Aww, guys! "Group hug! Group hug!" :D Thank you. Reached 1000 alerts, which is lovely even though a lot of you are probably no longer interested in this story. Thanks regardless. :)

Oh, and uh... I totally bullshitted my way through a few medical details in this chapter. Sorry. :(

But enjoy? :3

—CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE—
Interrogation

Waking up was like both a horribly real nightmare and a breathtaking miracle. When the darkness had swarmed her, her last thoughts were of Sasuke, were of pain, and then the frightening idea that she was dying. Or at least she was.

She thought she was.

A hard coughing fit was the first reminder that she was in fact alive, and for a moment, as she let her hoarse throat relax and she breathed in gently, she revelled in the fact that there was truly nothing sweeter than smelling fresh grass – or anything, for that matter – the instant you realised that your heart was still beating. However, her moment of reprieve was cut brutally short the second she saw someone move to her side, and in that second she took in everything else.

The fading sun, the chilly air of the falling day, her bound hands and ankles.

Sakura sat up, heart suddenly racing at the sight of the thick rope, stomach twisting. She had no chakra either. And there was no reason she'd have no chakra, unless…

"Morning," Kisame greeted with a grin. Samehada rested alongside her body, inching towards her excitedly like a kid to candy to steal more.

And then she twisted and threw up, ignoring the prickles rising on her neck indicating that she was being watched. She spat out the bile that clung in her mouth and dry-retched after, coughing and gagging at the acrid acidic taste sticking to her tongue. Just the taste of it made her stomach lurch uncomfortably again.

A bottle was thrust into her view, but she knew who it was passing it to her and stubbornly she shoved it away with both hands, focusing on maintaining her senses and calm the hell down; it was difficult. She couldn't comprehend the fact that she was actually in the hands of the enemy, and not just any enemy, but the Akatsuki.

Why? Why did they capture her alive? What had happened after she blacked out? And what about the rest of her team? Sasuke had been badly wounded, and even with Naruto and Kakashi there to find someone to heal him – if there was anybody who could in the area – she couldn't help the worry that he might still not make it.

There was nothing she could do though, and she settled back properly to convince herself thoroughly of this thought. She was captured, miles away from him, and there was nothing she could do from here to get there in time, so she just had to have faith. Besides, she was growing certain that she was in more trouble than Sasuke was.

Kisame nudged her with his bottle of water again. "Drink. It's not poisoned. We need you alive and – well, relatively healthy; so I suppose it could be."

It took strength to speak through the awful taste in her mouth. "What do you want?" She cringed as she wiped her mouth with the sleeve of her coat.

"We know you know about us," he stated.

A beat.

"You're in the Bingo Book. How could I not?"

Kisame's laugh caught Sakura off guard. "Quick thinker," he complimented. His smile didn't waver. "Then if you know us, then you know us. Do you really think we didn't notice that you recognised us?" His chuckled deepened. "That type of reaction was pure instinct; to run and get away."

Sakura said nothing. Sweat beaded her brow and she met his eyes for the first time. There was nothing she could say. They knew what they saw, and she wouldn't be able to think of a believable explanation in time. Anything she'd say would be obviously false.

Her jaw hurt from clenching it tightly in frustration. Kisame seemed satisfied with her lack of a reaction now.

"The Akatsuki is new," someone else said.

Sakura flinched, forgetting that Itachi Uchiha still had to be around. Just the reminder that he was there chilled her to the bone more, that the man who starred in a bloody event of Konoha's history – and was the one who caused it – was sitting not far from her. She couldn't see him, though, and for that she was glad.

He continued. "No one should know about us, much less connect us with this uniform. So the question is: what else do you know?"

"You're a smart, young girl, aren't you?" Kisame mused, grabbing Samehada and pulling him away. The irritation in her body that she didn't even know was there disappeared. "Strong, too. Good chakra control to be able to punch and break the ground like that. I was getting a little annoyed with how often you managed to hit me." He grunted. "It seems the Leaf Village are still producing fine ninja, Itachi. Three times in two weeks we've been faced with decent teamwork."

