REVISED: 2/1

Spiral Out
By: Ane S. Thesia
Beta'd by: Lally (/huggles!)

Chapter Three: In the Arms of Undertow

Unshed tears glistened like diamonds in Naruto's eyes. He didn't really care whether or not they fell.

Sasuke was gone.

Gaara was dead.

And now Sakura was missing with the possibility of… He couldn't speak, let alone think the last word of that sentence.

-

When him and Kakashi had managed to get back to the cave they were met with a tremendous sight. The area was destroyed and littered with the corpses of over a hundred human-puppet bodies. Chiyo lay prone on her stomach, very much dead Sasori was deceased as well. And Sakura… Sakura was…

Gone.

There was not a trace of her other than blood, which Pakkun confirmed. Eyes flittered back and forth from solemn face to solemn face- the silent knowledge that, either way, something horrible happened or was going to happen to their pink-haired friend…

-

Godaime Tsunade wasn't saying much, to the annoyance of her company. She had dismissed Gai and his team the moment they were debriefed, asking Kakashi and Naruto to stay afterward. So now it was just the bitter remnants of Team Seven, both quite outwardly distraught, waiting for something… anything… Devising their own schemes inside their minds, silently waiting.

Tsunade continued rubbing her temples in contemplation. Shizune shifted next to her nervously.

"I am going to send ANBU out to gather information," she spoke up after the long silence, "The two of you will most definitely not pursue this without my direct command, you got that? This is serious."

It was like she could tell what they were both thinking.

"WHAT!" Naruto blurted out angrily, very close to throwing a tantrum. Remnants of tears shook from his eyes.

Kakashi's hand flew out in front of his chest, drawing a tight-lipped grunt from the yellow-haired time bomb next to him. Without so much as a glance, he was able to purvey his intentions to Naruto very clearly.

Naruto sighed dejectedly and stepped back far enough to shrink down onto the wooden bench next to the door. Crossing his arms over his chest, he looked at the floor, biting his bottom lip in frustration.

"Tsunade-sama," Kakashi spoke evenly, "I request immediate response to her possible abduction. Her blood was around the scene, we don't know if…"

He was cut off abruptly by Tsunade slapping her hands onto the surface of her desk. She kept her eyes closed, her brow arched down almost in a pained expression. "I know what you're going to say, Kakashi. And I understand both of your concern, of course." Her eyes opened, giving him her most sincere expression of worry. "Sakura is my student, I feel your pain, I really do… But I also know how capable she is. ANBU will follow leads as to possible locations of Akatsuki. We already have an idea as to the whereabouts of Itachi and Kisame-"

She was interrupted by the sudden wave of rage flowing from across the room. Just mentioning their names had Naruto in a fit, and no matter how long she paused to give him time to calm down, she knew he wasn't going to like what was said next.

"And after we confirm her …life… we will execute a plan with her cooperation in possibly taking them down from the inside."

The look on Kakashi's face was nothing compared to the horror on Naruto's. If it were humanly possible, you would have heard his jaw crash onto the wood floor. His eyes mirrored deep shock.

Kakashi let the obvious disheartened feeling show only for a moment before settling on his normal passive demeanor. There was also something about the way Tsunade reassured him with her eyes…

"That's quite higher than the type of missions she's used to, Tsunade-sama… S-Class criminal infiltration- she hasn't been prepared for something like this. If she's even…" He let himself trail off, glancing at Naruto's still profusely disturbed look and white knuckles grasped around his knees with trembling tension.

But Tsunade didn't appear fazed. "I don't think you have to worry about her death," she spoke with pride, "Medical specialists like ourselves have a few aces you would never know about..." She felt like winking, but that wouldn't have been appropriate. "Anyway, despite your concern, we will be carrying this out as I say. Neither of you are to be involved, I'm sorry. From here on out this is S-Rank, we will have ANBU working on the case."

Kakashi simply rubbed the back of his neck, not quite knowing how to respond to being treated like less than ANBU.

"Shizune, please get Yamato in here as soon as possible. Kakashi, Naruto; I will keep you updated. Just... try to stay positive." And with a weak smile, she waved them off, ready to fall back into her plush chair and continue brainstorming.

