and he kissed her. A kiss that held far more heat and passion than his eyes ever did, as if it was impossible for him to show any emotions. Kind of like his brother…

An indistinguishable murmur of protest greeted him as he smothered her mouth, tangling her tongue with his as if he owned it. Granted, she'd always wished he did, but this wasn't the time!

Her palms pressed against his chest in an attempt to push him away, but he ignored her request, and instead squeezed her more tightly against the wall as he took another step forward.

"You can't go back to Konoha. I won't let you." His husky voice whispered as his lips ripped from hers to play along her ear. The combination of fear and desire mixed her into a stupor, and she felt as if she would pass out if this continued much longer.

Her eyes aimed past him, exposed to the lethal shadows that she feared were drawing ever closer to them, and would soon swallow them both up.

"Sasuke…" She moaned in a painful defeat, realizing that there was no way she could get away from him. "Please just listen to me! We're going to die! Don't you get it?"

"Say it… Say it again." He breathed into her ear, causing her brows to furrow in confusion.

"..What?"

"Say my name… I love it when you say my name."

Hooking his hands under her thighs, he pushed her up the wall without warning, and held her with her legs wrapped around his waist. The same teasing bulge that she had felt the other night had returned, and ground roughly into the small hot bud between her nether lips.

"Sasuke!" She yelped, arms flailing over his back, fingers curling into the pristine, white shirt that shone like a beacon in the black night. Panting nervously as he trapped her earlobe between his lips and sucked, her felt her hips instinctively push back against him, wanting to feel more of him.

Now she had really lost her marbles, as the notion of fight or flight had quickly begun to dwindle away into lust and the insatiable need for his touch, all over her, everywhere, inside her…

"Again…" He commanded softly, hot tongue rolling along her ear as his hips continued to grind into that throbbing little button.

"…Sasuke…" Sakura felt her head swimming as a heavy dizziness overcame her, rising from the tingling that started at her core and vibrated its way along her spine and into her skull.

He pulled away abruptly then, the pale blue shoulder drifting into her vision as a face striped with dark gills passed in front of her, letting his lips rub gently over hers before he nipped her bottom lip.

Half a second later, Sakura sprang to life as Kisame's trademark features sounded the alarm in her nearly incoherent brain. A terrified shriek pierced the S-class criminal's ears, serving to do little more than excite him further as her seized control of her hands that sought to scratch at his face, and crush them against the wall. His hips kept her lower half lodged right where he wanted her, thighs draping over his toned ridges.

Her shriek was muffled into a dull noise as something covered her mouth, quickly followed by the sudden inability to inhale as her nose was pinched shut.

Sakura bucked and twisted, trying to free herself as he suffocated her, and she felt the burning in her lungs clamor for air as hot, salty tears welled up in her eyes.

Unable to wait any longer, her eyes flew open, jolting her back into the real world as she strained ceaselessly for fresh air. Upon her arrival, the hand that had been pinching her nose released, yet remained snugly over her mouth to keep her mute. It took a few seconds for her nerves to settle and recognize what was going on, but when she did, she was locked into a motionless, marble statue, weight thickening until she thought she might fall right through the earth and vanish forever, and actually, that's kind of what she hoped would happen to her in that moment.

Meticulously patterned, crimson eyes glared down at her like the finely sharpened edges of kunai. They pierced into her very soul, ripping it cleanly in two as she was caught in its paralyzing affect. Faintly, she could hear the crackling of the fire and chirping of nocturnal insects all around her, and her own breathing as it sucked in and whistled out through her nose at a hurried, exhausted pace.

Itachi was holding her down and rendering her speechless, with a look so intense she thought she might burst into the black flames of Amaterasu at any second. If he meant to suck her into a genjutsu, he would have already done so. Hell, she might be in one already. There was no point in closing her eyes now.

The faded, tired-looking lines that were always drawn down his cheeks from his eyes were crinkled by the slight snarl he was giving her. His face painted the perfect picture of inevitable destruction, and could have been enough in itself to usher her into cooperating with anything he demanded. And the sad thing was that she really had no idea just how rare the event was that she was witnessing.

Itachi, the man responsible for the massacre of his entire clan in an hour tops…the cold, calculating criminal that was keeping his baby brother alive just long enough to take what he wanted from him…the man who never smiled, laughed, frowned, cried, or showed anything but stone…was unleashing a fury of emotion right before her eyes.

