Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

Silent Sacrifice Chapter 2: Paths Taken

Not even Itachi's Sharingan eyes could see what lay before him as he entered the narrow cave. He searched (Uchiha Itachi never fumbled for anything) inside his cloak for the match he had acquired earlier in the day and lit the object once it was found.

The light flared before him, twisting and dancing against the walls of the cave. Vines could now be seen; they crept up the cavern beside him, intertwined so that Itachi couldn't pick out where one ended and the other began. The dark green of their smooth skin was the only color among the grey ahead.

The ground was dotted with puddles of water; water warmed with the chakra that filled the tunnel.

Splash.

He stepped in one and the sound echoed on for what seemed like eternity. Itachi continued on, trying to ignore the resonating sound that filled his ears.

Whoosh.

A fast, chilling breeze came from behind him, sending his hair whipping onto his cheeks. He narrowed his eyes and walked faster as he tried to ignore the fact that it seemed as if the vines along the wall were moving, coiling to follow him.

"So, I don't suppose you came to let me go, did you?" a calm, soothing voice echoed.

Itachi paused. The last corner was now visible to him, and around that bend he heard something shift lazily over the light sound of flowing water.

"Come on, now, don't be shy," the voice purred. "I want to see what you've brought for me."

Itachi glanced at the girl he was holding - of course the Spirit must have sensed her. Then he took the last few steps and rounded the corner.

Naruto woke up and stretched, yawning loudly. He blinked and took in the room he was in.

"Hinata-chan?" he asked, remembering the night before. But the petite girl was nowhere to be found. Naruto shrugged and assumed that she was eating or something like that.

A sharp knock sounded at the door and Neji's voice called, "Hinata-sama, are you awake yet?"

Naruto winced. Uh-oh…

Another knock. "Hinata-sama?" Neji's voice was now as sharp as the knock, but Naruto could pick out the underlying worry.

Neji decided that something horrid must have happened to his cousin - since she never slept in this late - so he burst into the room only to find none other than Uzumaki Naruto crawling out of the window. Naruto's bottom half was already out of the room.

Neji's eye twitched. "What. Are. You. Doing?"

"Hey, Neji," Naruto said, smiling and rubbing his head. "How's it going -

"Ack!" Naruto suddenly found himself flying through the air, yelling the whole time before he plunged head-first into a small pond.

Neji slammed the window shut and continued to glare out at the village. He turned around just as Hinata came in the room, carrying a tray full of food.

"Naruto-kun, I m-made you some b-breakfast," she said, her eyes cast downward and her cheeks flushed.

Neji's eye twitched again.

When Hinata didn't get a response, she glanced up and almost dropped the tray she was holding. "N-Neji-san!"

"Do not let him in again," Neji instructed, and walked out of the room.

Hinata stood, frozen in place, before she heard loud splashes outside and a familiar voice yelling, "Let go of my leg, you stupid fish!"

She softly smiled to herself and headed downstairs to help her precious, blonde knuckle-head out of the koi pond.

The Fujin na Tora Seishin was curled up in the middle of a small rock, which was surrounded by a circular river of water. A waterfall poured said water into the river from a small ledge on the other side of the cavern. The river broke off from where it flowed around the rock, and continued on to Itachi's right.

"This boulder is not the most comfortable thing in the world," the Tigress Spirit sighed, shifting so her head rested on her massive paws, her eyes closed.

The Spirit was, after all, a tigress. Her dark, rust-colored coat gleamed from the golden light - not from the dying flame of Itachi's match - that encompassed her whole form, and every time she moved, her ink-black stripes seemed to shift and ripple into a different form. Her long tail swished back and forth from where it lay in the water.

Another breeze came from the tunnel, but this time it was warm as it passed by Itachi - swirling his dark hair - and flowed around the Tigress Spirit, ruffling her white mane. She sat up, eyes closed still, and sighed deeply.

"I am getting tired of this place," she said. "The wind keeps on taunting me of the outside world." She flexed her claws.

Then her eyes flashed open, and Itachi was met with two molten pools of emerald, pools that were shot through with genuine gold. "I see you have brought someone. Explain yourself."