Three? Sakura perked. So they had visited Konoha.

"Kisame, get some sleep. We will need to cover some more ground before it is safe to begin the interrogation," Itachi said.

"Still can't move your arm?"

"No."

"Good thing we've nabbed a medic as well, huh?"

Sakura made no comment. That little piece of information was interesting, and a spark of hope ignited. Perhaps she could barter for her life if she wilfully aided in healing Itachi Uchiha. She doubted she'd live by the end, but all she needed was time; time to think, time for the others to come if they ever did, and time to hope.

She remained unmoving as Kisame propped Samehada against a tree nearby her and settled down to sleep, leaving her in the presence and line of sight of Itachi. Her eyes travelled to him. He was leaning against another tree next to his partner, wounded shoulder facing away from her. She could still see the slight discomfort in nervous ticks in his face, though, and the torn cloth of his cloak.

With difficulty Sakura shuffled back against her own tree. The bruises from the fight ached, so did her teeth and jaw, and she was sluggish from the stealing of chakra, and she hardly noticed it but her heart was beating so fast her body just felt numb. She couldn't get comfortable; wouldn't – not in the presence of him, not when he was a space of unknown and unpredictability thanks to what he had forced himself to do years ago. And honestly, she didn't care if he had done everything he did to save Sasuke. All she thought when she learned the truth was that his prodding and taunting mind-fucked Sasuke into becoming what he was; a bordering-insane, twisted child who had barely any concept of what was right and wrong and who was friend and enemy.

If Itachi was so great, couldn't he have found another way to spare Sasuke's life from the massacre, that didn't end up with goading him onto a path of darkness? Was that truly the only way Itachi could think of to get his younger brother to kill him? Why did he go down this way to begin with?

It was crude. And she couldn't find herself giving any sympathy to the man. Funny what the addiction of love could completely and utterly destroy.

But also create, she added to herself, thinking of the love Sunagakure eventually had for their Kazekage, and then in return; thinking of the exact same thing in Konoha, when Naruto was titled as a War Hero and had his name written on the memorial stone; thinking of all the children born into a world of peace years afterwards.

Love was powerful.

Maybe it was the most dangerous thing in the world.

A loud snore from Kisame's direction pulled her out of her thoughts in time to see Itachi glare at his partner's slumbering body and prod him on the shoulder. With a grumble, the shark-man rolled over, his snores silenced and unable to give their position away to the enemy.

Sakura swallowed, curling her tongue at the still awful taste of vomit and sinking her head to the wedge of her knees.

What am I going to do?

"Surprising," Itachi's smooth voice sounded.

She made no notion that she heard.

"You're a thirteen year old girl, fresh from the Academy, and yet you act like a professional adult kunoichi," he commented. "Not that there aren't teenagers who act like you, even kunoichi, but this is different. You're scared. I can hear your heart. But I see no indication that suggests you're losing control of yourself like any child, untrained in real situations such as these, would. You are in full control of what you're feeling, what you're showing, and that is practically unheard of for a child of a civilian family; Sakura Haruno."

She lifted her head and met his gaze when he said her name. So her knows of her.

"You can't move your arm, can you?" she queried, mumbling.

He didn't answer at first. "That's right."

"You know about the Chidori?"

"Yes, I do."

Sakura exhaled. "The electricity would have short-circuited every nerve and chakra point in your arm and shoulder. Your entire left side would be feeling a little numb, making the pain easier to bear. Since you can't feel it, and you aren't trained in wound conditions, you probably think it isn't that severe, and could be fixed in whatever time you have after you kill me and find a doctor. But you're wrong.

"The damage made to your nerves and points could have been worse. The chakra running through your body absorbed the brunt of the attack, cutting the sensory nerve connection from your arm to your brain before the lightning could do anything worse to your body. Because of that your nerves are dead, and therefore almost impossible to rejuvenate by the time you do find someone; and it will be even harder to find someone who has the precise chakra control to clip the nerves to encourage re-connection with the rest of your body. The fact of the matter is, you're running out of time, Itachi. If you wait too long, you will lose the control of your arm."

