A/N: Itachi the betrayer – or the savior?
Sakura remembered the breath of fire singeing the edge of her shorts, licking pale skin with wounds she wouldn't be able to close. The barbwire tying each wrist around the sacrificial cross bound to her form borrowed deeper splitting flesh from bone. A jab of a kunai to her pelvic bone cautioned Sakura to be truthful. Biting the edge of her lip refusing to scream, the male standing in front of her was a deep contrast to the black and white world encasing them.
"How do you know Kakashi Hatake?"
The pulsation of Itachi's voice swept across the plane of crosses holding skeleton's bound by barbwire. Some were a blip in the distance as others were closer. Flies swarmed the dying flesh of the victims who were foolish enough to gaze into the eyes of an Uchiha. One specifically skilled in torturing his victims to death.
Sakura felt the hope of securing an ally slip through her fingers. The rumors of the clan-killer were true. He was protective of his brother, but from where she hung, Itachi wasn't nice nor humanly capable of talking about problems civilly. Another kunai appeared from thin air digging through flesh, inserting itself under her rib cage. Itachi didn't flinch when Sakura screamed this time. Her body convulsed from the pain. A cough of blood erupted from her mouth.
"I don't know!"
"…Very well then."
In reality, Itachi knew anyone could walk into Sakura's room at any moment. Taking precautions in his own hands the door was locked, and a sound suppression justu was activated; Any cries or screams would be muffled to the common hearing range. He might have gone too far. Though there was nothing he could do about it now. He was a solider of Konoha. His family, his little brother, mattered to him more than anything. If breaking into his charges mind to access her memories protected them from the enviable then Itachi would do it.
Sakura's scream brought him back to the inner workings of the Mangekyo sharingan world. A kunai was slowly lodging itself under her eyelid. Her screams drowned the panic welling up in the pit of her stomach. Nightmares long suppressed in daytime sprang from there shackles entering every corner of Sakura's mind. An endless array of memories patched into one caused the girl to shake uncontrollably. A slight break within the world of inner-Sakura cracked open causing blue skies to bleed red. The grassy fields to turn upside down. Her perfect world was failing.
Sakura! Sakura can you hear me?!
"Stop it!" Her wail fell on deaf ears. It drowned out the repeated questions echoing in her mind. Inner-Sakura's voice faded to the foreground.
A tare within Sakura's mind made inner-Sakura scramble to the nearest exit of their utopia. Easily maneuvering through the maze of memories a red door lay behind all the chaos. Choosing to fight the hands of gengutsu gathering outside of Sakura's psyche, Inner Sakura undid the chains and lines of sealing. Her viridian eyes narrowed in concentration.
Outside approaching the girl who hung on the cross suddenly shaky and silent did Itachi ask his question again. The gut feeling telling him it was wrong wouldn't stop him. It was a sense of duty and impatience that kept him going.
"Are you one of the children associated with Danzou?" His tone devoid of emotion hitched. Only when Sakura looked with her good eye. There was so much rage and sadness pushing the seams of what made his charge tick.
He was almost done.
Tangled in a web of lies were secrets soon to burn under the light.
In his world, Itachi watched a slight give in Sakura's form. The slouch in lean shoulders and loose hands indicated Itachi's charge would soon give in. The kunai digging in her eye removed itself dripping in blood where only shuddered breathing was heard. Itachi took a step forward than another as the next phase of his illusion began. Stakes rose from the ground pointed towards their target with pink hair. Slowly, the thick metal thinned, sharpening at the ends, small jagged edges ready to skin his victim's legs raw. A continuous need to deny every secret of the future died on Sakura's tongue. A rogue image of Sasuke mirroring the image of his elder brother did not leave her site. The Tsukuyomi was a gruesome genjutsu to survive.
A ting of fear combing the whole of her chest sprang forth.
As Itachi descended from his stoic throne Sakura decided living was more important. Incoherent screams within her mind were forced back. Inner-Sakura would never understand the weakness of feeling the outside, the very living wounds, falling apart.
Blood dribbled down her chin, "He…he's my…"
An automatic switch within Sakura's expression alarmed the approaching male. It was a minuscule twitch within a lone eye, it narrowed in disdain in sync with a frown pushing pink lips out. The lone Uchiha watched with growing surprise as his victim ripped her hands from the barbwire around them. The large nail in each foot crunched outward sliding away from crushed bones. Sakura's form landed clumsily on the flat ground wavering in each step before rising to her full height.
I thought this would be an easier transition.
