Darkness Within

-Insanity-

Disclaimer: So sorry I forgot to put this on the last two chapters (hits self on head) anyway, for this chapter, the previous two, and any others in the future I forget to put it on: I don't own Naruto…wish I did cause, well, obviously I'd be rich and I would know what was going to happen, but alas, I don't, so I content myself with playing make believe and sharing it with you. : )

Okay, so I felt kind of bad because my last chapter was so short. So, with the motivation of my reviewers I've slaved away (not really because I love writing this thing but hey) to get this next chapter out to you all. I'm happy to announce that it is MUCH longer than the last one, so read, enjoy, and then review out of the kindness of your hearts (and your want for more Itachi and Sakura of course!)

Thank-you to everyone that reviewed! Check your in-boxes! Thanks a bunch!

Sakura woke up reluctantly. She had dreamed of red clouds on black, it had been terrible. Curse her subconscious, maybe she had a masochistic subconscious? That might explain her dream, especially after she never wanted to see another red cloud on black again. But that was obviously the least of her worries. Her boots were gone, showing off the tattoos on her lower legs. Tattoos that were for remembrance, to always remind her.

But they shouldn't have been showing, why were her boots gone? They had been there earlier. Why would they take her boots, she doubted that any of them cared at all as to whether or not she was uncomfortable sleeping with them on. No, there had to be a reason, they may have been mass murderers but they weren't insane, at least, not in the real sense of the word.

Maybe the big fish guy -Kisame- had taken them, maybe he had some kind of boot fetish, Sakura doubted that you could kill people with such relish without developing some kind of weird habit. She snorted at herself, just imagining Kisame come in and take her boots from her while she was sleeping was stupid. No, there had to be a real reason. Boots. Her boots. Why would- then it hit her. Her small blade, she had one on each boot, had one of them found her blades?

Great, they found them before she even remembered that they were there. What kind of Shinobi was she?

Not a very good one obviously.

Shit. Now she was conversing with herself. She thought she had kicked that habit long ago. Now it was back, marvellous. Now she was going crazy, next thing she knew she'd be skipping around the Akatsuki compound singing with Itachi. Sakura snorted again, just imagining the scene. What was wrong with her?

Several things but that's never really bothered you before.

Please no. She didn't want to be insane. Sakura wanted to be normal, normal people didn't talk with themselves. Normal people didn't have an inner evil side, but then again, normal people would be snivelling in the corner out of fear.

One point for the crazy chick, you've got a one up on the normal Joes out there!

Just ignore it, that was the best method, that was the method she had used to make the voice go away. Maybe her other half only responded to creepy killers? Maybe it would go away if she got away from Akatsuki?

But there was no time for that, Sakura had to devise a way to escape, she had to get away from Itachi, because, despite not being afraid of death, she still had an intolerance for pain.

Ya, cause that makes sense, not afraid of death, but terrified of pain, what kind of ANBU are you?

It made perfect sense she argued with herself, pain and death were different things, and she was a good ANBU, hadn't she proven herself time and time again?

Sakura scoffed. Who was she kidding? If she was really a good ANBU captain then her first team would still be alive, no, she wasn't qualified to be ANBU. She had even been captured, she had let Sasuke get out of hand, had let him endanger her team. She had to get away before Akatsuki before they made her do something like give away information, or worse, use her as bait for Naruto. No, she couldn't let that happen, Naruto would do it too, she doubted that even Tsunade would be able to stop him.

So it was up to her to stop it before it could even happen. Lucky for her, whoever had found the blades in her boots hadn't found anything else.

Yeah! Kick their asses! Kill em! Knock em dead! Start with the fish man, blue clashes with our hair.

Maybe she should work on her other half first on second thought. Having a voice inside her head during battle would be annoying, and most likely distracting. No, she would deal with her insanity later. Besides, not all blues clashed with pink, wait, why was she even listening to the voice!?

The group of people out to find Sakura stopped at the last place they had all seen her. Kiba watched Akamaru sniff the ground, trying to pick up Sakura's scent. The dog then stopped and barked over to Kiba. The others turned their attention to him, wanting to know what Akamaru had found.

