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Disclaimer: If I owned any of this…well I don't know XD, but the point of this is to say I DON'T own any of it1 XD

Chapter 10

Green eyes opened, the world just a disorientated blur of color and sounds, she felt like Kisame had played another cruel joke on her by using his damn Samheda to suck out her chakra again, like Deidra had tossed another one of his damn bombs in her direction as well. "They did it again didn't they Itachi?" she asked her voice hoarse, it was nothing but a whisper; her eyes cleared expecting to see her beloved smirking at her with a superior expression, of one who was in on the joke. She felt confused to see something different a plethora of white; and high tech equipment, her heart dropped. Despite her time in the soul society she sometimes she forgot that she was dead. Some days she woke up, as if that day never happened and she was in the Akastuki hideout, with her beloved. She remembered black eyes and black hair, his velvet voice teasingly whispering into her ear. She remembered everything that was Uchiha Itachi, and her devoted love for him.

A sensation that repeatedly hurt her pride, to think that she would linger on love for this long, to think that she couldn't put it behind her, it angered her to no end. Closing her eyes she forced him from her mind, concentrating on the now, she went over what had happened, and reoriented herself to the present. Her body ached; strange, her chakra should have soothed most of the pain. She felt pain when she tried to move.

Needless to say she felt like hell, which prompted the question. Why was she still alive? One by one her senses began to come alive, she was trapped in some sort of device, her arms and legs were chained down, her hands above her head, her legs spread apart in an upside down V position, she was held by something slimy, her torso and the rest of her body held up by the same gross goop contained in a white porcelain container. She knew that this was what kept her so drained; otherwise she would have awaken with some semblance of chakra reserves.

"I see you're awake," said a sickeningly happy voice, the male's voice reminding her vaguely of Kabuto at his slimiest. Green eyes looked up to focus on a pink haired man, with a sort of glasses look to his mask. "Aizen will be pleased."

"Well, isn't that wonderful?" she asked, as if she cared, it would have been perfect if her voice hadn't cracked slightly. Gold eyes narrowed at her remark, "If it were for the fact that you suit my tastes and Aizens, preference for you being alive and whole when he interrogates you, I would have killed you for that remark alone girly, don't push it." She smiled, "Tsk, tsk, temper, temper, someone needs a little nap time." The pink haired man fumed, she couldn't help giving him, a superior smile. "Why you-", "Aren't you the lively one? I knew that you would serve as some sort of entertainment, and calm yourself Szeyal Aporro, no need to get angry at someone who can't even defend herself."

Immediately her gaze went to the brown haired enigma of evil, as usual a slightly amused and devastating smile graced his features. "Hello little-miss spy, you've caused quite a bit of trouble haven't you?" strong calloused hands reached out to hold her chin firm, they locked eyes and she refused to look away causing his smile to widen. Gently he took his hand away caressing the side of her face gently, combing it through her now loose hair. She knew he was trying to seduce her, unfortunately for him she was used to these sorts of tactics, and she wasn't the unfaithful type she didn't plan on letting go of Itachi. An image of Byakuya appeared in her mind; quickly she snuffed out that thought. She would be setting herself up for hurt if she fell for him.

"I'm an angel compared to you, don't you think?" Brown eyes connected with hers in a seductive manner, but she was immune. Itachi had pulled that look on her so many more times, and he was a million times more seductive to her than the man before her now. "You're interesting."

She froze for a second, the words overlapped with Itachi's and it struck a note in her, memories begged to be set loose but she kept a firm lid on them. "Should I be flattered or offended?" She said, defiant to his smile, but she couldn't shake the nagging sensation of déjà vu. Hadn't she said those same words to Itachi? Heartache began to set in she had gone through over two years without him, so why now? Really stress and heartache chose to show themselves at the most inconvenient times. When she thought about it she had kept herself so busy that she couldn't think about it, now that she was exhausted and captured with nothing but free time, she knew that her memories of him would spring to life. Loneliness was piercing, without chakra she couldn't feel the comforting presence of Orihime, it made her feel more alone than ever. It reminded her of why humans needed companions to live.

She tried to iron those thoughts into her subconscious, she could be thinking of better things, like escaping. It was hard though, then again when you were tired like she was, thinking about what you want was different then what your heart wanted you to think about, she heard a chuckle, she winced when Aizen touched her cheek again using his fingers to comb through her hair, "I'm sorry to cut our time short, but I'm busy, don't worry though I'll be back." She watched as he turned away, pausing at the door he looked to the man called Szeyal Aporro. "Don't touch her, I want her to be nice and healthy when I see her again." The pink haired man bowed, Sakura found that she was exhausted by the encounter, slumping forward; giving herself as much comfort that was possible she slept.