Itachi placed the pink-haired girl on the smooth, chilly ground and said, "She will be your new host."

The Tigress Spirit glanced up from where she was cleaning her paw. "Oh, really?"

Itachi was suddenly blasted with the golden chakra that had surrounded the Spirit. It took the form of one of her paws and lashed out, too quick for even Itachi's Sharingan to follow. He found himself against the wall, pieces of stone breaking loose above him, sporting a large gash on his cheek.

He merely glared at where the Spirit sat, chuckling to herself. "I would advise you, Uchiha," she laughed, "not to order me around."

She quieted and sat staring at the unconscious girl on the floor. Then the Spirit leaped easily across the six-foot-wide river and padded over to her. Itachi's eyes narrowed once more. The Spirit shouldn't have been able to break his seals that were placed along the rim of the rock-island she had been kept on. He then remembered her tail swishing in the water…

So, he realized stoically, she had broken through it before I arrived. He was already shocked enough - though faintly - by that fact, so he didn't take into consideration that he should have felt when the seal was broken.

The Tigress Spirit, noticing the Uchiha's stare, murmured, "You didn't think I would be able to breach your seal, did you?" Her eyes flashed to him where he still stood, the wall crumbling around him from the force of her strike. "Let me tell you this, boy: knowledge is power. I have plenty of the former, and that means I have plenty of the latter. I knew the counteracting jutsu to your seal."

Itachi held her gaze without a word.

The Tigress Spirit looked away and sighed. She extended her paw to the kunoichi's face before her and gently nudged it, making sure her claws were retracted. The girl's eyebrows smoothed out and a small smile worked its way upon her mouth.

"You just had to knock her unconscious, didn't you?" the Spirit grumbled. "And all this time you wondered why I wouldn't let you be my host."

Itachi pushed gracefully off the wall and glided silently to the Spirit. Her size right then was about the same as an average tiger, but he knew - for she had cheerfully told him while he sealed her away - that this was only about one-hundredth of her original form.

"You want her to be my host, correct?" the Tigress said. Itachi gave her a look that meant "I just told you that, didn't I?"

The Spirit glared. "Do not look at me like that, boy, unless you want to be punched into next month."

"Hn." Itachi just shifted his gaze to the pink-haired kunoichi on the ground.

The Tigress turned to said kunoichi, her eyes softening. She leaned forward and pressed her nose to the girl's forehead, allowing her mind-entering abilities to come into play.

The group of chuunin - not counting Neji, who was a jonin, or Naruto, a genin - stood in the Hokage's office, silently waiting for her orders.

Ino had tears in her eyes, given from the fact that she now knew Sakura had been kidnapped. Tenten was also looking forlorn, though she hid it more. Hinata continued to gaze at the floor with a small frown on her lips.

Kiba, Chouji, Akamaru, Lee, Shikamaru, Shino, Neji and Naruto kept their gazes hard and determined (though Lee was more teary-eyed than the rest, and Neji kept on shooting withering glares at Naruto which the blonde failed to dodge).

"I have come to a decision," the Hokage stated, turning to the group. "You will continue to go after Sakura."

Naruto beamed and punched the air enthusiastically. "Yes! Tsunade-baachan, you're the best! Let's go now."

Tsunade glared. "Just wait a second, Naruto. Only several shinobi may go, and I have a feeling that I'm going to need you here."

"NANI?" Naruto yelled. "You mean I can't go?"

The Hokage nodded. "If I am going to send some of my best shinobi on a tracking mission, I need to keep one here in case of an emergency."

Naruto stuttered, "Bu-but why can't you keep Kiba here, or Lee, or Shika -"

"Naruto, I have had enough of your disrespectful blabber. I am the Hokage and what I say goes." She leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms over her chest. "Ino, you will be going on the retrieval mission - if anything bad happens, your medical skills will be needed."

Ino wiped the tears from her eyes and straightened. "Yes, Tsunade-sama."

"Neji, you will be the captain of this mission, seeing as you are the highest in rank of the group and have dealt with situations similar to this."

Neji nodded, a grim expression on his face.

