Merle was a brash, boastful bird with no real skill to back it up. She had a big mouth that, more often than not, got her and Sakura into more trouble than the bird was worth. She was a squawking nuisance, overprotective and blind to her own limits.

And Sakura had never been more grateful for her existence in her life.

The crow followed her everywhere she went, usually at a discreet distance, sometimes blending into a group of her fellows, anxiously observing Sakura from above. In all the years Sakura had been summoning her, she had never quite understood that Sakura was a shinobi and fully capable of defending herself.

A murder of crows passed by overhead, missing one of their number. A small puff of smoke signalled Merle's disappearance. As dim as she was, she could sense the difference in chakra signatures – Orochimaru's dwarfed all of theirs put together. She knew Sakura was in trouble.

Although Merle was Sakura's contracted animal, the crow was capable of transporting herself to Itachi's location, wherever he may be at the time. It was probably Merle's only skill, being able to pinpoint chakra signatures and essentially summon herself in reverse, back to them. Merle had often startled Sakura by appearing suddenly in a cloud of smoke and feathers, cawing a loud greeting to signal her arrival. It was a mixed blessing that Merle wasn't terribly smart, she'd be deadly otherwise.

"It's been a while," Anko said, seemingly calm. She was wearing a slight smile, despite the fiery chakra blazing and pulsing in her throat. The same markings were twitching and spreading across Sasuke's pale skin. "Haven't seen you since the last Chuunin Exam, sensei."

"Oh? I had forgotten." Orochimaru laughed, his voice slick and oily, "You must not have made much of an impression, Anko-chan."

Naruto and Sasuke were both as tense as a coiled spring, but both of them remained silent, watching the adults talk. Sasuke's face was tight in restrained pain.

Anko made a noise of disgust.

"Is Sakura-chan back on the team, then?" Kabuto said softly, glancing between her and his master. Orochimaru's golden eyes landed on Sakura's face and she fought the urge to look away. Her skin was crawling under his gaze.

"We were surprised to see her go," Orochimaru said, "And to disappear so completely, as if she had never existed…"

None of the others said anything or made a telling movement, but a triumphant smirk crossed Orochimaru's face regardless as the silence grew.

"Do you have a theory, Kabuto-kun?" The ex-Sannin touched Kabuto's cheek with his chalk-white fingers. Kabuto's face was blank, unresponsive to his master's touch. Sakura shuddered on his behalf.

"Her disappearance was professionally done." Kabuto shrugged, carefully not dislodging Orochimaru's loose grip on his face, "It seemed to reek of a cover-up."

"Was there a scandal?" Orochimaru breathed, staring at each member of Team Seven, old and new, in turn, "Did little Sakura-chan do something wrong? You know I was carefully monitoring my Sasuke-kun's team, just in case… and when he lost the girl, there was a slip, wasn't there? Oh, we were interested in that…"

Sakura hazarded a glance at Sasuke, confused. He was scowling directly at Orochimaru, his hand clasped around his neck.

"It took months for them to trust poor Sasuke-kun again, didn't it? Naruto-kun got off easily, what with being so valuable, but poor Sasuke-kun was scolded awfully, wasn't he?"

Sakura remembered Ino's words.

Did Naruto and Sasuke-kun tell you what they did? How they snuck out of the village and tried to track you down?

They didn't get far.

Naruto was crying.

Did something else happen that Sakura didn't know about?

"Is there no boar, then?" Sakura cut in before Orochimaru could manage yet another poisonous question, another insidious attempt to demoralise them. He turned back to face her, releasing Kabuto. His smile was two grave worms stretched upwards on a corpse's face. "Only, we came here because we had a mission. If there is no mission, there is no pay, and I'd like to know ahead of schedule if you've wasted more than my time with your snide remarks."

"I remember your tears." Orochimaru replied, out of the blue. Sakura blinked, confused by the sudden change in conversation, "The frightened, helpless tears of a little girl who is seconds from wetting herself in fear. I remember the stench of your blood and sweat, how you clung to your teammates and the tremors that racked your body as I inched closer… deciding whether or not… to bite!"

Against her will, Sakura flinched.

"Prey should always know their place on the food chain," He smiled smugly, "Or risk being reminded."

Kabuto let out a dry chuckle.