She let him sink in her words. The silence was oddly satisfying.

"It seems I do not know everything about the Chidori. I hadn't realised Kakashi had changed his jutsu that much."

"He didn't. Sasuke did."

If only she could have seen his face when she said that. His expression would have no doubt been its usual mask of cold indifference, but perhaps she could have found something flicker in those tired dark eyes of his.

And maybe she was telling a white lie. It was Kakashi's idea to begin with to severe the connection of nerves and disrupt the flow of the chakra around the sight of impact. The wound itself would still bear resemblance to searing lightning – appear and smell terrible – but it was the damage within the body that was the ace. Kakashi had suggested the prospect to the Uchiha, and he took the challenge eagerly.

"You're suggesting an arrangement," Itachi finally answered.

A stone of burden fell from her shoulders. "Yes. I am."

"Then I was right. You do have something to hide."

"My life is on the line."

"And so is mine, it seems. We appear to be on the same boat."

He was looking at her, and Sakura risked a glance. Those eyes made her turn away again. Those eyes were perceptive, staring at her, through her, like they knew what she was thinking, who she was, and her secret.

How and when Sakura fell asleep was beyond her, but when she woke she was so sluggish she couldn't even move. Her body felt like dead weight, singing with aches and pains that hadn't existed the day before. Her senses were muddled, her chakra regenerating slowly after the lengthy intake from Samehada, but she could still listen.

"—like that," someone ended; Kisame, judging by the hoarseness of his voice. "But I agree it's going to be… necessary."

"She's awake," Itachi stated after a pause.

"Excellent."

She heard Kisame's footfalls grow louder as he approached her and rolled her over. Blearily she opened her eyes and met his squarely. His smile, that always seemed to be on his lips, was there again, a warning to her. He squatted, fingers tracing over the collar of her shirt. This gesture, too intimate for her liking, woke Sakura up proper and he chuckled.

"Here's the deal, Sakura. Itachi needs some healing. We also need whatever information you have in that pretty head of yours. But you need to live. So this is how it goes: you heal him and when we're done extracting whatever we want from you we'll let you go free."

Sakura narrowed her eyes in suspicion. "You'll let me go alive?"

He shrugged. "Why not."

"You'll let me go alive and unharmed?"

"Sakura," he said, almost purring. "What are the chances you'll tell us what we want to know willingly?"

She pressed her lips together firmly.

"That's what I thought. So, no. When we get what we want you won't be leaving unharmed. Unless you decide that if we're going to get the information one way or another you might as well tell us, then you can walk away without harm. It is your choice."

She bit back the urge to say, 'over my dead body', in case it would encourage him down that line of thought.

"I don't believe you," she said instead. They'd let her leave alive? No way. Not unless they completely destroyed her mind first so that she couldn't talk about her experiences, couldn't remember anything. Doing what they wanted probably just meant less pain. Perhaps.

Kisame patted her cheek, chuckling. "That's a smart girl. Now, are you going to heal him, or do you need a little incentive?" Casually he pulled a kunai from his pouch and spun it. Sakura watched the knife, thinking it through.

Should she sabotage him in some way? Hold back on healing some of his arm so that he was handicapped in battle. Would that help her and Konoha, or would that just make things worse? Itachi could still be their greatest ally if things went differently this time around, and for that he'd need the use of both his arms.

Still undecided, Sakura sat up, glowering at Kisame and his ever-present smile. He caught and held his kunai, the tip glinting. Maybe she'll take a look at the wound first to see its extent before deciding.

Swallowing, inhaling through the tightness in her chest, Sakura said, "You'll need to untie me."

"Just your hands, girl, and only when you're about to begin."

He grabbed the back of her collar and yanked her to her feet. She tried to find balance on her bound feet, but Kisame didn't give a chance to even settle while he dragged her over to Itachi seated beside a burnt out fire and dropped her before him. Itachi watched her stoically, and suddenly it was getting harder to breathe. It was suddenly hard to have faith. It was suddenly very easy to fear for her own life, and tell them everything.