An irritated irk was clipped to the end of her sentence. Standing fully the projectiles used for torture were removed with a small grunt. Each kunai dropping to the floor clambered the inside of Itachi's world. The crosses in the distance were invisible as were the one's up close that slowly disappeared. The sinister red peaking into white shifted blossoming into a field of red dandelions. The sky was wiped of endless white clearing into a nearly cloudless sky.
Bastards like you always make it harder to get anything done. Inner-Sakura stated with some reluctance to continue. Her form settled down easily leaning backwards where a large oak tree sprouted.
It suddenly occurred to Itachi that his world has been turned inside out. Sakura had beat his dojutsu. His eyes were onyx as the mangekyo could not be felt anymore than in the next moment. Before Itachi evaluated the situation for what it was inner-Sakura's laughter cut in. Itachi stared, watching his charge or who he thought his charge was, laugh at him.
You should give her more credit. Though this is something she did not know about.
Utterly confused by her speaking in third person Itachi dared to ask what was on his mind.
"You're not Sakura, are you?"
Inner-Sakura snorted, After what you did, no. I am what you call 'the last defense'.
Itachi refused to believe his near impenetrable dojutsu was broken by a washed out version of the real thing. Looking around what would seem a small never-ending garden of Eden, onyx narrowed at inner-Sakura. He couldn't trust her. She may not look like much –
You can stop over thinking this whole situation. I can hear your thoughts.
An immediate stop to his train of thought was comparable to a train wreck. Inner-Sakura grinned letting herself relax further by picking at the flowers around her.
Not liking the loss of control, the teen took a menacing step towards the girl.
"Who are you then?''
Not deterred by his attitude the girl shrugged a shoulder in indifference.
I am apart of the mind, body, and soul. Everything Sakura is, I am.
From once she came there were a burst of memories opposite of the outer-Sakura depicting two beings inside one body. The other at times unsure and debatable, and the other outgoing, angry, and smart-mouthed. The two opposing sides stared at each other for a moment; a simmer of self-reassurance ebbed at the edges joining into one. No one has ever seen the thread of time tied to each wrist- an ironclad tether. Inner-Sakura remembered Itachi's presence then, lost in memory and fate.
She cleared her throat, twirling a flower between a pointer finger and thumb.
Itachi stood his ground, visibly an impenetrable force with qualms of defending himself, though consciously aware of the vulnerability without the sharingan. He wasn't completely helpless but the added cushion always made him feel powerful for his age. Breaking the gengutsu would undoubtedly put him in another situation with this 'other' Sakura. He might not get another chance to ask the questioned he wanted. Undoubtedly, this Sakura seemed open to talking.
" If you are…another part of Sakura, where is she now?"
Dormant.
Itachi knew what the word meant. In this case, he figured when this side of Sakura emerged the outer portion fell into a sleep like spell. The remnant of unpleasant memories of a glowing fist resurfaced with renewed questions.
" Can you explain how Sakura was able to break out of the seal?"
Inner -Sakura let out a frustrated sigh, not entirely willing to tell Itachi the truth. However, when she released him there was a possibility of revisiting this same scene once more. All things considered, inner-Sakura knew Sakura would find out and when she did- more concern for the future would weigh down on them both. Deciding what was best for herself and the teen in front of them – inner- Sakura delved into their story through memories. She would only let Itachi see a select few - although it would be enough for him to put the puzzle together.
"Prom-promise me, it will b-be okay."
"Saku-"
"Promise me." Another plea for a future that wouldn't be. Sakura knew there was no hope of Konoha rising again. There was no one left, even Naruto met his end somewhere in the blaze.
"I promise." It was biggest lie Tsunade never wanted to tell anyone. It was a bigger lie when the low spark of Sakura's eyes slowly fizzled out. Looking at her mentor with a half-smile smeared in blood and etched in scratches across narrow cheeks- did Sakura finally succumb to internal bleeding. When Sakura's body started drooping to the side, Tsunade silently caught her. Bringing her apprentice close, closer than Tsunade ever had, a cry of despair racked her body.
Holding the last remnant of happiness to her bosom Tsunade broke down and cried.
The sheer audacity that the strongest medic in the world could not save her apprentice, the one person who looked up to Tsunade the most, shredded the last piece of her heart after Jiraiya's death. There was nothing Tsunade wouldn't do for Sakura. Protecting her had been a priority and she failed in that regard. If only the stubborn girl hadn't jumped in the fight to take the finishing blow.
When the bombs stopped falling, kunai's stopped clashing, and everything was still-a new age descended on the last of the Senju's reign. A new era of destruction rising from the ashes of bones and blood would rise to the occasion. Anyone remotely pushing against this agenda would burn. Literally and figuratively burn for it. Sasuke made sure many of her comrades did - she would be next.