"But you had a question, didn't you, dear girl? I must apologise… I so often digress in these situations. I trust Kabuto-kun to – "

"'It would be a waste if you died… not to mention he would be angry.'" Sakura quoted.

Orochimaru did not forget conversations as he had intimated earlier, simply to rouse Anko's ire. It was obvious he recalled when and why he had said what he had. She saw his golden eyes narrow, a speculative gleam beginning to form.

In the Forest of Death, Orochimaru had been close to biting her, as he had Sasuke. It was only his realisation that she was somehow connected to Itachi that had stopped him.

Sakura was no fool, and this was no idle chat between friends. She was playing her only hand a little early, perhaps, but if reminding him of Itachi's wrath kept him from hurting her or her friends, it was only prudent to bring it up as soon as possible.

Kakashi shifted on his feet, possibly confused by her outwardly random statement.

Kabuto was expressionless, but something about his body language made Sakura feel certain he was curious about his master's reaction to her words.

So. Not as helpless as Orochimaru had been boasting. She had the shield of Akatsuki's cloak wrapped around her, and Orochimaru knew it.

Go ahead, attack me. See what happens. She smiled a little, letting her confidence spill through.

Then Orochimaru's chakra rolled out in malevolent waves and everyone except her was still, grimacing in pain.

Kabuto wordlessly flew at Sakura, just a blur of silver hair and glasses before his fist grazed the side of her face. She rolled with the punch and blocked his next attempt with her forearm, adrenaline kicking in immediately.

Time slowed down. She could see the twitch in Kabuto's left eye that meant he was striking from the right. The muscles clenching in his arms. The blur of chakra that began to streak across his fingertips.

She shifted back on the balls of her feet, dodging his attempts to slice through her jugular, and kicked out at the side of his knee. He buckled, quickly recovering – still, his stumble put him off balance and Sakura took full advantage, the palm of her hand whipping out to smack him in the throat. He gasped and tried to retreat, she followed closely, not willing to let his attack slide.

Then a kunai nearly clipped her face and she growled in annoyance because all of a sudden he was faster than she was! The previous attacks had been him testing the waters, gauging her skills.

The two of them slipped into a dance, kunai slicing the air and fists and feet getting faster and closer to their targets with each attempt to connect.

Sakura changed the game and added a stream of hissing, acidic cherry blossoms to her fists. She grazed Kabuto's cheek and he shot backwards in alarm, cursing.

He returned to his master's side.

Whatever jutsu Orochimaru was holding the others with stopped and they all relaxed, rubbing the stiffness out of their muscles. Anko glared daggers at her old sensei.

Kabuto wiped a glowing hand over his cheek and the melted flesh was restored. He was smiling.

Orochimaru tilted his head.

"Her style of fighting... I've observed it once before. It is a crude, pale imitation of Uchiha Itachi's technique." Kabuto announced, adjusting his glasses.

Sasuke stiffened.

Orochimaru gave a deep, throaty chuckle. "Then it is as we thought, Kabuto-kun. Sakura-chan has been a very naughty girl indeed."

Sakura couldn't look at any of them. They all knew, but having it rubbed in their faces by Orochimaru of all people...

"And yet, none of her team appear surprised." Kabuto commented.

"We know and we don't care!" Naruto burst out. Sakura looked at him, startled. A vein was throbbing in his forehead, his blue eyes flashing in anger, "Sakura-chan's back, that's all that matters!"

Kabuto's smile only widened. Naruto's chakra flared out.

Orochimaru glanced at Naruto, analytical eyes sweeping over his frame with wary interest.

"And Sasuke-kun?" He said softly, "Don't you care? Sakura-chan and your beloved brother... how much do you really know? How many lies has your little friend fed you? It must burn, not knowing what is real and what is not... Has she been lying all along? Just like him?"

Sasuke was shaking. The curse seal was a mass of writhing flames.

"You've been watching us, so you know I replaced Kakashi," Anko snapped, stepping in front of Sasuke, "You think I spent that time filing my nails? I taught the kid a trick or two."

Sasuke breathed in and out slowly, beginning to smirk.

The curse seal started to wane, the colour fading.

Orochimaru narrowed his eyes.

"When I saw you last, Sasuke-kun, it was power you sought. Revenge. Have you forgotten that? Or have you simply stopped caring about what happened to your family? The blood on your brother's hands. Do you not care anymore? Have you forgotten how your parents died?"