"Get up." He hissed quietly.

Sakura obeyed, realizing as she clumsily, shakily drew herself up, that her hands had not been returned to their restraints yet.

She spared a quick glance past him to see Kisame sound asleep on the ground feet away, lips parted open slightly as he took a deep, soundless breath.

"Move." The single syllable was felt on her very skin as she jumped and stumbled away from their camp, more confused and full of dread than she had ever been as his figure loomed after her.

"Wh-…what-…w-what are w-we..?" She stuttered, so unlike herself, as she took step after step away from the comforting light, falling under the shadow of Itachi as he traced after her.

A white hand lifted from the concealing sleeve of black, taking her by one shoulder and turning her around to face that same, foreboding black forest that she had narrowly escape in her recent nightmare. If only this were another nightmare…something she could wake up from…

Her insides felt cold and slippery, nausea building as she was guided into the trees and masked in black, a firm grip pushing her deeper and deeper into the unknown. He didn't let her stop until the campfire was little more than a twinkle of orange and gold in the distance, like a hyperactive firefly blinking through the leaves that surrounded them.

She felt her shoulder being pulled back, forcing her to turn around in the process to see only the hovering pale image of his face, and the glint of red eyes that bore into her through the strands of his dark hair. She nearly tripped over a root as he nudged her back against a tree, and Sakura's thighs turned to jello for the second time.

"I-..I-…..I'm s-sorry.. I'm so s-sorry..!" She began, choking out an exasperated, desperate laugh as she lost control of her own voice and started shaking. This very event was what she'd been trying to avoid. Angering him, in any way shape or form, because she had always felt deep down that as quiet and collected as he was, he could make Kisame look like a goldfish if he wanted to.

In actuality, she didn't know what she was apologizing for. She didn't know what she had done to cause him to snap, but it didn't matter. Somewhere along the way, she had fucked up, regardless of how hard she'd tried to stay under his radar.

"Please…ple-" She swallowed, shutting her eyes in a pause, hoping that if she broke contact with his sharingan she'd be able to settle down a little. Her hands curled up protectively to her chest, resting over her thudding heart.

"I didn't-…I didn't mean t-…I'm s—"

"Sasuke."

Her watery eyes cracked up to stare at him, a lump solidifying in her throat.

Oh…he had heard her again, hadn't he? Is that was this was about? Was she really so loud in her sleep?

"Are you close to him? Or do you just wish you were?"

Those fearful slivers widened into doe eyes. Somehow, he had sunk a blade through her chest by using only the weapon of his voice. It was a mere word-a name-but it was enough to tangle her insides into an agonizing mess.

And yet, the way he was watching her, it was as if he had given her a simple question that he wanted a genuine answer to...and hadn't intended to merely hurt her with it.

"I-…I-…uhm…I don't…" She sucked in a shaky breath, feeling so small under his dissecting stare, and unsure of how to answer him. Of course she wasn't close to Sasuke...but he was close to her. She'd give anything to make him see that-make him see how much she cared...but she couldn't give voice to her thoughts, not with his older brother looking her in the eye, waiting.

Then she watched as he slowly turned and began walking away.

Sakura stilled, gaze fixated on the back of his head in the incredibly dim light as he made his way out of the forest, stopping long enough to turn his head slightly over his shoulder before he got too far. "Finish it."

"F-…Finish..?" She repeated meekly, lost in its meaning.

"Don't come back until you have finished what you started." His words fell slowly, darkly, accusingly for her, and yet she remained the portrait of innocence and perplexity.

When he didn't hear another word from her, the Uchiha visibly stiffened, and the vague movement caused Sakura to flinch back up against the tree.

To her anxiety, he turned back around, and stalked slowly up to her, each step pressing her more and more firmly into the cool, rough bark as she observed, what she could only know him to be as, her executioner.

"I don't understand...!" She forced loudly, hoping to stall his movements, but it didn't work.

Itachi drifted to her like a ghost, and when he was within reach, his hands flew up and grabbed her by the shoulders, spinning her back to him, and pulling her into his chest.

Sakura let out a fearful noise, and then snapped her lips shut when one of his hands slid over the back of her own hand, loosely laced their fingers together, and began guiding her down the front of her own shirt. She gasped as their hands both burrowed beneath top of her skirt, and slipped down over the warm, soft mound between her legs.