"Akamaru says he found her sent, but it's faint and fading, we have to hurry before it disappears altogether. He also says that there are four other scents with her, those must be the Akatsuki members." Shikamaru nodded.

"All right, let's go. Everyone keep up, we'll be speeding up now. Jiro, I want you to summon one of your birds and send it back to Tsunade to tell her that we've picked up Sakura's scent." A young ninja, one of the one's on Shikamaru's team nodded his head, bit his thumb and then summoned a small raven. Shikamaru nodded.

"We're going on ahead, catch up when you're done." Jiro nodded and Shikamaru took off behind the others who were already on their way.

Sighing to himself Jiro re-opened the wound on his thumb and summoned another raven. The first one he sent off to the Hokage as ordered. The second one he turned to, looking solemn.

"Tell master Orochimaru that we've picked up the trail of the Hokage's apprentice, it looks like Akatsuki may have taken her to the Snow country."

The raven nodded and then took off. Jiro smiled to himself and then ran to catch up with the others, hoping that they would find the pink haired woman soon, because Orochimaru was not a patient person.

A knock on his door brought him out of his slight slumber, instantly he grabbed his cloak and answered it, already knowing who it was. Kisame stood on the other side, looking excited, the bloodlust rolled off him in waves. Itachi smirked to himself, but let nothing show on his face, it was a good thing the Akatsuki robe covered all but his eyes.

"What is it Kisame?" Kisame smirked.

"Looks like you were right Itachi, there's a bunch of brats along with the Kyuubi container following the girl's scent, they're probably half a day's run away from us. You want me to get the others and then we can attack them?" Itachi shook his head.

"No. The Kyuubi container will be mine, Deidara and Tobi were just given a mission anyways. They're leaving as we speak. Once they're gone we'll wait for them to come to us." Kisame frowned.

"Not that that doesn't sound good, but we received a mission as well if you recall Itachi, and we're not supposed to attack any of the hidden villages. Leader just wants us to get the Kyuubi container, but there aren't supposed to be other casualties, at least not while they can still cause harm by retaliating."

Itachi glared at Kisame and mentally cursed their leader for laying down so many rules.

"Fine. We'll leave, but make sure that there is a trail for them to follow. If they happen to come upon us we can kill them and capture the Kyuubi container." Kisame smirked.

"True, and since we were on our way to complete our mission we couldn't let them interfere." Itachi nodded.

"Exactly. Get the girl. Oh, and Kisame, make sure she's bleeding, I hear dogs pick up on the scent of blood better than other scents. Not life threatening mind you, I don't need her slowing us down." Kisame smiled maliciously.

"Of course not Itachi, but I have been wondering what the pink haired maiden's scream would sound like."

And then he was gone down the hall, blood lust still rolling off in waves. It probably wouldn't have mattered if they killed the group right now and captured the Kyuubi container, but that would have been too easy. It had been a while since Itachi had had some fun, and leading a group of his little brother's friends to their deaths seemed liked fun to him.

Hopefully the entertaining thoughts of killing them would keep that fact that he had felt apprehensive at Kisame's comment about Sakura's scream at bay. Why would he care, he had ordered Kisame to harm her after all, no, she didn't matter. She was beautiful to be sure, but then again, most kunoichi were. So what if something in her jade green eyes drew him, she was only bait, and she was weak enough to allow herself to be captured, weak enough to sacrifice herself for others, no, she didn't matter.

Sakura smiled to herself when she finally pulled the tine wire out of the bottom hem of her shirt. It was thin, and looked harmless enough, but it was deadly. It was quite easy to kill someone with the wire, with or without chakra. Without it, asphyxiation occurred, but with chakra she could cut off a limb or a head. Luckily some of her chakra had come back, unfortunately not enough to instantly behead someone, but it would make strangling them easier and faster.

Great. The only thing that stands between us and death is an itty bitty wire that you could use to floss teeth with. Okay, let's do this thing. Kill them all, but start with the fish man!

Sakura sighed to herself, why was her other self telling her to go after Kisame? Shouldn't she have a grudge against Itachi!? He was the reason that Sasuke had left in the first place, he was the reason she was even there in the first place, he was after Naruto, he as a missing nin, and he had tortured her for hours, albeit mentally. She still hurt though, especially her stomach, but that might have been because of the kunai he had stabbed her with in their initial fight.

