EMBRACED BY DARKNESS

Chapter 3: Omnipotence

"Please…Stop…"

The words came out of Sakura's mouth as barely a whisper, her hand still gripping Itachi's ankle. Sasuke quickly recovered from the attack and jumped back into the cover of the trees when he saw that Sakura had woken up. He sheathed his Kusanagi and sat on a branch silently watching, he didn't want to face his former teammate that he was willing to kill so that his brother would pay attention to him.

Sakura's eyes were dull and half closed as Itachi walked away from her. She was shivering and her muscles were too weak for her to see what the Uchiha was doing. She didn't know who Itachi was attacking a minute ago or why she had stopped him, maybe mercy was one of her weaknesses. Several minutes later he came back and started a fire as close to Sakura as he could without burning her. The warmth helped but it didn't make the numbness she felt go away.

Itachi knelt beside the kunoichi and started to remove her clothes that were full of freezing water. Sakura was too weak to resist but she wouldn't have anyway. She knew a lot about hypothermia and being in cold clothes was the once of the worst things you could do. Once she was completely bare Itachi took his cloak off and put it on her as she lay on the earth. Sakura had stopped shaking and watched as the Uchiha buttoned up the cloak. He then lay next to her and pulled her towards him in a kind of embrace to share his body heat.

As Sasuke watched a new emotion surged throughout his body along with fury. 'What is this feeling? Jealousy? No, that can't be it.' He considered attacking Itachi again but knew that it would be a waste. The key to his brother was through Sakura, this experience had proved that. But he still wanted to know why the pair was traveling together. He knew that Sakura wouldn't go with the elder Uchiha by choice but it looked that way. He concluded that Itachi forced her to go with him. But why?

If only Sasuke knew how much Sakura had changed since the last time they saw each other. How much hell she's been through and how her heart chose revenge over everything else just like Sasuke's had. How she would do anything to get power. They were so alike now yet so different. They were truly perfect enemies. The feelings Sakura had for Sasuke back then were still there, hidden in some far away and unreachable crevasse inside Sakura's heart.

Sakura rested her head on Itachi's chest and closed her eyes. His heartbeat was faster then hers because of the hypothermia. She could feel the warmth of his blood when she always thought his blood was cold. Maybe this monster isn't heartless, she thought. Itachi held her tightly and Sakura could tell that he was asleep. She noticed that this could possibly be the only time he's slept since they started traveling. Sakura closed her eyes and eventually drifted off into a dreamless sleep.

The chirping of crickets awoke Sakura from her slumber. She was lying on the ground and the warmth she had longed for was gone. From what she could tell the sun had just gone down. She tried to push herself up but failed and noticed that she was wearing her own clothes. The fire had burned down to embers and the older Uchiha was nowhere in sight.

Sasuke was still perched in the tree, watching. Now was a perfect time to get to the kunoichi, Itachi's been gone for hours. Still he couldn't decide what to do with her if he did kidnap Sakura. He could kill her, or use her as bait, or even make her obey him. Sasuke considered all the possibilities but still couldn't decide. He never thought that Sakura would be one of the obstacles between him and his brother, so he never thought of a way to remove her from the fight.

Sasuke was about to jump out of the tree when he saw how Sakura was trying to get up. He thought about if he should rescue her but pushed the thought away. He wasn't a hero, and maybe she didn't need saving. Before he could gather his thoughts, Sakura was on her hands and knees, panting. Her muscles ached as she slowly got to her feet and started walking towards the tree Sasuke was in.

He quickly hid his chakra as Sakura came closer. She stumbled as she walked and grabbed onto the trunk for support when she reached the tree. Why she came to this tree was a mystery to her. She felt attached to this tree for some unknown reason. Sasuke looked down at her from his branch that was concealed with leaves and saw her up-close for the first time in almost a year when her and Naruto came after him.

Her eyes weren't as soft as before, now they showed only hate and revenge. They were the same as his; only in color were they different. 'What's happened to make her like this?' Sasuke thought. Sakura's skin was a pale tint of blue because of the hypothermia. The younger Uchiha concentrated on his hearing to listen to her heart beat. It was too slow and Sasuke knew that moving around was dangerous but he couldn't do anything to help her without giving himself away.

Sakura became dizzy and closed her eyes to try and steady herself. She kept them closed while she listened to the night. The sounds drowned out her senses and she didn't notice as the older Uchiha appeared and walked toward her. Only when he was right in front of her did she notice his presence. Sasuke watched intently as his brother picked up the cherry blossom and carried her away from the Valley of the End.

Sakura snuggled her head into Itachi's chest, happy that the warmth was back. Sasuke silently followed, jumping through the trees while using his transparency jutsu. Itachi also started jumping from branch to branch still carrying the kunoichi. He knew Sasuke was following them but he didn't do anything about it. Sasuke wondered if he was being led into a trap and put his guard up.

But Itachi kept going until the sun was high when he stopped inside of a clearing. Once there he placed a sleeping Sakura on the ground and sat against a tree. He rested for only half an hour when he picked the kunoichi up and started off again with Sasuke in his wake. Sakura awoke soon after and watched the trees fly by her as Itachi jumped from tree to tree.

Soon after night fell Itachi started to slow and eventually stopped. He dropped to the ground and started to walk along a road with a city in the distance. Sakura recognized it easily even though she's only been there once, it was Border Town. The reason for its name is simple; it's next to the border between the Fire Country and the Rain Country.

Itachi turned and stared at the spot where Sasuke was hiding. Even though Sasuke was invisible to the normal eye, it wasn't for the Sharingan. The elder Uchiha then started walking towards the town. The closer they got the more people were running up and down the streets. Many of the people were either buying or selling a variety of merchandise.

