Author's Note: Hello again! Here's chapter four! I just love writing this story since it's so much fun! I want to thank real quick all the people who are reading my story and especially the people who are reviewing! Hugs for all of you! Enjoy!

Chapter Four
The Escape

Sakura laid on her back in the middle of the white room that she was pretty sure was hell on earth, at least for her anyways.

She'd been in the Akatsuki base for what seemed like ever to her when in fact, it had only been about a week and a half. In that short amount of time though, dark bags had formed under her eyes and her body had began to lose weight due to her not eating. Because of her refusal to eat, she'd been tortured so many times by Itachi with Tuskiyomi that she'd lost count a while back.

She didn't know if she could keep going with being a captive of the Akatsuki, but what she did know was that if the torturing were to keep up, that her mind would start to fray if it already hadn't began to.

She had to escape and fast, but she still had no ideas of how.

The only time when she was allowed out of the room was when she had to go to the bathroom and even then, she was blindfolded and handcuffed before she could leave the room. So, even if she could somehow manage to get out of the room that she was trapped in, she wouldn't have any knowledge of the building which would probably just lead to her getting captured again then more torture.

A familiar rumbling sound started up, interrupting her planning and she sat up to see that the door was starting to appear again.

'Probably the bastard coming back to bring me food,' she figured, bracing herself for Itachi to be the one enter, but was surprised when she saw it wasn't him.

Instead, in his place was a big middle-aged man she'd never seen before with a wicked scar that ran from his left eye to his chin. He had the look of someone that you obviously didn't want to mess with unless you wanted to pay badly for it. Looking down at her with obvious disgust in his eyes, he sneered, "I was asked to deliver this to you today since Itachi couldn't."

He dropped the tray carelessly, causing the food to splatter all over the floor. Not that Sakura cared much anyways. It wasn't like she would have actually eaten it. The man on the other hand though seemed to think that she'd mind and he waited for her to say something, like maybe to tell him just so he'd have a reason to hit her. When she kept her silence, she saw the disappointment flash in his eyes.

"Piece of trash," he spit at her and Sakura had to bite her tongue to resist to tell him that between them, he was the one who was trash.

Walking back over to the wall with the door, the man looked over his shoulder to make sure that Sakura wasn't watching. That was when it came to her. This was her one chance of escape. She feigned interest in the spilt food, trying to make it look like she couldn't care less about what he was up to. Satisfied, the man looked forward and started to make hand signs and Sakura caught everyone out of the corner of her eyes. A small smile lit up her lips as the man disappeared, leaving her all alone again.

Standing up, Sakura began to count to herself.

'1…2…3…4…'

She couldn't have that man be anywhere near the door when she tried to escape.

'...45…46…'

When she'd get out, she'd look for an exit fast. If Itachi hadn't come, that meant there was a chance that he wasn't in the building which made her chance of escaping better.

'99…100.'

Figuring she'd waited long enough, she walked over to the wall. Putting her hands together, she quickly repeated the hand signs she'd just seen and smirked when the door appeared.

That man really was trash if he was dumb enough to let a captive see how to escape.

She opened the door quietly and peeked out. Seeing no one, she stepped out to find that she was at the end of a hallway with only one way to go and she started down it. It led to another hall where she could go two ways, right or left. Looking down one way, she saw nothing, but on the other, there were two men heading her way. They hadn't spotted her, at least not yet and she quickly ducked back into the original hall before they could. She pressed herself up against the wall, trying to hide as best she could in the shadows.

'Please go straight!' she prayed. 'Please don't turn into this hall and come this way!'

She would be sunk if they found her.

The men's voices came closer and she and the sound of her heartbeat escalated in her ears.

'Please!'

They were walking past her now, too busy talking to even look her way. Sakura only dared to let out a breath that she hadn't even noticed she'd been holding until they passed. She listened as the men's voices grew distant as they began down the hall away from her. She was lucky this time but if something like this happened again, it could be bad.