Sasuke grimaced, hands clenched into fists at his side.

"I thought perhaps, if I waited... you would have grown stronger on your own, become Itachi's equal. But I see now... you are nowhere near his strength."

Sasuke lunged towards Orochimaru. Anko slung an arm around his chest and hauled him backwards.

"Yeah, you'd want him to think that, wouldn't you?" Anko said cheerfully, "To think that he needs you. Except that's not true. You're a walking corpse living on borrowed time, nothing but a leech clinging to other people's power. You'd drag him down. You couldn't kill Itachi before and there's no guarantee you'd even try again. 'Cause the truth is, you're a big, fat coward. You couldn't face the ultimate truth every genin gets over in their first year: everybody dies. Shinobi especially. Sasuke, here, is so much better than you, old man. He ain't afraid to die if it means avenging his family. He lives for his goal and you?" Anko snorted contemptously, "Your goal is to live."

Orochimaru's smile was wavering, "Is that jealousy I hear? Sasuke-kun has the same seal as you, but so much more potential... Let's face it, you were merely a prototype. He is the real thing. You were nothing more than a disappointing waste of resources."

"Yeah, maybe," Anko shrugged, "I don't care. It's been a long time since I looked up to you or even cared 'bout what you thought of me. Now, I'm a jounin sensei, I get a comfortable wage, a nice apartment, enough alcohol to take a bath in and more dango than I'll ever need. Maybe my problem was that I didn't care enough. No ambition. I never wanted the power you offered. Me being disappointing to you is your problem, not mine."

Orochimaru laughed.

His next words were inaudible – white noise. His hands formed a seal and Sakura -

Sakura fell.

xxxxxxxx

The door was stuck.

Sakura flung herself against it. The wood groaned and creaked, but failed to shift.

She stood back, nervous energy fizzing through her body, hands fluttering uselessly. There was no lock on the door, why wouldn't it open? Was something blocking the way outside?

Itachi might have blocked it off after leaving to stop her following him. Why would he do that? Was he tired of her? Maybe... maybe he didn't want her anymore. Maybe she wasn't progressing quickly enough. Maybe he had thought she was stronger than she was, and now he was disappointed.

Sakura imagined being trapped inside this wooden cabin forever. Her stomach felt as though it was tearing itself to bits. Rats ran across her skin, making her tremble all over. She was lost. Alone.

Where was the cabin?

There was nothing outside.

Sakura wrapped her arms around herself.

She just needed to think. Her mind was a mess.

Knives sliced through her thoughts, shredding them before they could occur to her.

The cabin was locked, Itachi was gone.

What if he was in danger?

She remembered something then: Itachi, anticipating his latest mission – to... to kill the... the bandits, they were threatening...

Itachi was on a mission.

How long had he been? If she could just remember...

Sakura angrily kicked the door. She drew her leg back for another kick and froze.

There was no lock on the door.

But that wasn't right, surely?

At nights, when it was cold and Sakura was already huddled under the blankets, Itachi would turn the lock and crawl into his own bed before blowing the candle out.

Every night.

The lock, Itachi –

Slowly, painfully slowly, as though he didn't want to spook her, black melted away bit by bit to reveal red.

...What?

Itachi's eyes... there was a secret.

Red. Sharingan.

Sasuke.

Uchiha.

"Uchiha Itachi," Tsunade leant forward in her chair, "murdered his own clan. His and Sasuke's parents. Do you understand that? Did he tell you?"

The cabin – it was -

Thousands of petals poured from her palm in a violent stream and struck the cabin all at once.

Gone.

The door wasn't locked or stuck, it wasn't even there.

"Genjutsu." Sakura muttered, backing up against the illusory wall as darkness rushed to claim her.

xxxxxxxx

Sakura caught herself as she fell, hands shooting and hitting the ground.

She gasped. It felt like breaking the surface of the ocean and taking her first, life-saving breath.

Kakashi stood next to her, trembling. A kunai impaled the palm of his hand. His eyes were clouded with pain, but aware, his Sharingan whirring around fretfully.

He met her gaze and gave a slight nod.

She anxiously looked to the others and what she saw made her jaw drop.

Naruto's mouth was open in a silent snarl, flecks of saliva on his chin. His eyes were wide and glassily vacant and red – blood red – Sakura's stomach dropped, Uchiha? But no – the pupils were slits and there were no tomoes...