'Kami-sama, please lend me your guidance…'

-

-

An annoyingly loud clatter woke Sakura from the comforting darkness of sleep. Shooting up with inhuman speed, she clutched a 'kunai' from under the edge of her 'mattress' and prepared to defend herself…

Of course, her hands were empty and she was sleeping on the floor. All she really accomplished was getting a splinter under her fingernail from jabbing her hand into the wooden floor underneath the bedroll haphazardly.

"Son of a…" she mumbled sleepily, bringing her finger to her mouth. It only took her a couple seconds to remember her situation. If her aching body wasn't reminder enough, the man leering at her from across the room was enough of a clue.

Kisame was busy chucking kunai at the statue of Buddha, overwhelmed with boredom. He balanced one of the sharp knives on the end of his finger, watching the woman across the room startle from her slumber after tossing a knife against the wall near her. Yeah, it was on purpose. He was sick of watching her sleep- it had been almost twenty-four hours since she'd passed out.

A smile graced his lips when he heard a growl come from low in the woman's throat, almost able to feel the killing intent radiating from her petite form. "For being as lazy as you are, I'm shocked you were able to put up such a fight…" he sneered back at her.

Sakura tried without much luck to calm herself down. She mentally reminded herself that she needed to try and remain in check, not let her emotions get away with her as she normally allowed. She needed to figure out why she was where she was, and how to get the hell out of it. But first thing was first…

Ignoring his smart-ass comment, she closed her eyes in slight concentration and moved her hand to press on her lower back. Channeling chakra to that area, she sighed as the pain in her muscles and the large bruises slowly disappeared.

'Right, I got kicked out of that tree…' she remembered with a frown, 'by… Itachi.'

She shivered at his name, feeling hopeless for the moment as she dismayed that the only escape was going to be by force. There was no way she could beat him, she knew that for sure.

She continued concentrating with her eyes closed, to the obvious humor of Kisame as she heard some kind of demented chortle come from his side of the room, and searched for any signs of chakra in the area. To her utter happiness, she felt nothing, beside the freak-show across the room. A sly smile tugging at the corners of her mouth, she opened her eyes and glared teasingly into Kisame's face.

"What's so amuse--" he cut himself off, knowing the answer to his question before he could even finish it. "Shit!" He ungracefully hopped to his feet.

The glint of a kunai bounced off the wall as the lithe female pounced across the room like a cat, anger evident in her every move. He found himself wanting to smack his own face, wondering why he had thrown the weapon so close to her sleeping form.

Sakura's first blow was blocked easily, the 'clang' of metal echoing lightly off the barren walls. She continued to press on Kisame's kunai with her entire body, attempting to read his facial expression, before jumping back and crouching down to lunge again. His face didn't give him away; she couldn't tell if his heart was in killing her or not.

As if reading her mind, he spoke quickly, putting his hands up as if in neutrality. "I've been told not to kill you. As much as I'd love to…"

Before he could continue, she leapt at him again, this time crouching lower and attempting to swipe his feet out from underneath him. Which she accomplished a little too easily, not that she minded. If he wasn't going to try and kill her it'd make things that much easier.

Her eyes widened when she heard a sigh escape his lips, and she scowled as he simply stayed on his back on the floor. He seemed to be looking through her at something…

"…."

A calloused hand wrapped around her own from behind, twisting her wrist in an incredibly painful way. She dropped her raised kunai against the rising pain in her right hand. Attempting to throw her elbow backward to lay a blow on her attacker, she quickly found her other arm being held roughly behind her back and twisted upwards so her hand was almost touching the upper part of her back.

"When--!" she blurted painfully, without thinking.

Itachi continued twisting her arm until she fell to her knees in pain. Not letting go, he replied with no anger. "Your ability at tracking chakra is laughable, it seems."

With a grunt she tipped her head back to look into the burning red eyes staring down at her. To her surprise he didn't look mad. Quite the opposite. A small smirk graced his features as he dominated her movements, as if waiting for her to react again in vein.

She struggled uselessly against his force, letting her body go slack.