She had to find a way out.

She ran opposite the way the men had gone down the hallway which led to another and another. The place was like a never ending maze, and she knew that she was sure to get caught if she was going to keep running around like she had been. That was when she saw it. A small fraction of light spilling into the hall from a window. In other words, a perfect way out.

Running over to it, she saw that the window was rusted shut from disuse but she grabbed it and began to try to pry it open with all her might. She felt the metal start to dig into her skin, cutting it and causing blood to run down her arms, but she didn't stop. In her opinion, it was a small price to pay for an escape.

After a couple of seconds of trying, a low creaking noise sounded and the window slowly began to slide up until it was fully open. Poking her head out, she looked down to see that she was at least fifteen feet above the ground. Being in captivity had done nothing for her form and on top of that, having no chakra would make the jump risky for her but she lifted one of her legs up over the ceil which was soon followed by the other one until she was sitting on the window with her legs dangling over on the outside. Taking a deep breath, she pushed herself off and plunged to the ground.

She landed awkwardly on her feet causing her to stumble forward and fall to her knees. Instantly, she knew she'd done something to her right ankle since she felt it start to throb painfully, but she pushed herself up anyways, wincing a bit at the feeling of weight on her injured foot. She couldn't stop though. Somebody could have already discovered her missing.

She had to hurry.

Picking a random direction, she started limping away. She didn't care which way it would lead her but as long as it was away from Itachi and the Akatsuki, it was good enough for her. Eventually, she would have to come across a town or someone who could help her. Finally she would be safe.

Every step Sakura took was a painful one and she had to bite her lip several times to stop herself from crying out. After about the fifth time of doing it, the coppery taste of blood from cuts her teeth had caused could be tasted on her tongue. She kept on going though until she was a little more than a mile away when she had to lean against a tree to stop herself from collapsing. If she fell, she knew that there was a big chance that she might not be able to get back up.

"Come on," she told herself through gritted teeth. "You have to keep on going!"

She pushed herself off from the tree and tried to try to walk, but only ended up to having to grab it again for support.

"Just give up." she heard a cold voice say.

Sakura froze, her breath catching in her throat. She knew that voice. It was the one that had started to haunt her dreams for the last couple nights. Sure enough when she turned, there Itachi was, watching her. How long he'd been standing there, she didn't know but since she'd not heard him come he could have been observing her the whole time.

All her effort to get away was worthless now. She was caught.

Slowly, she tried backing away from him, refusing to go down with out a fight. To her horror though, he disappeared right in front of her eyes. Her head whipped in all directions, trying to find any hint as to where the Uchiha could be.

"Running is useless," she heard him whisper in her ear and she turned around to see no one.

She knew it then that he was toying with her, wanting to see her suffer more.

Suddenly, he was right in front of her and before she could even react, his hands were wrapping around her throat. She was pushed up against a tree and she let out a small cry as she felt the bark dig into her back through her shirt, slicing her skin open. He lifted her up by her neck so that her feet were dangling several inches off the ground. Struggling, to get free, Sakura clawed at his hands and arms but it only caused him to squeeze harder. Slowly, she felt herself start to feel dizzy and the world around her started to blur. She knew then that he was going kill her or try to get her as close as possible to the brink of death since he still needed her as the bait to attract Naruto.

She'd almost lost conciousness when his hands suddenly released her and she fell to the ground, gasping for air.

"Go away," she heard Itachi say and she looked up in confusion, wondering what he meant but then she saw that he wasn't talking to her or even looking her way. Instead, he was focusing on someone behind him and she peered around, curious to see who'd walked in on them.

"…S-Sasuke?" she whispered out, not believing her eyes.

"I don't have time for you." Itachi told him.

The younger Uchiha brother glared as he said, "You'll make time."

I know this is evil but I give you a cliffie! Thanks for reading and please review!