Itachi finished his conversation with the British embassy, they had some legal work that needed looking into and it was the perfect excuse to get the hell out. He knew that international law degree wasn't a waste after all.
He had already arranged a private jet and had finished packing what he would need for his travels. Instead of remaining in Konoha, he had gone to Suna – a city a few hundred miles away and stayed at a hotel.
The Uchiha had convinced himself that he was feeling better already; that Sakura was just an annoying nuisance and he had a career and life to concentrate on. He had work to do, not games to play.
His phone rang as the limo pulled up to the airport, it was Kankuro.
"Yes?" he answered, he was almost willing to take on an erasing job for him...anything to be wracked with thoughts of something else.
"Itachi, are you okay?" Kankuro asked nervously on the other line.
"What? Why?" Itachi asked as his body stiffened and his eyes narrowed. His chauffeur opened the door and waited for the lawyer to step out, but he never did.
"The man, who you asked for us to get rid of. What the fuck were you thinking!"
"What are you talking about?" Itachi snarled back venomously. He did not do well with others raising their voice at him, especially with the thin line of patience he was running on.
"That was Tobi – Madara's right hand man! Shit, it took us forever to figure it out…but honestly Itachi, where do you go off having me –," the line went dead.
He was calling Sakura.
No answer.
Then he called his brother.
"Hello?" A tired Sasuke answered.
"Are you alright?"
"Wha? Itachi? It's 3 in the morning…I'm in Spain….go away," his younger brother hung up on him, obviously not appreciating the lack of consideration of time differences.
Then he called Kisame, but he didn't expect an answer. During transport missions – outside contact was prohibited.
He called the hospital, and a nurse picked up and said that she was in surgery. Everything was okay.
But he couldn't' leave. Not now. He had to go back. Had to make sure Sakura was okay. When Madara was involved - no one around him was ever going to be safe.
He quickly went about the procedures to change his flight route from Britain to Konoha. The flight would take less than half an hour, but with traffic and delays, he could see it taking over an hour to reach her.
Everything would be okay. He only had to go back to make sure Sakura didn't get mixed up in his past and maybe offer her a week trip to the Caribbean or something. It wasn't a past that even his worst enemy deserved to be a part of.
.
…
.
Itachi rushed through the hospital doors and directly towards the reception desk.
"Where is Sakura Haruno?" He asked demandingly.
"I'm sorry, who are you?" the woman asked startled by his question. He had never seen her before, and she apparently had no idea who he was.
He pulled out his old (expired) detective badge he kept for emergency situations.
"Uh, okay, ummm…she's a patient?"
This was ridiculous.
"Doctor, she's a doctor, you incompetent invalid," he corrected with annoyance.
"What is going on?" a nurse asked stepping behind the new girl.
"Claire, where is Sakura?" Itachi asked, while trying to calm his nerves.
"Last I saw her, she was checking up on patients, move aside, Matty," she said taking the seat of the new receptionist, "I bet she already left…she was so worn out…okay, it says here that she checked up on eight patients and signed off on seven of them…hmmm, it says Kisame Harushimi wasn't signed off on, she might –,"
"What room is he?"
This was wrong.
This was bad.
He had to fix it.
"Uh….212," she said and Itachi was already halfway across the hall. Claire was too overworked to yell at the lawyer about running in the halls, or the fact that that area was restricted to family and medical personnel only.
.
…
.
"Kisame!" Itachi rushed towards his old partner who was all bruised and bandaged up.
"Itachi! Man, thank god you're okay," the big man said sitting up quickly, but squinted from the pain and slowly lowered himself.
"Where's Sakura?"
"Who?"
"The doctor…with the pink hair…and green…and green eyes..."
"I asked her to call you, like fifteen minutes ago."
Itachi grabbed his phone and looked through his call records. Even if he was flying he would have had a message since all calls were redirected to the plane's line.
Then his cell began to ring.
Restricted.
He moved away from Kisame, raising a finger to excuse himself, and picked it up with his back turned.
"Itachi Uchiha speaking."
"Itachi…haha, You sound the same…did you know that? Ten years, and you still sound the same. Have you even agggggged?"
"Madara…"
"And you remember me! Do I sound the same? Eh?"
"I will kill you if –,"
"If what? Huh? Empty threats coming from you…I was thinking about going after your brother…that would have been fun…but when I found out that there was a woman…a woman in your life! Hah! Can you believe that? She's quit a beauty too. I remember when you promised me that if I ever got out there wouldn't be a woman in your life for me to go after…hah, don't you know it's bad to lie?"
"You lay a hand on her and I swear –,"
The line went dead.
"FUCK!" Itachi yelled squeezing the phone, restraining himself from throwing it against the wall. He did not like this situation at all.