An event transpired after Sakura's death - more desperate than most.
Bringing Sakura's body to the rubble of what was the beating heart of Konoha, her strength and resilience, easily recognizable despite the fire licking the ground was an easy track. The Hokage tower stood side-ways as the bright texture was ashy, a forlorn cloud hanging over crumbled pillars. When civilian saw the downfall of the great walls at the start of the battle many looked forward with hope. They knew all ninja's alike, the shinobi alliance, would defend them. War had been frequented in years leading up to the fall of Konoha, no one questioned the winning streak. They would survive and rebuild. A usual process quickly forgotten when a bomb detonated on the bottom and top floor of the Hokage tower. A sad reminder everything has an ending.
Hauling Sakura's body through a side entrance, an actual wall of cracked concrete leading up to a window in a hallway – Tsunade cursed her luck. The hallway stood opposite of her old office. The problem lye towards the black fire burning outside her door through the floor. Sasuke was sure at some point the Hokage would find a way back to her office. He wanted to give her a permanent death where water could not extinguish the fire.
One second, she was climbing the ruins of her office from another opening and next she was defending herself with one arm outstretched blocking a sword. An unmistakable red blurred the edges of her vision shinning with sinister intent. A man choosing to defy fate and death.
A smirk curved into the paper skin of Uchiha Madara face.
A sudden exhibit of nausea bubbled in the back of Itachi's throat. The level of scorned individuals cutting down Konoha shinobi was unparalleled to his present time. Each tidbit of information pieced together answered each question clawing at his mind. The blank spaces were quickly filled submerged in his subconscious to speculate later.
The memory of Sasuke purposely setting innocent citizen's ablaze in their haste to get away scared Itachi. It would be the first time he questioned himself. If these memories were unaltered, then he failed to protect Sasuke from becoming the very monster their father frequented.
What their predecessors obsessed with power had become.
His eyes burned with the need to cry.
Inner-Sakura felt the genjutsu wain at the change of emotions radiating from Itachi. There was always a shortcut to changing the dynamics of who controlled what. Without realizing his turbulent thoughts would manifest in other forms, the dandelions at Itachi's feet wilted, crushed under the overwhelming sting of failure. It spread to the edge of inner-Sakura's form at the foot of the tree, pushing against an invisible barrier. Viridian stared, waiting while the lone Uchiha destroyed her precious utopia.
Nothing like rebuilding a piece of selfish desire.
Itachi –
"How-Did I cause this?" But, when he voiced this question, a white knuckled grip tremored at each side, a shinobi born of nobility cracking at the seams, wavering between resentment and total denial. Itachi knew one day the weight of his clan would be too much. When they moved to the edge of the village, they shunned outsiders and left the ugly remains of 'honorable ideals' at the door.
In retrospect, yes. Inner-Sakura voiced with no remorse.
Itachi let out a shaky breath; his shoulders didn't relax from their rigid posture.
"Tell me everything." Itachi voiced, feeling like a child left on an empty road by himself.
Instead of scoffing, Inner-Sakura played along, countering his statement with: Are you sure you want to know?
The silence rung loud in Itachi's ears. The answers to his question could destroy him. Nothing after this could probably console him. With determination driving him forward, knowing there was no turning back, Itachi nodded.
"Yes."
And she did.
The onslaught of memories flooding the entirety of his mind were slowly absorbed.
Each one interchanging with the next, doubling in size or merely faded by time. The locks of every memory worked in sync, linking to the end and starting from a fresh perspective. It was sobering to see the power Sasuke would develop and other worldly to understand how he acquired it. This large dose of reality made him vividly aware of the choices he would need to make. Sasuke never found out the truth of the massacre, blinded by hate for his older brother, and manipulated by Obito Uchiha. The very same man who visited him not too long ago.
Inner-Sakura's stony features faded with the backdrop of over grown fields. A cast of shadows and darkness reminded Itachi where he was, Sakura's room.
Adjusting to the darkness, his gaze sought out the girl who he thought was a liar, someone that would hurt his family, a nobody with a mysterious past. Until his heard Kakashi's name all seemed suspicious and over thought. His charge was a catalyst in a number of roles.
Yet, the rumpled sheet at the edge of her futon was empty.
A/N:
Walla! More questions than answers! What else do you think Itachi saw? I know I gave you the start of how Sakura got to the future, but we will get there.
Tell me your thoughts!
- NuteWelt01