His chakra hung in the air all around him, scarlet and noxious. If Orochimaru's chakra felt like an oil spill, Naruto's felt like gasoline burning.

Sakura looked at Kakashi, completely bewildered, a silent question in her eyes.

He raised a finger to his lips, "It might be best not to wake him," He whispered, "I can't control him like this."

Like what?!

What had Orochimaru done to him?

She could see figures in the near distance, Anko grappling with Orochimaru, snakes writhing all around them, hissing and snapping, Kabuto talking to Sasuke, his expression calmly unconcerned. Sasuke looked spitting mad. His mouth was red with blood.

"I woke Sasuke up," Kakashi whispered, "It was the most I could do."

Kakashi's entire body was racked with shudders, agony furrowing his brow. The little of his face that was visible was sweating.

Whatever Kakashi had been forced to see, it had been unpleasant enough that the effects continued on afterwards.

Sakura gritted her teeth. Sure, her vision wasn't great either, the crippling, all-encompassing sense of loss, the inability to think clearly... they had been unbearable. But the most she was left with was a bad taste in her mouth and the sting of her palms from breaking her fall.

Kakashi couldn't join the fight.

Sakura could.

She gave a grim smile, imagining what both Kurenai and Itachi would have to say about her getting caught in a genjutsu and leaving herself vulnerable.

Using genjutsu against her... That just hurt her pride.

The Dusk Crow genjutsu had been tricky in the past, but she had spent years perfecting, altering and personalising it.

Now, she let it out.

Orochimaru looked up, Kabuto froze.

The air surrounding them was so thick with crows it was simply a mass of dark feathers. Eyes and sharp beaks gleamed, wings beat the air and the noise of their cawing intensified. A heavy purple mist hung over them.

Sakura whispered into the jutsu, letting their private fears take root inside it. Her voice was the mouthpiece, their subconscious would speak for her.

Terror bled through. Sakura caught a wave of it and grimaced – the fear had been deep-seated and old, dying, ceasing to be, leaving nothing behind, never seeing his parents again, oblivion – then she pushed paranoia back in retaliation.

"Sakura!"

She opened her eyes. Something heavy lay across her chest, she shoved at it until it grumbled and moved away on its own.

Sasuke pushed himself up, his body blocking her subtly even while standing.

There was a new cut on her cheek and Kabuto stood before her, his glasses askew, his chakra quietly murderous.

So – Sasuke had shoved her away from Kabuto's attack, he must have broken free on his own. A quick glance told her Orochimaru did not seem affected or interested, he was still fighting Anko.

Damn.

Kakashi was still motionless, though he had managed to remove the kunai from his hand.

Naruto had not moved, still a bestial image of pure rage.

Kabuto took a step towards them, but his head snapped around to stare at Anko and Orochimaru.

Anko was pinning him to a tree, he was laughing. Sakura strained to listen, "...it didn't work before, my dear. But if you are willing to die for nothing, by all means..."

Sasuke shot forwards, but not before Sakura glimpsed genuine panic on his face.

She followed, narrowly avoiding Kabuto as he did the same.

"Stop! Don't do it, it's pointless!" Sasuke shouted, wrenching Anko's shoulder back desperately, "It won't kill him, just you!"

"I have to do this, kid," Anko snapped, "I have to take him down, even if it means going down with him."

Two snakes slithered out of her sleeve and coiled around hers and Orochimaru's wrists.

"You tried this before and - "

"This time it's not a clone!" Anko yelled, glaring straight into her old sensei's eyes, "He's mocking me, he doesn't think I'll go through with it -"

A blood-stained kunai whipped through both snakes, slicing them in half neatly.

Kakashi stood nearby, one hand in his pocket, the other still outstretched.

"Damn it, Kakashi!" Anko's eyes brimmed over with tears, "I had him! I had him!"

Orochimaru erupted into smoke.

Kakashi stepped forward and gently drew a line across her skin with another kunai. Blood welled up. She blinked and swayed on her feet.

What... Anko had still been under Orochimaru's genjutsu? She had been fighting him despite that?

"I'm a damn idiot." Anko said ruefully, chuckling.

Sakura turned around just in time to catch a blow to the chest. She went down hard, the breath completely knocked out of her.

