Author's Note: My disclaimer is at the beginning, enough said.
I have had trouble with my inspiration as of late, but I have been working gradually on this fight scene. This is your special double chapter as I am not cruel enough to give you another cliffy… or am I? Read and decide for yourselves.
Special Thanks to:
Takara Makoto: Thank ye! And I hope this knocks your socks off.
Minniemousemom: I don't know about kissing his arc… but you'll see. ;)
Lady Rea: I am glad you like it, and here is your wish.
Recap:
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"Besides, I'm immortal bitch."
"You won't be when I'm done," she vowed as "Kamile"(Sasori) hefted her onto his shoulder. Hidan, disguised as Kabuto chuckled dryly.
"Bitch, I'd love to see you try. But first, let's find the pink bitch and then get out of this god damn shit hole."
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Torin smirked, twirling a kunai over his elongated fingers. "Exactly. I've personally made it so that you cannot sense each other. Because what would the fun be in that if you could communicate?"
Yet as he spoke, Sakura felt a faint pulse strike her feet, twirling up around her. It was a vibrant lilac chakra, and only one kunoichi could produce it. Her eyes widened as she stared at the walls around her and then she acted on split second decision. If Yichi could pulse her chakra there was a chance that the girl might be able to get out. Sending a reply pulse of fighting energy as a warning, Sakura lunged for Torin, pulling out a kunai. She would just have to distract him.
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As the other ninja nodded, Itachi set his sights ahead. Their feet moved at a double pace as they moved to take on whatever was coming their way.
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Neji's eyes narrowed. "Two Akatsuki up ah… no three. They're carrying the third, a girl."
"Describe them," Itachi ordered. "It could be a ruse to make us drop our guard."
"One silver hair with a scythe. One red haired, no apparent weapons, but a level concentration of chakra at the fingertips. The third is silver haired, but a girl, she appears to have lilac black chakra that is sealed within her on her back and arms, but it continually moves," Neji replied quickly studying each as Hinata nodded in confirmation. "No enemy ninja besides."
Itachi's gaze grew darkly thoughtful as he stared ahead, his logical mind racing. Hidan and Sasori must have been sent by the leader while Itachi was supposed to be searching for the kyuubi. They had gotten Yichi. But Sakura was not with them. Meaning that she was likely to be dead, a thought he did not relish. A shadow of doubt was beginning to cross his mind. Had he overestimated the kuniochi's abilities to survive because his own eyes were growing weaker? Or had he underestimated the hate that Torin stored for him? Why are you attatched? His conscious scorned. You are above such… meaningless things. But his soul disagreed. You see something in her. Something that tweaks your interest. And how can I not be attracted to the only one who had suffered your same fate? You have changed to something more than the man you were.
Pausing sharply on a branch, Itachi held up his hand and the entire group paused. "It would not be wise to continue until Hidan reaches us. They do not have any doujutsu to inform them that we are not enemies," he explained quietly to the others.
There was a rustling and then two kunai shot for Itachi's head. Catching them neatly, he turned them to the side easily and sent them thudding into trees. His bright chrisom eyes glared at the figures as they landed on the branches across from them. "Fancy seeing you here," Hidan mused. "And the kyuubi brat as well-"
"Time is short," Itachi stated quietly, a darker undertone silencing the Jashinist. "Where is Sakura?"
Yichi's eyes met his silently and Hinata's glanced to the ground as she gripped her shoulder. The Yakamichi's eyes were full of pain, reflecting boundless sorrow that would never be healed. "We don't know. Her chakra signature was not in the base as it should have been. There was one burst, that was all. Itachi. She cannot hold off against Torin. Once he finds I am gone, he will kill her," Yichi said bluntly, her chakra flaring. "You have to reach her before then."
"We will go with you," Naruto declared steadily. "To hold off the enemy while you go after Sakura."
"There isn't time-" Itachi growled before Kakashi cut him off.
"Naruto is a demon host. He will be unaffected by the Akadetsu's abilities," the copy ninja pointed out. "They can provide a decent offense. Hinata can locate Sakura's chakra through the base. You will lose more time if you have to fight off enemies while on your way. Seconds often count in battle."
Chrisom eyes narrowing darkly, Itachi stared down the team. "The Hyuuga girl, Naruto, no one else." He agreed unhappily. "But keep up." Taking off faster than before, he felt his anger bubble to the surface steadily, cementing the emotionless expression while his eyes roared flames of rage. No one would be able to stop him; and the devil would take those who tried.
