Pulse

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Beat Three

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"Sakura..."

She knew he was telling her without words to move so that he could engage in battle. He wanted her out of the way so that she wouldn't be in his line of fire.

Itachi's fingers flexed against her flesh - not quite enough to hurt, but if he maintained that level of pressure she would almost certainly bruise.

"If you help him, or fight me, the deal is off," Itachi said, without looking at her.

Her mouth opened and closed with a sharp 'clack' of teeth - like two shards of porcelain scraping together. Deliberately, he let go of her arms. That couldn't be seen as anything other than a challenge, a test of her resolve. Sakura stood, finally able to move - feeling as though she had left her stomach where she had been sitting. Itachi turned his attention to Kakashi, who was staring at the grain of the wood on the floor with both eyes bare to the world.

"Where are the ANBU?" Itachi spoke in a tone someone would use at a formal dinner party.

"Your partner is keeping them occupied," Kakashi said, grudgingly.

"You could have waited for them, Kakashi-san," Itachi almost sounded chiding.

Kakashi looked at her pointedly before flicking his eyes back to the floor in front of Itachi's feet. The chirp chirp of Chidori filled up the room - deafening in the small space. Splinters shattered from the wall nearest him. Paint peeled back on itself. The windows cracked like ice beneath a heavy boot.

In the same instant, Itachi grabbed her wrist and feigned dragging her in front of him. Her lightning fast mind, almost too quick to keep up with itself and infinitely quicker than her body registered what was happening and she was appalled. Kakashi hesitated for a split second, and - really - that was all it took. He looked up in her direction and was caught in the trap of Itachi's eyes. And it was all her fault.

The Chidori died in a spider web burst of sparks that bloomed and shrunk in what seemed like the same second. She watched Kakashi's large, gloved hand flop to his side rather than look at his panic-stricken expression - frozen like a photograph. Her eyes flickered inextricably, guiltily, up to his features anyway. Tiny bloody fingernail marks formed in her palms - red crescent moons.

Out of sheer morbid curiosity her eyes found Itachi's. He too was still as a statue beside her and her thoughts boomed with white-hot anger and slick black vengeance. She wondered if he was able to move while he was casting this genjustu - if he could get out the way before she drove her fist into his ribcage, making it collapse like a house of cards. That brief second that might have been the perfect opportunity passed, and suddenly he was blinking sluggishly once, then sharply again.

Itachi turned to look at her smoothly just as Kakashi collapsed jerkily, unwillingly, to the floor - a puppet with the strings cut. Inside the scarlet of Itachi's eyes were twin black pinwheels - her mind jerked between images of carnival and carnage. Then they faded to the darkest blue she had ever seen.

"Let us depart, Sakura-san."

Near her foot, Kakashi groaned slightly, eyes flickered sightlessly behind the closed lids. He wasn't close to dying - she could feel that. But, he was her teammate, her sensei, and he was hurt. She wanted to run her fingers along his hairline and hold his hand while they waited for the ANBU and numb the pain as much as she could.

"Alright," she took a step back from his crumpled body - bent in a way that was probably hurting him more," can I put him in the recovery position?"

Fuck it. She had to do something. He seemed to consider that; dragging his startlingly inky eyes across her as though to seek out signs of deceit. Finally, he seemed satisfied - giving a curt nod and releasing her wrist. Sakura wondered if he could ever be rushed. She bent to her knees beside Kakashi and couldn't resist lightly touching his neck through the fabric of his mask.

The familiar, earthy smell of him made her eyes prick with hot, barely formed tears that made her normally expressive eyes glitter even more even in the gloom. The stifled sigh he let out when she touched him gently was almost her undoing. She methodically arranged his limbs until he was lying in the defined position. His breathing eased so minutely that only a trained professional could have noticed. It took all of her willpower to rip her hands from him and stand stiffly up.

Itachi held the worn, creaking door to the dark, velvety blackness of the outdoors open for her like a true gentleman. Like someone who hadn't just invaded her sensei's mind and ripped it to shreds. The cheerful, jazzy music that floating to them on the breeze - heavily amplified the moment the door opened - juxtaposed ridiculously with the scene inside the cabin. It almost seemed that Kakashi's body was jerking along with the beat - still trying to throw off the mental agony and fight.

It was the kind of tune her mother had listened to on bright summer days, washing the dishes, swaying along with the tempo. Kakashi was twitching rather than swaying. Cold sweat trickled down her spine as she forced herself to block out the music and walk over to where Itachi was standing. The music drowned out her thoughts. Kakashi spasmed in her mind behind her closed eyelids.

In the darkness she it looked like he was smirking, but that seemed like a trick of the light. He spoke, low, and cool, "After you."

Sakura wondered if Sasuke had felt even a tenth of this when he betrayed them all.

...

