"They've called me a traitor all my life," Sakura said acidly, "Let's prove them right."

Itachi's eyes flickered into Sharingan as he nodded.

He leant over her with a kunai in his hand. She had to fight the fear that rose at the sight – the infamous Uchiha Itachi, leaning over her with a kunai and a determined expression….

The metal began to gleam blue as Itachi pumped chakra into the weapon. He sliced the chakra strap cutting into her chest first, noting how tightly it had been secured. She took a deep breath for the first time in hours. The next to go were the wrists and ankles.

Finally when the chakra had faded from the restraints, leaving her free to move, Itachi put a hand on her shoulder and pushed her back when she tried to get up.

"This is going to hurt." He warned her.

"I know." She said simply.

First, she moved her arms upwards. It took a long time for the blood to actually flow back and for her arms to respond. The pain was unbelievable. She gritted her teeth and started stretching her muscles, unable to stop the whimpers from escaping her lips.

Itachi's fist clenched a little more for every sign of pain she showed.

She managed to push herself upwards, slowly, painfully swinging her legs down to hang from the side of the bed.

She had to push to her face into the pillow to stop the cry of agony from being released as the blood started to flow back in her legs.

Itachi watched silently, radiating anger and disapproval.

She couldn't stand up for a long time.

Itachi held her hands gently and pulled her to her feet, letting her rest her head on his shoulder as she placed her feet in the floor, her arms around his neck.

He warily slid his arms around her waist, fully aware that this was the first consensual embrace they had had in four years. Sakura was still warm from the chakra strings and she was trembling all over from the pain.

"Are you alright?" He asked, forcing his tone to be more formal than usual, to distance himself from the situation.

She breathed out shakily, her breath unwittingly caressing his ear.

"I'm fine." She said roughly, letting go of his neck and managing to stand upright on her own.

He gave her a soldier pill to help her last the journey.

"Will you be able to run?" He asked.

She shook her head, clutching the bedframe and grimacing.

He sighed.

Sakura yelped as she found herself in his arms, being lifted bridal style.

"Let me go!" She hissed.

"We need to get going, now," He muttered, "We don't have time to wait for you to recover."

The window was already open so he stepped out onto the sill, adjusting her so she was lying more comfortably in his arms.

Then he leapt out into the black night and Sakura's stomach dropped in fear as they fell through open space. She was still wearing her every day shinobi wear, thank God they hadn't thought to put her in a hospital gown otherwise she'd be both exposed and freezing.

He hit the ground running.

Sakura was irrationally amazed that hundreds of Anbu hadn't swooped down upon them the moment they left the hospital, but Itachi was running both swiftly and silently, sticking to the shadows.

The dark streets of her village sped past them in a blur of familiar sights and smells, the ramen shop Naruto frequented, the Hokage monument, Kakashi's house, every building and sight she'd grown to know like the back of her hand was rushing away.

She found herself trying very hard not to cry. This was it. Konoha. She was leaving forever.

Leaving behind her friends, Ino, Tenten, Naruto… her family… her Hokage.

Her life.

Everything she'd ever known was rapidly shrinking away as Itachi's feet moved in a blur.

I really am a traitor now, she thought hollowly. There was no escaping the fact that she had willingly left the village in the company of a missing nin.

Itachi was speeding through the village so quickly her breath was stolen by the wind.

They reached the exit, where guards were patrolling. Itachi completed a concealment genjutsu over himself and Sakura so quickly she couldn't see the hand seals.

Sakura had just enough time to wish she could explain to her loved ones why she was betraying them, and then they were out of Konoha and racing through the outskirts.

To her surprise, after twenty minutes hard running, Itachi halted and dispelled the concealment jutsu.

He rearranged her in his arms so that he had an arm around her neck and the other holding her waist securely. She heard his sleeve shift as a hidden kunai came out to point at her neck threateningly.

"What are you doing?" She cried out, struggling as she felt the blade slice her neck. A drop of blood ran down the kunai and dripped down to the ground.