No. And just as quickly she quenched those thoughts.

Kisame patted her hard on the shoulder. "And just because we're nice and hospitable, we'll cook something up for you, alright? Gotta save your energy."

Sakura said nothing as she took in her surroundings. There was a lake at Itachi's back, hidden amongst the trees that grew in and around it, shading the sunlight that beat down hard enough that the water surface was glowing a pretty shade of green. The lake disappeared around a bend. They must have travelled while she slept, as everything was different, and though she couldn't quite see the sun she guessed it had be moving into the early afternoon.

Silently she nestled herself and spread her hands.

Itachi nodded at Kisame, who stalked onto the lake nearby and looked around his feet for a few seconds before moving on. Watching him, Sakura flinched when Itachi began untying the ropes around her wrists. She sighed in relief, releasing a quiet moan while massaging her rope burns. Then she began.

Tentatively Sakura tilted towards the Uchiha, making sure not to look anywhere near his face. She slowly grabbed the front of his cloak and pulled it back. Wordlessly the Uchiha tried to shrug it off but he winced in pain, forcing Sakura to help. Setting aside the bloody cloak she unwrapped the red bandages and inspected the shoulder first. He at least knew how to apply a dressing, but it didn't seem to have too much of an effect.

His purple shirt and beneath fishnet were torn, singed from the hot lightning of the Chidori. Delicately she peeled back the cloth, seeing that his skin still held jagged static marks. The old blood had been washed away but it still bled lightly, the wound a little red, and beneath she could see his flesh trying to heal itself.

Frowning, Sakura looked to his hand, where there were more lashes leading all the way up to the wound on his shoulder. Clearly Naruto's addition of the wind to boost Sasuke's speed had done the job, making it hard for Itachi to block in time when it was so unexpected; in other words a damn lucky shot. The Chidori had sailed over his left hand and connected partly well on his shoulder, before Sasuke was hit with Samehada.

That was all she could see on the outside. Creating a warm glow of chakra in her hand, she hovered over his arm and shoulder to inspect the extent of the severed nerves. She found the point where the chakra coils had simply cut everything off to save the rest of the body, and she traced from his collar bone, over his left pec and below his armpit.

"Could you feel that?" she asked.

"A little."

She prodded either side of the invisible line, waiting for a nod of confirmation that he could feel the difference. He gave it. She knew where the nerves had been cut.

"I will need more chakra than what I currently have to re-connect your nerves, but I can heal some of the visible wound," she explained.

Again, with those eyes, he scrutinised her. Again, she was aware of it all, but this time all she saw was Sasuke. Cold. Evil. Why was she remembering the old him so often all of a sudden?

"Is that so?" His voice was soft, suspicious.

"If you wanted to be fully healed then perhaps you shouldn't have sucked out my chakra."

His face remained stoic. "From what you've told me the wound itself will still heal without any danger to my bodily functions if the damage to the inner nerves are mended. It is the nerves that is the problem. You have enough chakra to re-connect some, so I suggest that you do."

Sakura pursed her lips. Observant. He stared back.

She sighed. "Fine. You may feel some pain."

"Very well."

Quickly she rushed to think of a decision about what she should do. Healing the wound itself would have bought her time, but she was a fool in thinking that Itachi wouldn't realise that, yes, the gash itself would still heal itself without further danger to him.

"I need my kit," she said, sighing. Itachi presented it from the hidden pockets of his thrown Akatsuki cloak. She pulled out a cup of ointment and smeared some of it around the gash, pushing aside the torn cloth that hid it. "It will fight any chance of infection."

Then she began, pressing along the invisible line to find the broken nerves. The more she found the more she felt concerned. She would have been able to heal them all, eventually, with the chakra supply she had when she was older, but considering she was low as it was and her supply was even smaller, she wasn't sure she'd be able to heal them all correctly. There was a good chance, regardless, that Itachi may lose some sort of function or feeling in his arm and hand.