She woke feeling slightly better. From what she could feel her body was healing slowly, she wondered vaguely if this is what civilians felt like when they healed. Green eyes opened, to find that she wasn't alone, green met a cool blue, and a cat-like look. The man who sat across from her, had blue hair, his arms were crossed, as he looked intently at her. For some reason or another he reminded her of a cat, one bored out of his mind that was. She opened her mouth to find her voice cracking; she coughed forsaking the thought of speech, her throat stung. Sighing the blue haired man got up taking a pitcher that was beside him with him, as he strode purposefully toward her.

Clawed hands had unexpectedly, gently cupped under her chin lifting it and pour sweet watery liquid down her throat. When he took it away he watched her with barely a glimmer of interest, "Thanks." She said, never forgetting her good manners. She watched as green lined blue eyes twitched in amusement. "You're that chick from earlier aren't you?" he asked, she smiled. It was the blue haired hollow from earlier named 'Grimmjow', "I said I'd come to entertain you didn't I? How did you like my little show?" He gave her a razor smile, "You really caught our attention, a shame Aizen has taken an interest in you, or I would have taken you for myself."

"Interest…in me?" she asked, stricken the look of alarm and dread hovering on the edges of her consciousness, clamoring for attention. Blue eyes looked at her wonderingly, "Well, with all the light shows you've given us, you've lit a fire under him, seems he's intent on keeping you here in his domain…You mean you don't want him too? Strange chick, most of the bitches here would die to be in your position." She gave a weak laugh, "Die huh? I'd rather die, than let someone trap me by just selfish whims."

Immediately she shut up, apparently exhaustion and pleasant company was taxing, and let her slip more than what was needed. Blue eyes, looked at her with mixed feelings, crouching down he looked away, "I know how you feel." She was silent; she didn't know what to say so she didn't. Suddenly he was standing and then just as quickly he was in his chair reclined. She braced herself as she felt a familiar and slimy chakra touched her senses. Green eyes focused on the approaching man, so confident in his stride, warningly the hairs at the back of her neck rose as he strode closer and closer.

He looked like he was going to eat her, and with no chakra or anything to defend herself she felt like he was. She hadn't noticed in her half-awake state before, but something about him made her dizzy, like the genjutsu's Itachi had taught her to fight against, she knew that was what he was trying to do to her, suck her inside a powerful one. Without chakra to resist she found herself being sucked in fast, into his illusion. She closed her eyes, trying to block it out, from what she could tell he wouldn't hurt her, physically at least.

"Stop that." She told him, "You're making me dizzy." She shivered slightly as she felt fingers brush her cheek and make their way down her neck to her collar bone. She wouldn't tell him that she had a way of combating his power. Although she didn't know as much as she liked to know of him she knew he was dangerous in the aspect that his zanpakutou power could cover easily as a genjutsu.

"Dizzy with what I wonder?" She felt a muscle in her cheek twitch, talking to him made her want to punch him. It was a compulsively violent urge she hadn't felt in a long time. She closed her fists tightly as she instinctively lunged for him despite her restraints. She wanted him to stop touching her, his touch, made her shiver.

Opening her eyes to the world around her once again, she looked the brown eyed man, his cold smile sending adrenaline through her veins, she knew he wasn't an opponent she could take on herself, although she had taken her share of murder he was another type of being. He was different from her, she could see it in his eyes, as a soldier and a fighter she recognized the monster that stared back at her. She steeled herself to his gaze, men like him could smell fear, and that only made his power more powerful.

"No…I think it's all those creepy vibes you emit, I don't understand how Hinamori fell for you. She must have been blind." Cold eyes brightened slightly, his smile seemed to have gotten warmer. He wasn't the type of villain to get angry at taunts, she knew that, and she also knew that it was probably unwise to egg him on like that. But, it was this defiance that kept his interest in her, and it was the only thing keeping her alive at the moment.

Thank kami he had the confidence to keep her there, he was foolish to not terminate her on the spot, she knew she could escape; it was just a matter of timing. She was beginning to catch the chakra that began to generate within her and keep it in, never sending it to the surface of her skin where it could be absorbed, occasionally doing so only to keep up appearances and probe the sticky liquid that kept her suspended. She wasn't a nin just for show, it was one part of her she hadn't neglected, and that was the ability to think on her feet, and have full control of the inner workings of her body. It was her specialty; she was after all a master of her chakra flows, so much so that she was comparable to the Hyuuga clan.