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Sakura's kunai slashed out to hit nothing as she was forced to roll to the side to avoid the punishing blow that had been aimed for her head. Her lets reacted instantly to pull a sweep kick that he jumped up before bringing his heel down to attempt a smashing blow to her guard. Avoiding the kick narrowly as she side stepped, she twisted a kick back to strike him lightly in the back as she let out a snarl of frustration.
Infusing her kicks with chakra as she went after him again, the young girl narrowly ducked the replying slash from his kunai before she struck once more for his rib cage. Allowing a small smile of satisfaction to grace her lips as a crack was heard from his chest, Sakura followed the punch through. But before her body could clear, his fingers brushed the side of her mark, and instantly pain burned through out her entire body. Coughing, she felt the coppery taste of blood invade her mouth as she sharply sidestepped.
Flaring the chakra throughout her back, Sakura brought it winding down her arms as she backed off with a neat spring off the walls as she took off towards the entrance. Her fighting style required room, and in the cramped halls she knew there was no chance she could win. Pushing her feet faster, she reflected that she could not allow him to touch her again if she wished to survive this fight.
Neatly she whipped around a corner and slammed her fist into the door to send it blasting off its hinges. Her wings burst from her back in the same moment, slashing down to propel her through at uncharted speeds. Twisting on to her back, she sent a heavy chakra lashing after Torin as she sailed in before darting up. Not pausing to see how he dodged, the kunoichi allowed her chakra to seep around her in an aura as she pulled up each reserve of chakra. The stress on her body sent pain down her spine, but ignored the burning sensations as she felt her chakra swell like a tarp being filled with rain. Forcing her mind to focus as she felt the pain reverberating through her system, she took a deep breath before opening her eyes as her entire chakra network went black and rage clouded her mind.
The Yakamichi had two techniques that were considered forbidden, and could only be activated in battle. Some never obtained their dark power. Others could only access one aspect of it. But regardless of the amount that one obtained, the Yakamichi Rage abilities came at a dire cost. For both the usual Rage and the Dark Rage required pain and only once the pain was consuming could they reach their full potential. But the return for such limitless energy was the strain that slowed the body's ability to heal from the wounds.
As the power with her swelled to a breaking point, Sakura felt chakra pooling in her hands as she thought of her sister, of the pain that they had each been put through. Slashing down once more with the cords using her will, Sakura's black eyes narrowed as his formed flickered then vanished.
Her eyes looked over to the side as she noticed a flicker moving up the wall towards what could only be a hinderance to her. With her black wings beating furiously, she swooped through the air like a harpy from hell as she drew level with him, racing him up the stone surface against gravity as her eyes finally picked out the red orb that hung there. That must be what he is going after. It's of chakra from the looks of it. Which means I had better not touch it. Her mind deducted as her wings let out a flurry of strong beats that sent her rocketing upwards at a quicker rate. The orb of her own chakra she stretched out carefully into a net. Firing it upwards, she manipulated it to surround the orb with her burning power as she then felt the prescience behind her flare.
Dropping back down now that she had rendered the threat useless, Sakura's emerald eyes connected with gold as they each dropped off the edge of the wall. Time stood still for the briefest moment. And then they were falling. Twisting, kicking, blocking and using the wall for leverage the two became blurs as each relied on instinct to carry them through the dangerous dance with death. For one hit would change everything.
As the ground steadily drew nearer, the two ninja still did not slow their descent. Sending two quick jabs for his torso, Sakura flinched as a kick connected with her guard. Rebounding off the near wall, she sent a punishing blow for his torso. But as her kick was about to reach his chest, his hand shot out to seize her ankle and jerked sharply whiplashing her momentum harshly down. The ground connected sharply with her back leaving her winded as she let out a small cry of pain.
The black wings at her back shattered into chakra shards, scattering at the impact. But that was nothing comparing the blood that was flowing down her shoulders and back. For every place that her bloodlines chakra dwelt felt as if it were being coated in acid while blood cascaded down her back and arms. Yet she did not scream despite the agony coating her body because in her mind; she knew that it was what he wanted. He hated Itachi. But he could not bring his pain down upon the head of the Uchiha. So he had sufficed in putting the torture on her head, the one thing he had recognized that the Uchiha coveted above all else.