Use of the arm was a lot more beneficial, and so she silently decided that he could afford to lose the feeling in his fingers if it came to it.

She settled on a particular nerve and pressed in harder, threading her chakra through. Itachi twinged when the nerve started to heal and his lip pulled back in distaste. With her other hand she found another and repeated the same. He closed his eyes and swallowed. Sakura inspected him closely. This was the first time she'd been this near to him, and now that she was she couldn't help but look.

He was young. He always looked so much older with that poker face of his, but when he was in pain that visage clearly dropped. She was surprised she was even seeing it. Sweat beaded in his hairline, wetting his fringe shading his eyes. His lids moved as he willed the pain away, and she could see him clench his jaw through the movement in his cheeks.

He looked so human.

It didn't match well with how she'd always seen him as, even after she'd learned the truth.

After a moment she pulled back and he exhaled in relief; she did too, discreetly. Should she tell him that she didn't think she could heal everything?

No. They may not take it well.

"That was quick," Kisame noted as he approached them, holding a handful of fish by the tail. One flopped slightly, mouth opening and closing slowly.

"She was without chakra," Itachi answered. He reached for his cloak and began to slide it on, taking his time. It was almost painful for Sakura to watch him put it on, when one of his arms was out of action, that she nearly helped him do it, but eventually he settled for simply draping it over himself.

Kisame dropped the bundle of fish by the fire with a grunt. "So, what? She'll be in our hands for few more days, huh? And when should we start the… interrogation?" The still alive fish flopped again weakly. Sakura felt similar to the captured fish; unless her teammates found her, unless she found a way to escape with her mind intact, she was exactly like the animal, splashing about with no way out.

"We can begin today," Itachi answered.

Sakura froze.

"Genjutsu?" Kisame asked.

"While she has little chakra."

Sakura chose to keep quiet about the impending interrogation, though it scared her enough – just thinking about what Itachi could uncover through her fears scared her – that she didn't make a noise of protest when Kisame roughly retied her hands with a long rope lead. She shuffled further to the side, away from, as they re-lit the fire and began toasting the fish.

Her stomach grumbled loudly. She was too exhausted to feel embarrassed, too frightened by all the prospects, that she just paid attention to the sizzling flesh and the calming sensation of her chakra beginning to return already.

They gave her a fish and a bottle of water which she stared at, letting it soak in that she was actually having lunch with these criminals. The thought was incredibly strange. She looked up at them, watching as Kisame munched into a second fish already. Compared to his gigantic bites Itachi looked like a lady nibbling.

"Eat," Kisame said. "You know you need whatever strength you can get for what's coming next."

Sakura hated him.

Worse than that, she hated that he was right.

The food and water turned to ash in her mouth. She was unable to taste anything as she tried to figure out what she could do, but it did ease the hungry ache in stomach. When she was done she breathed in deeply. Prepare yourself, Sakura, she encouraged.

"Here," Kisame said, tossing the reins to the stoic male and snatching up his empty water bottle to refill.

Itachi took a final sip of his water then curled his hand around the end of the rope for a tighter hold. He tugged gently, and Sakura involuntarily inched towards him, exhaling in concern. His injured arm remained limp in his lap.

Sakura made sure to keep her gaze levelled at his exposed collar bone and beaded necklace as he placed his water bottle beside him. "You still have the energy to fight, even without chakra," he said. "You must train well."

She didn't react. It was all a distraction, something to catch her off guard.

He tugged. She resisted.

"Of course, the lack of chakra makes you more susceptible to the whims of even the simplest of genjutsu. I've seen how physical Leaf Genin are these days, but I'm curious to the mental prowess. Do they still train you as well as in my day?"

A harsher tug sent her forward enough her gaze automatically brushed up over Itachi's face, and then she knew she was caught when she saw those red eyes and curious smile. Instantly she was transported to a familiar setting.

