Sakura awoke in a strange dark room. She was not alone, but she didn't want to open her eyes and find out who the other five members of the room were.

"Kunoichi," Itachi's velvet voice called, "I know you are awake."

She opened her eyes to glare at him, and she caught a tiny smirk on his lips before deciding to look around the room. There was nothing in this room. Nothing but a chair, which she occupied. Only one door, she noticed, leading to the rest of whatever this place was.

She looked around at the occupants of the room. Itachi was to the left of her. In front of her there were two figures, one with shocking orange hair and multiple piercings on his face, the other with soft blue hair and a calm expression. Kisame was to her right, grinning his shark like teeth at her. Sakura looked around, searching for the final presence.

Finally, she noticed a little girl, no more than six, behind Itachi. She resembled Sasuke, Sakura thought, with her long hair so black it was blue, and those dark chocolate eyes. Sakura stared at her with horror. Had she been kidnapped? Tsunade was right, they had anticipated her compassion. She would tell them almost anything to save that child

She turned to the leader and glared at him. "You're a sick man if you think torturing that little girl will get answers out of me," she bluffed.

Itachi turned to the child. "Leave us," he said, his voice soft and, Sakura thought, strangely kind. The little shook her head. "Now, Tsuki."

"I wanna see," the girl - Tsuki - argued, pouting. Itachi walked over to her, and they began a whispered argument that ultimately ended in Tsuki pushing Itachi - Sakura was surprised to see him stagger a little - and leaving the room angrily.

"Haruno Sakura," this time it was the leader who spoke, "You have been brought here to serve us as our personal medic. You do not have a choice, and will be killed the instant you do not comply. Is that understood?"

Sakura nodded, an honest expression of fear and shock flooding her face.

"Then we are done here. You are to stay under the watchful eye of Uchiha Itachi at all times. Including the night, meaning you will not be granted your own room. You have no say in this."

Sakura looked horrified. She turned to the Uchiha, trying to get across to him that this was not mentioned to her in her mission brief. He didn't react.

"Leave us," the leader instructed, repeating what the Uchiha had said to the little girl. Itachi grabbed hold of Sakura's arm and led her out through the only door. The leader and the blue-haired kunoichi stayed inside, and Sakura guessed that there was more to that room than met the eye.

They entered a new room, the common room it looked like. There were multiple hallways, and the door that led to the first room. There were also a few couches, and a bookshelf absolutely packed with books. Sakura made a note to try to read as many as possible, but was distracted when she saw the little girl waiting anxiously for them.

"She's not gonna die, is she? I like her. She's pretty," the little girl said, as if Sakura was not there.

"No," Itachi replied. Tsuki beamed up at him, and Sakura was shocked to see Itachi give her a tiny smile.

"Cute," Kisame said sarcastically. "Let me know if you need any help with her chakra." Itachi nodded and Kisame left, patting Tsuki on the head before going down a hall that must lead to his room.

"Go to your room," Itachi instructed the child. She pouted at him, but didn't argue. She turned to leave, but then remembered something and came running up to Itachi. She reached into her pocket and handed him a paper shuriken.

"Konan taught me how to make these! I made one for you. It can be your good luck charm!" The child grinned, obviously proud of herself. Itachi nodded and put it in a pocket inside of his robe.

Tsuki turned to Sakura. "I don't know you, but here," she handed another paper shuriken to the kunoichi. "I'll just make another one for Deidara. Can I go give Kisame his before I go to my room?"

Itachi nodded.

"Thanks, Father!" and she ran off.

If Itachi hadn't been holding on to Sakura, she would have fallen to her knees in shock. "Gods," she whispered.

Itachi quickly pulled her in the direction of his room, Sakura limping after him. He went down a hallway that branched off into two corridors. He took the left and entered a room at the end of the hall. Once they were inside he let go of Sakura and she finally broke.

"You have a child!" She yelled. It wasn't a question, but Itachi nodded. "How old is she?"

"Six."

But Sakura didn't really care. "How could you be so irresponsible! You're in Akatsuki! You can't raise a child! How is she supposed to socialize in this place? What were you thinking! How could you just-"

"I was forced," Itachi said in a much louder voice than usual. "If I didn't conceive a child, her mother would have been killed on my behalf."

