Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or anything that has to do with it.

Warnings: This chapter contains blood/violence, yaoi, incest, coarse language, OOC, and the canon is officially not going to come back into play. This is also a long chapter, and it is slightly boring, but I swear that this story will pick up the pace soon. There are also a few mistakes in here that I didn't pick up.

Pairings: ItaSasu, slight SasuSaku and NaruSaku, slight ShikaIno, some KabuSaku, references to SasuNaru, traces of ItaKabu, a hint of KakaIta

She ran faster than she ever had before. She couldn't believe what she had just seen, was it really true? Were the two of them really kissing each other? It didn't make any sense, no matter how hard she thought about it. Itachi had used and abused Sasuke to no end; now Sasuke was going home to him every night. Now Sasuke was going to that man, loving him. Itachi had been lying to her.

I thought more of you Sasuke… she thought as she continued running holding the forehead protector tightly in her hand. Orochimaru will make everything better, that's what Kabuto said. She continued to run forward as she looked straight into the darkness. Her breath was starting to cease in her throat.

Stopping she moved her hands to the forehead protector she had worn right now. Why should Konoha matter anymore? Damn Konoha, it was thanks to that village that she had to see the worst sight that she thought she would ever see. They broke her heart by hiding this. She was confused.

The Leaf forehead protector fell to the ground as she clutched the Sound one tightly in her hands. All of this time, I have always allowed Sasuke and Naruto to do everything. I never really had a chance to form my own opinion. Now I know what I must do, I have to kill Itachi, Sasuke; it's the only way that I can free you from all of this pain.

As she continued to walk she heard footsteps follow her. "Where do you think you're going, Sakura?"

Sakura turned around to come face to face with the last person that she wanted to see at the moment. "Not now, Ino," she continued walking as she turned away from her best friend.

"Sakura?" Ino asked, following her closely. "What's going on with you? I've never seen you like this before. There's something different about you," she crouched down to pick up the fallen forehead protector. "You dropped your forehead protector. What happened? What did Sasuke and Naruto do to you?"

"I love you too." Sakura bit her lips, breaking the flesh as she thought about all of the pain that Sasuke put himself through. He said that he may have enjoyed what Itachi had done to him by the river. She never thought that they would fall in love with one another. Itachi killed their family. He killed everything that Sasuke loved. What power could have possessed him to love that man?

"I'm not sure if he's involved with Itachi, but if he is, then it might be too late to save him. Unless, we end him."

End him, that's what they had to do know. She had no mercy for that man, not after all of the suffering that he caused the village. She continued to walk away from Ino hearing her friend cry out for her to come back. Ignoring her, Sakura continued walking forward.

"What's going on?" Ino asked as she looked at her wandering best friend. "Sakura, come back here. I don't know where you're going, but I know that it's bad news. Ever since you went missing you've been acting strange. I haven't seen you in a while now," she started to follow her. "Please, Sakura, stop this madness. Come back and we can talk about it."

Sakura sighed. "Ino, what if I told you that I can't stay here," she thought of Sasuke's lips pressed to Itachi's so passionately. "What is here? We have an S-class criminal deep in the village and we can't even do anything about it," she turned to look at Ino. "Don't you care about what happened to your sensei?"

The blond girl looked up at her best friend. "He's going to be alright, sure he's not going to be able to train us for a while, but he's just glad to have come out of there with his life. He thought he was going to die the second that katana hit his flesh, but he was lucky. Itachi went easy on him."

Sakura's eyes became ice cold, Ino's skin constricting as they made eye contact. "And you think that my sensei deserved what happened to him. He's never going to be able to train us again. They have no clue how long that genjutsu will work on him. Nor do they know if his heart and brain will ever work in sync again."

Ino walked closer, her voice rising. "Sakura, is this a stunt? Are you trying to prove that you can be a tough ninja too? That's ridiculous; you don't have to go aimlessly running off pulling off your forehead protector for nothing. Sakura, please, think about what you're doing," she extended her arm, handing the discarded item to Sakura. "Take this back and I'll take you home."

Sakura laughed vilely, an evil chuckle passing her lips, something that Ino had never heard before. "You think that you can stop me? You accepted the fact that this village is going to live in fear. You don't know my pain, you don't know what it's like to lose both of your teammates and no matter how far you reach for them they'll never come back to you."

Ino closed her eyes. "I know that if you do something stupid, I'm not going to allow it to ruin my life, nor am I even going to let you get that far," she scoffed reopening her blue orbs. "Use your head, swallow your pride and come here and take the damn forehead protector!"

Sakura moved her hand slapping the item out of Ino's hand. "That's what I have to say to that forehead protector. That's what I have to say to all of Konoha."

Ino let out a gasp as she heard the metal that hit the ground. All of this time, Sakura had tried her hardest to win the status of ninja; she had fought so hard to show that not all kunoichi were weak. This wasn't the Sakura that she knew, this wasn't the Sakura that she had been rivals with.

"What's gotten into you?" Ino asked grasping Sakura's wrist hearing the other female ninja groan as she tried to pull herself away.

"Let go, Ino!" Sakura snapped jerking at Ino's arm, trying to break free.

"Sakura! Stop being stubborn and tell me what happened," Ino retorted pulling her back. Footsteps came up behind them, both of them stopping what they were doing. Who could be coming out at this time?

"She doesn't have to do anything that she doesn't want to," the voice came closer to them, shivers running down Ino's spine as she looked behind her to see the person who the voice belonged to, she had never seen him before in the village. "Sakura, is this girl bothering you?"

Sakura nodded.

"Then I have no choice but to get her out of the way," the man stated as he walked toward Ino pulling her back by her long blond ponytail. "Listen, little girl, can't you see that you're in the way?"

Ino struggled to break free, her hair pulling painfully at her scalp through he failed attempts. "Who are you? And what are you doing to Sakura?"

He smiled slightly. "My name is of no importance to you, all that you need to know is that your pathetic village is in the way of what Sakura wants. There is no way that you are going to stand with them. You're not stopping us tonight."

He pushed her onto the ground face first hearing her squeal in pain blood spilling onto the ground. Ino's body shook as she tried to catch her breath. Sakura didn't even look down at what had happened keeping a straight look on her face looking up at her savoir, scoffing turning away from dark eyes.

