Please don't forget to visit my website: www. freewebs .com /animemangafanatic (Don't forget to take out the spaces) I do not own Naruto, only original characters and themes. Okay, so this time the chapter was checked by my other Blood of the Cherry Blossom beta, Kuri. Give her a thank you. Also, give read-n-review a thank you, since they are my other beta for this story. Head over to my website if you're interested in being a beta.

Sakura turned around in the bed. Light came in from the window because the curtains were pushed aside. It was autumn and the leaves were beginning to brown. Sakura turned back around and curled into a ball on the bed. Itachi wasn't in the room, and she didn't particularly care at the moment. She just wanted to sleep. All the light, the birds chirping happily, and the happiness of servants and people out in the village was annoying. Sakura was feeling very dark today. She felt a vein about to pop. Sakura didn't want to wake up.

The door slid open in a quick motion. She faintly wondered if Tsuki had woken up. However, that thought was pushed off feeling the strong hand pulling her up. Slowly, Sakura opened her eyes to see Itachi above her. His eyes were hardened. They began to bleed red. Sakura became instantly aware and awake. It began to slowly spin. She tried to pry away from him, but his grip held tightly to her. His facial features said he was extremely angry. There was a killer tint to his eyes.

"Itachi?"

Sakura felt searing pain in her abdomen. She looked down and saw a katana being pierced through her. Looking up, Itachi had a sinister smirk playing on his lips. She didn't understand what was going on. With what strength she could muster, she pulled away along with the embedded katana. Putting some distance between them, Sakura tried to grasp the situation. Itachi just went for a kunai from one of his hidden pouches. In a rapid succession, Itachi brought a kunai towards her. Sakura let out a scream.

Sakura bolted awake in the bed. She panted heavily. Her breathing began to slow, trying to regulate her heartbeat back to normal. Sweat dripped off her chin. Sakura began to understand that it was only a dream. The sky was still dark with a tint of light. Turning to the calender, she saw that the month read the end of august. She wiped her face and tried to shake off the scare. Sakura was not used to having fear. There wasn't much that she feared these days. However, for some strange reason, she had begun to fear Itachi.

Speaking of said man, Sakura turned her head to the side. He laid in the bed. Itachi was usually a light sleeper, but with the pain of his eyes finally gone, he was able to sleep better. Her movements must have woke him though, because Sakura could see him coming out of it. Itachi turned his tired, onyx eyes onto her. She was sitting up, still shaking. His arm laid across her lap, while he laid on his stomach. He slowly rose and studied her.

"What's the matter?"

"Nothing."

The reply came to fast and Itachi knew that she was lying instantly. Reaching out his hand, Sakura flinched away from his touch. His eyes widened slightly in response. He had quickly jerked his hand away, thinking that he had hurt her. Realizing, that she was shaking, Itachi wrapped the blanket around her. Pulling her into his embrace, Itachi soothed the shaking. Sakura didn't moved at first, but then slowly embraced him. Itachi knew that something was wrong, because Sakura's eyes held pure, unhindered fear. It was not an emotion that he saw in her. An emotion that they both did not have in them anymore. However, if it was enough to scare her, then maybe it would scare him too. So Itachi didn't ask.

Shinrui looked over at Byakko again. Byakko knew that Shinrui wanted to question him further on Sakura, but Byakko had no right to divulge information on her to other people. If Shinrai wanted to know that badly, then he would have to question Sakura himself. He feared what Sakura could do to him more than what his guardian could. After all, Sakura had a say over all gods, even if she wasn't their guardians. She was, after all, a very special exception. Sakura always had a lot of secrets, and very few had all the answers to them, if not any. The one person Byakko was sure that had all the answers was currently dead.

Shinrai continued to concentrate on controlling the chakra in the orb. However, he easily became distracted with other thoughts. He worried about Yuu. He worried about Kazaya. He wondered if Sakura was really okay with the Akatsuki. He wondered how long he would be there. When a thought that had nothing to do with concentrating on the orb arose, the orb shot out wildly. Sometimes, the wild shots of chakra hurt him. Shinrai was trying his best not to get distracted. There was just too much on his mind.

Again, another shot was released. It shot straight out of the orb. The blast sent Shinrai flying through the field a good couple meters. However, the orb just laid at where he had currently been. Shinrai stood, dusted himself off, and walked back to the orb. Byakko looked pleased by Shinrai's determination and perservation. Shinrai sat down on the ground, but before he picked it up, he turned to Byakko.

"If I get to controlling the elemental chakra from this thing, I can leave."

"That's just the first step, Hanryo-san."