"You really are interesting" he told her, merely smiling, his face inches from hers his hands set firmly at his sides in his pockets.

"You like to repeat yourself don't you?" she asked him as composed as anyone could chained in the manner that she was.

"Really, really interesting." The spark in his eyes, signified trouble, and she was helpless to stop it. "So I'll give you a reward for entertaining me, little-miss spy, a position in my court, and the honor of becoming, a vizard." He pulled out the Hougyoku, and immediately she felt the pull of the stone and its many facets. Before, its energy had just been a slightly throb, but now its energy swirled around her wrapping her strangling her, like a snake, she gasped and recoiled from the negative energy. Before she knew it she felt searing pain, it took all she could not to cry out, she'd be damned if she showed any sort of weakness, to the man before her.

"My, you hold up well, for a woman, I find myself liking you more and more." She found herself glaring at him, at his stupid cool smile and his gleaming cold eyes. She had expected something like this, she didn't think he would try to kill her since he had kept her alive for this long, and she knew he was hoping that she would fall under the Hougyoku's power and her will would crumble under the force of the hollow that was being forced into her.

He chuckled at her defiance and it only hardened her resolve to win; she was different from the women he had encountered, much different and he would regret keeping her alive, because unlike the bimbos that flocked him she didn't need his good looks or charm, and it was times like these that she could thank the relationship that had her so grounded on her beloved Itachi. Pain barely contained her body shivered, and the Hougyoku reached out to change her very being. She wondered if Ichigo had ever felt the same searing pain, inside her she could feel another presence, unlike any other, it felt somewhat similar to the inner she had for so many years, but they had made their peace within her, so that meant that another being was growing inside of her, something more sinister, and bloodthirsty. She knew that the Hougyoku was taking her memories of bloodier times and giving it a life of its own, she wondered if this was the exact process in which the other vizards were made…

The moment she felt the other 'foreign' being begin to form within, her 'inner' resurfaced, in an instant, the dormant power Sakura had put to sleep was wide awake and full of strength and energy along with her inners cataclysmic awakening Sakura was sucked into the abyss of her mind, the world within herself, She looked at the silent trees, the inner world in which her soul resided, the quietness reminded her of the quiet before a massive fight broke out, but she knew that victory would be obtained in this battle.

Beside her stood her inner, arms crossed looking at the middle of the clearing, where Sakura knew another part of her was being formed, she knew it would be useless to stop it; the Hougyoku's power outmatched her own, too greatly. She could however suppress this new being, just as Ichigo had. Sakura breathed in, closing her eyes, remembering all of the practice she had with Itachi, he had taught her how to combat against this sort of attack in her mind. She remembered his voice guiding her along as he attacked her inside his world of Tsukiyomi and back to her mind. She knew she could win this fight, after all Itachi had been the best opponent for this lesson.

Sakura opened her eyes to her inner world, and opened her hand, in it appeared, half of her sword, in her hand, rested a white blade with a black hilt. She looked over to her inner who smiled and held up the other half of their sword. Her inner was the reason why she had two swords, especially beings that had two separate souls, of course she hid that particular tidbit of information from the Soul Society, as far as they were concerned she had just been blessed with dual swords, nothing more and nothing less. The quiet air turned chilly, and the world around her began to ripple as another part of her was brought into the world. Ichigo had said that he had feared that other side of himself, but to Sakura this was just herself she was facing, she had learned her lesson with her original inner Sakura would accept this new part of her and tame it just as she had with her inner. From the fog the other self seemed to emit came a figure in the very likeness of herself.

The only difference was the coloring, and the smile the Hollow within her seemed to hold. The hollow looked at the both of them; gently she pushed back black hair, as yellow and black eyes scanned the area.

"Two against one? That's hardly fair." Sakura took a step back as her inner held up her black sword with a white hilt, her inner was the one who held the more destructive side of their power. Aizen didn't count on the fact had she had an inner, of course she had never graced anyone with that knowledge, aside from Itachi that is, it would be a way to camouflage herself she watched as two swords clashed, it was obvious who was winning. Her inner smiled equally back at the hollified version of herself easily pushing the black and white shadows of herself aside. Her inner was strong, how else, had Sakura survived Itachi's initial attack when he tried to pry top secret information from her? In fact she had become the winner of that round in his little world of Tsukiyomi, she almost chuckled at the fond memory of his surprisingly cute and surprised face.