"Play along." He whispered in her ear.

A slight rustle in the trees above was the only warning Sakura had.

Six Anbu stood before them, masks gleaming in the moonlight, all hands on their weapon holsters.

There was a smooth metallic scraping as all the elite ninja unsheathed their swords in the same moment and pointed them at Itachi.

"Uchiha Itachi," The leader, a short woman with a dog mask, stepped forward. Her voice was oddly guttural, as though she had once suffered a throat injury.

"You are charged with the massacre of the Uchiha clan, and the kidnapping and torture of Haruno Sakura." She growled, her sword's point gleaming as it traced a threatening pattern in the air.

Kidnapping and torture? Sakura's eyebrows shot up. When had he… ah. They were classing this as a kidnap case, and Itachi had used the Mangekyo on her when she was a child.

Itachi tilted his head, "Is that all?" He asked, his tone light and carefree.

"There are more charges to be brought forth," The woman replied, "Surrender the hostage and allow yourself to be detained."

"Is that my only option?" Itachi raised an eyebrow.

"It is surrender," The woman said harshly, "Or be cut down where you stand."

Itachi very carefully lowered Sakura to the ground. He pointed his kunai at her, despite the leader Anbu's warning growl.

"Don't run off." He cautioned her, "I'll find you."

He was either a fantastically good story-teller and had made up the whole Uchiha coup thing to get her on his side, or he was acting for the Anbu's benefit.

It worked, the Anbu leader let her sword's point drag in the dirt threateningly.

Sakura figured she should play her part too, so she recoiled from Itachi and put her hands over her head.

After that, there was a clanging of metal on metal and a grunt. The sounds of fighting went on for about five minutes. Sakura kept her hands over her head the whole time, partly to keep in character and partly because she was terrified Itachi really was an evil bastard and was slaughtering the Anbu for fun.

When would she learn to trust him?

Or rather, should she trust him?

When the noise of fighting faded, Sakura opened her eyes.

Itachi was standing over the fallen Anbu, not panting or showing any hint he'd just been in a major fight with six elite ninja.

"I didn't kill them." Itachi said at her fearful look, "You know I don't kill unless absolutely necessary. They will go back to the Hokage and report that I was threatening you and you were frightened. They will believe I kidnapped you against your will."

Sakura was unsure whether she was relieved or not. On the one hand, now her village would believe she had been blameless all along (as was the truth) and Tsunade wouldn't think badly of her. But it meant that everyone who cared about her would be worried…

"We have to go," He said, for the first time beginning to look anxious, "If they had time to send an Anbu squad then they must have discovered you were missing straight after we left."

"I can run on my own now," Sakura pushed herself to her feet, testing herself. Yes, her feet could take her weight without her knees buckling, and the soldier pill had finally started to take effect, "Let's go."

xxxxxxxx

She wasn't sure how long they had been travelling, but it was long enough to make Sakura appreciate the invention of soldier pills. She had to keep blinking furiously as they sped through the trees, the wind blowing straight in her face, stealing her breath and bringing tears to her eyes.

If anything, they seemed to be kicking up the pace now, flying through the forest. She kicked out as she landed on a branch and heard it crack. She was onto the next before it had even broken in half. The annoying thing was that Itachi was so obviously slowing his pace so that she could keep up.

The trees had begun to thin out. She could see a village on the horizon. The sky was lightening as the sun started to rise, dark blue mingling with red and orange.

They were nearly out of the forest.

But then Itachi stopped sharply on a branch and held his hand up. Sakura stopped next to him, adrenaline still racing through her body from the long run.

When he put the kunai to her throat and covered her mouth with his other hand, she knew it was bad.

He turned them both so that they were facing the way they came. Sakura's hands were clawing at the arm around her neck, her eyes wide in fear.

Perhaps it was because Sakura was so obviously a hostage and in danger, but the next person to come after them chose to merely step out of the shadows of the branch opposite them instead of taking advantage of their hidden location to attack.