Shinrai looked thoughtful.

"Does time ever seem to move here?"

Byakko understood what he was asking. Since Shinrai had arrived in Byakko's dimension, the sky did not change. It was forever light in the vast fields. The wind constantly blew, and there were always clouds. Byakko shook his head at his guardian.

"No. I like it best this way."

Shinrai thought about it for a moment before nodding his head in understanding. He sat with his legs crossed and concentrated once again. Byakko, still sitting a ways off, continued to countdown the time.

Tsuki stood with her hands on her knees. She panted from exhaustion. Sweat dripped off her chin from the strain that she had been currently under. Wiping the sweat off, Tsuki picked up the fallen orb. Tsuki still couldn't get over the fact that Seiryu's dimension was just sky and water. So literally, there was no ground, but Tsuki didn't feel like she was floating either. It was more like she was standing on solid ground, just wasn't.

She turned the blue orb over carefully to make sure she didn't break it. Seiryu smirked.

"It doesn't break that easily, Tanaka-san."

Tsuki nodded her head in understanding. The blue swirl inside slowly twirled, until it got in Tsuki's hand. Slowly, it twirled faster and faster. She closed her eyes trying to calm the rapidly turning swirl. Unfornately, Tsuki wasn't having much luck. The orb shook violently before it unleashed chakra. It sent Tsuki flying back while it dropped down again. She stood not looking pleased. Looking down at her hands, Tsuki's expression became pained.

"I don't understand why I can't get this."

Seiryu just watched her.

"Just keep trying to perserve, Tanaka-san."

Tsuki nodded with determination. She walked over to the orb without a miss in her step. Seiryu watched her carefully. Tsuki's time was also becoming short. He was worried that she might not get out in time.

Yuu burst through the door at the Hokage's office. Tsunade noticing it was her, she dismissed the Jounin team she was currently briefing. They all saluted before leaving her office. Naruto then burst through the closed door too. Each of them turned to the Hokage worried something had happened to Shinrai. She stood from her chair as Sasuke and Kakashi came in. Following Tsunade into a connected room, Shinrai's body laid on the bed. His body glowed white. Yuu rushed over.

"When did this start?"

Yuu's voice broke with complete worry. Tsunade just put her hand lightly on the princess's shoulder.

"I believe it started a couple hours ago. There's nothing in the scroll about this, but it doesn't seem to be doing any damage to Shinrai-san. So I believe there's nothing really to worry about. I just thought it was best you knew."

"Are you sure?"

Tsunade nodded her head, trying to calm the poor girl's anxiety.

"I gave him a thorough check over, and everything seems okay."

Yuu tightened her hand on his.

"Come on Shin-kun. You can do this."

Sakura sat against the headboard of the bed looking out the window in a daze. The dream refused to leave her mind. It plagued her, haunting and taunting her. Her eyes glazed over with the visions going back and forth before her. She felt surprising weak this morning. Maybe, all the strain on her chakra was finally getting to her. After all, Sakura only used five reserves of her large chakra supply. She didn't have a choice in that matter anyways. One of them was solely kept for emergencies and it was well hidden, which is why Kisame's sword couldn't drain it. You can't touch what you don't know is there.

Just then the bathroom door slid open, and Sakura slowly turned her eyes to the intruder of her thoughts. Itachi came out in only his pants, drying his wet hair. When finished, he threw the towel onto the desk's chair and tied his hair back into a ponytail. He walked over to the closet, pulling out a shirt, while keeping his eyes fixed on his cherry blossom. Itachi was slightly worried with her behavior. Walking over the side of the bed, Itachi reached over and checked her temperature.

"You looked drained."

"Hn."

Itachi smirked.

"I believe that word belongs to me."

"It's not even a word Itachi."

Itachi's smirk grew.

"You don't have a fever."

"Of course not. I'm a medic nin Itachi-san, or did you forget that?"

Itachi pulled her towards him. He carefully examined her.

"Then what's the matter?"

Sakura pulled him into her arms. Itachi didn't object. He rested his head on her chest. Her body was shaking violently again. Pulling slightly away, Itachi was about to question her when a knock came at the door. He turned to answer it, leaving the sanctuary that Sakura's being gave. Sliding the door open, Kisame stood outside in full mission gear.

"Sorry for the intrusion, but mission time Itachi-san."

Itachi nodded his head.

"I'll meet you at the gate in five minutes."

Kisame nodded his head in understanding before disappearing. Itachi went around the room and packing for his mission. He turned to Sakura, who looked a bit lost.

"Don't leave this room until I return."