.
…
.
He was preparing to call in every single god damn favor everyone on the planet owed him, but then he received a text message.
"Involve any of the authority, and she will die…painfully. Screaming. Crying. Begging. And I'll make sure to record it for you. Ta-ta."
.
…
.
Kisame shifted his weight as he tried to sit up, "Itachi, Itachi, are you okay, man?"
When his old partner turned around…it brought chills to the shark-like man. His partner's eyes were a dangerous deep red. His face looked the same when he found him cowering over Madara ten years ago, hitting the criminal over and over wildly…madly. Blood everywhere….Itachi had snapped…It was a day no one talked about.
"Itachi, what happened?"
"Don't tell anything to the authorities," Itachi replied calmly as he walked out.
He knew Madara…he knew him well.
And he knew what the twisted psycho wanted more than anything.
.
…
.
Sakura woke up, dizzy and confused, and took a moment to get herself together. She looked around, trying to take in the details of her surroundings. She was in some sort of warehouse and with the rays of light coming in from the dirty windows she could tell that it was afternoon. Everything else was beyond her. Her sense of smell was weakened and it burned to breath from her nose, so she resorted to inhaling from her mouth.
"Hello there, beautiful," a happy looking person jumped in front of her.
Sakura was taken back and let out a little squeak of surprise. She had no idea how she missed that…thing.
The man had short wild greasy black hair, he had a tall and slender frame, and his face…his face was insane. The way his eyes were permanently widened and how his smile twisted out too far…it was like looking at a clown. A demented clown. It seemed batman was missing his Joker.
"What the hell is going on?" Sakura asked trying to assess the amount of danger she was in. She couldn't even recall how she had gotten there.
Suddenly, at an unimaginable speed, his hand was on her chin and he was tipping her head back – his face inches away from hers.
"You know…Itachi doesn't have bad tastes…I bet you'd sell for a good chunk of change."
"Wh-what? Get off me you creep," Sakura said trying to move back but his thumb and index finger gripped her chin so hard that the pain kept her in place.
"Oh, a back talker…hehe, no wonder Itachi sounded worried. Women who wouldn't bend easily…would be broken…isn't that cute. Oh, I can't wait to seeeeeeeee him!"
Sakura ignored the pressure point he had on her and gave him the strongest jab punch she had ever given anyone. It caused him to let go of her, grip his nose, and stumble back. She used the momentary freedom to run, but when she went on her legs, and prepared to run she was shocked backwards.
She had on a metal collar that she hadn't noticed before. Sakura began coughing and choking, the force she used to run, had repelled her backwards by the throat. She was chained to a poll, like a dog.
The psycho was back in front of her, his nose bleeding profusely as his eyes seemed to change to a maddening bright red color. "Oh, oh, ho! I'm going to have fun with youuuuuuuuuu!" he yelled with a crackled laugh as his leg connected with Sakura's rib cage, tossing her backwards nearly three meters.
"Fun! Fun! Fun! Hehehehehehehehehe!"
.
…
.
"Itachi…" John Cohen, the maximum security prison guard began as he led him down the hall, "are you…I mean, I know…I just, is this legal?"
"Don't ask questions, which answers might turn you into an accomplice," Itachi replied as his rubbed his cell phone with his fingers. Waiting for it to ring.
Waiting for the psycho to ask for him.
Waiting…that never worked well with Itachi.
"I just…why would you want to talk to the man that you locked up 12 years ago?"
"Do I have to repeat myself?" Itachi asked in such a way that John gulped and averted his gaze to the floor.
.
…
.
Itachi entered the room where a red head sat, glaring dangerously at Itachi as he approached the criminal in the orange jump suit.
"Sasori," the lawyer greeted in the isolated brick quarters.
"Itachi," the man replied in the same calm tone.
"Please, leave us," Itachi instructed the guards who were standing watch by the door.
"Sir, we are ordered to remain."
"And by my authority as an Uchiha, I order you to leave," Itachi replied smoothly as he sat across from Sasori.
The men exchanged a glance and looked back at Itachi with a nod. They left the unservalance room without resistance.
"What do I owe for this gracious visit?" Sasori asked calmly as he intertwined his fingers.
"Would you like your freedom?" Itachi asked calmly.
"Freedom? Now that is a word I didn't believe I would ever use again."
"I am here to make an offer."
"To string me along…ahhhh, who's the puppet and who's the puppeteer in this deal?" Sasori asked wisely.
"You agree to do something for me…I get you out of here…after you do it, you will never see the inside of a jail cell unless you get caught."
"Get caught? So you will play cat and mouse with me again?"
"I will never go after you again as long as you stay away from me."
"Oh…hmmmm, you were the only one I've ever encountered smart enough to catch me," Sasori began as he pondered over the offer, "what is it…which you wish for me to do?"
