Vigil of Sorrows

Chapter 3

"Hostilities in an Unfamiliar Land"

…..

Sakura was stirred by the removal of something warm and comforting on her hand. A sudden chill replaced the feeling of warmth and she knew she needed to wake up.

'What happened? The last thing I remember was my mind pulling me somewhere. Am I dead? No, I wouldn't have felt that warm before if that was the case. So, that means I was unconscious and it's his entire fault. Damn, Uchiha! The next time I see him, I'm going to beat him up until I'm satisfied. Where am I anyway?'

Sakura slowly opened her eyes and the first thing she saw was Uchiha Itachi standing above her with his back turned. 'It's him!' She gasped and immediately clapped her hands over her mouth. He would know she was there. 'What should I do? Should I run away? No, he'll catch me and then kill me for sure. Maybe if I attacked him, but he could use his eye technique and I'm all alone. I don't stand a chance against him.'

The Shinobi cautiously rose to her feet, but the sound of this action alerted the Uchiha. He turned around and she automatically set into a defensive position. 'Is he going to kill me? Well, I won't go down so easily if he tries.'

The man didn't move or make any motion to speak. He just kept his onyx gaze locked on her for an unnerving amount of time. Sakura suddenly remembered the power he possessed in his eyes and quickly withdrew her guarded appraisal. 'Wait, black! His eyes are black so that means his Sharingan isn't activated, but he could be tricking me into letting my guard down. Just like that bastard to lure me into a false sense of security. I'm not going to let him have that pleasure so I won't give him the chance to trick me. That bastard doesn't deserve anything of the sort.'

She wanted nothing more than to be out of this murderer's presence, but the only way she could do that would be to walk in the opposite direction, and one of the first rules of being a ninja was to never expose your back to an enemy. However, said criminal had his back to her when she woke up; did he think she wasn't a threat to him or was there some sort of scheme he had up his sleeve?

'Okay, Sakura. Think. Remember what happened before you passed out.' She had blocked the Uchiha's genjutsu being cast on Naruto and repelled the illusion with her inner self. Then her mind started spinning and all she saw was blackness. Had the bastard knocked her out and brought her here to kill her? If that was his plan, why didn't he do it while she was still asleep? She had been defenseless and it would've be such an easy task for him. One quick slash across the throat and she would no longer be a problem.

Sakura raised her hands and touched her neck. The thought of that cold, unfeeling metal cutting into her skin made her hair stand on end. 'The sick bastard obviously just wants to watch me suffer. I definitely wouldn't put it beneath him. He's put so many people I care about through the same pain The bastard must think I'm some weak little girl who will cry and beg him to stop his torture. Well, I'll just have to prove how wrong he is.'

Suddenly, the Uchiha spoke in a voice that conveyed absolutely nothing to his intentions, most definitely suspicious, "Though you are wisely avoiding my eyes, I don't intend to harm you at this moment."

'I was right! You do intend to torture me. I'll play along, but I know what you're up to. Besides, I have the ability to deflect any genjutsu you place over me.' Sakura lifted her jade eyes and boldly stared back into his dark ones.

"I am going to ask you something and I would appreciate a truthful response. I will know if you are lying to me."

Sakura glared before scoffing, "Why do I have to answer at all?"

"Do you know who I am?" the Uchiha asked, slightly narrowing his black eyes.

"Yes, I do, you bastard!" Sakura retorted angrily.

"What is it that you know?"

She clenched her fist and her glare intensified. 'Who does he think he is? Asking me this after all he's done. Fine, I'll tell him what I know.' "You're a traitor to your clan and your village. You are with the terrorist group Akatsuki, who are after my friend's Bijuu. You're also the one responsible for Sasuke-kun leaving Konoha because he wants to avenge the family you betrayed and slaughtered in cold blood."

The bastard didn't respond to her accusations, but continued asking her questions. "And my abilities? What do you know of them?"

Sakura placed a hand on her hip and confidently replied, "Everything. Your nature affinities are fire and water and you are very skilled at genjutsu. You have the Uchiha clan's Sharingan, which you mastered at a young age, and a more powerful level of it called Mangekyou Sharingan. However, the eyes pay a heavy toll on your sight, which is fading away."

"Correct, on all accounts. And how, should you choose not to respond to my questions, do you plan to counter my techniques, more notably that of the Mangekyou Sharingan?"

The Shinobi stared at him blankly. She already thought about that and had come to the conclusion there wasn't a way for her to win against him. Kakashi-sensei informed her before that it was impossible to counter the Mangekyou Sharingan. 'Damn. But wasn't I able to deflect it before?'

HELL YEAH! Inner suddenly voiced.

Sakura smirked, "Well, you're not the only one here with special abilities. I have one in my head, but it's hard to explain."