Her mind was loathe to consider the fact that Itachi had, in a way, owned her during her brief stay in the Akatsuki prison. But a small corner of her heart warmed at the thought of it, of the rare smile she had seen on his lips when he watched her sleep or of the commanding tone he used that still held a bit of warmth in it as he had ordered her to comply with what he said. It was for that Itachi Uchiha that she now suffered in silence. It was the only thing she could do for him, the one thing that she could not explain her reasoning for. But the longer she withheld, the warmer the feeling in her chest became. How could I not have seen it earlier? Why did I not recognize it sooner, when I had the chance for it to flourish or fall? Why must it be now, here, at the end that I now recognize the one thing that I never lost…. She thought as she stared at the ceiling, her vision fading in and out of the black unconscious as her aura flickered.
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Why do I care about this kunoichi? Itachi thought to himself, continuing to inflict death upon those who dared stared in his way. The kyuubi and Hyuuga girl fought by his side, but he did not see them as he continued towards his only objective. Why is she worth my life? How could she have touched the heart I do not have during the period of my blackest denial? What will I become if I allow her to die for something that never involved her? I cannot contain her. But I cannot allow her to disappear.
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Torin watched the kunoichi darkly. Her struggles to retain consciousness to him were a sign of how pathetic she truly was. "Hn. You're so weak that you cannot even accept defeat. Tell me, Kuniochi, what makes your will so strong?" His foot slammed into her side cruely, sending her body skidding across the stone tile. "Do you deny your own incompetence? You never would be able to defeat me when the one thing you rely on is my greatest strength."
"You have no strength within the hate you carry. For it will be that hate which will destroy you. For though emotions are your weakness, they are my greatest power. And the power that you never have control over," she said with a cough as she gripped her side, staring at him defiently. "The hate you carry is the reason you cannot defeat Itachi Uchiha."
Rage darkened his golden orbs to near amber as punishing blows rained down upon the kunoichi's form mercilessly. "I will defeat him!" Torin screamed as he continued to beat her helpless form. "You pathetic girl, you know nothing of my power!"
A low gasp escaped her lips as she took the damage, unable to even guard as his fists slammed into her repeatedly and his bloodline burned her internally outwards. The black form of bruises already begin created stood out plainly against her skin as she slowly felt her mind slip into the peace of unconsciousness.
Pausing in his anger as he saw her eyes close, Torin sent her form slamming into the wall disgustedly as he gripped her throat tightly and drew a kunai from his pouch. What made this kunoichi fight, his mind wondered as he stared at her peaceful expression. Why did she not scream under the tortures that had broken interrogation hardened ninja?
A breath of wind passed across the room as he set the kunai at her throat, and then a malicious deep voice met his ears. By habit, he turned to eye the intruder. And then he was falling into a world of black and red. "Tsukuyomi: A Thousand Deaths."
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Itachi felt a sneer of contempt escape him as he watched the body fall limply to the ground, blood slowly pooling along the ground. Torin's eyes were open, his expression shocked as he lay in death. The pain he had inflicted had been returned to him a thousand times, and Itachi drew dark satisfaction from watching as his enemy die within the genjutsu world. But his mind now turned to other matters as he viewed the pink haired woman that lay on the ground surrounded by a green glow.
The Hyuuga heiress was pouring her chakra into the healing as she gradually stabilized his unconscious prized woman. The wounds were slowly fading from her face, and her breathing was steadier. But the marks on her back and arms could not be healed to their original state; scars had taken the place of the skin. As Hinata slowly nodded and then vanished to find Naruto, Itachi reached down to pick her up. Placing his hand at the mark on her neck, he slowly channeled his own chakra into her mind.
She shifted slowly, stirring as she gazed into his coal black eyes with her viridian green. "I'm sorry," she whispered as tears filled her vision. "I tried so hard. But I knew I wasn't going to make it."
"Sakura… you did," Itachi replied softly. Staring at her with a small smirk on his lips, he stroked the light pink hair from her face. "I am not an illusion."
Seeing the disbelief meld into her innocent emerald eyes, Itachi felt a compulsion run through him. And without a thought, he leaned down to plant a gentle kiss on her forehead. His voice was like a gentle rolling wind as he held her tightly as the crystal tears slowly drifted over her cheeks. "I do not know when you became part of me, Sakura Haruno. But I know that I will never allow you to be taken from me again." And then he silenced her sobs with a gentle, but passionate kiss.
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And you think its over…. You should know me better than that. R&R