She couldn't speak. She couldn't move. This couldn't be real… But it was.

His hand bent over hers, pushing her fingers down her center and over her clit, already slick with moisture. This was the part where she tried to get away…tried to push him off her, like she had done to Kisame, and tried to run. She couldn't. Her body had shut down, letting itself move with his instructions for reasons she couldn't fathom.

"I can't-…I can't do this…" She whispered into the abyss that engulfed them.

"You will. You have to. I won't listen to you say his name anymore." His voice, though spoken at a normal volume, seemed to boom into her ear as he shamelessly caressed her wet folds along with her own hand. An act that she never in her wildest dreams believed he would be capable of, despite how little she truly knew about him.

He felt the first wave of her goose bumps emerge along her arms as he held her to him, and the first audible reaction to his touch as a moan gushed from her. Sakura, aghast with the impossible situation she was tangled in, could no longer sense which way was up and down as her nerves took over faster than her lingering morsel of sanity wished they had.

They plunged further at his command, dragging her hand with him as he pushed her to cup her own mound and rub slowly to her aching entrance. Sakura felt herself grow weak as her legs parted wider, and she slumped into him. Raw heat burned through their hands, sticky and soaking wet as he dipped their fingers inside her tight opening, inciting a louder, breathy moan to steam out into the night.

"Why are you doing this?" Saturated with desire as she asked him the question that was quickly beginning to no longer matter to her, as she allowed the tension that had been building inside of her to submit to him…and whatever he wanted to do with her. Her free hand, meanwhile, had clutched into his arm and squeezed every time he did something particularly debilitating to her.

"Because you're driving me crazy." The huff that flooded her ear caught her off guard as she detected the same lust that Sasuke had teased her with in her dreams, and it was more than enough to make her shiver in his embrace.

He lost it. The iron grip that had been keeping his own mounting desire in check crumbled, ripping with it the hand that he had been holding captive as Sakura felt her heat dissipate, her own hand discarded into the crisp air. Yet his did not leave. It replaced hers fully with a greed that startled the kunoichi as his fingers pumped steadily inside her, coated in a generous amount of fluid she didn't even know she could produce.

"Oh Kami.." She choked out, oblivious to the amount of pressure she was easing onto his hips, until that familiar lump formed into the crease of her ass.

This was really happening, and there wasn't a damn thing she could do to stop it. Her own body betrayed her as she responded eagerly, without regard to the hands of the man that-as far as she knew-had murdered his own family.

A gust of wind swirled over her as Itachi turned her to face him, and pinned her back to the tree. His shadow moved closer to her, blocking her in as his hand dug down the front of her skirt again, leaving a wet path as his fingers rolled down her belly. He watched her expression expectantly, testing her reactions as he pulled at her strings like a puppet master, weaving his fingers in and out of her as her breathing quickened and hands dug into him, pulling him against her in desperation.

She couldn't stand it. What he was doing to her was unbearable as she writhed under him, grinding her own hips into him as his wrist moved in a rhythm between her thighs, glistening with a sheen of sweat.

A louder noise filled with need begged more from him, and the Uchiha found himself leaning gradually into her until his temple brushed past hers and rested there with his forehead propped on the bark behind her. The sound of her labored breathing, her moans, the soft, burning flesh that throbbed and drenched his hand made his head swirl like nothing he had anticipated. The sounds of someone that craved him.

As much as she could blame him for doing these unspeakable things to her, she was the one ruining him more than she could ever imagine. This wasn't something he just did…to anyone…ever… Hell, it was once in a blue moon he bothered to so much as graze someone's arm. This…this was a whole new level of loss of control on his part. She was sucking him in, making him want to throw her to the ground and take her with reckless abandon, lose himself in the moment.

This was the sort of thing he hated. This was why he had trained every day, and willed himself into a perfectly skilled, cold-blooded killer. Losing control could very well unravel his whole life…everything he had ever worked for. And here she was, doing just that, and believing herself to be so innocent.

"Ahhh! Itachi!" Sakura screamed suddenly, knee bending and hooking over the back of his leg as she clenched around him, shuddering into her first orgasm and clamping down on his busy fingers. Her head craned back, stretching her neck as she gripped him like he was the only solid object left in her universe.