"You mask your presence well, is all," she shot back, knowing deep down she really wasn't that great at feeling chakra signatures. But she was good at controlling her own...

Playing sheepish, she sighed bleakly, speaking to Itachi as if she would feel better rolling up in a ball on the floor. "Will you tell me what all this is about?" she asked calmly, throwing her gaze to the floor. "Why did you two take me here, you know full well Konoha doesn't reason with the likes of you over hostages…"

It hurt to say, but it was true. This wasn't the first time someone from the village was taken as a bargaining chip by a group of criminals out for an easy buck. Not to say she didn't expect ANBU on her trail sometime soon with the intent to maim and/or kill the people responsible. She smirked inwardly at the thought. Of course she had no clue where she was, just that it was some kind of shrine and the area outside was heavily forested.

Sakura continued studying the wood grain beneath her knees, anticipating the moment Itachi would lesson his grip.

"Hm," he mumbled almost inaudibly, "You're not a hostage, per se…"

Sakura rolled her eyes. "Then what the fuck do you want!" she ground out through clenched teeth.

"Wild, isn't she? Such horrible language from such a pretty mouth…" Kisame spoke from the floor ahead of where she sat in her defeated pose. He had shifted himself to his side, elbow to the ground, resting his head lazily on the palm of his hand. He continued fiddling with the knife in his hand, grinning.

She felt Itachi's grip loosen just a bit. 'A little more, you bastard…'

"Sasori killed you," Itachi started, "But you didn't die. Why is that?"

Sakura simply continued staring down ahead of her.

"I had never seen that jutsu, myself, but I had heard about it as a rumor. Though, I had doubted its existence outside of the Sannin Tsunade's repertoire. Seems she has enough trust to teach you what can be construed as a forbidden jutsu."

She knew what was coming, somehow she knew… And he wasn't letting up on his grip, and she was beginning to feel hopeless…

"I'm sure your knowledge of Akatsuki is limited, so I can guess you don't know about our Jutsu Taizou. Simply put- you're going to give me the secrets to that technique which brought you back from the brink of death."

Simply put? He had no clue!

'So they hoard jutsu, hm? Reminds me of a certain Snake…' Sakura tried to bite back her resentment. "Or else?"

"There are worse things than death," he impressed down on her with a voice of foreshadowing.

Feigning her posture of complete defeat, she let out a sigh and forced a tremor through her body. Almost as though she willed it so, Itachi's grip on her loosened even more.

His smug exterior didn't go unnoticed. "You'll find this option more agreeable," he said with ease, letting up on his hold. He noticed her shift to the balls of her feet, but without suspicion of her possible treachery, he continued to lore his dominance over her. "Once I copy that jutsu, we can decide on our next actions."

Sakura's head stayed focused on the floor, her hair having fallen around her face in a shroud. It shielded the emotions stirring on her features, the smirk gracing her lips, the moment she breathed out steadily and inhaled as much precious air as possible… Then she struck with all the strength she had been gathering to her legs…

She threw all her force backwards, slamming her back into Itachi's lower body, inherently throwing him backwards to collide with the table in the middle of the room. Turning her body with the impact, she took a sure-footed leap for the entrance to the outside. Reminding herself in that split second that she would get into the treetops and run for her life.

Not even a moment later she found herself in the opposite direction she planned on taking, body smashed violently against the wall with firm fingers wrapped around her slim neck. Her feet weren't touching the floor anymore, Itachi holding her up by the throat, anger burning behind his Sharingan eyes. He didn't speak a word- actions spoke much louder.

She gaped at him with fear as the black wheels of his eyes started turning feverishly…

-----

Closing her eyes as quickly as she could, taking in strangled breaths… she realized her breathing was quite audible all of the sudden. Like a rasp. The ringing in her ears was growing ferocious. And the biting anxiety deep within her was climbing to an overwhelming climax, threatening to eat her whole.

She flung her eyes open, wide and afraid, realizing she wasn't in familiar surroundings anymore. There was no way to tell where she was at that very moment, and like a negative photo the uneasiness of red on black flooded every part of her vision. And the smell of blood, the feeling of despair…

"You're too eager to die," a smooth voice spoke from outside her realm of space. Like the sudden voice of some kind of god, thundering from the heavens. "Your naivety concerns me. You obviously don't know who you're dealing with, otherwise you'd just comply and I wouldn't have to show you what fate awaits you if you try any more foolish stunts."