"Tsuki-san..."

"Only for her then."

Sakura nodded her head. Itachi turned to leave. He was halfway closing the door when he heard her speak.

"Be careful."

Itachi smirked while finishing closing the door. Once she felt his chakra signature leave the compound's ground, Sakura covered her face with her hands.

"Kami-sama..."

Her voice broke.

"I can no longer tell between vision and dream. Please, don't let it come to pass."

Shinrai was getting the hang of it. He was now able to call upon the element of wind out of the orb. It wasn't effective yet, but he was starting to slightly get the hang of it. Shinrai held out his hand straight in front of him. Slowly, wind circled round his hand, before it disappeared. Persperation dripped off his chin. He fell to the ground panting. The orb rolled out and laid a bit in front of him.

"You're doing better."

Shinrai smirked at Byakko.

"Of course. I'm a natural fast learner, didn't you know?"

Byakko smirked.

"Then keep at it."

Shinrai nodded in response. Byakko knew that Shinrai would make it in time. He turned his head to the left. Seiryu's guardian seemed to be showing problems however.

Tsuki cursed colorfully. Seiryu raised an eyebrow in question. It seemed Tsuki had inherited the bad mouth in stressful situations after all. He remembered her grandmother and her mother having it. He shouldn't have been surprised. Seiryu knew it was stressful for her, after all, Tsuki had a kind and easy temperament. It took a lot of strain to undo that.

The orb once again sent her flying across the waters. Tsuki restraightened herself, panting in exhaustion. Seiryu looked to the right. She wasn't going to make it.

Sakura paced the room. The real-life dream that she experienced with the dream walkers, and the dream she just currently had were scaring her. However, at the moment, she couldn't tell if what she was being shown was dream or vision. Sakura threw everything off the desk, breaking everything on it. Her fists repeated hit the desk's top. She felt the bones crack, and blood smeared on the desk. She hit her head against the wall repeated. Blood came out. She slid down the wall, leaving a blood trail. Tears came out. She hadn't felt this way in a long, long time.

"Mother, please make it stop. I beg of you. I never asked for this gift."

Darkness took her.

Yuu sat by the bed. Shinrai's body continued to glow white. The door slowly opened, and Yuu turned to greet whoever was coming through the door. Naruto poked his head through. He raised his hand in apology. Yuu nodded her head. Kakashi, Sasuke, Sai, Yamato, Shizune, and Tsunade came through the door. Yuu smiled at all their concern. Even though Sasuke and Sai didn't show it, or they really didn't care. No one knows what those two were thinking.

Just then the light grew brighter. Shinrai's body was suspended off the bed. Tsunade quickly grabbed Yuu out of the way in case. A warm wind quickly surrounded him. Then the light shot out, blinding everyone in the room. Seconds later, it finally faded. Shinrai stood with his eyes closed, by the bed. Slowly, his eyes opened and he slowly focused on the people in front of him. He finally took notice of Yuu.

"I'm back."

Yuu strongly fought back the tears.

"Welcome back."

Sakura groaned in pain. She turned her body to it's side, trying to get up. It felt like a large weight was holding her down. Slowly sliding her eyes open, Sakura looked to find herself in Konoha. Quickly sitting up, she instantly recognized the terrain. She was back in the village. Sakura then regretted her decision of quickly sitting up. Clutching her head in pain, she groaned.

"Sakura?"

Sakura opened her eyes, while rubbing the pain out with chakra. Her eyes focused on Itachi. He was back to the sixteen year old boy that she had encountered in her dreams. Sakura instantly backed up. Itachi looked like he had been burned by her reaction. The fear in her face finally washed away as she took in her bearings more. If she was back in Konoha, with a sixteen year old Itachi, then that must mean that they sent her back. But why?

"Itachi?"

The sixteen year old boy walked over to Sakura. He took her into his arms and squeezed her tightly.

"You disappeared from my sight the last time."

Sakura remembered very clearly. The last time the dream walker had sent her here, Itachi had attempted to kill her. Apparently, he didn't remember that part. However, he did remember her. Sakura instantly pushed him back. She quickly went at him. Itachi blocked the blow to his face. However, Sakura acted more quickly than he could keep up with. Her hand went to his thigh, to pull out one of his own kunai. She swiftly pinned him to a tree with a kunai at his neck. Itachi's eyes had widened in surprise.

"Your emotions are certainly coming through Sakura."

"Don't screw with me Uchiha!"

Itachi's eyes widened in surprise again. There was menace and edge to her. It was not what he was suspecting from her. The last time he saw her, she was so close to him. Sakura was within his reach, but now... The distance was too great. She pressed the kunai tighter to his throat. Her green eyes grew colder.