Mitarashi Anko stepped forward, tossing away a used dango stick. Her light eyes were narrowed, the only sign of the anger she must be feeling.

A small dog stood at Anko's feet. Pakkun, Kakashi's summoning dog.

"Thanks, mutt," Anko said, never once taking her eyes off of Itachi's face, staring hard at the area below his left eye, "Go back and let Kakashi know what's going on."

Pakkun turned grave eyes on Sakura. She had met the little pug once, when looking for Sasuke and Gaara. It seemed even her sensei's dog summoning pitied her.

It might have been that what caused tears to slowly trickle down her cheeks.

Anko's jaw clenched, almost unnoticeably.

Pakkun took off, dashing back in the direction that they had come from.

Anko raised her hand. Snakes began to slither out of her sleeve, each one equipped with sharp fangs and venom.

"I'll give you a chance to let her go," She said viciously, the snakes' scales glinting in the morning light, "I might even give you a two minute head start before I come after you."

Sakura scrabbled weakly at the hand covering her mouth. Taking the hint, Itachi removed the hand and the kunai. He even stepped away from her, presumably to placate Anko.

Anko looked like she couldn't believe her luck. She waved her hand to Sakura, clearly telling her to come over quickly.

Sakura's mouth twisted into a bitter grimace and she shook her head.

Anko looked confused and hurt.

"Anko," Sakura said tearfully, feeling awful that it was turning out this way. Anko wasn't supposed to be here. She was supposed to be back in Konoha, maybe a bit upset that Sakura was gone, not standing right before her looking so hurt, "I'm so sorry…"

"Don't apologise." Anko said sharply, "It isn't your fault."

She gave Itachi a venomous glare dripping with hatred and barely contained violence.

"It is." Sakura said, a little more calm now, "It is my fault. You have to listen to me, Anko. You were the only person who really believed me, completely, and never blamed me. You have no idea how important you are to me, and how much I value our friendship. But this… isn't a kidnapping. I left willingly."

Anko didn't immediately attack her or start ranting about how stupid she was. She didn't even frown. She just listened.

"Itachi isn't a missing nin. Not really. It might be above your pay grade so you probably don't know, but the Council gave him a mission when he was thirteen. The Uchiha clan were planning to overthrow Konoha. Itachi didn't want to have any part in it. His mission was to kill them all to prevent an outbreak of civil war. He did. Then he joined Akatsuki to keep an eye on them. Anko, he's a spy, for Konoha, he's on our side…" Sakura trailed off, aware that she'd shown her happiness that Itachi wasn't evil too much, judging by the pleased smile on his face.

Anko rubbed the back of her neck, just like Sasuke used to. Sakura ached at the sight of the familiar gesture.

"After Sasuke…" Sakura couldn't finish the sentence, "Well, after… Itachi came and explained it all to me. I just can't stay in Konoha, Anko. They all hate me there. I can't live in a village that thinks I betrayed it. I just can't. This was my choice. Maybe it's a mistake. Maybe, somehow, Itachi's made up the whole thing and he'll kill me. But it's my choice. I can't stay there any longer."

Anko's mouth twitched upwards into a nasty smirk.

"Sandaime wouldn't have wanted the Uchiha dead. Must have been those stuffy, uptight Council members." She mused, chewing on her thumb thoughtfully.

Sakura blinked.

"You – you believe me?" Sakura said disbelievingly.

"I believe you," Anko grinned, "Weasel-kun's reasons for killing his family were always a little suspect. Always did think it was a little too neat, the Uchiha all being wiped out in one convenient attack. But, Sakura, don't talk about dying so easily. All of this melodramatic bullshit, 'I don't wanna live there, so I'm gonna go live with this mass murderer even if he kills me…' I don't approve. He won't kill you. Know why?"

For the first time, Anko looked straight into Itachi's blood red eyes, without hesitation or the slightest trace of fear.

She tapped her curse seal, "There are some things the prodigious Uchiha can't copy, know what I mean? For instance…"

Before Sakura could blink, Anko was on their branch and had her snakes inches away from Itachi's face, every one of them hissing at him.

