Ch. 1

The Beginning

Nothing much was felt anymore in Konoha. Not for the once vibrant youth of the village that is. Both the light and dark of their village were gone.

Sasuke and Sakura. Their absence took a heavy toll on the small shinobi village.

Sakura had always been there for the village, constantly under the tutelage of their beloved fifth hokage, and Konoha had admired her greatly. But she became corrupted by revenge, love and anger, and she ran away from the hidden leaf in search of her love.

To this day Sasuke still remains to be found. Nobody knows if he's alive, or really even cares. Konoha had given up, save for their prized flower.

The blossom-haired young woman, now 17, had endured hell through the past years. Four years ago Sasuke left, and she was an empty shell for months. As soon as she had come out of the darkness, her parents died on a mission escorting an ambassador to the village of the Rain, and she fell into an abyss once again.

When Sasuke had left, she had been only grieving and depressed. But after the death of her parents, she found the world to be a black hole that had targeted her and crushed everything and everyone that was important in her life. She had come to hate all people, save for Naruto, Sai, Kakashi and, of course, her mentor the Godaime. Everyone else constantly consoled her for her losses, feeding her fake smiles and soothing words that never helped. She had come to hate the earth for making her its mortal enemy.

But most of all she had come to hate herself, because she couldn't do anything to save those she loved the most.

She had become a heartless killer that would slay and destroy anything in her way. She made a decision and had acted on it. She was on a mission, her most important one yet, to find the man she loved and bring him back so that she would have a reason for living again.

So she left. She ran from Konoha to find Sasuke.

Presently, Sakura had no inclination as to where she was.

Well, she did have some vague idea—a heading, if you will—she was in a small town, standing outside of a quaint little inn with shinobi from different villages scattered around the general area. Not much, but she could ask someone where she was and gather her bearings.

When she walked inside, Sakura asked for a room and her location. The concierge let out a low, rumbling growl, and Sakura supposed it was actually a laugh. She didn't find anything particularly funny, but she decided to pay it no attention, drumming her fingers on the counter, waiting for a room key.

"I don't think that matters for you anymore, Sakura-blossom. You're coming with us now."

The concierge's reply caused Sakura to blink. How does he know me…? But when the monster of a man behind the desk lifted his head, she recognized him at once as Akatsuki; Hishiragi Kisame.

Kunai in hand, Sakura crouched into fighting position and looked around, her mind on high alert for enemies.

She froze, counting four in all.

And they're all Akatsuki…

She immediately jumped into action. After hurling her kunai at one odd looking woman with blonde hair that fell over one eye she immediately followed close in its wake, kicking the woman hard in the knee when she caught her knife. The woman toppled over and yelped, and Sakura brought out a shuriken, throwing it at a small red headed coming in fast on her right.

But her fight was cut short when she was hit on a pressure point behind her, giving her only a few seconds to look at her third attacker until she fell to the floor.

"Uchiha…"

When Sakura came around, her vision was slightly blurred and she could not remember anything without thinking too hard. Then her senses sharpened, and she remembered that she had walked into an inn and was attacked by two Akatsuki…no, three…no, it was…

"…Itachi."

She snapped her head up as she said it. Her eyes were wide open and perfectly focused now, and she saw that she was chained to a chair. Of course, why wouldn't he have been there? His partner was.

Looking around, she also observed that the room she was being held in was all concrete with one metal door and one dim hanging light, right above her. The light made a little ring just big enough to encircle her chair. Outside of the circle, a dark figure was only discernable because of his burning eyes. They flashed red and Sakura's breath caught. But just as quickly as they had changed, they turned back to their usual obsidian once again. The crouching figure appeared in a gust of chilling wind, still crouching, at perfect eye level.

It was as she had feared; one of the most dangerous men known to her was right before her, staring into her eyes intensely, as if he was searching for something he would never find.

Sakura also noticed that he had removed his Akatsuki robe, leaving him in only black shinobi pants and mesh shirt. Even though she hated him for what he did to Sasuke, she could not deny that he was a very nice looking man. Along with his face she studied his body, and saw that it was flawless. Perfectly toned and with little scarring. But the scars that were there looked deep and nasty, and Sakura, being a medical specialist, assumed that the majority had been life threatening. Itachi let out a soft laugh, and Sakura snapped her eyes back up to his face. It was then that Sakura realized that she had been staring.