The wound was closed, and she had enough chakra to heal it, but she needed to keep her chakra in case of a life or death situation.

Speaking of a life or death situation, I sense a large chakra coming towards us, it's not Itachi so the next best bet is Kisame. I swear, if you let that blue skinned fish freak touch my skin I'll murder you!

How could her other half murder her? Would that be committing suicide? Sakura shook her head and focussed on the important part of her other half's mutterings. If Kisame or someone else with that large a chakra signature was coming towards her it probably meant trouble. If it had been a meal time she would have thought differently, or if there hadn't been a small bathroom in her tiny room she might had thought they were coming to escort her to one.

But neither of those were plausible, so, considering that all the Akatsuki were mass murderers chances that someone had the sudden urge to kill the helpless hostage were high.

Helpless hostage!? We'll show them! Kick their asses, use the wire, tear their head off!

Marvellous. Her other half relished in beheadings, that wasn't something Sakura wanted to get out, not that it would matter if anyone ever found out that she had another half, that she talked with herself. No, if anyone ever found that out she'd be surrounded by nice padded walls with only the other crazies to talk to -and her other half of course. Such a wonderful thought.

The door banging open brought her back to reality and away from her musings of padded cells. Kisame stood in her small doorway, smiling cruelly. Maybe her other half was right in wanting him dead first. His need to kill, or at least shed blood was almost tangible in the air around him. Sakura gripped the wire behind her back -she was sitting up on the bed- and waited, her mind coming u with several ways to use the weapon, analyzing each with a quick deliberation that even Shikamaru would have appreciated.

Her chances were slim, especially given the fact that her chakra was so low. But she had to at least try something, or her chances of living were even slimmer. She had enough chakra to knock him out if she could hit the pressure point on his neck, but she would need to distract him somehow or he would kill her before she got a hit in. She didn't have enough chakra for a clone, and she had no weapons other than the thin wire.

How is it that I reside in the same body as you? Really, I mean, if I weren't here you'd be dead I tell you. A way to distract him? Well, I'd think that being strangled would be distracting don't you?

Sakura frowned to herself, she had done just fine before returning to the insanity of talking to herself. But her other half was right, he would be distracted by her strangling him. She didn't have enough strength to effectively do it, but just as a distraction it would work…but how did she get close enough to do that, she had the same problem once again.

Not really. The problem with just going for the pressure point is that he'll sense the pooling of chakra in our hand, but if we go for a purely physical attack he won't see it coming -especially if we appear weak and snivelling. Pretend to be terrified of the bastard, he'll come closer to try and terrify you more, then attack when he's close enough. He'll be to distracted by the wire to notice the pooling of chakra before it's too late. Then it's good-night fish man. You should probably kill him, but his skin looks so thick that it would just take to long to finish the job, just run once he's unconscious. You are getting what I'm saying right!? Cause you'll only have one chance at this thing.

Sakura grunted softly to herself, took a deep breath, and then she pretended to be terrified -not that it was all that hard to fake, seeing as how she was terrified of the huge guy. Sakura whimpered slightly and pushed herself into the corner of the room.

"W-what do you w-want?" Oh great, now she sounded the way she had when she was twelve. Sakura hated being weak, and even pretending to be so weak grated on her nerves, but she had to do it if she wanted a chance at life. It was working too, Kisame was smiling broadly now, and moving closer to her, encouraged by her sniffing and shaking. She watched him come, her body ready to leap into action, the wire held tightly behind her back.

Ten feet. He was chuckling to himself, enjoying her faked discomfort. Eight feet. He was closer than she ever wanted him to be, but he wasn't close enough yet. Six feet. Sakura idly wondered why he has gills on the side of his neck, did they enable him to breath under water? They would come in handy if it were true. Four feet. Almost close enough, at least he didn't smell like a fish. Two feet. Finally, now she could wipe that stupid, malicious, horrid grin off his face. Sakura leapt forward, rushing behind him and snapping the wire around his neck, pulling. The surprise on his face instantly turned to anger and he tried to pry the wire away from his neck, gasping for air.

