Hehe... I'm not so evil as to leave you hanging for too long. So here is the next chapter. Things do get kinda crazy in the next two, so I'm debating on how to devide them up. Let me know if you want a double chapter. And now my special extreme thanks to:

MiseryNightmare: heheh... yes, he is a bastard for that. But read on! Thank you!

WhiteEyeLover: If it is, I'm not really aware of it. I write this when I'm in the mood and all of it comes out of the top of my head. And don't worry about insulting me; its very difficult to. *shrug* And I like to keep my readers guessing.

Takara Mokoto: Yes, they are all, but maybe not in the way you think. Readon to see if your right! And yes, you'll hate the ice cube almost as much as the weasle.

Suggested listening: Cuz I Can or Family Portrait by Pink

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She sat silently in the room, staring at her manacled wrists as she slowly embroidered. The door opened and closed, but she did not move. The moonlight made her skin appear like smooth marble, giving her a statue like quality. As a hand caressed her cheek, the eyes flared and she stiffened, turning away. She could not bring herself to accept the very hand which had betrayed her. The fingers moved to stab the needle through her wrists artery, but another hand caught hers, forcing her to drop it.

There was a small 'hn' of displeasure and then strong arms wrapped around her waist, pulling her to her feet and turning her to meet those cold coal eyes. "You will behave, Lady." The words were hollow, orders without emotion. "I will call Lord Hyuuga if you insist on attempting to kill yourself."

Sakura nodded and he released her, returning to stand in the shadows. It was a subconscious thing he had always done, yet it stabbed her heart as though he had slapped her. Turning away from him once more, she stared out the window trying to clear her mind of the betrayal. But she could not and tears threatened to spill. "Why?" she whispered brokenly into the night, her voice no more than a wind. "Why?"

The door opened as the Uchiha paused at the door. "Because it is my duty."

The words broke her control as she wept bitterly. He had said the same words to her when he had taken her in; when he had showed her the true City. To hear them now was more than she could bear. Night's silver light waned to dawn and she slowly felt her eyes dry for there were no tears left.

With silent conviction, she rose and walked to the bed. Her shackles prevented her from doing many things. But this was not one of them. Beginning to tie knots in the satin fabric, she took a deep breath and then reached up to hang it from the rafters. Pulling it tight, she fed the edge out the window, cautiously moving it down an inch at a time. The shaking of her hands ceased as she slowly walked over to the window and threw it open, feeling the darkly chilling breeze sweeping over her skin. And then she jumped; the rope in hand.

Landing with a barely audible thud against the brick, she slowly began lowering herself down. The cuffs made the process difficult, but she knew that she could not keep her sanity to be trapped in that place. She had to see Kakashi; she needed to find out what she should do. So many emotions ran through her she was not sure where to begin as her feet eased her down.

Silently landing on the cobblestone, she melded into the shadows as she took a deep breath. Moving silently, she kept her steps small and light beneath the unfamiliar fabric of a dress. Resolve allowed her to move quickly, to keep from despair at the thought of getting past the guards. Arranging her dress, and smoothing it neatly, she approached the gates with regal ease.

The head guard stepped forward to intercept her as her feet seemed to stumble. Fixing him with a haughty look of pure royalty, the former Lady stood strait. "A lady is not to be touched," she warned lowly. "I could have you reported for such a gesture above your place."

"My-my apologies, Lady Haruno," the guard stuttered, staring as though she were an apparition. She scorned him with her eyes and posture, watching as he slowly backed off. Her soul felt tainted as she saw the look of fear in his eyes, but she knew that she could not lose this air, or he would never allow her out. It was a blessing that she had learned, but a blasphemy against what she stood for.

A cool breeze swept the desolate area of the gates. Sakura kept her back strait, refusing to shudder at the chilling fingers that seemed to sweep down her back. She was so close… she just needed to hold her prescience here. Something ominous seemed to hand in that breeze, making the small hairs on the back of her neck stand up. But fear was not an emotion she could display if she wished to complete her goals. But as she drew the breath to order the gates open, ice cold fingers seized her wrist. "You were not to be outside your room."

"You did not order such," she returned coldly. "Release me."

"You should know better than this."

"Why are you concerned?" The words were like ice as she wheeled to face the pale eyes. "You have taken everything from me! You stole my home, my greatest dream, and you have imprisoned me in the greatest blasphemy. What is left?!"