"Where is her mother now?" Sakura asked.

"Dead," Itachi answered.

"Nicely avoided," Sakura scoffed at him.

"If I didn't kill her, she would have killed Tsuki," He defended.

"So? What do you care? Wouldn't that have been better than letting the poor child live here?"

Itachi suddenly had Sakura pinned to a wall by her throat. "No," He answered, glaring openly at the kunoichi.

Sakura flinched. There was pure, raw anger in his eyes, and it was directed solely at her. She was terrified. He would kill her, she just knew it. But somehow, she was distracted from her fear by a crazy thought. She would have laughed, if her throat hadn't been constricted. Instead, she just choked out her thought.

"Do you love her?"

Itachi waited a moment before letting go of Sakura and stepping back. "Yes," he answered.

Sakura was amazed the Uchiha's iron will-power. He had gone from absolutely furious, to calm in a matter of seconds.

"Heal yourself," he ordered softly.

Sakura huffed, "I can't," She told him.

"Why not?"

"Because your freaky shark friend drained all my chakra, asshole," she muttered the last word, but she knew he had heard it. She was testing her limits, she knew, especially after almost being choked to death a minute ago.

Itachi stared at her. "Sit," he finally said.

Sakura finally looked around the room. It was rather large, for the room of a single man, but that didn't surprise her. The Akatsuki were s-class criminals, with s-class paychecks, after all. There was a little desk, next to a door that lead to the bathroom on the west wall. On the east there was a comfortable looking chair and a closet. She almost laughed at the toys littered all over the floor. But what she noticed most was that there was only one bed.

"Where do I sleep?" she asked, tentatively.

Itachi smirked, "The idea of sharing a bed with me isn't appealing to you?" Sakura gaped at him. Was he messing with her? "I will set up a cot."

Sakura frowned. That would be a good nights sleep, what with the broken ribs and uneven 'bed'. "Great," she muttered, sitting down at the desk. Itachi took a seat in the chair and began the most revealing story Sakura had ever heard.

"The first thing you need to understand if we are to work together is that I did not kill my entire clan to test my limits, as I have told my brother. I did it on orders."

"Orders?"

"Konoha's orders..."

Sakura gasped, agitating her broken ribs. "No," she whispered.

Itachi nodded and continued, "My clan was planning an uprising to take over the village. The Hokage was to be murdered, and my father would take his place as leader of the village. I was in the inner circle of my clan, and when I heard of this, I immediately informed the Hokage. After much debate among the elders, they decided the best plan of action was to destroy the Uchiha clan. It was mostly Danzou who pushed for that... but the others agreed easily enough.

"I was ordered to do it. Alone. And afterwards, I'm positive that Danzou would have sent for me to be murdered as well... If I hadn't met with Uchiha Madara."

Sakura's jaw dropped. "Uchiha Madara?"

"The true leader, and founder of Akatsuki," Itachi revealed. Sakura was too surprised to react further, and Itachi continued. "He ended up doing most of the work to kill my clan... I won't go into details but that night Sasuke was not supposed to be home until late. I never intended him to see me kill the clan, nor did I ever plan to end his life. I wanted to find him after the massacre, and take him far away from the village. I wanted to save him from that horrible village... from becoming like me."

Sakura was touched. He really was a good big brother, despite the hard exterior. Maybe he was suited to raise a child.

"I begged the Hokage to allow Sasuke to live, and when he agreed, I left the village with Madara to join Akatsuki. I played with Sasukes emotions so that he would train hard, and become the best shinobi there is. I wanted him to leave the village to come find me. I didn't plan on him joining Orochimaru. I didn't plan on him betraying our village."

Sakura just stared at him, while he stared at some point above her head. "What about Tsuki?"

"Orochimaru got his body switching technique from Madara. Madara had intended me to be his new body, but when he discovered I was going blind, he ordered me to father a child."

"How old were you?" Sakura asked.

"Nineteen."

Sakura gaped at him. "I'm nineteen," she said, "I couldn't imagine... being forced to... do something like that." She blushed at the disgusting thought Inner Sakura had brought up of Itachi.