"You're late Kabuto," she stated looking down at Ino's unconscious body. "I was going to go looking for you," green met onyx. "It's too late for Sasuke; he's made deeper bonds with Itachi. I saw the shady activity; it's more than just exchanging information. The two of them seem to… be in love."

Kabuto smiled as he looked down at the younger medical ninja, resting a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Bring me to Naruto, Sakura; we'll go off to the Sound Village to escape from Itachi and Sasuke."

"No," she answered flatly. "I haven't put my trust fully in this Orochimaru. I want to meet him first to see that he really doesn't mean Naruto any harm. I don't know who I can trust anymore. My teammate, the one that I trusted the most was the one who stabbed me in the back. I'm not going to allow myself to do this if I know that it's unsafe."

"You don't trust me?" Kabuto asked. "That hurts, Sakura. I promise you safety and the power to destroy Itachi Uchiha and you repay me with distrust? If you can't trust me, then how can I trust you? How do I know that you'll be a good contribution to Sound?"

She moved her hands to her head, placing the forehead protector back where the old one was. The Sound emblem was now her creed, the one true place where she knew that she was going to be safe. Kabuto had told her that he could help her with everything, even help her become a stronger medical ninja. She trusted him as she moved closer taking his hand gently in hers.

"I'm ready," she answered, looking into his eyes walking by his side. She glanced at what Konoha had become in her mind, looking down at her bloody friend. Konoha was for the weak of heart, the cowards that had accepted the fact that they were never going to be anything compared to Itachi's power. Itachi was the strongest ninja that she had ever heard of who was still in their teenage years, he was able to take out Kakashi. Sasuke was aware of that, that's why he sought his power.

While Sasuke was training under Itachi, learning more dark secrets of the sharingan, she was going to be with Kabuto on the way to the Sound Village. There was no turning back now. This was the road that she took, if Itachi followed her then so be it. She knew what to do in that situation.

If the moment comes where we are faced with Itachi, then we can only do one thing, she closed her green eyes tightly moving closer to Kabuto. We end him right there and dispel the curses that he has planted in Sasuke's mind. I won't lose to anyone.

She looked up at Kabuto and smiled broadly at him. "Thank you for giving me this opportunity. What can I do to repay you?"

The older ninja smirked evilly. "We'll discuss payment later, Sakura, now we just go through the woods to our destination. If you see Itachi, stand back, his head is mine," he looked down at him pulling her closer. "You can have some of his blood, but his life is mine for the taking."

She snickered looking away from him, tossing her pink hair over her shoulder. "If he gets too close to me, I might have to take him out," she reopened her eyes looking staright at him, burning holes through his flesh. "No hard feelings, Kabuto."

He chuckled. "Just leave him to me."

Together, they went into the darkness, not looking back at what was behind them. All they could do was look forward to their future, their future together. It was on this night when the hunt would begin. Itachi Uchiha would fall.

-----

"Where do you think she went now? It's such a pain in the ass how we have to go looking for her all of the time," Shikamaru stated as he walked through the darkness of the night. "Her dad is going to kill us if we can't find her."

"Relax," Chouji soothed, walking forward trying to ease his annoyed best friend. "Knowing Ino she's just trying to piss you off again. You two can never get along, it's almost as if she hates you."

They continued to walk, chills running through the air. Nights shouldn't be that cold. The chill was intense enough to freeze a fire leaving only the dead embers behind. Their skin was far from a fire as they wrapped their arms around themselves trying to prevent the chances of freezing.

"She better have a good reason," Shikamaru shivered, his voice trembling with his body. "I don't like being out here when it's so cold. I could be at home sleeping right now," he closed his dark eyes tightly as he tried to fight the blurred vision that was plaguing his eyes. "I'd prefer to be sleeping."

Chouji sighed as he was going to open his mouth to speak. It was at that moment when they noticed someone that they would have never expected to see outside of their apartment. "Naruto Uzumaki?"

Shikamaru looked at the young blond boy walking away from the ramen bar. "Tell me, which one of us got you out of that apartment of yours?"

Naruto looked back at them rolling his blue eyes. "You two again."

Chouji smiled. "Long time, no see, runt. We both thought that you were going to be stuck in that apartment of yours forever," he closed his eyes tightly his smile growing. "I thought that you would still be in there."

Shikamaru smiled as well, something was wrong, he never found himself smiling like this. "Which one of us got you out of that apartment?"

Naruto's eyes narrowed. "Sasuke…"

"He's alive?" Chouji asked, looking at Naruto. "Now way in hell, no one had seen him in over a week. We thought that Team 7 had all become recluses," he stepped forward. "By the way, have you seen Ino?"

Shikamaru looked out into the distance. It's not like her to be out this long. Sure, she's a pain in the ass, but I don't think that she would be out on a night like this. He started to walk away. "Of course he hasn't, he's probably been with Sasuke all night."

Naruto raised an eyebrow. "You can't find Ino?" he walked beside them. "I'll help you look. I know what it's like to lose a teammate; you want to find them as soon as possible," he moved closer to Shikamaru looking straight into his eyes. "Are you going to be alright?"

Shikamaru looked down at him. "I'm not worried about her if that's what you're asking. If I were you, I'd be more worried about your team. Both Sasuke and Sakura have been acting like different people," he looked away walking ahead of Chouji and Naruto. "Now hurry up! Stop lagging!"

Chouji walked faster. "Shikamaru, I've never seen you like this before. What do you think happened?"

Ino? Where are you? Where did you go? He ran faster, his breath burning in his chest. Shit, we've lost too many people already. How can we afford to lose another person? After what happened to Asuma-sensei, how could we allow this to happen? He continued to walk forward not looking back at Chouji or Naruto.

"You're going to make it; you're going to go on with Ino and Chouji. Even if I do get hurt, I want you to stay strong."

He failed his sensei; he had told him that he was going to take care of them. If he lost Ino right now, all of the security that Asuma had would be gone. It would be nothing more than empty words that he wasted his breath on. Shikamaru couldn't allow that failure to be a reality.