The pale eyes seemed amused by her rage, he drew her closer. Kissing her forehead, he smiled darkly. The Hyuuga Lord turned to the guard with a glare in his snowy eyes. "My fiancé is not to leave the grounds. I would not want a shadow to snatch her away once more. Understood?" he snapped. The guard saluted sharply, relieved to be out from under the fiery green gaze.

With a sharp pull, Neji pulled her inside, and locked the door before turning back to the pink harpy. Meeting her furious gaze , the almost angelic eyes seemed to blaze. She could feel the black intoxication of his wrath stifling the air around her. Holding her anger, she stood strait, breaking her hand from his grasp. Tension crackled through the house like a lightning as emerald challenged diamond. "You are worth a great deal to me, Sakura," he said lowly. "And you are wrong."

Her eyes narrowed in confusion as she folded her arms, forming an invisible shield between them. Neji smirked arrogantly, shifting to circle her like a predator. Those eagle eyes never left her own, and for a moment, she wondered if he could actually see her. "You still have retained that stubborn spirit of yours…" he mused aloud.

"You will not break me. You do not have the capability. There is nothing to use as leverage," she answered his unspoken desire coldly. "I am not a girl of your imagination Neji. I am far harder. He taught me to be such."

"And I broke him within two moons."

She stiffened under the words feeling the cold fingers skim along her throat and shoulders lightly, closing her eyes. The front had to be iron or he would shatter her. "I surpassed him long ago. You will not succeed Lord Hyuuga."

"We shall see…" A sharp pain entered her neck, sending her into the dark.

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"No, no my Lady! You must never allow your back to curve."

"But Obaasan, it is so uncomfortable to sit like that."

"Comfort is not a Lady's concern. She must be regal but sociable; stern but kind; seductive but pure. As the future First Lord's wife you must be the epitome of grace. Learn that."

"Obaasan, I have to be married to be the first Lord's wife. Why cannot I merely be the first Lord?"

"Sakura! How preposterous! A woman can never be a Lord. Its indecent and improper for a lady to take a political position."

"Yes Obasaan." It doesn't sound so indecent to me….It sounds sensible.

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Her arms ached, throbbing and pulsing almost as much as her anger. The jutting angle of her elbows and shoulder blades left her straining to keep her arms from being overextended. But to do so, she had to rock back on the tops of her feet, which stretched her torso and left her shaking with exertion.

Her form was no longer clad in the hated dress, but rather in nothing. He had only permitted her the bandages which ran around intimate areas for the sake of "modesty". The night's breeze seemed to lick at her skin, sending tingling sensations along her sides while slowly locking her muscles in place. It was a slow torture, but she refused to be bent to his will.

Meeting the coal black eyes that followed each movement, she felt fire burn within her blood. "I hate you."

The soft thudding of his boots did not disturb her as he smirked maliciously. Leaning before her, he pressed one hand down against her stomach, forcing her to strain harder as his lips brushed against her ear. "Just as you should."

"You never answered my question. Why?" Sakura said, struggling to maintain it with the pressure, but too stubborn to allow him to press her down.

His lips twitched in a dark smile. The amused, challenging smile he wore did not match the words he spoke. "Because it is my duty to you. I cannot support you Sakura; the life I lead is not for women of so weak a standard," he replied seriously, his hand forced her slowly back to strain her shoulders. As she flinched in pain, he released her before walking to the door. "You are weak." With the final words hanging like poison in the air, Itachi Uchiha took his leave.

Sakura stared after him incredulously, her emerald eyes disbelieving as she stared at his back. Her gaze grew thoughtful as she thought over his words, trying to discern what made her disbelieving. And then she understood. The words themselves had been delivered exactly as if Itachi were the one saying them, but Itachi also prided himself on his education. He would not have used the same work twice.

Her mind argued that it was merely a coincidence. No one could have that same tone as her lover when he was angry, nor when he was being blunt. It was pure Uchiha regality, that could allow even a grunt to sound dignified. Deflated from this small fact, she shifts slightly and then focuses on keeping her body from pain.

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"You nearly slipped, Painter."

"She is in far too much agony to notice such trivial errors. The whore is too sharp in this case; her own mind will discredit the errors as his scorn for her."

"Be careful. I need her broken quickly. I've heard a rumor that he is back."

"Hm. That may be a problem. But perhaps it will allow me to break them both."

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"What do you mean, Kiriashi, that she is no longer here?" the low voice rumbled from the shadows. "I requested that you keep her from trouble while I was in Kumo."