Itachi smirked at her blush, but quickly returned to his blank expression. "When Tsuki was born, her mother, a shinobi of rain, ran off with her. I should have let them go, but Madara told me that she planned to kill the child, and... I went after them. Looking back, I realize that Madara probably told me that to manipulate me."

Sakura waited a few moments before speaking. "Is she named after the Tsukiyomi?" she asked, chuckling.

Itachi nodded. "I'm not very creative." Sakura laughed. Another minute passed before Itachi began speaking again. "Get whatever you're using to relay information to the Hokage," Sakura did, "I'm about to tell you more about all of Akatsuki's members than you could learn from any bingo book. More than the Akatsuki members believe I know. Ready?"

Sakura scrambled for the scroll, and something to write with, and Itachi began. Sakura's mind was being blown by all of the crazy information she was getting, but she had to keep writing. There was no time for any reaction. She learned about the Samehada and it's chakra eating abilities. She learned that Hidan - who Shikamaru had supposedly killed - was still alive to due his religion, Jashinism. She learned that the blond one that had kidnapped Garra, Deidara, had hands on his mouths, and was the only one of his blood limit. She learned that Zetsu was just a creeper, and could move through the ground at crazy speeds, nearly undetected. She learned that Pein, the leader, had six forms of himself, and Konan, the girl, was practically made of paper. Finally, she learned that the real leader of Akatsuki was Uchiha Madara, and that he had been around for nearly a hundred and twenty years. When Itachi was done, Sakura had filled nearly the entire scroll.

"And what about you?" Sakura asked, realizing she had no information on him.

"The Hokage knows all about me," Itachi answered.

"Wait," Sakura took a second to put the pieces together. "You were Jiriya's contact," the Uchiha nodded, "so Tsunade knew you were the one who was going to abduct me," another nod, "And she didn't tell me!" Sakura was furious. Beyond furious. So mad, she was seeing red. "Why would she leave something like that out?" Sakura exclaimed.

"Perhaps if you knew it was me you were dealing with, you would not have agreed to such a mission," Itachi observed.

Sakura huffed, "She made me agree before I even knew what the mission was. I was screwed from the moment I said yes. She could have told that Zetsu guy was going to get me, and I still would have gone."

Itachi shrugged. "Did you not even guess it might be me?"

"I was to busy being horrified at the thought of allowing myself to be taken hostage."

"I'm the only Konoha shinobi in Akatsuki."

"Good point... I guess I should have figured it out."

"And did the Hokage not mention my plan to rescue Sasuke?"

Sakura gasped.

All I can tell you is that it will be very beneficial to Konoha... and may result in the capture of Sasuke.

"I really should have known."

"Yes," Itachi agreed, making eye contact with the kunoichi, "You should have."

Sakura glared at his blatant insult, then jumped when there was a tiny knock on the door.

"Come in," Itachi called, continuing to look at Sakura.

Sakura turned to the door and saw Tsuki walk in. The little girl ran to her fathers side without a word. Itachi picked her up, knowingly patting her back, and she put her arms around his neck.

"What's wrong?" Sakura asked, noticing that the girl was very afraid.

"Zetsu's back," Tsuki told her.

"Zetsu is the only Akatsuki member that Tsuki is afraid of," Itachi explained, "He likes to threaten to eat her."

"That's horrible," Sakura fussed. Itachi only nodded.

"He says that if Father ever leaves Akatsuki, or dies, he'll eat me alive," Tsuki told Sakura, "Which is ridiculous, because he won't die, and when Father leaves, he's taking me with him."

Sakura didn't miss that Tsuki said 'when' not 'if'. She looked at Itachi for answers, but he only shook his head. 'Later,' he mouthed. Sakura nodded.

"I'm Tsuki," the little girl introduced herself, remembering that Sakura was a stranger.

"I'm Sakura," the kunoichi responded.

"I heard about you," Tsuki realized, "Father says you're a medic! Can you teach me?"

Sakura laughed, "Of course, as soon as you can control your chakra."

Tsuki pouted, "I can control my chakra! Watch!" The child fought to get out of Itachi's arms, but Itachi held on to her.