"Hey Shikamaru," Naruto stated running next to him, finally catching up. "You don't think Itachi got her do you?"

Shikamaru shook his head. "He's only interested in Sasuke; he has no reason to pick Ino up. She's nothing more than a nuisance to him," he continued to run into the darkness. "If we don't find her, Chouji, then we go to the Hokage immediately."

Chouji started to slow down. "Do you think that Ino's in that much trouble? I mean I know neither of us have seen her since this morning, but does that mean that we can't be positive?"

"Time for being positive is over," Shikamaru barked. I made a promise to Asuma; I'm not going to let the team down because I was too weak. I'm not going to allow myself to deceive him like that.

He walked to the borders of the village in search for her. Ino could have been taken prisoner, but she was a smart enough girl to leave a trail of clues to help them get her back onto their side. Ino wasn't as dumb as everyone thought she was, she had more on her mind than boys, she was also a very talented ninja.

Shikamaru looked at the border of the woods seeing a trail of blood rolling toward him and his companions. There was no way that one person could lose that much blood. What if it was Ino? He moved closer, following the trail of crimson. Shikamaru ran faster, leaving both Naruto and Chouji in the dust, seeing the figure of a young blond girl in the pool of blood.

"Ino!" he shouted running to her side falling to his knees, tearing the cloth of his pants, skinning his knees. "Ino?" he grasped her body turning her onto her back, seeing the blood running from her nose and lips. "Shit," he closed his eyes tightly pulling her closer. "What the hell happened?"

Chouji stopped abruptly as he looked down at his teammates, seeing the trails of crimson running from Ino's face. "What the hell is going on, Shika?"

Shikamaru held her closer hearing her start to come to, a few moans passing through her lips. He held her closer still brushing a few blond locks that had adhered to her face with blood off of her cheek. Quivers when through her body, her eyes blinking once as they opened up.

"Sakura?" she muttered as Naruto reached her side. "Where did she go?"

Naruto looked down at Ino, raising a single eyebrow. "Sakura? What do you mean where did she go?" he closed his eyes tightly. Sakura had been acting weird all night, her eyes never leaving Sasuke for a second; she was gazing endlessly at the mysterious marks that had appeared on his neck. She was up to something that none of them would ever understand no longer how long they tried to analyze her. She belonged to a darker fate.

Ino coughed once, her body shaking, Shikamaru holding onto her tighter. "Ino!"

"I'm fine, Shika," she breathed opening her blue eyes clutching something in her hand tightly, the metallic click drawing Narutos' attention. "Where is she? Where did Sakura go?" she glanced around the area. "Sakura?" she shook lightly as she closed her eyes firmly. "Did I…?"

Naruto crouched down to look at what was in Ino's hand, it was a forehead protector. His blue eyes widened in shock: that was Sakura's. After all of the days when he walked alongside Sasuke and Sakura on their missions, he had grown accustomed to the way that they looked, he could recognize any piece of them no matter how common it was. He could see the traces of pink hair on the headband.

Sakura was gone, he looked up into the woods, his eyes remaining wide, not blinking. "Sakura?" he asked as he moved to his feet started running toward the woods. "Sakura!"

A force held his arm as he tried to walk forward, looking back, he could see Chouji standing there looking into his eyes shaking his head lightly. "No, Naruto, it's over," he pulled him away from the darkness.

Naruto looked back at the group of three. "Ino?" he looked down at the shivering girl watching Shikamaru clutch onto her tighter. "Where did Sakura go?"

She coughed once. "She went away with a man around fifteen or sixteen, but he seemed a lot older than that. I didn't really get a good look at him. All I know is that I've never seen him before in my life."

Naruto closed his eyes as he broke free from Chouji. "Then I have no choice…"

"Whoa!" Chouji shuddered following him. "What are you doing to do, Naruto? If they could take Ino out, what makes you think you have a chance? You honestly think that you can do all of that on your own?"

Naruto bowed his head looking at the ground. "No," he fell to his knees looking over at the forehead protector in Ino's hands. "But as I look at that forehead protector all I can see is my failure. I let both Sakura and Sasuke go off alone. I was a fool to think I could trust them after what happened between Itachi and Sasuke," he slammed his fist up against the ground looking at the splatter of blood spilling from his flesh. "I'm so dumb! I'm so stupid!"

Shikamaru looked at what Naruto had become, losing all of this, his dignity was gone. He felt as though there was nothing he could do to save his teammates from their doom. Although he always thought he was going to do the right thing, he always knew he was going to be wrong.

"Shikamaru, don't you ever let someone walk all over you. Don't let anyone tell you that you're going to lose. If you give up, then what's the point in being there?"

Shikamaru looked over at Naruto. "You're not an idiot," he looked down at Ino. "Although I don't like to get involved in huge problems, I understand now that if anything happened to my team I would be the first one out there fighting for their freedom," he smirked as he looked into Ino's eyes. "Are you going to be alright, Ino?"

Ino nodded shakily. "I can walk Shika," he released her helping the young girl to her feet as her eyes looked straight at Naruto. "Naruto," she started. "Sakura is up to something big… something not like her…"

Naruto gasped as he clumsily got to his feet, his body wobbling. "What is she up to? Where did she go?"

"You think that you can stop me? You accepted the fact that this village is going to live in fear, you don't know my pain, you don't know what it's like to lose both of your teammates and no matter how far you reach for them they'll never come back to you."

Ino closed her eyes balancing on Shikamaru's shoulder, "Sakura called this village pathetic, she also said that we are living in fear, being controlled by Itachi. She thinks she's losing you and Sasuke, and she's taking this road to save you."

Naruto gulped as he realized what she was doing. "I-Itachi… she's going to go after him," he shook his head trying to shake the feeling of his rising pulse. "She doesn't stand a chance against him. He beat Kakashi-sensei without breaking a sweat."

"He also beat Asuma-sensei," Chouji continued looking at the blond boy. "But Sakura's a smart girl; she wouldn't do such a reckless thing. She knows what Itachi is capable of; she knows that he kills without thought."

"But only with reason," Shikamaru continued.

Chouji looked back at his best friend. "Reason?"

