It was late noon when Sakura started foraging. The reason was because Sakura honestly couldn't find any good edible plants with the current cold front. It was early February right now but there wasn't any snow on the ground, most of it had melted by now.

Sakura honestly wished Sasuke would tell her more about where they were going. Or for that matter, how he even knew they were heading in the right direction for Tobi.

Sighing, Sakura tried pouring out her stress into her work but the land looked mostly barren around her. After walking for an hour or more, Sakura had only a couple of wild winter yams she'd dug up with a blunt rock, to show for it.

The sky hung dark and orange now, threatening nightfall and Sakura wondered if she should head back. She knew the safe answer would be yes, but then her gaze fell back to the meager rations she'd gathered and felt an emotion she hadn't summoned in so long.

Pride.

She felt a burning shame and embarrassment that this was all she could bring, especially after she had spoken so openly to Sasuke about wanting to ease his burden in taking care of their dinner.

Resigned, Sakura set out farther, tucking the four root vegetables into her shirt pocket so that they wouldn't fall out as she now trekked on a slightly downward slope.

There was something unimaginably cathartic about walking, surviving, taking care of herself in the wild, for Sakura now as she continued her foraging. The cold air was chilly but not uncomfortable and she was dressed warmly so. The weights of all her self-doubt and deep embarrassment at always needing to be protected, taken care of and dependent upon everyone for survival were finally released from within her the more she walked -the farther she distanced herself from Sasuke.

While she never lost track of her main foraging goal, or that she eventually had to return to him, Sakura didn't stop herself from enjoying this small diversion in the woods, as she gathered all sorts of edible plants. About a mile from where she started, Sakura came upon a great stash of winter berries and edible weeds. She carefully plucked a plentiful amount, making sure to keep the roots intact (for she knew that was the tastiest part of a weed).

As she was digging out the white tubules, it suddenly hit Sakura: she'd done this before…her mind clouded over with a partial memory, nothing more than a series of silent flashing images:

A house surrounded by tall barren trees…a bowl of steaming congee-

LIGHTNING.

Lightning.

Lightning.

Sakura's breath choked inside her throat, causing her to gasp for air, a moment before she fell to her knees. Her hand clutched at her heart as blinding searing pain flitted into her from every side of her body. Her vision was obscured by nothing except the past:

A bright light, incredibly bright. So hot. It's burning. It's excruciating!

Sakura tried to scream but nothing came out. Her body was not listening to her. She blacked out.

She woke up to pain once more, only it was different than the last one, though just as agonizing. Instead of coming from within the recesses of her mind though, this one came solely from her forearm. It felt like her arm was on fire. Sakura sat up gingerly and lifted the right sleeve of her kimono shirt to examine the source of her pain.

To her horror she saw the symbol of the Uchiha fan glowing like hot coals on her skin.

Oh god.

Sasuke had done this. She knew it. Right now he was calling her.

She realized that nighttime had fallen already.

Pushing away the sheer horror and disgust at being marked this way, without her knowledge much less, Sakura just barely managed to stagger onto her two feet, before she started running. Logic was no longer inside her as she sought desperately for Sasuke, for the pain was getting unbearable! It was like someone was pressing a hot iron onto her skin. Sakura had to grind her teeth to bind the pain.

A sharp shift in the air alerted her of someone teleporting using chakra some distance from her.

"SAKURA!" she heard Sasuke's furious call and without thinking she ran for it. In the darkness, her arms wrapped around his torso and instantly the pain faded. Sasuke held her deathly tight as he transported the two of them back to camp.

Sakura's body fell abruptly as soon as they arrived inside the large spacious tent.

Sasuke had shoved her to the tent floor.

"How dare you lie to me?" he screamed. Sakura didn't even have time to react before she felt Sasuke's hand in her hair, pulling her head back and tugging painfully at her hair roots.

"Ah! St-stop, please. I-I wasn't running! I-I swear!" Sakura pleaded, only to be replied by a strong slap to her face.

"Did you think I was an idiot?" Sasuke screeched, ignoring her pleas. "You think you can lie about loving me and I would just let you go? Let you do anything you want?"

"I-I do love-" she was cut off by another slap to the face. She bit her tongue accidentally and blood seeped into her mouth.

Sasuke laughed bitterly at her words, catching her by the hair roots again so he could speak right up against her face. "You love me?"

He tore off the sash around her waist so that her kimono shirt fell loose, revealing her white bra that opened at the front. Sasuke shoved her to the ground harshly and climbed on top of her. He ripped open her bra and scratched her in the process. "You love pain?"

He grabbed her by the jaw and forced her to meet him eye to eye as he lied flat on top of her, simultaneously working to undo the lower half of their clothes. "You love torture?"

He laughed sadistically while shoving her underwear to her knees. A moment later, he entered her and Sakura screamed.

"Get off ME!" she cried but he completely restricted her movement as he started his rhythm. The entire ordeal was torture and Sakura couldn't even distance herself because of he kept biting her throat line, to make sure she was conscious of the entire event.

When he finished, he gasped above her for a few seconds before collapsing onto her soft breasts. Sakura took that moment to shove him off and standing up. She used his temporary lapse to get redressed before standing to her full height to confront the man.