"She left to get information on the Uchiha about three days ago and she hasn't returned," the older woman replied with a heavy sigh. "I have checked with the guards. She definitely made it inside the house. She merely did not come back out. I sent Konan in yesterday; there was no sign of Sakura in that house. Which means she was moved elsewhere."

The twin red orbs glittered dangerously in the low light as the black cloaked figure's prescience seemed to expand in the shadows, radiated his displeasure at the information. A malevolent gleam appeared as he stared the tailor down. "You will tell me where they have taken her, Kiriashi."

Sighing softly, the tailor got out the map of the Hyuuga estate. Rolling open the large scroll, she looked over the north end. Finding a room with a red mark in the corner, she pointed to it. "There. In the holding room in the lower cellar. I don't have charts for that, but it is the only place Konan could not get the guard to take her. Be warned, Itachi. The Painter is rumored to be working for the Hyuuga. If he has Sakura, then he will try to play her attachment to you against you both. There is one other issue as well. While you were away, she has sustained damage to her legs and shoulder. She will not be as strong as when you left."

With a venomous smirk that held no joy, Itachi ran one thumb along his blade, watching as the thin line of chrisom appeared. "I do not believe that will be an issue." He replied. "Sakura has an inner strength, she knows more than anyone; she does not fall for cheap imitations."

"But she believed you to be dead, Itachi. That leaves a margin for doubt in her own sense," the tailor cautioned. "There is also the other issue. Sakura was betrothed to Neji Hyuuga."

The almost red eyes narrowed, the dark expression becoming livid. Sweeping from the room with a last furious glare, the Uchiha jumped to the roof tops and began running. There was much to do before dawn, and precious short hours in which to complete it. His mind wondered if he was responsible for this chaos that now threatened the city's second Guardian, if he had been rash not to contact her before he left. But the silence held no answer for his tortured mind.

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She let out a small sob of pain, biting her lip to try hold in the screams that wished to flood from her lips. Her skin felt as though it were on fire, burning into her and through her. Writhing against the cruel bonds that forced her to be still, the girl whimpered as she felt the brush skimming along her wrist, soothing the pain with a light amount of water over the acidic acrylic paint. "Now, now…. You'll ruin it if you keep squirming," The emotionless voice intoned.

"Stop…" she whispered, as she saw him pick up the smaller brush once more. That brush held the agony in its deceptively soft form.

"Ah, Lady, then you won't be complete…." the younger twin's voice replied, his one hand pinning her other wrist. "For things must match…"

"Stop it!" she shouted, her voice cracking turning to a scream as the burning returned. The swirling patterns along her arms each stung like fire eating through her flesh. The paint was a blade, etching each design into her skin harshly. Each scar would be a replicant, a reminder of what he had done and was doing to her body.

His lips brushed along her cheek softly, tauntingly. "You are like my personal canvas… everything about you must be perfect, must match… your lover no longer looks at you. He was the one who imprisoned you in the first place. And now you are mine, until the Hyuuga locks you in his knot. In the end, you will be no more than the woman you hated, trapped without choice."

She froze, stilling under his gaze, as though her muscles had become locked in ice. The tears which had been restrained now flowed bitterly down her porcelain skin. The shell slowly breaks as she stares into those smiling, flat eyes. And then, for the final time, she shatters.

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"Without a soul, the person becomes no more than a shadow…"- Yondaime Uzumaki, 4th Lord

"I watched her. I watched her proud spirit day by day be broken to nothing more than shards. Every pain that he inflicted on her body was nothing to her, for it was her very heart that was shattering, that bled with each hurt. Pain is nothing compared to the agony I saw in her eyes. The agony that I would never be able to restore."- Jiryaa, Mountain Sage, Author of "Tsunade, the One Heart"

R&R If you want a double, I need.... Hm. 8 reviews. 2% of the normal who read. I'll be updating with a single otherwise. Much love, readers. Oh... and I have a suprise... Its a preview.

If it were a perfect world, he would come bursting through the door to save her. If it were a perfect world, she would be waiting for him, still hoping for his return despite her pain. If it were a perfect world, it would be a simple in and out job. But this was nothing like a perfect world. As he stared at her flat green eyes, the slump of her shoulders, the elegant room of which she took no notice, he knew that it would never be. And he hated it. For what he treasured most was broken and he did not know if he could fix it.