Darkness reigned. The wind caught the trees, whistling through the condensed mesh of twigs and branches, nipping at Sakura's exposed skin. She gazed down both directions of the cobblestone pathway, which was long and thinning to shadows down further. The moon shone and her heart clenched at the sight of the white stone bench, cold and uninviting.

My biggest fears. He's bringing them out, Sakura noted. Calm down.

Easier said than done. Soft footsteps caught her attention and she peered over her shoulder, throat tight at the sight of Sasuke wearing his old clothes of white shorts and a navy, high-collared shirt. He was gripping the straps of his purple backpack, and at the sight of her he stopped, eyes narrowing.

"What are you doing here?" he questioned, voice rough in accusation.

Sakura exhaled, heart pounding. Dreams of this moment years ago had long since been collecting dust, but experiencing it again was a completely different matter. She remembered the words, the situation, the tears and absolute desperation as she had begged him not to leave. Even now, in this genjutsu, she felt her eyes burn as she recalled everything, because for a moment she felt that aching love that she felt for him back then.

In a heartbeat it was gone, though lingered on desperate threads as a refusal to be forgotten.

Momentarily overlooking where she was, she shook her head, swallowed back her tears and said, "I should be asking you that question."

"Move aside," he demanded.

It was stupid how she couldn't stay calm. Reliving it all made her heart beat, pumped adrenaline through her veins as she fought against these annoying memories. She had no chakra to dispel the genjutsu, had no one nearby to help her, so pain or sheer will were her only options.

Wordlessly she stepped to the side, expression vacant. Surprise flashed across Sasuke's face, but he took this opportunity to pass by. When he did, Sakura got a whiff of pine scented candle, and this, of all things, unlocked a deep desire honed from years of anger to just yell at him. She staved off this want, biting harder on her bottom lip until she bled, but the genjutsu did not break. Still she held on, clenching her fists until his footsteps disappeared, and she released a breath she didn't even know she held.

She refused to get angry. Anger led to many things. And that was what Itachi wanted.

This was her interrogation. He wanted to unfurl her, reveal her mysteries to them.

But she was no simpleton when it came to genjutsu. There were reasons why she shifted her priorities around to specialise in medical-ninjutsu and genjutsu, and even when out of chakra, or in the hold of someone this strong, there was no way in hell she was going to just give in. She willed herself, then, to keep everything about who she was hidden, anything that would be too suspicious.

"What are you doing here?" Sasuke's voice came again abruptly.

Sakura flinched, turning her head to him again with wide eyes, but she said nothing. It seemed this was Itachi's method then; repeating the horrible fear of the moment where everything felt like it had collapsed in on itself.

"Go home, Sakura," he said. When she remained silent, he rolled his eyes. "Annoying."

Her fingers flexed. She did nothing. He left.

"What are you doing here?"

Nothing.

He left. He returned.

"What are you doing here?"

Sakura didn't know how many times she relived that same line over and over again, followed by a mixture of annoyance and concern as he told her to go home. Sometimes he'd change, standing before her and staring her in the eyes, before lifting his lip in distaste and moving on. One time he just breezed by without a glance, and that hurt the most because that was the closest to the original out of any of them if she hadn't said a word that night to stop him.

He walked by again without another word, and then Sakura sighed in aggravation from the bench where she had sat.

He returned.

"Why didn't you stop me, Sakura?"

She started, staring up at him in shock. This was new.

The young Sasuke, who appeared so different from the one she currently knew, even though they were the same age, looked down on her with a dark expression. It said everything she feared; why? Why did she stop? Why didn't she try harder? Why didn't she just scream?

"Maybe I wouldn't have become what I was if you had just been stronger," he said.

Sakura scowled. "I am stronger."

"Not strong enough to stop me. You were never strong enough to stop me."

"I am stronger now!" she shouted, rising to her feet.

There was so much she wanted to say, but she had to remember that this was an interrogation. Itachi brought up a fear that just so happened to be connected to everything she experienced in the future, and every second longer within it was giving away weird signals. Their words should have already sent flags up in Itachi's mind, and terrified of this thought Sakura breathed in deep and forced herself to relax.