The Uchiha's frenzied mind focused quite suddenly at the sound of his name screaming in his ear, tripping his heartbeat into an untamed pattern and unleashing something even he didn't know he possessed. She shouldn't have done that…

Before she could finish riding the high that had wracked her panting form, Sakura yelped as she was abruptly seized by her hips and thrown to the ground. Her fearful eyes locked onto him as he descended over her, shedding the clouded coat like a piece of trash as he threw it over his head. His movements were rough and unpredictable, causing her to shield her arms over her chest and coil her knees back to keep him from her, but he merely took each ankle in a solid grip and yanked them down.

It was too dark for her to see the massive tent that had formed in his pants, but she would understand his intention as soon as his painted nails looped under her sandy skirt, and pulled it down her hips and legs, along with the shorts under them.

Her legs glued themselves together, but he moved for her shirt next, taking it by the red hem and pulling it over her arms and head, which she allowed him to do without much of a struggle, but only because she was stricken with uncertainty, and too timid to try and stop him.

The leaves crackled under his palms as he caged her, and moved to pull the dirty bindings of her chest down over the slope of her breasts, freeing them to pop from their confines. Sakura's lungs stopped moving as the fresh air gust over her small pink nipples, tightening them into fine peaks as they were laid bare for the eyes of someone other than herself for the first time. Dreams didn't count. Dreams were nothing like the real thing. And this was…shit…..this was as real as it got.

He inched lower, breath wafting over her naked chest as a tongue licked tantalizingly slow over the tender curve. She saw his eyes close and face contort into either a look of pain or intense concentration, but there was no time to wonder what was going through the man's head.

Sakura moaned for him, despite her rattled nerves, as her body continued to betray her. His tongue lapped and swished over her pink bud, twitching above her thick pulse. His hands, one wet and one dry, pulled down the cotton fabric of her underwear, exposing her glistening folds to him, rubbed red and still throbbing from the magic his fingers had worked on her.

Upon leaving the frail garment to hang around one of her ankles, his wet hand clawed up her side and fanned over her other breast, squeezing as he shifted himself higher, a complexion that was barely a shade darker than Sasuke's caressing up her collar bone and into the curve of her throat as he kissed and sucked. Every action of his was driven by pure lust, and a need that couldn't be denied as she felt her thighs spread wide and pulled down to slap against his hips.

"Ah! WAIT!" She yelped loudly, triggered by the hot, erect member that had been sandwiched into the twin, soaked lips that craved further attention. She hadn't a clue when he had removed his pants, but he was a second away from impaling her with his length, and the thought occurred to her as she was pulled to the very brink that this…was going to hurt…like hell.

Did he even know? Could he tell by the strength she had gripped him with when he toyed with her minutes earlier?

Her question was answered cruelly as a hand smacked over her mouth while he planted a rough kiss over the pounding artery along the side of her neck, and thrust into her with one swift motion.

Sharp twigs drug into her scalp as her head arched back and her fingernails raked tiny, welted cuts into the flesh of his back. Her legs squeezed around his hips as a deafening, agonizing scream collided into his smothering clutch. He didn't let go of her, panting hungrily into her throat as he sheathed himself past the thin, yet sensitive film of tissue and buried into her cervix.

The pain was comparable to a sword cutting into her, slicing her nerves and overwhelming her. He laid there, submerged to the hilt as he let the first wave of torture pass through her. In the very least, the worst part was over. And no, he wouldn't apologize. He wouldn't whisper words of comfort into her ear. This was her punishment. She deserved this. She asked for this, not him. This was what happened when she drove him to the edge. This was what happened when he had to listen to her moan and cry his little brother's name in the dead of night. And he could've given her so much worse, but he didn't.

Sakura's own clenched eyes and the blinding absence of light prevented her from seeing the look on his face, now overcome with a cringing anger as his chest heaved into hers, crushing the air from her lungs that released in loud gusts from her nose to puff over the back of his hand.

A low, sickening laugh muffled into her throat as he kissed and licked her, like an animal savoring its fresh kill…only, he was worn just as thin as she was. The only difference between them being he had the strength to dominate her, and she didn't. Nothing more separated them.

A single tear trickled from her eye, pulled down her temple as her head froze in its angled position, trying to stifle the screams that fought to clamor free. She waited with raw nerves as his first few pumps came, slow and deliberate into her, and sinking firmly into the limit of her core. She was clenching around him, soft, weak spasms squeezing him as he moved within her most sacred place…now defiled.