"If you fucking touch Sakura, if you make her cry, feel bad, upset her in anyway… I'll disembowel you. Slooooowly," She added with a bloodthirsty grin, "If you injure her, make her break a nail or break a limb, if you kill her," She suddenly became serious, smirk being replaced by a grim, tight frown, "I will end you."

Looking up at her friend, wearing the most serious expression she'd ever seen, her chakra burning, layers of Orochimaru's toxic influence leaking into her aura, Sakura completely believed that she would.

"Anko-san," Itachi started to say, ignoring the snapping jaws of six snakes inches from his nose, "As difficult as it might be to believe, I would never hurt Sakura."

Anko's lip curled, "A fine job you've done of that. They found her lying in a pool of her own vomit, you know? Nice job, there. Mental torture. I guess you must have made it painless, hm?"

Itachi barely flinched, but it was enough.

"Nah, I didn't think so. Guess what, buddy? Sakura's got some pretty powerful friends. The Hokage, for example, wants to wear your entrails as a pretty necklace after the stunt you just pulled, kidnapping Sakura from right under her nose. Kakashi, her real sensei, you know, the one who was always there for her? He's being forcibly held back from coming for you, did you know? Seemed to think he was too close to objectively get the mission done. Strange. Naruto, the kyuubi brat. Great kid, reminds me of myself somehow. He will destroy you if Sakura ends up hurt or dead. Ooh, so many causes of death, so little time…" Anko smiled gleefully.

Itachi's face was impassive, but Sakura got the feeling that he was maybe impressed, or slightly intimidated. At any rate, it was pretty amazing to see Anko, her best friend, stand up to Uchiha Itachi, the man who had pretty much played the villain of Sakura's life. Anko had known exactly how frightened Sakura was of him. She knew how much of a prodigy he was. The mass graves her generation had been forced to dig for the Uchiha must have made an impression.

And yet, there she was, threatening him on Sakura's behalf.

"Thank you, Anko." Sakura said, smiling.

Anko looked down at her for a few long moments before ruffling her hair playfully.

"Don't get yourself killed, kid." Anko said gruffly, looking as though she was holding back some strong emotion.

After a moment of indecision, she took off her coat and draped it around Sakura's smaller frame.

At the younger girl's questioning look, she waved her hands, flustered, "You always get cold easily."

Itachi had immediately stared at an overhead branch the moment Anko's coat came off and she became indecently attired.

"I'll get another coat," Anko said, "Maybe a black one? Hehe, I'll look like Ibiki…!"

Sakura stumbled forward and nearly tackled Anko in a hug, breaking down into sobs. Leaving Anko and the others had been hard when she hadn't had to say goodbye, now it felt like she was splitting in two.

Anko silently put her hand on Sakura's head. Sakura got the feeling that Anko was glaring, hard, at Itachi as she hugged Sakura back.

"You're my best friend." Sakura mumbled weepily, "I'll miss you."

Anko was quiet.

"Same here." She muttered.

Itachi turned away to give them privacy, inwardly envious of this brash, loud-mouthed woman who had clearly taken his place in his absence. Sakura obviously trusted her completely. Unlike him. This Sakura was the old Sakura he missed. The kind, caring young girl. The only Sakura he knew now was the angry, cold shinobi who had been left in her place. This Anko woman could bring out Sakura's best qualities, it seemed.

He disliked no longer having the ability to make Sakura smile.

xxxxxxxx

The hotel they checked in at (under false names, naturally) was apparently a regular haunt for Akatsuki members. According to Itachi, they were still in the Land of Fire, but Konoha was a long way away.

Sakura slid down the wall and sat on the wooden floor, looking down at her lap.

This was it.

She was on the run.

At least now she wasn't 'Haruno Sakura, traitor.'

She was just a victim of kidnap.

The thought of Tsunade panicking over her disappearance and maybe realising she had judged Sakura unfairly was strangely gratifying.

But the thought of her family and friends being distraught soon wiped the smile off her face.

