Chapter 10

The men starred at each other, but Genma was the first to speak, "So basically we don't know what Takao's intentions are."

"Correct."

"And someone needs to be with Sakura at all times," Shisui put in.

"That way we can keep Takao away from her incase…" Itachi was suddenly interrupted by an ear piercing scream.

The four men looked at the fence separating the two hot springs, but they were met by silence. The four men move silently out of the water, each pulling on their pants in silence.

"You creep, get away from me!"

Itachi and Kakashi acted first, bounding over the fence between the two hot springs. The two looked at the scene before them. Sakura was doing her best to keep herself covered under the water; and a few feet ahead of them lay a man with a bruised and bloodied nose. Looking closer Kakashi spotted the man was one of Takao's men.

"Sakura are you all right?" Kakashi called to his student, not taking his eyes off the man. When Sakura didn't answer, Itachi looked over at her. She wasn't just trying to cover herself; she was holding her hand which had mangled fingers. Her shoulder had several bruises in shapes of fingerprints. If Kami was trying to test Itachi's restraint then he was going to hell.

It took Itachi every ounce of control not to kill the man in cold blood right then and there. Itachi slowly moved closer to Sakura, however she backed away with wide, fear filled eyes.

"Itachi I will take this scum to Takao, why don't you take Sakura to her room." With that Kakashi grabbed Sakura's attacker by the arm. Said man struggled against Kakashi's grip but was not released.

Itachi slowly turned to face Sakura, as not to startle her he spoke in a smooth voice, "Sakura why don't I take you back to your room and get some rest?" She didn't answer she just looked a million miles away, "Sakura?"

She still didn't reply but she finally looked into his eyes. Itachi saw something he had not seen before the look in her eyes was heart wrenching, she looked almost... Broken. Like she was a toy; that could not be fixed.

Itachi inched closer to her, before he was standing directly in front of her. He reached around her to grasp her towel.

"Sakura I need you to lift up your arms, so I can wrap this around you," she shook her head, "I won't look, I'll close my eyes" he said sliding them closed.

He waited a moment before he heard her moving in the water, she put her hands on his shoulders and he put the towel around her. She removed her hands and Itachi opened his eyes. She held the towel as tight as she could around her.

"Why don't we go get you some clothes, hmm?" he asked guiding her out of the water. They stopped at the other bath so Itachi could retrieve his shirt; Sakura still said nothing. She just let him guide her back to her room. Sakura stood in the middle of the room while Itachi disappeared, but only for a moment. He returned with a small pouch in his hand. His swiftly led her to the bed and sat her down beside him.

"Let me see your hand," he commanded softly. She held her broken fingers out to him. For a while he never said anything and just wrapped her hands so the fingers would heal correctly. After he got two of her fingers done, he heard a small hiss escape the Sakura's lips. He looked up to find her looking at her crushed fingers. He did not want to cause her anymore pain so he focused his charka into his hands and applied in to her. Itachi knew it was working because her face became clam again.

Once he finished tending her wounds, Itachi needed to get her in some dry clothes and into bed to rest. "Sakura where are your clothes?" She didn't say a word, she hadn't said anything since they had left the bath house. Itachi tried again, hoping at least to get her to look in the direction of her clothes. But she didn't, Itachi sighed, he took off his shirt and put it over her and the towel she still wore. The shirt swallowed her small figure, fitting much like a dress, and Itachi removed the towel and let if fall to the floor.

Itachi picked her up and set her gently down on the bed pulling the blankets up to her chest. He made his way to the door intending on leaving and finding out what had happen to the man that tried to assault his cherry blossom.

Before he opened the door, he heard, "Please stay."

Another cliff hanger! After reading reviews for the last chapter I almost put in xXSymmetryXx's suggestion about the cat watching Sakura. I might put that in later on, so thanks xXSymmetryXx for the idea! I am trying my best to update as often as I can so please be patient. Thanks for reading and don't forget to review! I love hearing your comments.