EMBRACED BY DARKNESS

Chapter 2: Tourniquet

Not to have a regret
never love, never let
have a courage to forget.


Not too slow, not too fast
not to leave and not to last
not to steal from the past.


Split in halves broken hearts
set adrift, blown apart
to recover and restart.


Never show so they won't see
better hide and conceal
and deceive, and deceive.

Not to spoil, not to break
never touch, never take
not to make a new mistake.


Not to love not to hurt
find a moment to revert
not to speak out the word.


To reset and to rewind
better deaf, better blind
not to ache, not to die.


Never let them make you numb
never let them do you harm
never keep yourself disarmed.

Sakura silently recited one of the many poems her mom made her memorize before she became a ninja. At that time she didn't understand what it meant but now the meaning was clear. These words haunted her mind like a reoccurring nightmare. They also reminded Sakura how naïve she was when she was younger, especially when she became rivals with her best friend because of a boy. She sighed and came back to her senses.

It was the third day since they started traveling. Sakura and Itachi were resting in a clearing close to a river that was surprisingly cold for the summer. They sun was high and beating down on them. The cloak Sakura was wearing before now lay on the grass next to her in an effort to cool herself. She wanted to jump in the river but the current was too strong and knew that it would give her hypothermia. So she lay on the grass while Itachi sat with his eyes closed not aware of the heat.

Sakura drifted in and out of sleep but was wide awake when she felt the chakras of other shinobi. She jumped up to see Itachi already standing, scanning the area with the Sharingan glowing in his eyes. Sakura placed a kunai in each hand and went to stand next to Itachi. The chakras instantly disappeared and all was silent except for the rushing of the river.

Several moments passed until a pack of shinobi jumped out of the trees, surrounding them. Itachi immediately engaged in battle with the nearest ones, finishing them off easily. Sakura, however, was rooted to the spot. The shinobi's matching outfits were the same as Sasuke's, they were Sound nin. She instinctively dodged the shinobi that ran towards her and threw one of the kunai so that it collided with the nin's neck.

The blood that erupted from the man flew onto Sakura's face as another five sound ninja ran towards her. She fluently dodged their attacks and slit their throats. Another 30 or so sound nin jumped out of the shadows to join the fight. Sakura was barely aware of what she was doing; her body was moving on its own. She watched as she slit every throat or pierced every heart of the sound shinobi that tried to attack her.

When the last of the Sound had fallen, Sakura was surrounded by bodies and covered in blood. Itachi was sitting, also surrounded by bodies as Sakura walked toward him. She knelt beside him and pushed his shoulders down so that he was lying on his back. As a medical ninja, Sakura was trained to examine her comrades after a battle and that's what she intended to do.

Itachi didn't react as Sakura removed his Akatsuki cloak and lightly ran her fingers over his torso and arms to check for any broken bones. After running her fingers down his legs she confirmed that nothing was broken. She then started to heal the few cuts he had. She was almost finished when a lone sound nin jumped out of the forest and ran toward her. Sakura stood up but wasn't quick enough to dodge the kunai that the shinobi shoved into her stomach.

The force of the impact sent Sakura flying until she was on the edge of the river. She cried out as she pulled the kunai out of her stomach. Before she knew what was happening she felt the icy water sting her face as she swam to the surface. The current pulled Sakura under again and carried her down river. She struggled to get to the surface but once she did she barely got a breath before she went under again.

Sakura managed to keep her head above water long enough to see the half submerged rocks that the current was carrying her towards. She avoided the first one but couldn't escape from the second one. The rock collided with Sakura's side and she heard a couple of her ribs break. She then let herself be carried by the river but once she saw the waterfall ahead of her she desperately searched for something to grab onto.

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The lone sound shinobi watched as Itachi ran on the side of the river after Sakura. The nin now had the information he was set out to get and disappeared in a puff of smoke only to reappear at the sound village. He ran to the building in the middle of the village and reported what he saw to a silver haired shinobi. Kabuto then went to the onyx-eyed prodigy's room. Instead of knocking he just walked in, the room was in complete shadow and only the outline of the single person in it could be seen.

"I thought I told you to knock," the dark figure said.

"My deepest apologies, Sasuke," Kabuto replied. "It's just that we have the location of your brother."

"…And?" Sasuke replied,

"And," Kabuto continued. "He is traveling with a young woman."

"So?" Sasuke asked somewhat annoyed.

"So," Kabuto said calmly. "The spy says that she is from The Hidden Leaf Village and that she is as beautiful as a cherry blossom and as deadly as an assassin."

Sasuke's eyes widened when he herd this, "Where?" Sasuke asked.

"The Valley of the End." Kabuto finished and left the room.