Itachi took off his cloak and laid it on his bed. He'd decided it would be safer if they shared the room, just in case Konoha shinobi somehow whisked her away in the middle of the night.

"Are you alright?" He inquired, looking concerned.

Sakura brought her knees up to her chin and sighed, "No. I'm tired. I've just betrayed everyone, for real this time. If they knew what I'd done…"

Itachi crossed the room in seconds, taking long strides to get to her.

He knelt down in front of her and stared into her eyes. Sakura registered how comforting it felt to have her sensei look at her with his normal dark eyes, not the spinning Sharingan that infected her dreams.

"You have not betrayed anyone," He said calmly, "Don't feel guilty. I am not a criminal, and neither are you. It's a bad situation, true, but it can't be helped."

Sakura nodded stiffly, mouth quivering as she tried to hold back tears. Damn, she'd got in the habit of hiding everything she felt and now she didn't have to she couldn't let it go.

A tapping sound drew her attention.

Itachi looked around furtively before opening the window.

Raban flew in.

He looked at Sakura and landed on her knee. His keen eyes swept over the red welts on her skin from the chakra strings and the suppressed tears in her eyes.

He clicked his beak and let his wing settle on her bare knee, the feathery touch almost like being patted comfortingly.

"It's very good to see you again, Sakura." The old bird said fondly, "The whole nasty business left us all shocked… I couldn't see you very often, because you became so good at hiding from us crows, but when I did, you always looked sad. I regret what happened very much so."

"As do I." Itachi added, sitting on his bed.

After four years of avoiding crows, being revolted at the thought of speaking to one of them again, scaring them away in anger, Sakura reached out hesitantly and touched Raban's soft head.

Itachi closed his eyes.

"I'm sorry for throwing kunai at all of the crows that came looking for me." Sakura said sincerely.

"It was good dodging practice for them." Raban winked.

Sakura gave a weak smile.

Raban's cheer seemed to fade, "You've grown, Sakura. Not as happily as you should have, but you survived the hard years. That alone is impressive."

She gave a real smile at that, "Thank you."

"We missed you," Raban said pointedly, looking at Itachi, "Some more than others."

Itachi ignored the bird and didn't open his eyes. He seemed to be recovering from some exertion, as his breathing was fast and irregular.

Raban looked as troubled as a crow could at Itachi's lack of reaction.

"Itachi-sama?" Raban flew to his master's side, fluttering in concern.

"I am fine, Raban." Itachi reassured him, though he still didn't open his eyes.

Sakura felt a flicker of something close to concern. She wasn't sure if she was capable of feeling worried for Itachi just yet, as mere hours ago she had wished him dead with all her might and Sasuke alive in his place.

She looked at him, lying on his back with a hand flung over his eyes, Raban sitting on his chest.

How complicated everything had become.

She wished they were how they used to be.

A beaming, happy child and a serious yet kind teenager.

They had come so far over the years, and drifted so far apart.

Now they were back together, albeit no longer sensei and student, time would tell if they could ever get that friendship back.

Looking at him now and feeling that familiar hatred churn in her gut, she didn't think it was possible.

Itachi opened one aching eye and glanced at the pink-haired girl sitting on the floor looking out the window, feeling his chest tighten at the mere sight of her there, draped in that overcoat.

Yep, she went with him. Was there really any question?

Oh, what a tangled web I weave… So many complications, so many obstacles. Fun!

Raban's baaaaaaaaaaaack. Gotta love that crow.

Anko gave up her coat… *sniffles*

If anyone asks, whether or not Anko truly believes Itachi's story is debatable, so let us debate!

Kakashi was not allowed to go after Sakura, so he leant Pakkun to Anko for a while. He tracked Sakura by smelling her blood.

Anko was not present when the Hokage strictly told every shinobi close to Sakura not to go after her. Why?

Cause she was already on her way.

Quick poll take: What is your favourite genre, and why? (include favourite examples of this genre)

No suggestions :) Problem, bro?