She wanted to snap back with some kind of clever retort, but she found it impossible. Impossible for a few reasons-

One being sheer horror.

And the other being that it seemed at some point during the exchange her voice box was torn from her throat. Literally.

Sakura let out a painful wail, the sound of air escaping her open neck… sinews flapping as the blood spewed forth… causing her to vomit where she stood frozen in complete and total fear. She grasped at her throat with her hands, trying to stop the blood that flowed from her gaping wound. She felt as if she was about to die.

Correction- she was positive she was about to die.

A chuckle permeated the air like lightning. "You aren't going to die," the voice cut in smoothly, "Not if you obey what I say and stop acting out of your league. This is my curse, Sakura, the Mangekyou. I can keep you here for as long as I need to. I can find your deepest secrets, your deepest fears, and make you experience them. I can come up with things worse than your deepest horrors on a whim. Do you understand what I'm saying?"

Feeling the tinges of insanity creeping around her every pore, she could feel his whims all too well. Nodding her head hectically, still grasping her throat, she let him know she was listening. He had more than her undivided attention now. She wanted to punch herself for being so ambitious before. Hell, she almost regretted every single pig-headed thing she ever committed during her life at this moment.

"Don't beat yourself up over it, girl, we live and learn… Don't we?"

--------------------------

Kisame knew from the very moment Sakura started shaking violently against the wall and by how much perspiration dripped down her now white face what Itachi had done to her. For a split second he actually felt bad for the girl. He knew first hand what those eyes could do.

Abating his own shiver of remembrance, he opted in leaving the scene to find some lunch instead. He didn't like to hear women cry, anyway. At least not in the way she was going to be any moment now.

-

Itachi's eyes only played their game for a couple seconds, but inside his mind he made it feel like a couple hours to the limp girl before him. He hadn't exactly hoped it would come down to this, but he needed to gain some semblance of control over the headstrong female.

With a sigh, he closed his eyes, cutting off the genjutsu. He watched as some of the color returned to Sakura's face and the flaccid look in her eyes turned back into shining emerald. This time though, when her eyes met his, she had genuine fear. She wasn't going to fight back this time.

With nothing more than a glance, he let her crumble to the floor where he released his grip, turning on his heels and leaving the room silently.

-

Sakura gripped the sides of her head frantically, tugging on her disheveled pink lochs. Tears streamed from her eyes, and she panted for air. Choking out sobs. Knowing now that she had been in an illusion, she still couldn't help but continue grasping at her very intact throat with shaking hands.

The realization that she had been wrong all along smacked her in he face. She knew Itachi was dangerous, she had read the bingo book. She knew what he was capable of- or at least she thought she knew. He killed his entire family, drove her dear friend to insanity, killed countless hunter-nin and ANBU… But none of that compared to this new feeling.

She desperately clung to any semblance of normality around her at that very moment. She didn't want to admit that there was a slim chance she would escape this alive.

The last images of the inside of his illusion tugged at the corners of her consciousness like a nightmare.

When he spoke to her, it felt like lightning was striking the earth at her feet. The red lit with more red, and the crimson flowing from her throat glowed with a brightness she had never seen before. She choked on her own blood for what felt like at least a couple hours, never dying, but continually feeling the pain. At moments she looked up at the red world, the black moon, screaming for an escape route. Mindlessly counting the seconds that passed…

-

She reeled the images in her mind, over and over again, like a movie. Trying to remember. Something had happened for a split second inside his illusion, wound with importance.

Five seconds before the maelstrom ended, she had caught a small figure in her peripheral vision.

One second left and she swore she saw the small hands of a child reaching out to grip her palms. In that one last second, she remembered, an unusual wave of relief coincided and clashed with the madness around her. The insanity faltering only for that single, fleeting moment…

-

Staying in her sitting position on her knees, Sakura lowered her head to the floor. Anyone who might have passed by at that moment would have assumed she was in the depths of prayer.

They would have been half-right.