The moment she stepped out into the dark night, Sakura flinched. Hyped up as she was, she managed to remain still when one of the two Itachis now standing in the clearing by the shack advanced on her slowly. Placing a hand on her shoulder firmly, maybe to keep her in place, he spoke,"Mold your chakra please, Sakura-san."

She did so without of word of questioning - sure that if she spoke she would either burst into angry tears or try to claw out those damned eyes of his with her bare hands - and watched in morbid fascination as the Itachi closest to her began to glow with the same, soft silver shine of the moon for a few moments before it faded as quickly as it happened. Her finely tuned senses told her that this Itachi - which she guessed was the bushin - now held the exact same chakra signature that she held. Something she had previously believed to be an impossibility.

She felt Kakashi's chakra signature moving again and her heart leapt into her throat as though to asphyxiate her. Whipping her head around, she stared at the door of the small, ramshackle building with more than trepidation.

Another two Itachi bushins stepped out into the faint moonlight. One had Kakashi's chakra signature. Wondering how Itachi had forced that out of him with Kakashi completely and utterly not in a state to mould chakra made her heart constrict painfully. If this continued the guilt would surely drive her mad.

Turning her eyes to the other one, the real one, she watched him watch her - she had felt his eyes on her, probably waiting for her to snap. He released her shoulder and something in his manner told her that he was hesitating. Without a word, the bushin darted off into the darkness - it moved so fast that all she could see were the blurred streaks of red of the Akatsuki clouds in motion, like smears of blood spread across the scenery. The other two followed shortly afterwards.

For some reason being alone with Itachi rather than being surrounded by his clones made her even more nervous.

"We must make I blood contract," he said,"those bushin should buy us time to do so."

The thought of touching his blood made her stomach turn. Anger still boiled white hot and simmering in her stomach mixed with the acidic, chest-compressing burn of guilt. It was too late - far too late - to turn back now so she simply nodded. He reached for her and she saw and smelled the blood on his palm leaking from several deep slices that carved a symbol she did not recognise. She hadn't even seen him move, much less draw a weapon.

Sakura held out her hand, fingers pressed tightly together to stop them from shaking, and watched in a detached manner as Itachi drew that same symbol on her hand in his own blood. The light brush of his finger against her palm made her want to squirm away. Despite Itachi being of a slender build, being so close to him was intimidating even when he wasn't looking directly in her eyes.

"I need to make a few cuts."

She had expected that, he knew she had expected that, but really what he meant was that he was about to draw a weapon. It was for her benefit. She loathed this thoughtfulness, this humanity that she had never expected.

His blade was so sharp that she barely felt the cuts he made for seconds afterwards, then blood that looked almost black in the poor lighting began to pool at the edges of the small wounds before trickling down her arm in coiling patterns. This time it was her blood he used to write a symbol on his other palm. Reaching out, he entwined his fingers with hers: making a mockery of the sweet, trusting gesture.

"We must now decide what exactly we are agreeing on. My terms are twofold; my eyes must be healed to the best of your ability, and you must never speak anything of our deal or anything you learned about the Akatsuki, or myself to anyone unless I allow it," he paused then," And you, Sakura-san, what are your terms?"

"You will help me find Sasuke return him to Konoha, alive."

She held his dark gaze steadily. It was easier without the Sharingan.

"You do not even ask that I leave you unharmed, or living, by the end of this deal," he said, quietly, accepting.

They did not mention Naruto, or Konoha. She knew he would never agree to such a thing, and even thinking of them right now would be enough to make her rip her hands away from him, take Kakashi and run. Naruto's voice murmuring; You have nothing to be sorry for, repeated over and over in her mind.

Licking her lips, a movement that he watched closely, she smiled widely - bitterly - at him, "I am confident that I will be able to heal your eyes, but through constant use they will deteriorate again... and eventually you will need my help. And, after all, what use is a dead medic?"

His fingers tightened a little around her own before relaxing, "Do not resist my chakra."

He may as well have told her not to breathe.

"I'm ready," she said.

His chakra began to push and probe at her - originating from her hands, but spreading up her forearms within an instant. It was like they were being submerged in ice cold water. Her hair stood on end like a line of tiny toy soldiers. Instead of just being able to hear her own heartbeat, Itachi's now rang in her ears almost in synchronisation with her own. Some medical part of her noted that it sounded strangely strained, but the rest of her mind was focused on not rejecting the chakra that was surging into her system.

When it reached her neck and swelled to cover her ears, eyes and nose he began to speak - it sounded as though she was underwater. The sounds were muffled, distorted and all she could really hear was their heartbeats. Her entire body burned with the desire to throw off the foreign intruder. Suddenly, she knew it was her turn to speak.