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What a stupid way to die, Sakura thought as she fell over the edge. Suddenly her outstretched arms collided with a rock sticking out of the down rush. She held onto the rock until the last of her strength left her. Her fingers started to slip when Itachi appeared, standing on the rock. He reached out to grab Sakura's hand but was a second to late. The kunoichi's body went limp as she fell down the waterfall with Itachi jumping after her.

Sasuke silently watched, hidden in the trees, as Sakura fell and landed in the body of water below. She watched helplessly as the last of her breath left her and she sunk deeper into the depths. Her eyes started to blur as an arm wrapped around her and pulled her to the surface. Sakura felt herself being carried and then laid down on the hard earth before her mind went blank.

Itachi put his mouth on Sakura's, forcing life back in her. At this Sasuke's hate towards his older brother grew as he watched the pair. But why did he care? That girl meant nothing to him. She was just another obstacle that he needed to get rid of so that he could kill his brother.'You're wrong,' said a voice in the back of Sasuke's head, but he ignored it.

Itachi forced air into Sakura's lungs until she took a breath of her own. She slowly opened her eyes to see Itachi kneeling over her. Pain went throughout her body when she looked down and saw the wound in her stomach. She lightly put her hand over it in an attempt to stop the bleeding. Itachi moved Sakura's hand and put his own over the wound. His hand started to glow as she recognized the jutsu to be the Shousen no Jutsu.

Sakura's breath became quick and shallow; she was losing too much blood. Itachi's jutsu wouldn't heal the gash or stop it from bleeding no matter how hard he tried. Sasuke watched on as Sakura lay dieing. He wasn't sure if he should try and save her or not. If he did he would have to face off with Itachi, but if he didn't she wouldn't be in the way anymore. He couldn't decide.

Itachi had to find out what was causing Sakura so much pain that her body refused to heal itself. He took his hand away from Sakura's wound and put it on the ground next to her head, his other hand on the other side so that he was on his hands and knees over her. Sakura slowly turned her head to face him and met his gaze. She knew what was coming and was ready when Itachi's dark eyes glowed with the Mangekyou.

Sakura was 12 and was receiving her Konoha headband; it was her first day as a shinobi. The scene changed. Sakura was in the Forest of Death fighting Zaku to protect Naruto and Sasuke. Then she was on the roof of the hospital running to get between Sasuke and Naruto as they fought. Next she was begging Sasuke to not leave Konoha and join Orochimaru. Tsunade was standing in front of Sakura accepting her request to become her apprentice. Her mom's burnt corpse lay at her feet…

All of these memories came back in a rush. Sakura heard herself scream but didn't know why. Itachi wanted to break the connection but couldn't until he found what he was looking for. The scream made Sasuke's blood curdle and sent chills down his spine. He jumped out of the trees to confront his older brother but Itachi paid him no attention. Instead he continued to search the kunoichi's soul.

Sakura was standing in the middle of a labyrinth with doors along all the walls. She opened the door closest to her and looked inside. The room was small and empty so she closed the door and opened the one next to it. This room, like the other, was empty. She continued to search the rooms only to find them all empty even though she had no idea what she was looking for.

The next room Sakura opened, however, was not empty; inside was a large cracked mirror. When she looked into it she saw herself lying on the ground pouring crimson regret from the wound in her stomach. The reflection suddenly changed to reveal the image of a smiling Naruto. 'Sakura-Chan!' Sakura could hear his voice as if he was right beside her. The image changed to the time when Naruto and Sakura had promised each other that they would bring Sasuke back together. The mirror then reflected Sakura's inner self and together they yelled: 'I will not die!' They simultaneously punched the mirror but instead of shattering its cracked pieces came together and everything went black.

Itachi broke the connection immediately. When he did, Sakura closed her eyes and fell into an unconscious state. He understood now, Sakura's will to live was broken but now it is strong. The wound had stopped bleeding and was already starting to close thanks to Itachi's jutsu. He stood and glanced at Sasuke but otherwise paid him no attention. Sasuke became furious at this.

"Look at me!" he yelled. But Itachi ignored him and knelt back down to heal Sakura's ribs. Sasuke threw a kunai at him but he expertly caught it and threw it back at Sasuke who dodged it. The younger Uchiha noticed how his brother's attention was on the kunoichi. 'If I kill the girl, will he fight me seriously?' Sasuke wondered, he decided to give it a try.

Itachi stood up and faced his younger brother as Sasuke pulled out his Kusanagi. The Sharingan glowed in each of their eyes as the walked toward each other. When they were only a foot apart Sasuke and Itachi disappeared. Their figures were blurs and only the sound of clashing metal could be heard. Sasuke separated himself from the battle and stood over Sakura. He lifted his sword but before he could bring it down Itachi was on the other side of Sakura. His usually calm eyes burned with fury as he kicked Sasuke so hard that he flew back and hit a tree. He was about to attack again when Sakura opened her eyes and grabbed his ankle.

"Stop."