She had full confidence that she could submit her other inner self, within herself Sakura felt smug satisfaction of fooling the enemy, it made her feel slightly better, had this been Itachi he would have suspected her regardless of a change, and that was how she was about to trick Aizen, Sousuke. She didn't have a plan ready yet per se but she would have plenty of time to think it out.

She watched, seemingly bored, from her extravagant stool near the feet of Aizen, as he conducted his court. The moment she had reawaken with her new self implanted within her, she hid behind the hollow mask that it provided, all of it merely child's play in her eyes. She listened as the man slightly above her spoke his words, and all she could say was that it was nothing less than perfect the way he handled and terrified his subordinates. It gave her a reflection of himself, the cocky side of him wasn't just for show.

Fingering the two swords in her lap, she let her chakra, roam and float free, letting it touch the ground and hazily stay there every now and again, it was her form of investigation. She had to take the Hougyoku, the very thing that resided in Aizen's inner pocket at the moment. For now though, she would bide her time, and come up with a full proof plan to snatch the jewel from under his nose. A good thing she knew how to handle her inner hollow as well as her inner itself, the hollowish side of her let her use its looks to fool their enemies. It would be difficult tricking this group, but then again, she wasn't a survivor of thirteen S-rank missions for nothing. Most died or retired by the third one.

Blank, black/gold eyes looked to the congregated few; she didn't really expect to see any of the damage that she had caused to reappear, as hollows regenerated at an incredibly fast pace, however it didn't change the fact that she didn't like that it looked as if she didn't injure them in some way, shape or form. Well, psychologically she was sure she had injured some, the way they skittered away from her, when she approached. It helped, that she let some of her more sinister chakra leak, it made it look as if she had fallen under the will of her hollofied side. In fact, if Sakura hadn't had her inner battle for her, Sakura was sure she would have been put under the power of the more sinister force.

After all, as it was Sakura had a substantial amount of darkness within her, something you could only obtain through the many assassinations she had been assigned. Something you could only get from the life she had lead this far. Within herself she had amassed plenty of emptiness that blocked out the deeds of what she had done to survive and take what she needed to live, and at the moment it was that trait that she clung to, it made her role only that much more convincing. Warm hands wrapped gently around her throat, rubbing it sensually, she turned to face the brown haired man, who smiled at her as if he were caring for a pet. She closed her eyes; she wondered what it was with powerful men like him, and their obsession with stroking necks? Itachi had the same problem; he never really held her hand or stroked her face as much as her liked to stroke her neck, but his touch felt nice, his hands were cold like ice.

Out of habit, partially just to fool him, like a cat she arched her neck toward his hand, holding his hand she brought it to her face. She played the part of devoted pet perfectly to a T, but she occasionally let herself slip, clutching her head and such, as if she were fighting with herself to make the façade seem more real, it would be strange if she was just 'perfect little pet' after just a day or so of being about.

Warm hands caressed her ear, something about him, reminded her of Itachi, though their outer personalities weren't the same, something about them was fundamentally the same, something intoxicating. To Sakura it was no mystery why the innocent Hinamori fell prey to this man's charms, but while Hinamori's affection stemmed from the heart. Sakura's stemmed from familiarity, something much more easily destroyed. While this man was like Itachi, he would never be him, and a side of her, wanted to destroy every trace, of this man merely for the purpose that he was too similar to her former, love. It surprised her that she harbored such feelings, and found that even toward Byakuya, her former captain she held similar feelings. Strange that these feelings would only surface when the darker side of her was created. She wondered if these were her more subconscious desires, after al in theory, her hollow side was supposed to be a part of her, her more darker side perhaps?

To her, while there were people similar to Itachi the memory of him was no longer solely hers, even if other people didn't know of him. She knew they would never know of him, she wouldn't allow it, and even if she did, she couldn't let on that she remembered her former life in such great detail. It was forbidden in the soul Society, as was the concept of having two swords with two different souls, it made her a taboo among a taboo's, and she couldn't afford to discard their help just yet. Quickly a plan formulated behind a blank and bored face. Until finally it clicked, she smiled, "Aizen-sama, I'm bored, can I go play? I heard you brought an earth girl here before me, you think I can go see her?" She needed an excuse to get away from him first.