"I promise." The chakra inside her swelled, tingling icy hot and then cold as though she was in the depths of a raging fever. "Do you promise to find Sasuke and return him unharmed to Konoha?"

"I promise."

Sakura saw his mouth make the shape of the words rather than heard them and at that moment the chakra lying latent in her body erupted at every nerve ending. Black spots crowded her vision and their twin heartbeats thundered in her ears. She tasted blood and the beginnings of bile. His hands tightened around her own as her muscles shook and every inch of her body screamed in protest.

Then, it was over.

Gasping, Sakura tore her hands from his and lost all of her dignity when she was forced almost to her knees - retching up the dango she had just eaten in a warm, stinging surge. At least she managed to avoid her clothes and shoes entirely. Itachi had stepped back out of the way - seemingly unaffected. Putting her hands on her knees she took a few long, shuddering breaths of the fresh air, which stung her abused throat and did not clear the close, hot taste of vomit from her mouth.

A hand touched her chin and tilted her face up until she was looking directly at him. As his eyes flickered across his face she wondered what he was looking for, but whatever it was he seemed satisfied enough because he released her seconds after.

After a few minutes she was strong enough to run. Scanning her body, she felt his chakra lodged somewhere near her heart - supposed it would kill her if she broke the deal. A quick examination of Itachi showed that he had some of her chakra by his too - though it no longer seemed connected to her.

The thought of having a piece of him lodged inside of her was repulsive. Images of Yuura's slumped, torn corpse, and his soft, slippery heart with its near black gushing blood showed flickered in her mind. That, and Kakashi's twitching form, Naruto's warm smile and Sasuke's cool smirk.

Treason tasted as bitter as she had ever imagined it would.

...

They ran until dawn - never speaking.

Itachi's Sharingan did not re-activate, but she thought it best not to provoke his anger by asking.

Sakura looked over her shoulder constantly, but neither ANBU or Kakashi appeared. But, by the same score, neither did Kisame. They finally came to a stop just as light began to break through the darkness and shrink the long fingers of shadows that crawled between the thick trees like insects.

When Itachi finally decided to stop it was at a small, noisy waterpool. The small pool at the base would probably come up to about her neck at the deepest part, and was floored with nothing but pebbles smoothed clean by the actions of the water. In the cold, stark yellow of dawn the clear water looked almost green tinged.

Sakura crossed her arms across her torso, body shivering like a leaf in the breeze before a series of popping noises - startlingly like a bone being pulled out of the socket - made her jerk her head over in Itachi's direction. He didn't comment on how easily she jumped at that slight noise, and began to fold up his cloak and then placed it on the dry rock beside him.

Her mind - thick and hazy like the fine early morning mist that covered the landscape - only just caught up with what was actually happening when he pulled his shirt over his head and placed it on top of his cloak, leaving only his pale, lithe torso clad in a top of fine mesh. All she could do was stare.

"Come - enough of this juvenile behaviour. We have only a short time here, and I refuse to lead you if you are bound to attract unwanted attention with your scent," he said suddenly, bland voice betraying the slightest hint of irritation.

Beneath all of the bone weariness, the grime, and the pain, Sakura still managed to feel absolutely mortified and indignant.

Turning her back to him, and trying to ignore the rustling of clothes behind her followed by soft splashes of water, she pulled the zip down on her top quickly and jerked down her pale pink medic skirt and unstrapped multiple, empty, weapons holders. Sakura couldn't bring herself to remove the bandages around her torso, or her shorts. Even with those layers on she felt vulnerable beyond belief.

She walked quickly into the water until it came to her knees, deliberately keeping to the side furthest from Itachi.

"Don't use anything with a scent," Itachi said, disturbingly close, almost as soon as she flipped the cap on the bottle, "It makes you easier to track."

Sakura looked wistfully at the small bottle of concentrated strawberry scented shampoo and conditioner mix in her hand before she snapped, waspishly, "Then what am I supposed to use?"

She unwillingly met his eyes - red and swollen like bloody full moons, the Sharingan re-awakened - the expression behind them was almost blank, but the menace in them was probably from a mixture of the reputation and the colour. Red was associated innately with danger, poison: as far back as the mind went it was the colour of plants that should not be eaten, of blood, of fire. He calmly touched her hand with his frigidly cold, damp one and pressed a small clear bottle to her palm.

"You may use mine."

He turned away after that to squeeze some of the water out of his long dark hair, and she saw for the first time the ANBU tattoo that still stood brazenly on his skin. She was sure he caught her looking when he turned so that his back was to her so that she couldn't see the swirling tattoo anymore - a reminder of past loyalty that was only skin deep. Sakura wondered why he hadn't removed it. Perhaps he kept it out of spite, or maybe even guilt. Still slightly wary of him changing his mind she deigned not to ask in case he decided that she would be better as a permanent feature of the pool around them.