"Tell me."

"Tell you what, Sakura?"

"Tell me why you want to do it. Why do you want to kill your family so badly? Why did you want to kill Shusui-san so badly?"

Itachi's eyes widened in surprise.

"Are you okay?"

Yuu questioned as she gave his body a look over for injuries. Shinrai smiled contently. He missed Yuu greatly.

"So what happened?"

Tsunade was asking out of curiosity.

"Was it fun?"

Shinrai sweat dropped at the enthusiasm in Naruto's voice. He sat on the edge of the bed. Yuu followed suit. Naruto, Shizune, Tsunade, Yamato, and Sai stood in the middle of the room. Both Sasuke and Kakashi, leaned on an opposing wall. Sasuke looked uninterested with his arms crossed and eyes closed. Kakashi had his book open and reading it.

"I was in a dimensional dungeon known as Oblivion. From there, I was sent to the domain of Byakko-sama."

"What did you do there?"

Shinrai turned to Yamato, to answer his question.

"I learned to control the white orb of Byakko."

"Where is it now?"

Shinrai shrugged his shoulders.

"I don't yet have the ability to call the real thing to me; only its essence."

"Were you alone?"

Shinrai could hear the worry and pity in Yuu's voice. He patted her head to reassure her. Shaking his head, he answered her.

"Not at first."

"Another guardian?"

He nodded his head to answer Tsunade's question.

"Did you know her?"

"Yes, as do you Yuu."

Yuu's eyes widened in surprise.

"What?"

"Do you remember the summer before the last one, that we spent with Saku-chan?"

Seeing her nod her head, Shinrai continued.

"Do you recall the woman that came to pick her up?"

Yuu had to think for a minute, before she nodded her head slowly.

"Do you recall that woman's daughter?"

"The one that looked just like her?"

"Yes. Her name is Tanaka, Tsuki-san. Apparently, Saku-chan sent her there for the same reason I was sent."

"Sakura-chan?"

Shinrai could hear the surprise in Naruto's question. He turned to Tsunade, who looked at him in confusion.

"I saw Saku-chan there."

That last sentence caught everyone's attention.

His eyes grew hard, once the shock had faded. Sakura still held Itachi by the collar tightly. From where they currently were, no one could hear them. By the looks of overgrowth, no one was bound to come this direction either. They were miles away from the village. So even if they screamed, no one would come. Itachi had come out here to think, and escape his father. He constantly broke the rule of not leaving the village without permission.

"I have no idea what you're talking about Sakura."

She slammed him into the tree again.

"Don't shit with me. You and I both know what I'm talking about. Do you feel satisfied with the mangekyou sharingan? Is this amount of power not enough for you?"

Itachi was surprised she was yelling. When he last seen her, she had kept everything in check. Sakura had been just like him.

"You've changed Sakura."

"Itachi..."

She growled out his name in warning. He chuckled. Suddenly, Sakura was facing the tree. She moved to turn, but found her wrists were tied. Pulling at the bondage, Sakura felt chakra drain from her body. She immediately stopped. She turned her head to Itachi's chuckle. He moved his body behind her, and pulled her lower body out and towards him. She felt his erection at her ass.

"I was right. It is perfect."

His hands fondled her but before sliding down her thighs. His body loomed and stretched over hers. His mouth at her ear.

"Do you feel as good as you look, Sakura?"

He nipped her ear in lust. His hands roamed at the top of her pants. Technically, they belonged to his older self, but since she had no clothes, she constantly borrowed from Itachi's one-look wardrobe. Itachi tugged the pants down, and lustfully admired her black lace lingerie. The only things Tsuki bothered to buy her. Sakura thought that Tsuki enjoyed making her borrow from Itachi. His fingers grazed the rim of her underwear. Using both hands, he brought her right up against his hard erection.

"Are you excited, Sakura?"

"Go to...'

Itachi warpped his Anbu scarf around her mouth as a gag. He looked more amused than anything. In quick movements, he had her underwear down too. He unzipped his pants and entered her ass. Sakura jerked. After all, she had only been taken there once before. Itachi purred in contentment. Sakura tried to pull free but Itachi just brought her back into a forceful thrust.

"Cherry Blossom..."

Itachi's hand fondled her butt.

"I'm not your first."