She turned hollow eyes to his brown, and he smiled, "Just don't get in trouble and come back soon." Grabbing her swords she jumped down the stairs, he treated her like a beloved pet; she knew though that it would soon change. He was only playing with her, and this little innocent game of 'house' could turn for the worse. While he was really a good looking man, she didn't feel like sleeping with him just to get something, it went against her moral code, and she wouldn't put it over him to used that brief connection to bind her closer to him. She had seen it done before, in her world, where one night could result in an eternity of servitude and loyalty.

"I'll see you later then." She beamed at him as if he were her world. A part of her recoiled to do that, it made her contempt for him only grow. The side of her that had given up its freedom to Itachi came to despise this man, she stopped in her tracks; she wondered what he was doing right now. She sighed and looked to the ground, putting a hand to her face.

"Itachi," she whispered softly to herself closing her eyes, she found herself missing him more strongly than before. Was it the prolonged exposure to Byakuya and Aizen that built this up? Was it merely because she was lonely? So many questions without an answer, so much pent up she didn't know if she could put it all back. The memories of him terrified her, she didn't want to remember his kindness, his touch, and at the same time she didn't want to know how much of him had faded in her memory. How much of him she had really lost. She wanted to forget, but at the same time she clung to his memory, he was someone she couldn't forget easily, and she had the feeling that he may as well reside in her heart forever. The possessiveness that he held for her, the words he had told her to keep her beside him, the part of him that needed her and the side that pushed her away.

Their relationship hadn't been the happiest; in fact she found it somewhat painful to be with him, the moment she decided to leave him he would say or do something that would keep her there. But, even if it wasn't the happiest, he had helped her find herself when she had become a mess looking for his brother in a futile effort to bring him back to Konoha. The thought of him and him living hurt her; did he fall in love with another? Did he recover from his loss of her? The feelings and doubts she had been trying to hold back for so long, had time to break through, it brought her to her knees.

She knew she had to pull herself together, the walls had eyes and ears, but she merely sunk down and sat near the wall, her memories were too painful to bear, the hold she had created from not being with him ached, but she didn't want to replace him, too afraid, what if he came here? How long would she have to wait to see him again? She heaved dry sobs, why did this have to happen now? Never letting a sound escape, never giving into the pain, she was strong, she knew that it was necessary for her to cry, it was the only way she would move on, it was the only way she would heal from his loss. Sad that she could cry this strongly for him, and yet when it came to her friends she only thought of them from time to time.

Her heart couldn't have chosen a worse, time, any form of comfort might sway her, and with Aizen pulling the kind act, it wouldn't be strange if she fell for him, but she had a feeling the darker side of her would keep that union from becoming a possibility. What a time to have a rebound. As the silent sobs began to even out, a tear escaped, sitting there she allowed herself a few moments grace before she stood up again to make her way through the labyrinth that was Hueco Mundo. Pulling out a handkerchief she went to wipe her face, only to stop and look at the pink cloth embroidered with a weasel and a Sakura branch, it was his gift. Clenching it, she refolded it and slipped it into her now white haori, and she left her tears to dry, it wasn't like there was anyone around. Steeling herself she breathed in and exhaled, letting her troubles be buried once again, banishing them until she could properly deal with them. Now was not the time. Closing her eyes once more, she cut off that side of her, shutting it down, thinking on a more logical track, it seemed that being alone in this strange world without a potential friend, well Grimmjow didn't count, was taxing. It didn't help that she was in enemy clutches, and that added more onto her stress.

Right now she had to focus; she had plenty of time to fall apart later. Hands shook as she walked toward Orihime's room, touching the door, she turned away, it was better if Orihime didn't know that she had been there it would make her act more convincing. "Ah, forget it, this is boring." She said to herself, well more specifically the walls that watched her. She had a plan to set in motion, and that plan was to begin now.

Hi everyone! It's a rather late update but hey! I'm updating, and despite it being summer I got a lot of paper work to do for my parents uggghhhhhh! It's horrible but at least they buy me what I want…well for the most part, I hope you like this story chapter! Please review!

To my anonymous

To: Who…me

1

Maybe maybe, not theres always time and planning for everything right?

2

Rescue mission will happen soon, the next chapter I'm hoping

3

So far, I'm trying to work out how I'm going to select and try to keep some espada from not dying and such… as for the relationship between Gin and Matsumoto…that's gonna be a toughy...

4

Of course he recognized! XD Who wouldn't, but I don't think he's the type to shout, "I know that woman!" he may be a bit like Ichigo but he's not that stupid XD

Lol 2 months now 2 weeks! I hope you enjoyed this chapter!