Naruto's eyes widened in fear, his heart was racing on the verge of cardiac arrest. "What kind of reason does he kill for?"

Ino bowed her head as she said the wanted answer, her eyes watering lightly. "He will only attack…" she took a deep breath, "if she attacks him first, that's his M.O."

His heart stopped in his chest as she said that. "But what happened by the river… Sasuke attacked him and nothing happened…"

Shikamaru scoffed. "What Itachi did to him was worse than death. He raped him, Naruto. The only reason why he didn't kill him was because he needed him for some greater purpose."

The blond boy took a step forward. "But Sakura… what if he doesn't kill her?"

Ino sighed. "He will kill her."

Naruto looked at the ground trying to block out all that they were saying. What caused this hatred to grow inside of Sakura? Didn't she understand that Sasuke was supposed to be the one who finished him off? They talked about it numerous times, she seemed to understand. All of the times where Sasuke and him had been fighting, she was the voice of reason, though she usually vouched for Sasuke. Why would she want to take his dream away? Why was she trying to kill his ambitions?

"Sakura wouldn't…"

"Face the truth, Naruto," Chouji barked looking at the member of Team 7, his eyes hardening with ice. "The world is a cruel place and the ones who deserve to get hurt the least are the ones who do."

Naruto's body shook. "You're wrong…"

"Did Sasuke deserve to get raped that night because he was waiting for you?" Chouji asked his voice full of an anger that Naruto had never heard come from him before. Chouji Akamichi was a calm person, this wasn't him.

"Did Kakashi Hatake deserve to get his career taken away?" Ino asked her blue eyes watering as she continued speaking. "Did he deserve that fate because he was trying to get one of his students out of harm's way?"

Shikamaru looked at the ground, his eyes fixated on his feet. "Tell me, Naruto," his voice was rising with a crescendo of sorrowful hatred. "Did Asuma-sensei deserve to be run through with a sword, his dignity taken away in a blink of an eye because he was fighting for what he believed in?" he closed his eyes fighting the tears. "Did he deserve this because he was trying to save that bastard from Gai? He tried to make Itachi's presence not seem so bad, but he was forced to attack him because no one would believe him," a tear ran from his eye as Chouji and Ino looked over at him, their eyes drowning him in concern. "Tell me!"

Chouji moved to Shikamaru's side. "Shikamaru," he soothed hugging him lightly, his hands pressed up against his back, Ino's fingers not too far away. "Don't think about it anymore."

"Asuma…" Shikamaru sniffled as he felt the warm embraces of his teammates, hearing them whisper words of compassion in his ears. "It was because we weren't there to stop it from happening," his voice rose again. "I'll be damned if that happens again," he moved from Chouji's shoulder glancing at Naruto. "A team of four is needed for every mission, and since probably won't be able to get anyone else falls at the same hand," he closed his eyes tightly. "We'll go with you."

"Shika!" Chouji gasped.

"Asuma-sensei said not to go after Itachi, we won't go after Itachi. We're going to stop Sakura from getting to far; we're not going to let anyone else beat us at our own game. We're going to show everyone what Konoha ninja are all about," Shikamaru moved away from his companions. "We're going to the Hokage; he's not going to be able to refuse us."

-----

"That should buy us some time," Kabuto sighed as he rested up against a tree looking at Sakura who was sitting on the ground, a smile on her face as he green eyes looked up at him. "What?"

She smiled broader. "Thank you, Kabuto," she moved to her feet looking into his eyes. "Thanks to you I now understand that the village that I come from is nothing more than a weak society," she took his hand. "Do you think that they will come for me?"

He chuckled. "Itachi Uchiha will. He's been trying to kill me for so long," he ran his fingers through her pink hair that framed the shape of her face. "There are things going on in that man's mind that I will never understand no matter how hard I try to," he saw a grin roll across her face. "Unfortunately that means Sasuke will be with him."

"I can take Sasuke," Sakura stated cockily.

Kabuto shook his head. "Sasuke has been with Itachi, no doubt that he already started to teach him some of his moves. Even if he isn't able to teach him his mangekyou sharingan, he will teach him enough to kill us."

Sakura closed her eyes as she moved away from Kabuto. "Then what do we do? They're stronger than us, we're the underdogs. There's no way in hell that we're going to be able to touch either of them. I saw the dagger that Sasuke had…"

"You mean Shisui's dagger?" Kabuto asked. "Be on your best guard for that, it might look like a weak weapon, but if Itachi has taught him anything, it's to focus chakra through a weapon to cause more damage to the person that he's fighting. Don't get to close to him," he reached into his pouch pulling out various senbon. "I have a trump card as well, senbon."

"Senbon?" Sakura asked looking at the needles. "What do they do?"

"If I fill these with enough poison, it could be able to slow them down a bit," he smiled broadly as he pulled out a small vile. "However this poison isn't used to kill, but paralyze for a while, slowly the heart will slow down and they will remain in a frozen state for some time. When that happens, we take him out."

"And how much faith can I put into these senbon?" Sakura asked as she looked into Kabuto's eyes. "There is only a small chance that they will actually hit someone of Itachi's level. He's amazing; he's the best ninja that I've ever heard of. Kabuto, if he comes, our quest for freedom will be destroyed, he'll kill us."

"Relax, Sakura," he answered. "There's no way that I'm going to let him hurt you. After all, I'm supposed to take him out of the picture. Itachi has lived long enough, but I think it's time for his legend to end," he looked at one of the senbon that were laced with poison. "He's going to die, and you're going to get Sasuke away from him, and even if we have to drag him to safety, he'll come with us."

She laughed as she looked at the senbon. "I can take him out easy, he means nothing to me anymore. All he has become is nothing more than a demon that I must defeat to keep living."

"Don't kill him," Kabuto smirked.

"You can't tell me what to do," she scoffed standing up and walking toward another tree pulling out a kunai. "There's nothing that he can do to stop me. I'll take him and that damn brother of his."

Kabuto looked over at her, his lips curling into a devious smirk. I've got a strong one on my hands. Let's see how you fare against her, Itachi.

-----

"It's cold out," Sasuke shivered as they sat on the walkway, pulling the Akatsuki robe closer to his body to trap the heat in between his skin as well as the fabric. For further warmth to loosen up his tightening skin, he moved closer to Itachi's body, feeling a strong possessive arm wrap around him.