"Not now, Tsuki," Itachi insisted, "Lets go to your room."

"Can I sleep in here tonight?" the little girl asked.

Itachi shook his head. "Not tonight," he whispered, "Sakura and I have much to discuss."

Itachi shot Sakura a look that said 'stay here' before leaving to drop Tsuki off at her room. When he returned they stared at each other for a while.

"I know I'm not the best father," Itachi admitted, "but I'm all she has."

Sakura suddenly ran up to Itachi and threw her arms around his neck. Itachi tensed, thinking for a second she was about to attack, but allowed her to hug him.

"This is unnecessary," Itachi stated.

Sakura didn't respond. She was in a little pain due to her unhealed injuries, but he needed someone to care about him. All he had in his life was a little brother who hated him, a crazy great great uncle or something who wanted to use him as a vessel for his own soul, and a little girl who couldn't understand what kind of pain he had to be in.

Sakura had hated him, not five minutes ago, but now all she wanted was to give this boy a friend. Someone he could rely on to understand what he was going through.

Slowly, and with much hesitation, Itachi wrapped his arms around her. Sakura flinched when he touched her back, but other than that didn't move. They stayed there, wrapped in each others arms, until Sakura couldn't ignore the pain, and backed away.

Itachi let her go. "You should have enough chakra to heal yourself in the morning. Send that to the Hokage."

"I thought we had more to discuss," Sakura pointed out, remmbering what he had told Tsuki.

"We do," Itachi answered.

"Oh," Sakura got the hint. Not everything she was told needed to be told to the Hokage. Right now, Itachi just needed her to know the truth. She made the appropriate hand signs and sent the message to the Hokage. She wondered how long it would take to get back to Konoha. She turned to Itachi expectantly. He had set up a cot next to his bed while she was busy.

"Lie down," he ordered.

"Seriously?" Sakura asked. He gave he a look that told her not to argue, and Sakura limped over to the cot and laid down. "I don't even get a blanket?" she questioned.

"You're a kunoichi, you should be used to it."

She was, but she still liked little luxuries. "Fine," she said, defeated.

"Now, about Sasuke," Itachi began, and Sakura's insides tensed. She had not been looking forward to figuring out how they were going to save that asshole.

Itachi noticed her expression, but continued anyway. "He is after me, actively searching for me. I am going to use your capture to lure him to me."

"For a battle?" Sakura asked.

"Yes... but not to the death," he clarified, "I will reveal to him what really happened that night, and if he believes me, he and I will work together to defeat him."

"And what if he kills you first?" Sakura asked, knowing that it was a very real possibility.

"Then you will have to tell him," Itachi answered.

Sakura laughed, "Right, cause he'll listen to me."

"He will."

Sakura was a little taken aback by his certainty. "And how will he defeat Madara?"

"With your help."

"Yeah, right. Because he'll totally accept my help," Sakura sighed. "And what about Tsuki?"

Itachi didn't answer for a long time, and Sakura almost thought he wouldn't. But he did, "She's been ready to lose me since she was two."

That almost broke Sakura. She fought back the tears, knowing that if she were to let herself cry, she would disturb her already throbbing ribs. Sakura couldn't imagine how hard that must be on the little girl. To constantly be afraid that your own father wouldn't return.

"Madara is looking for another woman to bear my child," he admitted, "And Tsuki knows what he plans to do to her if the woman bears a son. She is prepared to die."

And that threw Sakura over the edge. She cried, holding nothing back. As she had anticipated, her sobs were painful, and she had to hug herself to ease the pain. Itachi watched her.

"You shouldn't cry, kunoichi," he said.

"But I will," Sakura responded, "You won't, Sasuke wouldn't, and Tsuki won't, so I will. Because you deserve to be cried over, Itachi! Your story is sad, and known by so few... It's not fair."

"The life of a shinobi is not fair," Itachi challenged.

Sakura cried for the rest of the night until sleep took her, and then she cried in her sleep. Itachi watched her until she stopped, unable to sleep with her in such distress. He walked over to her, knelt next to the cot and brushed a tear off of her face. Surprised at himself, he quickly rose and climbed into his bed. He didn't sleep that night, too disturbed by his own actions.