"What is the nature of this ability you have?"

Sakura shrugged slightly, "Even I don't know the answer. All I know is that this is the second time it's been able to deflect a mind technique."

Once again, he didn't respond. 'What is the point of all these questions, anyway? Why are we even having this conversation? Is this all for his amusement? Bastard.'

The Uchiha broke her from her thoughts by asking, "Do you know where you are right now?"

Sakura raised a suspicious brow, but decided to look at her surroundings. They were in some sort of clearing surrounded by many trees. Possibly a forest, but she didn't recognize it. Was she right in assuming he had knocked her out and brought her here to die? Maybe that was his plan: to leave her stranded in an unfamiliar location, too far from home for her to survive. She turned back to him, her jaw set in a frown. "No, but isn't that your intention?"

"Perhaps," he replied ambiguously.

'That probably means yes. I definitely need to get away now. Okay, what are my options? Fighting him one-on-one is definitely out. Elder Chiyo had said you need at least two people to fight a genjutsu user, but that wouldn't make a difference if he uses that Mangekyou Sharingan of his. Kakashi-sensei said there was no way to escape. I can try running around him, but there might not be enough time for me to get away without him catching me. I just need an opening. Perhaps if I continued playing along, then I'll have an opportunity to escape. Yes, that sounds good.'

Sakura tried thinking of a response to his earlier statement, but she couldn't concentrate because she noticed his eyes scanning the area. 'He's probably looking for the perfect place to bury me.'

"What other abilities do you have?" the Uchiha finally asked.

"Why do you need to know?" Sakura probed before she could stop herself.

"Did I say I needed to know?"

"Arrogant bastard," she muttered quietly. 'All he's doing is turning everything I say back on me.'

"Arrogance is a rather subjective term, one that should not be used lightly. It is, as one often finds, the gravest of vices."

Did he actually have the nerve to lecture her? Did he simply view her as a little girl who needed to be taught something as trivial as what it means to be arrogant? Well, she already knew that and wouldn't have accused him of being such if it wasn't true. 'The way he speaks down to me like that just proves his conceit.'

Sakura casually smirked, "I wasn't using the term lightly, Uchiha."

"Did I say you were?"

Sakura narrowed her eyes irritably at him. "It was implied, you bastard, and you know it. Why else would you have said it?"

"I might have been implying it, or perhaps I wasn't," he replied in that infuriating monotonous voice.

"Is it impossible for you to give me a straight answer?" With every sentence he spoke, her anger continued rising.

"Impossible? Hardly. I merely word things in such a way as to allow the receiver to interpret them in any way they choose."

"Well, great prodigy, this receiver thinks it's very irritating and it only makes me dislike you even more." Sakura crossed her arms and turned her head away from him.

Out of the corner of her eye, Sakura saw the Uchiha turn in the direction of the eastward path. She slowly relaxed her arms and glanced in the opposite direction.

"Hmm, I will comply in continuing this conversation as we travel. You may follow if you wish, or stay if you prefer. Either way makes no difference to me."

'He's testing me. He could catch me off guard if I ran away now. He's giving me the choice to either stay here and die or follow him, as his prisoner, which will probably result in my death anyway.'

The ex-Leaf Shinobi slowly walked past Sakura and glanced at her briefly before directing his eyes ahead of him.

'I don't care. This might be my only opportunity to escape and I have no desire to be stuck traveling with that hateful bastard. His back is turned again, which presents the perfect opening for me. All I have to do is run on the opposite path as fast as I can.'

Before she could talk herself out of it, Sakura dashed in the direction of the westward path, pushing herself to run faster with every footfall. She wasn't concerned with where she was headed. The only thing on her mind was putting as much distance between herself and the dangerous criminal as possible.

She only hoped he would ignore her and continue on his way. There wasn't much of a reason for him to go out of his way to hunt down and kill her, right? Then why had he kidnapped her in the first place?

'It was probably to separate me from the rest of my team so the rest of his group could finish off Gaara. Gaara! I have to get back and help Naruto save him. He could be worrying about me instead of going after the Akatsuki, and that only adds a greater chance of the failure in our mission to rescue the Kazekage. I need to hurry, and find my way back. We have been entrusted with the success of this assignment, and I'm going to make sure that happens. Where to start? First, I would usually figure out where I am, but in this case, my top priority has to be getting away from that Uchiha. I think I can keep up this pace until nightfall. That should be a good distance away from harm and I'll come up with a proper plan when I stop.'

Sakura continued running along the curvy path, momentarily seeing the leaves of the strange trees as she passed. These images, etched into her memory, only added to the urgency of her flight and she didn't stop to look back; only pressed on in the direction of the unknown.