"Very," Itachi breathed as he looked off into the distance, holding Sasuke closer. "We could go inside if you want," he could feel the vibrations running through his younger brother's skin. "I can stay out here all by myself."

Sasuke shook his head. "No way in hell," he rested his head up against Itachi's chest getting lost in the pulsations of his heart. "I'm not going to let you stay out here all by yourself. I know how you've been lately."

Itachi laughed once almost mockingly. "You really think I'm going to hurt myself after all of the trouble that I've gone through to get you on my side. I've gone up against two jounin, forced the Hokage to let me to what I want, and I got attacked by an insane medical ninja. I'm not going to take myself out of the game that easily."

"I thought this is what you wanted. Doesn't this just make it all easier? Sasuke, when I look at this dagger you don't know what I see."

Sasuke bowed his head still resting up against Itachi's chest. "You weren't doing too well the other night, you almost killed yourself with that dagger," he looked up into Itachi's eyes. "There's something going on with you again. I've never seen you get this way. You're tense and you've been drinking more than usual."

"I need to focus," Itachi stated flatly.

"Focus," Sasuke scoffed. "Because that's what we're doing now, we're focusing on your medical ninjutsu. Face it Itachi, you're never going to get that technique right. Just like I never will get that technique that you wanted me to. There are limits to our power."

Itachi shook his head. "There were never limits before."

"Maybe you don't have the control," Sasuke teased kissing at Itachi's chest feeling the arms grip tighten around his body. "Itachi?" he looked at the hand, his eyes closing. "Listen, I don't know who this Kabuto dick is, but he's done something to you."

Itachi bowed his head. "He's acting as the key to open all of the emotions I tried to lock away. Guilt, fear, weakness, sorrow, all of it is starting to drip out. Kabuto Yakushi isn't your normal fighter. He's not like me," he took a deep breath. "He's not human; he has no emotions within him."

"Neither did you," Sasuke retorted backing away. "And what exactly does this Kabuto guy do when it comes to fighting?"

Itachi closed his eyes, avoiding Sasuke's glance, drawing in a breath he mustered the words that he had been trying to hide. He didn't want Sasuke to understand about the way that Kabuto attacked weak points of the human soul, his psychological attacks requiring no chakra, just a foul mind.

"When Kabuto fights to get the upper hand, he attacks his opponent mentally. Kabuto's mind is foul enough so that he knows what weaknesses will slow a person down and then he amplifies it to cause more emotional damage," he looked down at Sasuke. "Kabuto also has strong skills in medical ninjutsu, using more than just for healing purposes. He has the body memorized and he knows where to hit in order to freeze an opponent."

"He sounds skilled," Sasuke breathed.

Itachi scoffed. "He is skilled, but I'm stronger when it comes to physical fighting. However, I'm concerned about you. All of the memories that you have are deeply routed, and there are a lot of them. He's going to try to bring up the rape as well as the massacre. No matter what you do, don't allow it to get to you. He's going to try to split us up from one another. You can't let his lies get to you," he ran a hand through Sasuke's hair. "You can't fall for anything that he says."

Sasuke sighed as he looked straight ahead looking at something that was written on the ground. "Itachi, look!"

His finger pointed to a trail of crimson liquid that lead to the middle of the area. Itachi moved away from Sasuke slowly rising to his feet looking at the mysterious message. It was almost immaculate, not a drop of the liquid away from the words. As he moved closer he saw what it was written in: blood.

"Kabuto," Itachi cursed looking at the letters that stained the ground, trying to make out the letters the message. "I have Sakura, I win Itachi…" his eyes opened as he comprehended the mission. He always wanted an accomplice, he finally got one. It was Sakura? Why Sakura, he thought that she was one of the only ones in the village who understood. His heart grew heavier as he looked back at Sasuke. "Sasuke…"

Sasuke looked into his brother's eyes not moving from his spot. "What does it say, Itachi? Is it from Kabuto again?"

"Sasuke," Itachi breathed crouching down next to the bloodstained ground. "Your teammate Sakura…" he let out a low breath of frustration running his fingers through his name written in blood, smudging the "c" and the "h" together, the liquid staining his fingertips. "She's gone off with him. She's decided to be Kabuto's accomplice."

"He's searching for an accomplice. He's looking throughout Konoha to pick up anyone who he can, someone who could help him in destroying me."

Sasuke closed his eyes. "Sakura?"

Itachi looked back at his brother his eyes narrowing harshly. "Don't think of her as an ally anymore. She's on his side, she working for them now. You're enemies," he pressed his fingers through Sakura's name, smudging it out of the blood on the ground. "She's nothing to you anymore, nothing more than a level you have to clear to win."

"I can't do that!" Sasuke answered his voice in an irate tone of voice. "She's my teammate, I'm not supposed to turn my back on her evil or not."

Itachi's eyes became empty with everything but anger. "Then you can stay here," he moved to his feet walking toward the house. "If you feel as though there is nothing that you can do, then stay here."

"Itachi," Sasuke could sense the anger in his brother's voice. "I…"

"You'll only be in the way if you can't hurt her," Itachi breathed closing his eyes. "And I don't want you to hurt her. There are some acts that I don't want you to commit; one of them is hurting someone who is that precious to you."

Sasuke shook his head as his brother moved closer to him, walking pat him, his glance not even acknowledging his presence. "Not everything is about Shisui. You got out of there alive, that's all that should count."

"Yeah," Itachi breathed, his voice low shaking with a mix of emotions that wrenched at Sasuke's heart like a blade. "But it's so hard when you lose someone. I don't want that for you. I don't want you to be like me. To surpass me, to finally take me out, you have to be a better person than I am. I killed Shisui because I was too weak to reason with him."

Sasuke looked away from his brother. "Killing isn't a sign of weakness."

"I never said it was. But killing without reason, killing without purpose, that's worse than being weak. If there is no reason to destroy a life, if it's not going to bring something greater, then the spilling of that blood was in vain," Itachi sighed loudly, his breath almost struggling. "That's no way to live a life."