Sakura noted how he remained close to her at all times. She supposed he didn't trust her - and she didn't blame him - and wanted to keep watch over her constantly should she try anything. She lifted her thick, soaked pink hair off of her neck and began working the scentless shampoo into the strands as quickly and efficiently as possible. Although she did, childishly, use more than necessary.

It was disheartening to look down and see how the bandages around her torso were almost completely see-through, but Itachi had barely glanced at her for hours - even her being semi-clothed and soaked didn't seem to change that. She doubted she had anything to worry -

"What is this?"

Icy cold fingers touched her back lightly, making her jerk her shoulders up and curl her hands into tight fists Those same nimble fingers wiped the stray wet, sticking strands of hair and trickling soap suds away from her neck before he let out a soft breath that sounded as though the wind had been forcibly knocked out of him. For all she knew, it was a soft hiss of laughter. Sakura defensively clamped her hand over the ridiculously tiny kanji for promise that was etched on the skin at the back of her neck.

It had been Ino's idea, of course. Her daring blond friend had wanted a tattoo - and had ended up getting a curling rose around her thigh 'for beauty and love' - and had goaded Sakura into getting one with her. The reason why she chose the one she did was probably obvious.

"It's a tattoo, prodigy, you have one too," Sakura muttered, acidly, turning to glare at him over her shoulder. Turning around further would have made her feel even more exposed.

He exhaled sharply, running his long fingers though his hair and beginning to retreat to the edge of the pool, "Not one dedicated to my foolish little outou, I don't."

"H-how did you -" She had been told before that she was stupidly easy to read, but this was just ridiculous.

Itachi paused and she could almost see the condescension rolling from him in waves across the clear, cold water. The paleness of his skin contrasting with the vibrant colour of the reflections of the trees and the sky in the water around him made it seem like all the colour in his skin had been leeched into the surrounding liquid. She squeezed the bubbles from her hair and began to rinse it again.

"Hurry up, we must leave soon."

It was sad that the most rebellious thing she could think of doing was to stick out her tongue at his retreating back.

...

Despite Itachi hurrying her from the waterfall, they settled in a deep, low cave only a mile or two away from that site.

Sakura wondered why he had seemed almost... worried about being in that area, but didn't bother to ask because - like Sasuke - the answers he usually gave were so vague that they almost always made more questions appear. She tried to think of Sasuke often - rubbing the worn friendship bracelet she kept beneath her glove to remind herself. They all had one - she had made them ages ago, before Sasuke left.

Whether or not Sasuke still had his hardly seemed to matter anymore. The point was that he wore it when she first gave it to him. She remembered the flush of fierce, elated joy - like running at full speed - that had swept through her as he let her tie it onto his wrist. The feel of his pulse beneath her fingers was something that had never left her.

They set up a fire between them and sat around to eat in silence - Sakura sitting as far away from Itachi as she could manage while still being close to the fire. She chose to break the silence between them.

"When Sasori died he gave me some information that might be useful. He said that; in ten days I should go to the bridge of Heaven and Earth in the Hidden Grass Village at noon, because that would be where he was due to meet a subordinate who knew of Orochimaru."

"Hn," was her only reply for a moment.

She took a long slurp of the ramen noodles that Naruto had left in her pack and tried to enjoy them rather than let a fresh wave of guilt. The cave he had chosen was relatively clean, dry and very hard to find. She guessed that Itachi had used it before, until he went to the back and dispelled a genjutsu to show a stored set of blankets and a few other supplies confirming that this was probably a regularly used Akatsuki stopping point.

Sakura mentally tried to mark this spot for future reference.

"Information gathering was always going to be our first task... This helps matters greatly," he said, handing her a blanket that she quickly wrapped around herself.

Nodding, she went back to slurping her noodles. Sakura almost felt embarrassed by how noisily and messily she was eating in comparison to his careful, refined methods. His eyes stayed on her the entire time, only closing briefly now and again.

He had claimed first watch and she was just about to lie down and finally sleep when she noticed his posture suddenly stiffening. An instant later she was crushed between the stone wall of the cave and his taunt body, shuddering slightly with a tension that was seen rather than felt. Sakura regretted leaving her safety out of the deal, and wanted to rip his heart out in the same instant.

"Stay still," Itachi hissed, teeth bared.

Pressed against the wall, a rock was digging into her spine and her feet were not quite touching the ground. She could barely even breathe. The thing she concentrated most on, though, was the fact that the chakra that was planted near her heart was pulsing. Whether this was because of his proximity, or his emotions, or even her own she didn't know. After a few seconds of strained silence, Itachi spoke again in a moist whisper just below her ear.

"Hidan is close."

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Third chapter done! As of yet, I'm still not sure how many there will be, but we'll see as we go along, I guess.

Thanks for reading,

Silver ~