"Shikamaru, you will be second in command," Tsunade said. Shikamaru just sighed, his arms folded, and although he didn't say anything, he was - without a doubt from anyone present - thinking, How troublesome.

"Tenten, Lee, and Shino, you will also be going." The Hokage looked up as someone knocked on the door. "Come in!"

Kankuro of the Hidden Sand Village walked in and grinned at everyone. "Hey, guys, how's it going?"

It was silent, and then Ino sniffled.

Kankuro frowned. "Why the long faces?"

Tsunade cleared her throat, ending the awkward moment. "Thank you for coming, Kankuro. Your help will be greatly appreciated."

"Hey, well, Gaara only sends the best for you, Hokage-sama," the Sand-nin said, rubbing the back of his head and smiling.

Naruto rolled his eyes, and because he was in such a bad mood, he muttered, "Arrogant Sand ninja wannabe."

Kankuro turned to the blonde and held up his fist. "You wanna say that to my face, demon punk?"

Naruto popped out of his chair. "Don't insult me just because I'm stronger than you!"

"I beg your pardon, but the last time I checked I was a chuunin!" Kankuro growled back. "What are you, again? Oh, that's right! You're still a weak little genin!"

"All right, you know what, let's go RIGHT NOW! You and me, OUTSIDE!"

"Both of you, calm down!" Tsunade yelled. "I won't have you fighting when Sakura is in danger."

They both sobered at that; Naruto sunk back into his seat and crossed his arms, while Kankuro huffed and turned to the Hokage once again. "So what happened?"

"My apprentice, Haruno Sakura, was kidnapped by Uchiha Itachi, and I need you for the retrieval mission."

Kankuro nodded. "Yeah, I remember her. She was the one that healed me from Sasori's poison, right?"

"Right." The Hokage's expression grew remorseful before she shook her head and looked around at each person. "Mitarashi Anko will also be joining you - she is waiting now at the front gate and will explain the details of the mission. You are dismissed."

They filed out one by one, leaving a wake of silence.

Tsunade glanced at the four remaining - Kiba, Choji, Hinata, and Naruto (and Akamaru, of course). "Naruto, I know you wanted to go save Sakura…"

Naruto clenched his fists and looked away, seething.

"But I need you - all of you - for another mission."

The blonde looked up, surprised. "What mission is that?"

Tsunade sighed. "This has gone too far - Uchiha Itachi has done too much damage to this village, and I think it's about time we end the chaos."

The three chuunin - and Naruto - waited expectantly. Naruto was about to burst out of his chair.

"Your mission…is to kill him."

Itachi watched with mild interest as the Tigress Spirit delved into the pink-haired girl's mind. She had done the same thing to himself - but his inspection hadn't taken nearly as long as this one now.

About five minutes had passed already. The Spirit's nose was still touching the Sakura's forehead, and her rust-colored body hunched over the girl's protectively.

The time the Spirit had explored Itachi's mind was a very memorable event - to him, at least. He'd had to enter the circle the Spirit had been sealed in, and lay down flat on his back so she could reach his head comfortably. He had objected to it at first, but it was the only way to see if he could be her host.

Itachi hated the feeling of his mind being searched by another; it was an intrusion, and there were so many secrets he didn't want to be found…

He could feel the Spirit's curiosity towards him, her surprise - which eventually turned to disgust - after learning that he had murdered his whole clan. It wasn't until she realized the reason behind the massacre that she began to sympathize with the Uchiha - and he could feel that sympathy as if it were tangible.

Itachi's mind - his whole life - had been open to the Fujin na Tora Seishin in those few moments. She saw everything, and he had to experience it with her. He'd had to watch his blade cut through his family's throats again…just like they had that cursed night.

Everything he had buried and locked away had come loose for her to see. That was the only time since the massacre that he had felt so vulnerable. Deep down, it frightened him.

When it was finally over with, he had shot straight up and leaped across the river before the Spirit could touch him again. He had stared at her levelly, refusing to show any of the emotions he'd felt. Because if he did…he would lose any sense of calmness he had come to know over the years.

The Tigress had just sighed and shaken her head, looking at him with that unwanted sympathy in her emerald eyes. "Tell me, Itachi," she'd murmured. "What would you use my power for? Why do you want to be my host? I already know the answer, of course, but I need to hear you say it to finalize my decision."