The younger brother stood up. "Itachi, why can't you be at peace? Why do you always have to make me feel this pain on the inside when I hear your name? I used to fear you, but now I fear for you," Sasuke closed his eyes tightly fighting the angry tears that were threatening to fall. "Every time I look at you, I see the darkness starting to engulf you. You're becoming like those Akatsuki bastards."

Itachi snarled clenching his fists tightly. "I am Akatsuki."

"No your not, Itachi. You're letting your hate for them, the hate for our father, the hate for Kakashi, the hate for Shisui, even the hate for me take over you. You're becoming a new person and I hate it," a single drop hit the ground, the rain starting to fall gracefully to the ground. "I want my brother back!"

Itachi glanced over his shoulder. "Sasuke," he closed his eyes as more rain fell onto the ground washing the cursed message away. "If you're with me, then be with me, and if you are not then stay here and wait for my return. There isn't much time before he takes her to the Sound Village," his voice became lower as the seriousness increased a flash of lightning filling the atmosphere. "Are you with me?"

"If you pledge allegiance to me there's no turning back, once you sell your soul it's gone forever. Are you ready to sacrifice everything to me? Your body, your heart, your soul, everything that you hold near and dear to your heart, will you give it all away to me? Will you serve me and be my companion, be with me?"

Sasuke stepped forward looking into his brother's eyes dropping the robe right where he stood. "I'm with you…"

"Once you do this," Itachi continued. "You know there's no going back. Once we get there you're going to have to fight your teammate. No matter what the outcome we have to stall them," he looked down as him extending his right hand. "If anything should happen to me, take my ring and run back to Konoha. Destroy the fox, and continue on with the rest of the tailed beasts. I want you to continue my legacy."

Sasuke swallowed hard, his brother could die during this. "I promise."

Itachi smirked. "Very well," he walked into the house. "Remember your training, Sasuke, even with the state that Great Clone Explosion is in, I think you could still allow yourself to use it. That jutsu will maximize the damage that is done."

"Okay," Sasuke nodded following him watching Itachi prepare, taking hold of his sai holster and his katana. Then it was the one item that Sasuke never thought that he would ever find a respected ninja take on a journey. "Itachi, is that alcohol?"

Itachi laughed nervously. "It has its purposes."

Sasuke sighed, allowing him to pack the bottle. "Where do we go?"

"Though the woods in the front of the village," Itachi explained. "Knowing how Kabuto works, he hasn't gotten very far at all. He's probably waiting for me to chase after him. He has no interest in Sakura," another flash of lightning filled the sky. "But we have to act quickly. I'll give you instructions on the way there."

"Understood," Sasuke answered with a nod, placing his dagger in its holster. "Your call, Itachi. When do we go?"

Itachi smirked proudly. "Been a long time since I was in a position of power," he started walking. "We go now," he looked back at Sasuke. "Tip number one: watch out for senbon, they're most likely filled with poison. Speed is vital in this mission so pay attention. They're going to split us up; you take Sakura, Kabuto's mine. I have score to settle with him."

Sasuke closed his eyes as he followed his brother into the rain closing his eyes tightly. Sakura, why? Why did you have to go off with that bastard? He ran faster to catch his brother's fast pace. Sasuke closed his eyes tightly as he followed Itachi into the darkness. I will save you from Kabuto. If there is one thing that Itachi and Kakashi have taught me, it's that the darkness is a cold place. I'm going to save you from that cold.

"Sakura," he breathed as he followed Itachi closely. This was it, the moment that they were waiting for: the ultimate battle, the grand finale. Tt was the end of a long story of pain for Itachi. He was going to bring Sakura back.

-----

"Sakura Haruno has gone missing? Unfortunate as that sounds, I know that you long for him to come back to the village," the Hokage sighed. "But with the scare of Itachi Uchiha roaming through Konoha, I can't risk losing you all?"

"So?" Naruto asked, his hands pressed up against the desk. "There's nothing that we can do? What are you trying to say about us going on that mission? Are you saying that we're not strong enough?" he closed his blue eyes. "Sakura is missing, she's on my team, I can't sit back and do nothing."

"Naruto," Sarutobi started, looking out the window. "I've seen great men fall at that man's feet. I've seen Itachi spill my own blood. Enough ninja from Konoha have been injured by him, I will be damned if I send anymore for him to slaughter."

Ino shook her head. "So we can't go?"

He sighed. "I'm rejecting your request," he looked away from them back to the window. "Ino Yamanaka, I know that it hurts you to know that you couldn't stop her from leaving, but you have to think about what your sensei went through. Asuma is a gifted ninja; it was a shame to watch him go down. And Naruto, he took out your sensei as well, Kakashi was one of the best ninja of Konoha."

Ino shook her head. "But we could try…"

"I forbid it," the Hokage argued.

"But we don't even know if it was Itachi that she went off with. It didn't look like Itachi," she shook her head. "This man wasn't Itachi; he didn't hurt me enough to be Itachi. Sakura also would never go off with a ninja that dangerous."

Chouji placed a hand on her shoulder. "That's enough, Ino," he took a deep breath. "If Lord Hokage says that we're rejected, then so be it. We know that we can't defy his power."

"So what do we do?" Naruto asked looking back at Chouji.

"We wait," a voice said from the corner, the voice belonging to Shikamaru. "We wait until; Sakura has enough sense to come back. If it isn't Itachi we wait for Itachi to take this man out, even if we lose Sakura."

"That's not an option!" Naruto stated, his voice growing louder.

"Naruto," Chouji continued. "It's over…"

The blond boy growled as he started to walk away. "Whatever," he continued to walk out of the office, his feet gently hitting the ground one foot at a time. Sakura was the last person that he expected to cross over to the dark side. If it wasn't Itachi, who was it? His blue eyes looked at down the hall, the sound of clicking approaching, it sounded like a cane. Moving his eyes to see who it was he let out a gasp. "Kakashi-sensei?"

The jounin walked closer. "Oh, hello Naruto."

The young boy looked at the cane and then up at his sensei. "I'm glad that you're doing alright," he touched the cane gently feeling the cool hard surface. "Does it hurt to walk, Kakashi-sensei?"