"Do you like what you see, love? I assure you, if you cooperate, you will be seeing much more."

Sakura blushed fiercely and let out a small cry of indignation.

"You sick bastard."

Itachi laughed yet again, sounding even more amused than before. It was truly a haunting sound, Sakura thought.

"What exactly do you want from me?"

She tried to put as much spite into her words as she could. But even with that, her adversary's face did not change. That just added to her frustration.

When Itachi spoke, he had a knowing glint in his eye, causing Sakura to narrow her eyes.

"Are you familiar with my little brother?"

A spark of anger flared in her, and she had never wanted to kill someone so much. Of course I'm familiar with him. You knew that! Why else would you take me?

She shook with hatred, and she snarled, trying frantically to break the bonds on her chair to get to Itachi, who was so close to her. But she only ended up thrashing in his direction, like a caged animal, as she could not break her chains.

Itachi smiled again, getting the reaction he wanted.

"Are you, now? I expected as much."

She stopped whipping about, only glaring, pure malice emanating from her very self.

"I need you to find him for me, love. He will come to you."

Sakura's eyes narrowed further, and her cheeks flushed. She began to shake again, with a little fear in her jagged movements. He's using me, playing to my weakness. My only weakness…

When she spoke, her voice was small, no more than a light whisper.

"Never."

"I see that the thought does not appeal to you. Are you afraid of him, love? Are you afraid that he will kill you if he sees that you have led me to him, afraid that he will hate you? Or…are you afraid of what I will do to you if you do not comply?"

Sakura didn't answer. She only sat, trembling, in the cold steel chair in the small concrete room. Itachi suddenly vanished and Sakura let out a soft cry of alarm. But just as quickly she felt him reappear behind her. She did not want to turn her head and look at the man that reminded her so much of Sasuke, but at the same time was everything he wasn't. Silent tears streamed down her face when he gently placed his hands on her shoulders. Violent tremors wracked her body when he slowly ran his hands down the length of her arms all the way to her hands. He took her hands in his and intertwined their fingers, Sakura now sobbing freely. He buried his face in the crook of her neck. Sakura yelped as he bit her, drawing blood. She shuddered as he licked the blood away from the bite.

"Just thought I'd leave my mark. Now be a good girl, love. Find him for me and you live. It's that easy. Refuse, and who knows…"

—he appeared in front of her again—

"…what I might do to you."

Still shaken and crying, Sakura whimpered when he took her face in his hand. He moved closer, putting his elbow on her thigh and resting his chin in his palm. She slowly looked up at him, her face still in his hand.

"So fragile...it's a wonder you haven't just…snapped in half."

Sakura bit her lip and tried to pull away from him, but he only lowered his face to hers, adding to her discomfort.

"Where is he?"

Sakura still said nothing.

"I assure you that if you do not provide a sufficient answer your punishment will be much worse than a bite. I advise that you obey."

Sakura thought. At first she decided that she should continue and lead them in an opposite direction, then kill them somewhere secluded. But then reason intervened, and she knew that there was no way in hell that she could kill four Akatsuki, much less this man before her. So she decided that she would not comply to his demands until she knew what he really needed Sasuke for. And with this, a thought struck her.

"I thought you were waiting for him to kill you? Why, then, would you seek him out?"

With her question, the sparkle in Itachi's eyes faded and it was replaced with a flame of anger. Even so, only his demeanor changed. He hesitated a few moments before speaking.

"There has been a new…development. In short, I have decided to kill him before he poses a threat to the entire Akatsuki organization."Sakura drew in a hissing breath, her heart breaking. Nonetheless, she couldn't give up yet.

"And what is this new development…?"Itachi's face darkened, and he decided that it was not necessary for her to be kept in the dark.

"Sasuke has fully merged with Orochimaru. His body is nothing but a container for him now. The boy from your childhood is no more. His spirit, mind and soul are destroyed."