Sakura gathered chakra into her hand, pushed it into two of her fingers, and, in one swift motion, she released the wire and jabbed him in the neck, hitting his pressure point accurately. He fell forward, and Sakura barely managed to stop him from thumping loudly onto the floor. It wouldn't help her any if someone came to investigate a loud noise, she doubted that they would have anyway but she didn't have the energy to take chances. She reached down and quickly grabbed the wire, it probably wouldn't help her, but she felt better having at least some form of a weapon on her.

Quietly, quickly, her movements careful and graceful, almost like she was dancing on air currents, Sakura made her way t the door of her room and slipped out into the hallway. It was a good thing they didn't consider her enough of a threat to put a chakra barrier up in the doorway, or she would have never escaped. Her senses open, checking for chakra signatures around her, Sakura made her way down a long hallway. The house must have been huge, and, from the chill in the air Sakura guessed that they were somewhere in the Land of Snow. Sakura hated the cold, she'd much rather have a warm spring day, with the grass blowing gently in a warm breeze.

This is no time to complain about the weather, we're escaping remember!?

Sakura nodded absently to herself, returning to the objective at hand.

Itachi frowned to himself, had Kisame changed his mind? No, Kisame lived for bloodshed, so why hadn't Itachi heard Sakura scream yet? Had Kisame killed her? No, no, Kisame wouldn't do that, he was too afraid of Itachi to do something that stupid. So why hadn't he heard a scream, a cry of outrage, shouting, something? Sighing to himself and mentally muttering about the incompetence of others Itachi opened his door and headed in the direction of Sakura's room.

Opening his senses Itachi would feel Kisame's familiar chakra signature, but he couldn't feel Sakura's. Not that that was unusual or unexpected, Kisame had probably drained her of any chakra she had gained back with his Samehada. Calling himself stupid for finding the fact that Sakura hadn't cried yet gave him a sense of relief Itachi moved to Sakura's room. The door stood open, and Kisame was lying face-first on the floor. Sakura was no where to be found. Itachi scoffed at the unconscious Kisame.

He had been beaten by a kunoichi that had next to none chakra, what a fool. Although, Itachi had to grudgingly admit that Sakura was good to have been able to subdue Kisame so easily. A feat which was next to impossible, after all, Kisame was mostly brute strength, but he was sharp when he wanted to be, you didn't get into Akatsuki for just being all brawn. Still, Kisame had let his guard down, Itachi wasn't happy, now he would have to find Sakura and somehow drag both his captive and his partner away from the house before the Konoha Shinobi got there.

Sakura ran with all her might towards the largest door in the hallway, she could see by the window beside it that it led to the outside world.

Finally, I was beginning to think that we'd be stuck as hostages forever, good thing you have me huh?

Sakura ignored the voice, it wasn't the time to be congratulating her other half for being cunning, instead it was the time to run as fast as her legs could take her, Sakura only wished that she had enough chakra to speed her journey. Sakura grabbed the handle of the door in her hand and let out a small sigh when it turned -it wasn't even locked!

And then a hand clamped down on hers and another hand went around her front, just below her shoulders, trapping her arms and her. Damn. Sakura could feel Itachi's breath on her neck, and his hard chest at her back. Damn, damn, double damn. How had he caught up with her so fast? How had he known? Had he placed some sort of shield on her room that would alert him if she left? That had to be it didn't it? Itachi leaned into her a little more, his mouth close to her ear. His voice hissed out, sounding more dangerous than usual.

"Clever, little kunoichi, but not clever enough I'm afraid."

Sakura wanted to run and hide in a corner, and then she wanted to douse herself with cold water when her other side spoke up.

You know, not to make light of the situation or anything, but now that I think about it…and feel it, Itachi has a nice body, maybe we should overlook this whole mass murderer thing huh?

She was stark raving mad. That was the only explanation. The kidnapping had addled her wits, now she was a psychotic lunatic whose other personality had the hots for the kidnapper that terrified her. And suddenly it all just seemed to funny and Sakura laughed.

She couldn't stop, her laughter just kept on coming, and it kept getting louder, she really was crazy, there she was, her escape completely gone and she was laughing like the crazy she really was, how sad.