The older ninja smirked under the mask as his eyes closed. "Not anymore, Naruto. You get used to the cane after a while. Besides, there's nothing really wrong with my leg," he took a step forward to follow the trail where to the Hokage's office. "I have to see the Hokage about what happened in the hospital."

Naruto closed his eyes as he took a deep breath. "Kakashi-sensei, you know what happened to Sakura right?"

Kakashi bowed his head as he sighed. "I do."

"They won't let us go after him because we're too weak to go up against Itachi," Naruto answered watching as Team 10 walked toward him. "Did it work? Did the old man finally bend for reason?"

Shikamaru shook his head, his step applying less and less pressure, the sound of his feet hitting down to the ground becoming quieter. "No, he won't listen to us no matter how much we try," he moved his eyes to look at the jounin. "Kakashi-sensei? What are you doing here? Should you be alone?"

Kakashi chuckled. "Gai's waiting for me outside," he took a deep breath. "If anyone knows when I'm in trouble it's him," he glanced down at the genin who was talking to him. "How are you doing, Shikamaru?"

"Alright," Shikamaru answered.

"Asuma wanted to know if you were doing alright, he's worried about you," Kakashi continued. "He thought that you would go off to do suicide missions if he left you alone for too long.

Chouji's eyes were brought to life by those words. "What are you talking about, we can take on Itachi."

Kakashi shook his head as he closed his eye. "No you can't, no one can. You see, the way to beat Itachi isn't by physical or psychological attacks. The only way to save him from the darkness that he's gotten himself in is if someone were to talk to him," his hand tightened around the cane. "The only person who can do that is Sasuke; he's the only one who can stop the evil from taking over completely. Not to mention it's against the law to touch Itachi."

Ino's voice rose to a dangerous volume. "We aren't going after Itachi; the man that I saw Sakura with wasn't Itachi. He was someone else, someone viler than Itachi could ever be. That man is going to kill Sakura!"

Kakashi sighed. "Then we'll have to wait to see how this turns out," he looked down the hall. Itachi if there was ever a time where your service was needed, now is that time. The only person I know who isn't under the Hokage's law. Besides, this could be the Akatsuki coming to take back what's theirs.

"Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto asked looking at him. "What's wrong?"

He shook his head lightly. "Nothing, it's nothing," he continued hobbling down the hall. Itachi, I'm counting on you to take them out, you promised that you would bring him back to me, and you don't go back on your word. After all, you're not like me.

-----

Rain continued to fall on the ground accenting the beating of his heart. Kabuto, you bastard! He only sped up the movements of his legs remembering all that he had put him through, the condescending tone of voice still in his mind rolling through the pain in slow motion. His lips were still pressed firmly up against his as they sat by the river bank, the jutsu not going his way.

It had all morphed into the day when he snuck into their house and he beat him, told him what he was going to do with Sasuke's body once he got the chance to bring him to his master. That's what Sakura was; she was nothing but a puppet that was used to bring Kabuto everything that he wanted. He bit his lip at the thought of their victory.

"Itachi?" Sasuke asked almost breathlessly, trying desperately to catch up to him. "How much longer are we going to be chasing them before we get there?"

He looked over at his younger brother taking a deep breath. "We're going to continue on this path until we see them, then the fighting will begin once they make the first move at us. My style is to attack after the battle's begun; since this is their field they get the first hit."

"But Itachi," Sasuke breathed, meandering around trees as to not hurt himself. "If we allow them to attack first, how are we going to win this? You told me about the senbon, I was never good at dodging needles."

Itachi snickered. "Sasuke, we have the upper hand, we have something that they don't: the sharingan. Using our kekkei genkai we can not only predict their movements, but copy any techniques that the use as well," he glanced back at him. "I want you to keep that active the whole time; don't take it down for a second. The Uchiha clan is unmatched by any medical ninja. Just try to focus yourself, that dagger is deadlier than it looks, use it."

Sasuke almost came to a complete stop. "Itachi, I can't run anymore. If they're waiting for us, can't we take a break? I'm tired, I'm cold, it's raining, and my feet hurt," he fell to the ground. "Just a small break?"

Itachi stopped looked back at Sasuke, his face almost completely pallid. "You're still not feeling well are you?" he moved closer to him. "I guess one break isn't going to hurt. We can continue with our plan as he sit here and rest," a thunderclap filled their ears. "Besides, you wouldn't be very intimidating if you pissed your pants right in front of them. I know what thunderstorms do to you."

Sasuke shivered lightly as Itachi came closer. "I don't know if I can do all of this, Itachi. I don't know if I can go through thunderstorms and think about a mission. All I can think about right now is how much I want to go home and snuggle up in a warm dry bed, sleeping. This isn't my idea of a good time."

"Nor is it mine," Itachi stated. "But we're Sakura's only hope. Do you think that old geezer Sarutobi is going to let anyone else chase after her?"

"No," Sasuke answered moving closer to Itachi's damp flesh feeling his arms wrap around him again. "If anything happens I want you to know that I love you, Itachi," he kissed him lightly on the neck. "If I die…"

Itachi shook his head. "I won't let them kill you, Sasuke. They can take my life if they want it; they can all that I have to give. I would rather beg that organization to take me back before I let you die," he stroked Sasuke's cheek. "You won't die on me," he kissed him lightly on the lips. "You wouldn't have the nerve."

Sasuke brushed the moist strands of hair from Itachi's face. "Always have to think ahead," he breathed moving closer to him. "Sakura will stop at nothing to destroy me once she finds that I'm involved with you. I'm somewhat scared about all of this. What if I only get in the way?"

"Then I'll save you," Itachi breathed. "I promised that I would never let anything bad happen to you. I'll be cursed for life if I allow you to die at their hands," he looked into Sasuke's dark eyes. "Rested enough?"

The young ninja nodded. "I think I can make it now."

-----

Naruto hung up the phone as he moved back to the Hokage's office. He had tried to call Sasuke. Every single time his best friend refused to pick up the phone; it was like he had something more important to do at the moment. How was that true? Sasuke went home last night; there was no way that he was able to get himself in that much trouble in less than a year. Contrary to what Naruto was trying to tell himself, he still felt the fear of losing his teammates forever. First Sakura disappears, now Sasuke?