She had never had the opportunity to shout her heart out to Sasuke. Never was given the chance in a moment of his life when he might've listened. The temptation still tore at her, even now, but she was stronger now, and she could prove it.

"Pathetic," he spat, and walked away.

He returned. She steeled herself.

"What are you do—"

She glared at him. "Bite me, you asshole."

A switch was flicked and black bled to green and yellow, and Sakura inhaled sharply as the lake and the two Akatsuki came into view, blurred at first then becoming clearer. She was panting now, forgoing the look around to glower at Itachi's chin. Her wrists protested against the rope binding her, scraping her skin raw.

"She broke out of your Sharingan?" Kisame asked, sharpening his spare kunai and shuriken.

"No. I didn't use my Sharingan. Just a weak genjutsu. But she still managed it, even without chakra."

Kisame hummed in interest. "Sheer will, huh? Strong mind for a thirteen year old."

"Strong? Possibly. Seasoned…? Yes."

Kisame chuckled. "It seems that someone had been mind-raped multiple times in their youth," he commented, then shrugged. "Well, youther youth."

Sakura panted for breath. She felt exhausted. Keep it together.

With her comforting thought she didn't even flinch when a finger tilted her head up and she met again with Itachi's red eyes. She smelled disinfectant, heard soft moaning cries, and then she opened her eyes and saw she stood at the entrance of a packed tent. Wounded were lined up in cots on the ground; bleeding, bandaged, coughing.

She remembered this. Remembered walking into a tent during the Great War and seeing all the ninja who were wounded and dying. She stood at the entrance like she did now and took in a deep breath and gone right in and straight to work, but now she just stood.

A medic pushed by her, trying to get in. "Sakura, are you alright?" He waited for a moment, bloodshot eyes wide with concern, but then a strangled cry broke through and a patient at the back started flailing.

Another medic ran to the patient and tried calming him, but the soldier was strong. "Help!" the nurse called.

The concerned male left Sakura at the entrance, though she followed soon after. The medics grappled with the frightened injured man as he screamed, and after steeling herself Sakura broke through the uncertainty and joined them in stabilising him. His long brown hair was a mess, caked in grime and blood, and then he looked at her and she saw his lavender eyes just a second before a katana slipped right through and up into her belly.

Neji smiled, twisting the blade. A cold chill crawled up Sakura's back and she exhaled shakily, grip tightening around his shoulders. The medics stood, eerily calm, and watched as the Hyuuga removed the blade and Sakura nearly fall back onto him. She regained her balance in time, though, a hand on the bleeding wound, and she looked up at the medics.

Their expression was calm, that of a disinterested overseer.

She tried breathing again but blood bubbled in her throat. He must have nicked a lung. There was a weight in her chest that she tried to get rid of by healing herself, but she had no chakra suddenly. Panic flooded her and she turned back to Neji, who sat up calmly, that creepy smile on his face, and slashed the blade across her neck.

Blood spurted, air completely left her in shock, and she fell back onto the patients behind her, hands grasping at anything, everything, smearing the crimson liquid everywhere. She gasped for breath. Her vision started to blur. The last thing she processed was Neji rising from his cot, wiping the blood from his weapon with the sheets.

She closed her eyes. And then opened them.

She stood in Konoha. She stood in complete and utter destruction. There was no Konoha anymore. There were dead people; people she knew. There was rubble. There was smoke and fire. There was battle on the edge of the once great village. Noise reigned like an ugly storm around her and she closed her eyes again, not wanting to see.

Her stomach still ached from phantom pain of the stab wound but when she touched her body the blood, the hole, wasn't there anymore. Her heart raced, her insides feeling as though they were beating against her skin.

Genjutsu.

Genjutsu. Genjutsu.

It wasn't real. She'd been through this sort of pain and fear; betrayal, destruction of Konoha and so much more. She could do this again. She was strong. She couldn't get rid of fear, but she could fight it.

"What are you afraid of Itachi?" she asked into the still air.