Okay, I know I said he has a nice body, but you laughing like a lunatic isn't helping our situation any, and, while Itachi is hot, he's not hot enough to give up on the escape. I think you need a time out, why don't you let me take over for a while hmm? I'll get us out of this and then you can laugh all you want okay?

It sounded like such a good idea, normally Sakura would have fought against her other half's whispering, in fact, normally she wouldn't even be hearing her other half, but at that moment, with her laughter still bubbling out of nowhere, it seemed like he best idea in the world, so she let her other side out. She took the backseat and let the other part of her out, let her take control. Oh, she was still Sakura, but that layer of rules, that part of Sakura that made her follow every Shinobi rule to a T, that part of her that made her human and careful to avoid risky situation was gone, and what lay beneath was a cunning strength that verged on true insanity.

Sakura had let her out before, once, unknowingly perhaps, but she had still let her out once, and then she had gone away again, forced away by grief. Sakura had become this woman that one time, this ruthless woman who's top priority was to survive, a woman with animalistic instincts, primal. She had let her out when all of her team members had gone down and she couldn't find a way to save the,. Then she had let her other half out, and she had killed all of the enemies, but she still hadn't been in time to save her team, she hadn't let her other half out in time, she had resisted, so this time Sakura didn't resist, she just let it all slip out, let her ruthless side take over.

Itachi frowned at the young woman he held against him, stopping her from her escape. She was laughing, it was a loud, frothy laugh, one that hinted at madness. She shouldn't have been laughing, shivering in fear, crying, pleading, perhaps even struggling, but not laughing. Itachi grew wary, wondering if she was truly sane, he loosened his grip somewhat, wondering what she was doing, ready to act. Act in what way he had no idea, but something was obviously off. And suddenly she stopped laughing and spun around.

Something was off he instantly though, her eyes seemed different, feral, dangerous, insane. She pushed her small body up against him, a low purring in her throat.

"Really now Itachi, you shouldn't scare people like that, what would happen if your hostage died of a heart-attack?" Itachi frowned at her, wondering why she was pressing up against him, her voice low and seductive. She was obviously planning something, but Itachi couldn't make his arms push her away, his body was betraying him, how pathetic.

Sakura was amazed at the cold, emotionless thinking of her other half.

Yes, that's it, keep him occupied, keep him on his toes, he's suspecting something to happen from the way you're pressing up against him, he's expecting an attack of some kind, good. Keep him occupied, don't let him notice that you have more chakra then before.

But that's dangerous, Sakura thought. Her other half was using her chakra dangerously, she was converting her last bit of stamina into chakra, the after effects would be terrible, she'd probably be out for days, and even after that she'd be weak. Her other half was draining her stamina to the brink of death, it wasn't healthy, but then again, her other half was ruthless, even when using her own body.

Good, he's distracted, wrap your arms around his neck, that way he won't see when you perform the had seal to the jutsu. Only just enough chakra to perform it, make sure he's distracted. It's a good thing the Hokage taught it to you, yes, very good.

Sakura gasped at her other half. No, please no. She couldn't let her other half perform the jutsu, it was forbidden!

Doesn't matter, all that matters is that we get out of here, just sit back and relax, there's nothing left for you to do.

No, no, no! Something inside Sakura screamed at her to stop her other half, she couldn't allow her to perform that jutsu. The very first hand seal paralyzed the victim, and then their internal organs burst one by one, but they were kept alive until their heart exploded. It was a terrible jutsu, one that Tsunade had only taught her because the woman had been drunk. When she had sobered up Tsunade had made Sakura swear never to use it unless it save Konoha from absolute disaster. It was a terrible way to die, and a merciless way to kill. No, she couldn't let her other half do that.

Something screamed within her to stop it before it was too late, to save Itachi above all people. She couldn't let him die like that. It didn't matter that he was a murderer, it didn't matter that she had promised Tsunade, all that mattered was that something within her screamed no. She couldn't let it happen. Sakura fought with her other half, watching in horror as her own body performed the first seal, watching in terror as Itachi's eyes widened in surprise, feeling the feral smile on her own lips. NO! She fought harder with her other self, no, she wouldn't let it happen. No! No, no, no. She wasn't a killer!

"No!" Sakura screamed, and then with wide eyes she realized that she was in control once again, that she was the one controlling her own body.