Sakura was fascinated at how many different types of people there were. She was also worried that someone from the Leaf Village might see them. But no one paid them any attention as they walked down the busy street and Sakura wondered if they were somehow invisible. The further they went threw the town the more she was sure that no one could see them. She wondered when Itachi had put the jutsu on them, she never saw a hand sign, but maybe he didn't need one.

At the end of the town there was a small forest. Itachi walked through it, still carrying Sakura, until he reached the edge of a clearing. At first glance it looked empty but Sakura could see the traces of a Genjutsu around the clearing. He helped Sakura stand on her own and did a couple hand seals. A hole in the illusion opened and the pair stepped inside.

Sakura almost gasped; in front of her was a beautiful mansion. She leaned on Itachi as they walked closer. When they reached the door it opened on its own by invisible hands. The Uchiha led Sakura to the first room down the hall and told her that it was hers. He left her when she went inside and slid the door closed. She immediately collapsed on the bed and examined her new room. It was bigger then her old one and had its own bathroom along with a big closet.

Voices could be herd from the hall but Sakura couldn't tell what they were saying. She recognized one of the voices to be Itachi's but she couldn't put a face to the other. After pulling herself out of the bed she went into the bathroom and pulled off her clothes. The hot water of the shower soothed her sore muscles and removed the dry blood that was still on her skin.

Sakura walked out of the bathroom with a towel around her and noticed that a tray of food had been put on the table next to her bed. She was surprised at how someone had come into her room without her knowing but still ate it in a hurry. When she was done she inspected the closet. It was full of women clothing, from kimonos and geisha attire to ninja gear, the Uchiha crest on almost all of it. As she went through the garments she noticed that they were all very old and haven't been worn in years.

As Sakura went through the kimonos she remembered how badly she had wanted to become a geisha before she became a shinobi. But her mother told her that becoming a geisha was hard and that she should become a shinobi so that she could help protect the village and everyone in it. Sakura knew she made the right decision between the two but still wished she had a kimono of her own.

Sakura could tell that the Uchiha's shared the fondness of the color black. All of the kimonos were black with some type of design on it. Her favorite of them all was the one with two silver and gold phoenixes flying through cherry blossoms. She put the kimono away and slipped a plain black yukata on. The silk ran over her skin like waves and fit perfectly in length.

The ninja was gear was set up perfectly and Sakura was afraid to mess it up. From what she could see all of the basic weapons were there, mouth embers, exploding notes, smoke grenades, soldier pills, makibishi, kunai, senbon, and shuriken. But there were other, more custom weapons such as, a katana, fans, scrolls, and an ANBU mask in the design of a cat.

Still Sakura didn't touch any of it. She felt like she was trespassing on someone else's property. Above the weapons were three different kunoichi outfits. And like everything else they were black. Sakura wanted to try them on but thought better of it. She guessed that everything belong to Itachi or someone from his clan that died or was killed in the massacre. But maybe this stuff was for her to use? She didn't know and decided to push her luck.

The next morning, Sakura woke to the sound of people running up and down the hall outside her door. She had no idea that so many people lived here and wondered why. Once she slipped out of bed she looked in the mirror and tried to make herself look decent. She was still wearing the yukata from yesterday while a lot of the stuff that was in the closet was now spread out on the floor. Sakura rushed as she tried to put everything back the way it was. When she was almost done someone knocked twice on her door and walked in. A girl only a few years older then herself was standing in the door way.

"Breakfast is ready, Sakura-sama."

Sakura followed the girl out of the room, still pondering on why the girl called her 'Sakura-sama'. As they walked Sakura saw many people, both male and female, running in and out of all the different rooms. She understood now, these people were servants of this house. But she didn't know if they were servants of Itachi. Only someone of great, omnipotent power could own servants. And Sakura had to admit, Itachi did have great power.

The girl led Sakura through many different rooms until they reached a formal dinning room. Itachi was already sitting cross-legged at the table wearing a plain black yukata that was similar to Sakura's. On the table were tea, toast, rice, miso soup, fish, and pickled plums. After she sat down and poured herself some tea, the kunoichi helped herself to the food. Sakura was careful to eat slowly even though she was starving. She glanced at Itachi's plate and guessed that he only had toast since there were crumbs on his dish.

He was as silent as ever and watched as Sakura ate. When she was finished she rose to her feet and Itachi did the same. Sakura could tell that the Uchiha wasn't getting any sleep because of the darkness around his eyes. Or was that always there? She didn't notice it before but pushed the thought out of her mind. As they stood there Sakura thought that Itachi had something to say but when no words escaped from his mouth, the kunoichi started walking back to her room.

When Sakura reached her door she paused and waited. Itachi said nothing but when she opened the door and was about to walk inside words finally escaped from his mouth. "Your training starts tomorrow." Sakura pretended not to hear him and closed her door behind her. She heard the opening and closing of another door and knew that the Uchiha had disappeared to his room across from hers. The kunoichi walked over to the table near her bed, grabbed a piece of paper and started to write:

There was once a time I was sure of the bond

When my hands and my touch and my thoughts were enough

We are the same, but our lives move along

And the third one between replaces what I once loved

Sakura didn't know where the words came from but as she read it over she knew that the poem was directed to the younger Uchiha. The very thought scared her. She had to keep convincing herself that emotions were a burden and that she had to keep herself numb to survive in this world. Besides she may have to kill Sasuke if he was the one who ordered the sound nin to attack the leaf. She was an avenger now and it didn't matter who she had to kill to get revenge.