Sakura let out a shuddering breath, not wanting to believe what she had just heard. She only stared forward, into the black abyss that was Itachi's eyes. They reminded her so much of her dark days after Sasuke left, training relentlessly, becoming a killing machine. She felt the tears, she tasted the salt. But her face did not change. She looked desperately at the man in front of her, silently pleading that he would take back his words, tell her that it wasn't true. But he only stared back at her, his face and eyes as stoic as ever. Then she cried out in agony, the tears coming harder and faster. It seemed as if they would never stop.

She screamed at Itachi, telling him that all of this was his fault, that he selfishly left Sasuke alive, knowing that his lust for revenge would one day consume him. She called him terrible names, all phrased in incoherent, biting sentences.

But he still maintained his monotonous, smooth manner, making Sakura double over in her chair. She knew that she could not touch him, mentally or physically. It angered her; it made her feel weak. The man she loved was lost to her forever. And it was all because of the murderer crouching before her.

She sucked in a gasping breath when the chains constricting her clattered to the floor, making it much easier to breathe in her current position.

And, yet again, Sakura felt a sharp pain on the back of her neck, and the next thing she knew, the floor was rushing up to meet her.

Sakura awoke, rubbing her neck as she groaned. She was in a lot of pain; the back of her neck had been hit—hard—twice already. She scowled, thinking about how they thought they could just pick her up and keep her wherever they wanted to.

But none of that seemed to matter when the memories of only a few hours ago came flooding back to her, causing her to weep silently yet again.

--- --- ---

"There has been a new development. In short, I have decided to kill him before he poses a threat to the entire Akatsuki organization."Sakura let out a hissing breath, her heart breaking. Nonetheless, she couldn't give up yet.

"And what is this new development…?"Itachi's face darkened, and he decided that it was not necessary for her to be kept in the dark.

"Sasuke has fully merged with Orochimaru. His body is nothing but a container for him now. The boy from your childhood is no more. His spirit, mind and soul are destroyed."

--- --- ---

And just as her thoughts concluded, Itachi himself slid the door open, making sure it was completely closed, his movements slow. Turning back around, he looked Sakura up and down, but he remained seemingly emotionless.

Sakura spat at him, but Itachi was at the bed sooner than the projectile could reach him. And, before she realized it, he was on top of her, holding her hands above her head, quickly snapping what she believed to be handcuffs on her small wrists and wrapping them around the bedpost.

Sakura closed her eyes and sighed, wondering how her flawless skill and tact could possibly permit her to be here, of all places, in this very situation. The brother of the man she loved was hovering above her on all fours, his hands on either side of her face, his legs spreading hers apart. The only article of clothing he had on was his shinobi pants he had been wearing at the interrogation; the mesh had been removed. The only article of clothing she was wearing was a small silk nightgown. They were on top of the covers. There was nothing except their minimal clothing in between them. Itachi's hair was not held back; it fell like a black drape around Sakura's face, although it was not long enough to touch the bed. It stopped around two inches above the cover.

Bottom line: if Sakura did not agree this time, Itachi would rape her.

On the other hand, if she did agree, she would have to take them with her to find Sasuke, and they would almost assuredly kill him.

She could not live with that. She would never agree to lead them to him.

She still loved who he once was.

Sakura opened her eyes again, staring up at Itachi with iniquity in her eyes, and she saw that he was studying every inch of her, just as she had done to him in the interrogation room. The only difference was that he enjoyed being goggled at; Sakura was blushing furiously, and hated the feeling. She squirmed, trying to somehow hide her body from his curious and wanting gaze. But she had nowhere to squirm to; he had her trapped under him, and he was too strong for her to do anything about it.

He moved his eyes up her legs, and they got higher and higher, past her thigh, and that's when Sakura felt too uncomfortable to not do anything about it.

Growling, she whispered, quite threateningly, "That's definitely not for you."

Itachi only sneered at her.

"Ah, but that, love, is definitely not for you to decide."

With that, Itachi's hand followed his eyes. Sakura felt his rough hands make their way slowly up her smooth porcelain legs, and she whimpered as a terrible thought crossed her mind: if she was forced to give her virginity to this man, this specific man, it would be a betrayal of Sasuke—or, at least, the Sasuke he had formerly been. What was she doing, accepting this—however reluctantly—like a common whore?