"Any luck?" Shikamaru asked in the doorway of the Hokage's office. "Could you reach Sasuke?"

Naruto shook his head. "No," he walked into the entrance of the building dripping dramatically as he looked into Shikamaru's eyes. "Sasuke's gone too. I don't know what's going on. It's not like him to run off alone like that," he gasped. "You don't think that he went after Sakura do you?"

Shikamaru shrugged. "Doesn't sound like something Sasuke wouldn't do. He always has to act so cool, he's too good to save her," he handed the blond a dry towel. "Here you go, Naruto. I don't want you to catch a cold."

"Thanks," he answered as he took the towel from him. "I'm worried about them. I was always worried about Sasuke since that night. His eyes never looked the same. He always seemed so distant, so bent on destroying everything that he once held so dear to his heart. He seemed to be consumed by the darkness."

Shikamaru sighed. "Man, your team is a pain in the ass, all of this about darkness taking over people's souls. I'm just glad that I don't have to deal with Ino and Chouji going into the darkness. You got the two messed up kids, Naruto."

"They aren't messed up," the blond stated as he wiped his face with the towel, drying it off completely. "They're being coerced, and if all I can do is stand here, then nothing will be able to save them from that fate."

Shikamaru sighed. "They'll be alright, you just come with me and we can sit outside the Hokage's office until we have different orders," he took Naruto's hand. "I know that you're in pain, but there's nothing we can do."

Naruto closed his eyes, a tear running down his cheek. "But it hurts so much when you lose someone the way that I did. If there was anyway I could give my life for them, I would. I would follow them to the edge of the earth just to allow them the pleasure of drawing another breath," he shook his head. "But sitting here and watching as they throw their lives away, that's torturous. It's worse than dying."

Shikamaru sighed as he started to walk. "I'll sit with you if you want me to. Ino and Chouji are waiting for you to come back. They're worried for you, Naruto, all of these events are happening way to fast for you to adjust to."

He followed Shikamaru back inside as he looked out into the rain. Sasuke, if you had killed me that night, if I had allowed myself to die, would all of this suffering be over? When I die will you feel anymore of this pain? I should have died. He sped up as he held on tighter to Shikamaru's hand. And I will, if it means you and Sakura will be safe. I would die a thousand times for that gift.

-----

Sakura looked back at the trail that they had left behind, she could sense the danger coming she could feel it in her veins. Kabuto had put all that they had on the table, but with a roll of the dice they could lose it all. She could lose the freedom that she always longed for. Itachi was going to take it away.

Itachi, once she thought that he was still a victim of Sasuke's hate, but there was no hate between the brothers. There was nothing but a sinful love that would be their downfall. Ever since that night when they met up again, the emotions that Sasuke was harboring had come to life, their once innocent love turning sexual. All she wanted was some attention from him.

"Kabuto?" she asked looking up at him. "Do you hear that?"

The older medical ninja looked back at her. "What the hell are you talking about?" he closed his eyes as he heard something coming this way, something going through the air, a chill. "Sakura, go check what it is, but be careful."

She nodded, starting to walk away another feeling going through her, this time it was the sound of a projectile. Observing the mass of the object of how it cut through the air she immediately eliminated all thoughts of it being anything close to a shuriken, it sounded heavier, like a kunai.

"Kabuto! Look out!" she screamed jumping in front of him, feeling a sharp pain skid against her shoulder. "He's here," she breathed clutching her bleeding skin looking back into the darkness of the night two shadows appearing before them.

One stepped closer. "Finally found you, Kabuto," the red irises of both figures' eyes gleamed in the lightning. "This time you aren't going to get off that easily," he stepped closer still revealing his identity.

"Itachi Uchiha," Kabuto boasted. "I thought you were going to come for us. You were a little slower than I had hoped. Did you read my message written in blood?"

"Shut up," the other figure stated walking closer to Itachi. "We're going to take both of you down right here, right now."

Sakura's eyes narrowed as she spat his name. "Sasuke Uchiha," she took two steps forward. "I thought you were above going with this scum," she looked at Itachi. "I thought I could trust you."

Sasuke took a step forward, the scarlet pigment to his eyes causing chills to run down Sakura's spine. "Sakura, if you want to go with that bastard behind you, I want you to understand that we can no longer be the allies that you thought we could be. All of what we did on Team 7 means nothing," his eyes narrowed. "Itachi has shown me what the world is really like. If I want to get anywhere I have to overcome my fears and embrace them, let them into my life."

Sakura shook her head as she looked back at Kabuto. "Do we destroy them?" she smiled broadly pulling out her own kunai.

"Try," Sasuke taunted, pulling out Shisui's dagger looking into jade eyes. "You forget that I've been training under Itachi for a while now. I know how to destroy someone; I know a lot of his power tips. You however, are the easiest one to beat on the whole team. You're worse than Naruto."

She spat at him. "Insolent dick!"

Itachi looked at the two young ninja, their eyes glaring evilly at each other, a sadistic grin coming to his lips. "If you don't bring her back in one piece, I'll understand, Sasuke. She's a missing girl anyway; it's most likely that she'll never come home. If she wants to go off to the Sound Village with Orochimaru, then rip her to shreds."

Kabuto scoffed. "Well, well, looks like the Uchiha weaklings are finally here to take us on," he licked his lips. "I can finally get my struggle, Itachi; I can finally watch you in the most pain that you've ever been in your whole life. I'll finally get that ring."

"Please," Itachi scoffed as he looked at the medical ninja. "You won't touch me with those hands of yours."

The thunder sounded through the sky as the battle was about to start. Everything was riding on either side's triumph, everything that they had, they anteed up. Their lives, their name's, their bodies, everything was fair game for the other side to take. A flash of lightning filled the atmosphere as Itachi laughed wickedly.

"It begins…"

Author's Note: The fight is going to begin in the next chapter, mind you I'm not that good at actions so it's not going to be that well written. I also know that you're all dying to get Kabuto ans Sakura's asses kicked, I don't know how the fight is going to turn out yet. So what did you think? Good? Bad? Want this fight to be over with? Honesty is my policy.