He had stiffened and held her gaze, when inside, all he wanted to do was disappear. "I am a shinobi, a ninja. What more do we train for rather than to become stronger? You would just be an easier path to that goal."

"And that is the reason why I must refuse your…demand," she had sighed. "Unless you can prove that you will use my power for something other than yourself, my answer is no. The same goes for your friend out there - Kisame, is it? I can sense his…negative ways."

Itachi's lips had thinned in barely hidden fury, and his Sharingan had twirled dangerously, before he'd spun on his feet and walked towards the tunnel.

But before he could get there, the Tigress called to him. "Itachi?"

He'd paused, one foot hovering over the ground for his next step. The question hung heavily around him.

"…continue on with your plans."

He had whipped around, about to claim that no one ordered Uchiha Itachi around, but the Tigress Spirit was curled up into a tight ball, fast asleep.

Presently, as the Spirit connected with the girl's mind, Itachi remembered his moment of weakness.

He vowed never to let it happen again.

Naruto's jaw fell open dramatically before he exclaimed, "You want us to kill Itachi?"

"Do you have a problem with that?" Tsunade questioned, her eyebrow raised. "I thought you would be overjoyed."

"Well…" Naruto looked down and fidgeted. "It's just that it's always been Sasuke's dream to kill him, and I don't want to take it away…"

"Naruto, this is a highly dangerous Akatsuki member who needs to be taken down," the Hokage pointed out. "He murdered his whole clan, for crying out loud! On top of that, he's part of the organization sent out to gain control of the Nine Tailed Fox, taking your life along the way. Don't you think we should eliminate him while we have the chance?"

"Yeah, I guess so," Naruto whispered. He closed he eyes and then reopened them, brand new determination shining vigorously. "Okay, I'm ready! Let's go!"

"Wait, your team captain still hasn't arrived yet," Tsunade grumbled. "I am going to beat him to a pulp for being late -"

"Hey, hey, there's really no need for that, Tsunade," a familiar voice drawled. Suddenly no other than Jiraiya the Toad Master appeared behind the Hokage, his arms characteristically folded on his chest. "After all, you almost killed me once. Isn't that enough?"

"Ero-Sennin!" Naruto exclaimed. "You're our captain?"

"I told you not to call me that!" Jiraiya snapped. Then he sighed and unfolded his arms. "Unfortunately, yes. Tsunade here thinks I'm the only one capable of helping you deal with the Uchiha brat. This is a serious mission, so it calls for the elite to accomplish."

Naruto grumbled something along the lines of "You'll probably be off doing 'research' half the time."

A vein popped out on Jiraiya's forehead as he turned to Naruto. "My research contributes greatly to society, I'll have you know."

"Yeah, in the form of porn books!" Naruto countered.

Jiraiya gasped like he couldn't believe what he had just heard. "Do not even try to disgrace my works, you worthless piece of -"

"Sorry I'm late," Kakashi said with no hint of real apology as he walked in, the aforementioned orange porn book in his hands. "I suppose I got lost on the path of li -"

"Oh, shut it, Kakashi-sensei! That lame excuse is getting old," Naruto yelled.

Kakashi's visible eye crinkled into a smile. "But it's true."

"Whatever," Naruto muttered.

Tsunade rubbed at her temples and shook her head, then reached under her desk and took a swig of sake. "I swear, all of you egotistical men will be the end of me."

Jiraiya turned to pat her head, but was shot back with a deathly glare from the Hokage. "That's what we aim for, honey," Jiraiya said, winking. Tsunade glared even harder and swallowed more sake.

"Enough fooling around," the Hokage said, demanding attention. "Kakashi, this mission basically depends on you for success. Without your Sharingan to rival Itachi's, I would not have sent any of you."

She looked them each in the eye. "You all have unique abilities that will increase the success rate of the mission. I am counting on you."

They nodded in sync.

"All right, now here are the details…"

Sakura was floating in darkness; that really was the only was to describe it. She drifted lazily amidst the black, not really thinking of anything. That is, until she was forcefully yanked back into awareness.