Sakura dug her nails hard into the palm of her hands as Itachi thrusted again. Nails broke the skin, causing blood to leak out. Her fingers became covered in it. She tried to move the bindings away from her right wrist. It was little difficult however with the movement of Itachi thrusting into her. Smearing the blood onto her right wrist, a red tattoo glowed of a pheonix. Flames shot out breaking her binds and sending Itachi back. When he reopened his eyes, Sakura had her clothes on and her look of defiance could kill. Itachi chuckled.

"Beautiful as always."

Tsuki looked at Seiryu. What she was trying to accomplish seemed like a fool's dream.

"What should I do?"

"Don't try so hard."

Tsuki sat down with the orb lying right in front of her. She took in a deep breath then let it out slowly. Minutes ticked by and Tsuki did nothing but look like she was mediatating. All of the sudden, she quickly shot up and pointed an accusing finger at the orb.

"You're doing this on purpose! You know how hard I'm trying, and you're just doing this for a laugh."

Seiryu thought Tsuki finally cracked.

"Now, you're going to listen to me, because I can't stay here forever. I want to go home and serve Sakura-sama!"

Tsuki stood panting for a few minutes, before attempting to lift the orb. When nothing happened, Tsuki sighed in relief.

"Congratulations, Tanaka-san."

Tsuki smiled brightly at Seiryu. He know understood why her family was chosen as his guardians.

Itachi flicked out a kunai.

"Do you know what I love most about you Sakura?"

"I personally don't give a fuck."

Itachi gave a tisking sound.

"Such foul language doesn't suit you."

Itachi disappeared. Sakura turned around and easily met his kunai. Sakura smirked.

"Is that the best the Uchiha's pride and joy can offer?"

Itachi matched her smirk.

"I always wanted to taste you, especially..."

Everything went black. Sakura felt a stabbing in her heart. She then heard his voice, then nothing.

"...your blood."

Sakura cracked her eyes open very slowly. She groaned in pain, as she turned to the side. Taking in her bearings slowly, she was in bed. Sakura sat up, and groaned even louder. Her hand touched a bandage on her head. Bandages were wrapped around both of her hands. It finally came back to what happened; what she did to herself. The pain in her soul was unimaginable. She didn't remember the last time that this happened. Wait... yes, she did. It happened along time ago when her mother died. The only person who helped stop whatever that came to her.

A sigh came to her ears. Sakura turned her dulled eyes to Tsuki. Apparently, she had finally found what she needed to escape Seiryu's realm. Sakura slowly got out of the bed. The shawl that Tsuki was using was sliding down, and Sakura pulled it up more. Wrapping the robe around her body, that laid on the chair, Sakura took her time leaving the room. She was as quiet as possible, as to not disturb Tsuki.

Before she could even open the door, it slid open on its own. Sakura looked up to see the face of a very angry Uchiha, Itachi. He moved towards her, closing the door with a bang. Tsuki shot up in fright and worry when she didn't see Sakura in bed. She turned to see Itachi eyeing her with anger. Tsuki stood and left out of politeness. Also, she didn't want to be there when Itachi blew his gasket.

Upon hearing the click of the door shut, Itachi roughly grabbed Sakura away from the wall she was using for support. He preceeded with throwing her on the bed. Sakura groaned while going in a fetal position to grab her head. Itachi watched her for a minute before making her look at him. She knew that her arms were going to have bruises later. Shaking her in anger, his voice was icy cold.

"Look at me. Look at me!"

Sakura's green eyes locked on with his red ones. She knew that she had pissed him off. That however, did not stop the bite within her own voice.

"What?"

He pulled her hands to her face.

"What were you thinking?"

Sakura's eyes became dull and lifeless. Itachi's expression became worried.

"Sakura. Sakura, look at me."

The ghost eyes looked straight at him.

"Itachi, I have a curse that is in my blood."

To emphasize her point, Sakura cut her arm with a fingernail and let the blood drip onto the bed. Itachi wrapped his fingers around the cut, cursing that it was bleeding too much. He also hated the fact that her blood was on his hand. Tears rolled down her cheeks. Her voice broke.

"Itachi... In my visions..."

Itachi brought her closer to him, but Sakura flinched away.

"You kept killing me!"

His eyes widened in surprise. What was she talking about?

"You... You kept saying that, you want to see my blood."

Sakura swiftly took her arm out of his grasp. She held it higher.

"Is this enough for you? Is this enough blood?"

Itachi watched the crimson shaded blood stain the sheets. He slowly took her arm back into his grasp.

"I don't deny that I sometimes wondered how beautiful it would be. My precious Cherry Blossom's blood..."

Itachi touched it with his tongue. He could taste it's metallic taste. His eyes locked with hers.

"...blood of the Cherry Blossom..."