She had had it with this monster.

Sasuke stood up too and met her eyes.

Before he could say anything, she slapped him. His head got forced to the side but turned back to her in the matter of seconds, burning furious again.

Sakura didn't care, she couldn't keep up with this charade anymore, and he had never really bought it anyway with his sharp intellect.

"What is wrong with you?" she hollered into his face. "How do you expect us to last as a couple when you treat me like this?"

She pulled up the sleeve to her arm and showed him the skin that had once burn marred by the Uchiha symbol but was now just her normal ivory skin color. "What the hell was that -that thing? Did you use some kind of jutsu on me again without telling me? What THE HELL is wrong with you?"

Sasuke advanced on her like a jaguar but Sakura moved away just as fast, dodging to the side, while still staying inside the tent. The rain outside was heavier than just moments before, sounding like an utter downpour around them.

Sakura could see Sasuke was acting slow now, pacing and biding in his anger but she knew that beneath his calm exterior, was his infamous anger ready to bubble forth. She didn't care, it was either him or her at this point.

The man growled low and predatorily. "You're the one that said you loved me, did you forget? I never said it back to your pathetic attempt at manipulation."

He made a move to grab her but again Sakura moved agilely away, surprising even herself. They started circling each other again.

Sakura was the one to laugh scornfully now. "But who's the one that would go insane if they didn't see me for just a single day?"

The man's reaction was instantaneous. He lunged at her quick as lightning and grabbed her by the hair, forcing her head upwards and close to him while seethed into her face: "HOW DO YOU KNOW THAT?"

Sakura grimaced at his tight grip but still managed a bitter laugh. "Fucking figure it out."

Furious, he pushed her towards the ground. Sakura's shoulder slammed against the ground and she heard something crack but her adrenaline kept the pain at bay. In a second, she was back on her feet whirling on Sasuke, tackling him to the ground.

She tried to go for his eyes with her nails but the man's reaction was quicker and caught her by the wrists. Sakura resorted to biting one of his index fingers as it restricted her. She threw all her strength into the bite and pierced deep into his flesh, causing blood to drip onto man's neck and face.

Sasuke screamed at the pain and quickly threw her off him. Her attack almost tore off his finger, almost. Sakura tumbled a few feet away. Her head was spinning but she still managed to get back up. Sasuke was standing again too, seething.

"I'll lock you away, I'll keep you imprisoned for the rest of your life. You'll never see an ounce of sunlight ever again."

Sakura was tired of being afraid of him. "GO AHEAD! I'm sick and tired of your threats, you know why? Because I don't have anything to lose anymore!"

Sakura was running on pure adrenaline and momentum, and she knew that if she stopped now she would never be able to start again. "My parents are dead, I can't go back to my home in Konoha because of you! I'm hunted by all the villages AND a mad sociopath for reasons I'm not even close to comprehending and all the while I'm stuck here with you and your stupid pride!"

Sasuke stared at her, bemused.

Sakura in turn laughed, it was short and condescending, which only brought back Sasuke's furious gaze, but she wasn't scared anymore.

"What? Surprised that I finally understand you?" She started advancing on him and to both of their surprise, Sasuke started backing up with each step she took forward. "The reason you torture me so much, the reason you can't stand me -is because you resent me for your feelings towards me and for that you have to punish me."

Sakura's scoffing laugh fell out once again. "But you're too proud to face it, too proud to say those words to me, so you just keep me like some pet, some prisoner for your own use-"

She hadn't been able to say anymore because Sasuke had backhanded her. The force alone made her lip bleed and her face stinging red. The pain was more severe in the aftermath, it resonated across her skin long after impact and blurred her vision but Sakura forced herself to face her tormentor again.

"Shut. Your. Mouth." Sasuke breathed every word through gritting teeth, a murderous rage ringing through his irises. "Or I swear I'll kill you."

Sakura's eyes mirrored the fury of his own. "Do it! I'd rather be dead than have to spend another second on this Earth with you!"

This next slap sent her spiraling and Sakura hit her head this time on the ground; she could tell her forehead was bleeding by the feel of something dripping down the bridge of her nose but she still refused to back down. She wanted everything to end with this man.

She whirled back facing him to scream: "Even if you don't kill me today, I'll find a way to do it myself when you're away!"

The look on Sasuke's face now was pure horror; his breathing now had become shallow and fast; he could only stare at her with wide open eyes. Sakura reveled in the power she had over him. Why hadn't she done this sooner?

"I'll keep you restrained. I'll keep you tied up. You won't be able to move. You'll live if it's the last thing I-" Sasuke explained rapidly, almost frantically as if just to reassure himself, but Sakura interrupted.

"Go ahead! You'll have to feed me, won't you? I'll find a way to choke. Or maybe I'll just turn to smother myself against my pillow-"

"SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP!" Sasuke had thrown himself on top of her now, his palms wrapping themselves around her throat to stop her from talking. Sakura saw that he was crying.

It was breaking his heart that she would rather die than be with him. He maintained his grip over her esophagus as he cried, never really choking her but just rather to stop her from saying anymore. Because everything she said was true.

And it broke his heart that she knew it.