She ended up in the middle of a wide, bright green forest. The air was damp and heavy, as if it had just rained. The forest was alive with plants and flowers of all kinds; vines draped from above and clung to moss-covered trees. The sun shined in from between the leaves, its golden light creating patterns on the forest floor. To Sakura, the whole scene was mesmerizing.

She breathed in the strong floral scents, and was thoroughly surprised when she didn't recognize any of them. Birds chirped all around - their music wove together and flowed so perfectly it was almost like a symphony.

Where am I? Sakura thought, still in shock.

"This is a little place I like to call Paradise," a rough (though at the same time smooth) voice answered.

Sakura whipped around and was met with two emerald eyes staring back at her amusingly. She had never seen such eyes; in the middle, surrounding the pupil, the green was replaced with pure gold that flared out like the sun.

They were the eyes of a tiger.

Sakura warily took a step back from the tiger before her, her hands coming up protectively. "D-did you just talk?"

The tiger stretched on the branch it was on, about five feet from the ground. "Is it really that astonishing?" the animal questioned, tilting its head to the side. "From what I've witnessed of your thoughts, your sensei has a talking summoning dog, and your friend Naruto's master has talking frogs."

"How did you know that?" Sakura demanded.

"I read through your thoughts, your memories. It was the only way to know." The tiger jumped down from its branch and walked over to her. Sakura backed up, but stopped when she pressed against a tree.

"The only way to know what?"

The tiger chuckled, a light purring sound. "To know if you could be my host."

Sakura shook her head helplessly. "I don't understand."

The tiger sighed, coming closer until it was a foot away from Sakura. "I wouldn't expect you to. Of course Itachi wouldn't explain anything to you." The tiger peered up at Sakura. "You see, I am the Fujin na Tora Seishin. You have probably never heard of me." She continued on at a shake of Sakura's head, "I was created long before the Nine Tailed Beasts roamed the earth. In fact, I lived when the Jubi, or Ten-Tails, was still around. But I kept to the shadows while the Jubi terrorized everyone and destroyed anything it could get its hands on. Not many people knew about me, and many still don't. The Jubi was driven by hatred, while I was and still am driven by peace. My peace and your love for your friends are basically the same - we want nothing more than to see others happy."

The Tigress stood on her hind legs and placed her paws on Sakura's shoulders, studying the girl's face. "The Rikudo Sennin knew about me. He knew I wanted nothing more than to help get rid of the Jubi. But the Jubi and I were equals in battle - if we had fought, we would have killed each other. The Rikudo Sennin was stronger than both of us, so once he defeated the Tailed Beast, he had me seal it into him."

Sakura stared wide-eyed at the Tigress, whose face was no more than two inches from her own. All that information was staggering to take in at once.

"And here I was, hundreds of years later, known by few and enjoying my time before that damn Uchiha came and sealed me away." The Spirit jumped down and chuckled, shaking her head wearily. "I could have killed him easily, but truth be told I was curious as to why he would want me. Turned out it was for selfish reasons, not that it surprised me much."

"Y-you're talking about Itachi?" Sakura stuttered, her mind barely working.

The Tigress yawned and nodded before she turned and rested on the tree branch again. "I refused him his desire to be my host, of course. I pretended to be sealed, just out of boredom and having nothing else to do. That is…until he brought you here."

Sakura stiffened. "He brought me?"

"Yep, you in all of your unconscious glory. Actually, you have the most interesting mind and memories." The Tigress opened an eye to stare at Sakura. "What a small world, that Itachi's younger brother used to be your teammate…and is still your love interest?"

Sakura gulped, looking at the ground. "Not anymore…Sasuke has changed! He would kill Naruto and I if he got the chance."

"And yet you still love him?"

"No, I…I don't know." Sakura clenched her fists and glared at the Tigress before her. "Why do you care? What do you want from me anyway?"

The Spirit's eyes became tender as she looked at Sakura. "You are so young, still a kit, and yet you have seen so much…What has become of this world? I regret having kept to myself for so long. Maybe I could've helped bring peace." She closed her eyes and took a deep breath before opening them. "Now is my chance, I guess. Haruno Sakura, I want you to be my new host."