Itachi had been stunned when his body was suddenly immobilized. Then he realized what Sakura had been doing, she had been distracting him, but when she had put her arm around his neck and leaned in she had performed hand seals that he couldn't see and had been to worried about what she was doing in front of him to detect her intent. Clever little kunoichi. Then her eyes had gone wide, her face had changed from an emotionless killer to a terrified young woman, and then back again. Itachi briefly wondered what was going on before Sakura suddenly yelled out.

"No!" She seemed absolutely terrified, her whole body was shaking and Itachi was suddenly glad he couldn't move because his arms wanted to wrap around her shaking form and comfort her, how stupid, he wanted to comfort the woman that had been about to kill him, and probably still could. But something told him that she wasn't going to, she seemed terrified at herself and what she had almost done, but the change in her gave Itachi pause. It was like she had been two different people, one of them a merciless killer, and one of them someone who tried to hide her weakness behind a brave front.

Sakura backed carefully away from him, tears in her eyes and her whole body quivering.

"Sorry, I'm so sorry, so, so sorry." Her voice was a mere whisper, like a wraith, she seemed so vulnerable, and so sick with herself. Then she shook herself, and her brave front went back up, once again hiding the scared little girl, but Itachi could see the cracks in her mask, could see the places where her wall had crumbled. She turned and reached for the doorknob, and there was nothing Itachi could do, he could feel the effects of her partial done jutsu fading, but he still couldn't move more than a finger, and barely even that.

But suddenly her whole body went taunt and her back arched, and then her body sagged and she fell towards him. Lucky for her he could now move his arms and her caught her, waiting for her jutsu to wear off completely. Her eyes were closed and her breathing shallow, and Itachi realized that she had used far too much chakra. He had seen it one sometimes, when people grew desperate enough that they would chance death in order to have a little more chakra, but not often. Those that survived were usually out for a few days and when they woke they were often drained of energy, weak as a newborn.

Itachi studied her and decided that she would survive, but he still had the problem of carrying both her and Kisame, and the fact that he was still partially paralyzed. Then too, was Sakura's odd change, it was something to think about. Briefly, Itachi wondered what jutsu she had been performing that had scared her so badly, she didn't seem like the type to know anything that scary, perhaps she just hadn't like the thought of killing him.

No, that made no sense, she had killed before, the only reason Kisame was alive was because she hadn't had the chakra or the time to kill him. Itachi almost sighed in relief when he was fully able to move his body again, he hadn't the feeling of being weak and at someone's mercy, Sakura was more dangerous and powerful than he had given her credit for, he would have to watch her more carefully to make sure she never escaped again.

Picking Sakura's limp form up Itachi went back to her room where he was relieved to see the briefest of stirrings from Kisame. A sharp kick to the side brought Kisame fully to life with much cursing, but Kisame quickly shut up when he realized who had woken him, then his eyes strayed to Sakura's form and his eyes widened.

"That little kunoichi beat me, I can't believe I let a little girl beat me." Itachi glared at Kisame, who looked quite upset with himself over his apparent loss.

"Hn." Itachi walked away, heading for his room to grab his stuff and the bad that Sakura had been captured with.

"Get ready to leave Kisame, you've delayed us long enough with your incompetence."

No need for Kisame to know that Sakura had also beaten Itachi, that was something that no one would ever find out, that was the last thing that he needed was for people to learn. Grabbing the two bags out of his room Itachi placed his straw hat on his head, then, looking at Sakura he decided to put one of his spare Akatsuki robes on her, he didn't want the Konoha Shinobi to hear tales f two Akatsuki members dragging off a pink haired girl, it would make it too easy.

Itachi denied to himself that it was because he didn't want her to get cold. He strapped a straw hat to her head, effectively covering her pink hair. Then he left, throwing both packs to Kisame who caught them with a frown but placed them on his back with his own without complaint. And then they were racing through the frost covered trees, heading towards their next destination. Itachi briefly realized that he hadn't left the Konoha Shinobi with the clear scent of Sakura's blood to follow, but a part of him didn't care and the other part merely said that it would be more fun that way.

Okay, thanks for reading, hope you liked it, I know I had fun writing this chapter. Reviews appreciated. See you all next time!