Sasuke was knocked down just as quickly, then Kabuto danced just out of Anko and Kakashi's reach as they moved to retaliate.

Sakura started to get back up, cursing, then froze. Someone was pressed up behind her, holding a knife to her throat.

"Now, Sasuke-kun," Orochimaru said against her neck, ice-cold lips brushing across her skin, "I have very little time left before I am forced to seek out someone else."

Sasuke stared in horror. Sakura had rarely seen him express emotion so openly before. Blood covered his mouth and chin and he was shaking very slightly.

"I have no desire to waste my time with an inferior vessel. I truly sense something great within you. You have the potential to become even stronger than your brother. I am offering you the chance to double that power, to not only destroy him and have your thirst for revenge sated, but to be strong enough to protect all of your loved ones, to never be forced to watch helplessly as they die in front of you... because you didn't have the strength to save them."

Sasuke was shaking hard now, his eyes wide in terror and disbelief.

Kakashi held his hands out as if in surrender, "Look, we know - "

"Not another word." Orochimaru said, his knife digging into Sakura's throat. She closed her mouth against the cry of pain that threatened to burst forth.

Anko's face was sour. She tossed a kunai up in the air and caught it, eyes flicking between Orochimaru, Sakura and Kabuto, who was lurking on the fringes of the confrontation, in Kakashi's way.

Sasuke took a deep breath and stepped forward, "Please." He said, swallowing hard. The word looked like it had pained him to say, "Please. I – I..."

"Do not promise him anything."

"Not a word, Kakashi." Orochimaru hissed.

"I'll do anythi -"

"No." Sakura cut in, the knife scraping against her throat as she spoke, "Don't."

Orochimaru applied pressure. She bit her lip, unable to stop the pained wheeze from slipping out.

Sasuke looked beseechingly at her, as though she could conjure a solution for him or make the decision instead.

"I'm sorry, Sakura." He choked out.

She gave him the best smile she could muster.

Orochimaru stretched his head towards her ear, "Give Itachi my regards when you see him next."

Then pain erupted from her throat and she fell forwards, screams of rage all around her. A hand pressed against her throat.

She could see the moment Anko made her decision.

With unerring accuracy, she threw the kunai so hard it soared the length between them and Naruto before sinking into his shoulder.

A beastly screech filled the air, a grating, deafening sound.

Kakashi's hand pressed against her neck and he was so close she could hear his sobs, see the shuddering motions of his chest.

Sakura tried to push his hand away, weakly scrabbling against him.

Naruto roared.

Sakura grew desperate as she felt the blood pumping out, actively fighting Kakashi's pressuring grip, unable to voice her needs.

Let go!

Then she was being lifted up, her arms dangling uselessly, blood running down her neck -

And gazing into blood red eyes.

The sky hung overhead, the colour of a fresh bruise. It looked as though a storm was brewing, the clouds dark purple and steely grey.

Sakura spluttered helplessly, cold and limp in his arms.

Raban gave a mournful cry.

Itachi looked much like the storm above, deadly, overwhelming and capable of laying waste to all within reach.

"Sakura," He said, voice tight and cold with restrained fury, "You are going to be fine. I will ensure it."

But he can't promise the same for Orochimaru!

Friendly reminder, in A Curious Kind of Atonement, both Ino and Sasuke died.

This has been a Public Service Announcement.

There was never any boar.

Sorry for all who wanted to see Naruto and Anko going all wild on its ass. (Not in a sexy way)

No, I've decided, I can't write Orochimaru, he's too creepy and difficult.

I'm writing this on a new laptop, because I destroyed the last by using it too much. It screamed whenever I turned it on. Pity.

I'm also writing this whilst wearing a onesie that has cute little buttons. Is this relevant? Perhaps not.

I may rewrite this chapter a little when I next have time. There are parts that don't work for me at the mo. But that might be because it's half three in the morning and I have lost all comprehension for the English language.

Another Public Service Announcement.

Please review, if only to voice your disappointment over the lack of boar. To quote Rachel Berry as she refers to Tinkerbell's tragic inability to exist without the approval of others, 'I need applause to live!'

I have laid the groundwork for this story, I am now beginning to build on top of it. Exciting!

Quick poll for fun: Do you have any medical problems, scars or birthmarks?

No suggestions.

I am like a magnet for ailments, I get something new every year.