Sakura couldn't believe what she had just heard. "Me? You want me of all people?"

The Spirit nodded, seriousness written all over her. "As I said before, you and I have the same goals. And my body cannot function well kept in the open - I am too old and need a host to channel my powers through. You would be perfect for that."

Sakura crossed her arms. "And that's all I would be? Just a body for you to use?"

The Tigress's eyes widened. "No, not at all, child! You misunderstand my intentions. I also plan to help you become stronger."

"How so?" Sakura was now interested.

"You, child, have plenty of potential, but I could see in your mind that you have not risen fully to it. Your Hokage, Tsunade, helped immensely, as did your sensei, though you may not have realized it. Your talents can be improved and expanded upon greatly still. You may think of yourself as weak, when really all you need is a little push."

Sakura turned her gaze to the canopy above, contemplating. This was all so much… "Why did Itachi bring me to you?"

"He believes you can stop his little brother from destroying everything he loves."

"What?" Sakura asked, her jaw hanging open.

The Tigress's ears flipped down and back, and it almost looked as if she were smiling. "I will let him be the one to explain his plans to you. The more urgent matter is whether or not you will be my host."

"You mean…I get to choose? You won't force me?"

"How happy would you be if I forced you?"

Sakura thought about this. "…not very."

The Spirit nodded. "Exactly. I wanted to leave the decision to you. If you don't accept…I guess I'll have to find another willing host."

If I become strong enough, I can bring Sasuke back, Sakura thought, her eyebrows furrowed. This might be the only chance I get. I think I can trust the Tigress…I hope I can. With her, I can run away from Itachi and go back to Konoha and train, maybe learn some new jutsu.

"Sakura?"

She glanced up from her thoughts and looked at the Tigress expectantly.

"I think…it would be good to stay with Itachi."

Sakura took a step backwards. "W-why would I do that when I could go back to Konoha?"

The Spirit met her gaze steadily. "He can teach you more than anyone back in your home could. His plans involve saving Sasuke, just as yours do."

"But he murdered his whole clan!" Sakura yelled. "He ruined Sasuke's life and twisted him into a monster. How can Itachi possibly want to help Sasuke?"

"I told you that I would let him explain it to you," the Spirit replied. "Now back to the current matter - will you be my host or not?"

Sakura blinked at the abrupt change in topic, still burning with curiosity, but then a voice spoke in her head.

Just think: by getting stronger you will be of more help to Konoha, the voice whispered. No more weak little kunoichi who can't defend herself and always depends on others to save her. And on top of that, you can save Sasuke. It's what you've always wanted.

But how do you know you can trust her? another, colder voice countered. She read your thoughts, invaded your memories without your permission. She just wants to use you. You don't know what you're getting yourself into.

Sakura recognized that voice. It was the one that told her she weak and that she couldn't change who she was. It was the voice who had sneered at her when she cried the night Sasuke left. That was the same voice that laughed when her friends got hurt.

Sakura completely ignored that voice and said, "I agree to be your new host."

The Tigress Spirit leaped to the ground, her eyes shining. "Good. Then we should get back to reality to begin the sealing."

Sakura grew nervous suddenly. Sakura, you made this decision, now follow through with it and don't back down! her Inner Self yelled enthusiastically.

So she nodded her head slowly and said, "All right, I'm ready, Tigress."

"Bah, don't call me that!" the Spirit growled. "It sounds so formal, and after all, we won't be just host and spirit, but rather student and teacher, ne?"

"Right." Sakura nodded. "What should I address you as, then?"

The Spirit's eyes grinned for her. "You may call me Desunei."

A/N: Hey guys! Thank you SO much for the reviews. Every time I read them I get more determined to write just to make you happy. I really hope you all like my story so far, and if you have any questions, just tell me and I'll be sure to answer.

I probably won't update for another couple of weeks or so - no definite date because there is no telling what will come up.

So please keep on reviewing (you guys really are my inspiration) and if I have made any mistakes or will in the future, constructive criticism is good!

Well then, I'd better get going. I have a lot more writing to do. This part of the story is just the beginning.