No Sakura, you are no whore, you are doing what it takes to save Sasuke. You love him. This is the best thing to do in your situation.

But another voice piped up in her mind. One that sent a chill up her spine.

Sakura, you are a whore…you know you want this just as much—or even more—than he does. You're not fighting back because you see so much of Sasuke in him. You think you could love him. So then, you're a whore, Sakura. Settling for any man that comes your way…

Sakura shuddered as she heard the voice, her tears flowing much faster. No, it couldn't be. It just couldn't. She hated this man…

But the advances that Itachi was making were distracting her from her thoughts. Since Sakura had no undergarments on, he could easily use her as he wished without her even taking of the nightgown. His hands were now making their way under the gown, and Sakura was becoming afraid. So he hadn't lied. He really was going to rape her. Her breathing became heavy and fast and she struggled even more to escape his touch.

"No…please, don't …Itachi, don't, I beg you…everyone…will think I am filthy…I'm not good enough…please…"

Itachi's face had been lowered to her neck, and she could feel his warm breath against her skin as he laughed softly.

"You are only a young girl. You know nothing of a man's mind. Frankly, if a woman puts herself in front of him, a man will take advantage of any chance he gets."

He licked her neck, tasting the salty tears that were flowing down her smooth cheeks. She closed her legs around his hips, fighting the hormonal urge to ask him to take her now. With that involuntary movement, Itachi also fought the hormonal urge to do just that.

Sakura whimpered, louder this time, and she tried even harder to get up off the bed, but her legs wouldn't move from around his hips, and she let out a little squeal of frustration. The loss of her hands also made her position much more difficult, preventing her from using her full force to push him off. And her struggles stopped slowly, bit by bit, when Itachi wormed one of his arms under her back, pulling her into his chest. He was warm, and it seemed meant to be as her body fit perfectly against his. But Sakura only saw this as hell, and a tear escaped her eyes as his other hand took hold of the hem of her nightgown and worked it up.

Sakura was suddenly colder as the gown was slipped up to her shoulders.

"No, no…please, no, Itachi…"

Her body was completely bare, open for him to see. But his bottom half was still clothed, and Sakura took comfort in knowing that he couldn't have her yet.

His hands again came down to the crevice between Sakura's legs. She moaned as his hand brushed almost everything during its journey to her core. Once it had reached its destination, Sakura felt two of his fingers enter her slowly, and she moaned longer and louder. She was breathing heavily as he built up a quicker pace, causing her to throw her head back in longing.

When Itachi slowly slid his fingers out of her, Sakura shuddered, her limbs scattered with chills. She struggled, but he had drained her of a great deal of energy. She felt him slide the nightgown even further up, until it was resting on her handcuffed wrists.

"No, Itachi…don't you dare, you've disgraced me enough…can't you leave me in peace...?"

When he answered her, Itachi's voice held a mocking tone, which irritated her to no end.

"Sakura, you will endure your punishment for not satisfactorily answering my questions and not submitting to my commands. I just hope you will learn to enjoy it here with the Akatsuki. It is your permanent home." He lowered his face slowly, intending to kiss her, but was only stopped by her insane crying and cold words. He closed his eyes and sighed; he knew it would be difficult to crack her, but this was ridiculous.

"I would rather die than live here…with you..."

Itachi did not answer to this. Instead, his eyes became enraged, and he violently thrust his face even closer towards hers.

He did not speak, but he was breathing heavily, and Sakura thought she saw a small trace of hurt and sadness in his eyes.

When he did not calm down, Sakura closed her eyes and awaited what was to come. But almost immediately she felt a weight lifted off of her, literally, and she opened her eyes, seeing that Itachi had gotten off the bed and was now removing her handcuffs. When they were off, he yanked the ridiculous night gown off of Sakura completely, and she was so shocked that she did not do anything about it. She still did not resist when he stood her up and threw a tee shirt and baggy sweatpants on her, though it was quite obvious that the clothes belonged to him, as they were at least three sizes too big for her.

And, without a word, the infamous Uchiha Itachi stormed out of the room, even darker and moodier than ever.