As if sensing her regret, the pale lips of her beloved's brother slid along her neck and up to her ear, pausing to nip gently at her lobe. "You wanted this, Sakura."

His pace picked up, numbing the once inescapable pain into a dull ache that was contrasted with the slow rise of returning pleasure. Her thighs, never easing their constraint around his bucking hips, shook lightly. The sound of wet flesh slapped together as his lap quickly became coated with her nectar, tainted pink by a smearing of blood.

His hand slid away from her mouth, fingertips tickling down her side to grip into the meat of her ass as he lifted himself from her, and sat on his haunches to pull her hips up and over him, angling her torso up as he slammed into her.

Her first moan since his assault came when he found the right angle inside her, releasing a spike of electric ecstasy to drown out the ache that could not completely vanish.

His eyes, she now noticed, had never shifted out of their threatening crimson hue, and roved greedily over her chest as her breasts bounced with each rough impact of his length colliding into her. One hand strayed from its grip on her hip and glided across to the juncture of their meeting, pushing a thumb into her exposed pearl and rubbing it with expert precision.

"Ahhh!" Came that scream again, the one he'd been waiting to hear-the one that made him shiver-as he watched her writhe below him, keeping her hips in a controlled, steady rhythm with his as he marveled at the almost impossibly snug fit she gave him.

"Itachi..! Please!" So much shame she had earlier, and look at her now. Giving herself to him with far less of a protest than he had predicted. He wasn't sure exactly how he felt about that, but he did know one thing.

She. Felt. Amazing.

The high he was climbing into was a high that matched hers as he thrust again and again, her heat driving him mad as he impatiently hooked each knee over his arms and fell back down onto her, holding her as open as her flexibility allowed him to, and letting him drill even deeper, claiming her with each pump.

"Say it again…" He exhaled loudly.

"I love it when you say my name…"

"ITACHIII…!" Sakura's eyes rolled into her skull as those haunting words were repeated to her, a state of pure, heavenly bliss invading her, and letting him feel the full strength of her convulsion around his thick member as she climaxed a second time, wailing his name without regard to volume.

A growling groan rumbled from deep within his chest signaled his released inside of her, slamming into her forcibly with a hot gush of fluid penetrated her depths.

The hold on her legs slackened as he grew limp over her, both of them gasping ragged breaths of air as they rode out their currents of unrivaled euphoria.

She was exhausted. So exhausted she couldn't bring herself to open her eyes as she felt his weight eventually disappear, once a couple minutes of laying over top of her, still trapped inside her had ticked by. Sweat coated her from head to toe, along with the overpowering scent of their sex spread all over her thighs. Her hair, a tangled mess into the decaying forest floor, was the driest thing she possessed.

With a rustle of clothing leaving the nest of leaves it had landed in, she sensed him dressing above her, not bothering to wait for her climb to her feet. Actually…she wasn't even sure if she could do that yet. It was as if the very life had been sucked out of her, and the thought of moving a single muscle for any reason was a feat she just couldn't manage.

A minute later, she head his footsteps shifting across the ground, growing distant as he began the walk out of the forest alone. Their sound would fade into nothing soon, and she continued to lay there, incapable of sifting through the moshpit of emotions buzzing in her mind. Why…? Why had she let him do that? All of it.. Why? No, she couldn't have stopped him if he really wanted her, but the fact was that she hadn't even tried. What did that say about her? Did it make her a traitor? If so, a traitor to who? Sasuke? Naruto? Konoha entirely?

These thoughts, too painful and confusing to entertain, were interrupted by the sound of footsteps wandering back in her direction. She listened quietly, saying nothing, and not even opening her eyes to see if it was him…or someone else.

Another shuffle of fabric being retrieved from the ground, and then she was being lifted into the air as well. Itachi's arms, now clothed in the long sleeves of his coat, carried her sticky, sweaty form out of the forest and back to their camp.

The journey felt like it lasted forever as she hovered high above the ground, scooped against his warm chest that was still as sticky as hers. But when the red glow danced over the backs of her eyelids, signaling their close proximity to the fire, she knew they had arrived.

"…Are you serious?" That gruff voice, belonging to none other than mister fish-face, raged into the air.

"Fucking…WHAT? You damn hypocrite!" He fired angrily at his partner.

Sakura didn't know what transpired between them, for the moment Itachi deposited her lifeless body to the ground, she disappeared into the deep sleep that she needed.