"What your best at."
"Who am I doing it for?"
"Me."
"Yes…you, and which militia?"
"Just me."
"Oh, my…a personal favor. This can't be legal, can it?"
"Does that bother you?"
"No…not at all…I am actually enjoying it…very much so. What propelled this…desire of yours to use me for your own benefit?"
"Something of mine was stolen, and I plan to kill the thief."
"Itachi, my friend, you have a deal," the red head cocked his head to the side with a friendly smile that was unbecoming. Itachi remained unreadable and expressionless.
"A guard with gel spiky hair and a birthmark on his chin will lead you back – he'll give you a change of clothes, I'll be waiting a mile off the penitentiary, can you manage?"
"Aren't you scared I'll run?"
"Do you think I can't catch you again?" Itachi countered with a silent threat of torture intertwined in his words.
"Tis fair, all is fair. You know I am a man of my word, I will do your favor and you grant me my illegal freedom…what a splendid situation."
"You have an hour – don't be late," Itachi said getting up.
"I am never late."
.
…
.
The phone rang the next day while Itachi was cleaning out his McMillan M88 sniper rifle.
"Madara," Itachi greeted angrily.
"Oh, Itachi," the man on the other line sniffed, "it makes me so happy…the anger in your voice…sweetness."
"I do not want to play games," he warned.
"Oh, you want to or not…you will. This little slut of yours punched me…I think she broke my nose."
Itachi would have been proud of Sakura's attempt to fight back, if he didn't remember what Madara did to woman and children who misbehaved.
"I want to talk to her," Itachi said calmly as he threw his cleaning cloth across the living room in anger.
"Can you believe, hours and hours of play…and not once did she beg for me to stop…only insults came from her. I don't think I can sell her anymore."
"I want to talk to her," Itachi growled lowly.
"Oh, I know…I know. But, Itachi – I think what I want is more important, ne?"
"Let. Me. Talk. To. Her."
"Hehehe, you really like her don't you? I never thought the great Itachi could have compassion! Can you believe it! Oh, how we all change. Ten years seemed to have softened you up quite a bit. But it hasn't softened me," he heard a thump and a feminine groan, "not at all! I am worse than before…much worse, because now I know you…and I know what you want, her right? RIGHT!"
He heard a gargling noise and coughing coming from someone else.
"Come on, you slut, say something, Itachi-dearest wants to speak with you."
Itachi's vision blurred with undeniable rage.
"F-f-f-eed Sa-a-tittita-n," Sakura muttered before he heard another thud.
"Feed Satan?" Madara questioned, "is that a little code you and your girlfriend made up?"
"Heh," Itachi smirked, the bastard hadn't broken Sakura in the least, "no, she wants me to feed the cat, Satan. She thinks that I'd get rid of it when she's not around."
"How cute! You two have a cat! Awwww, this new Itachi…I don't think I like him much. I miss the old Itachi…no, no. I miss the real Itachi. Do you remember it? Do you? The children screaming! Those woman, all begging for help? Oh don't worry. I'll make your little Sakura here beg as well."
Click.
.
…
.
Two days later:
Itachi picked up the phone on the first ring.
"How sweet, you're waiting for my call?"
"Hn."
"Oh, that tone…I remember it. Can't stay normal for long without her? Tell me, have you even slept?"
Itachi remained silent.
"Fine, don't talk…want to hear something interesting…I told your little whore what I was going to do to you, and she told me that if I hurt you she'll kick my ass…now let me tell you, she's in no position to do any ass kicking. I'm not sure if her leg is broken or not…it's all twisted and disgusting. She looks pretty ugly right now too. Not the trophy wife she was before, let me tell you that."
Itachi didn't take the bait.
"Ahhh, I see how it is…hehe, when I asked her about how…how much she loves you…you should have heard all the names she called you. I do believe she used jackass and fuck face in a number of the most imaginative ways. You threw out her underwear, eh? Now that wasn't that nice."
Itachi tried to steady his breathing.
"Hehe, I think I've gotten out enough of my aggression out on your little lady. It's your turn now…come alone, feel free to bring guns, swords, whatever the hell else you want. If you bring the Feds, she will die. And not a pleasant death. Maybe I'll slice her fingers off first…then –"
"Where?"
"Oh, don't interrupt; don't you want to know the consequences of not listening to me?"
"Not interested."
"Heh, thirty minutes…the warehouse in eighty-ninth, near the river named after your daddy dearest – Fugaku, right?"
Click. Itachi hung up first.
A/N: I hope you are enjoying yourselves! Please don't forget to leave a review :), they are the most encouraging thing ever to updating quickly.
Edited some errors. Sincerest apologies.