The next morning Sakura found herself curled up on her couch. She looked up to see Ino sleeping in a chair just next to her. She was glad to have a friend near. She really didn't want to be alone. Honestly she didn't think she would ever feel safe while alone ever again. She grabbed the blanket she had slept with and placed over Ino, then made her way to the shower.

The hot steam of the shower did little to soothe her nerves. She almost decided against the shower, knowing she would be washing away any chance of implicating Sasuke, but something he said last night made her feel like it would be a useless pursuit no matter how much evidence she may have.

*Flashback*

Sakura just lied there on her back, completely powerless to stop her attacker. In between thrusts, Sasuke leaned down to her ear.

"Don't even think about going to the cops, bitch! Remember, I OWN the cops."

He grunted as he continued his ministrations, breathing heavily in her ear and against her neck.

"I own this whole city, the judges, lawyers, all of them!"

His breathing became more erratic as he reached his peak and filled her with his tainted seed.

"And now, I own you."

*End Flashback*

She stepped into the hot water and let the warmth envelope her. The fresh streams of hot water hid the already falling tears on her cheeks.

It had been a few weeks since that night in the parking garage of the hospital. Naruto hadn't been able to take his mind off the things that happened to Sakura, and the strange presence that made it's self quite known that night as well. He was still baffled by the presence of another within his mind. Where had it come from? What was it so concerned for his safety? And why was it only just making its presence known to him?

There were so many questions and simply no answers to go with them.

Naruto peered out the window of his Fire Station and looked across the street to Ryan Park. He scanned the area for a head of pink hair, but couldn't find it. This was his routine for the last several shifts. He wanted to talk to Sakura, if nothing else than to reassure her that he was there and always ready to help her. But he knew that she would not just come waltzing in asking for her 'knight in shining armor' to sweep her off her feet and save the day. She was in a very dark and scary place right now. He knew the best thing that he could do to help her is to just give her space and time to try and recover her life.

He noticed a yellow Volkswagen Beetle pull up alongside the apartment complex and park. A familiar head of platinum blonde hair appeared out of the car and walked inside the building. Ino he presumed. Lost in his thoughts, Naruto almost didn't hear the dispatch for a medical assist just downtown on Dauphin St. Naruto ran to the pole hole and slid down the 30ft length of brass to the engine bay downstairs and got on the truck.

Sakura was sitting at her window letting the warmth of the summer sun shine on her face. She watched as a fire truck pulled out of one of the bays from the fire station across the street. Her mind went to Naruto and that night when everything happened. She had been having strange dreams; dreams of Sasuke having strange glowing eyes and Naruto's entire body glowing orange. She knew none of these images in her dreams had anything to do with reality, but she just simply couldn't shake off how real it seemed to her. She was kind of sad that Naruto had not come to check on her over the last few weeks, but Ino had reassured her that he was afraid that his presence might make things worse till she was able to go out and face the world again. She smiled as she watched the fire truck make its way downtown.

"Thinking about your 'Hero' again are we? You know, you could ask the man out instead of watching him from your apartment window. At least it would get you out of this damn box you call home." Ino smirked at the pinkette's obvious attraction to the mysterious enigma known as Naruto. She was thoroughly convinced that Sakura had it bad for the man.

Sakura turned and looked out the window again, smiling. She had always been the traditional girl, waiting for the guy to make the first move, but Naruto seemed like the kind of guy who would just simply take too long or simply not make a move at all. Thinking of the blonde brought up images of her dreams again. She turned to Ino with a look of slight confusion on her face.

"Hey Ino, can I tell you something without you laughing at me?"

Ino had listened half-heartedly at first to Sakura's ramblings of her unusual dreams regarding the night in the parking garage and the super-human fight between Sasuke and Naruto. However, the more she listened, the more it actually started to make sense. There was no way a normal person could have been involved in such an epic fight and come out unscathed. She remembered seeing Naruto's face that night as he left the apartment… The dried blood and places that obviously should have been injured, that just simply weren't. Ino decided that subterfuge and investigation was getting her nowhere with discovering Naruto's obvious secret he was carrying. She decided it was time to stop sitting on her hands and to take a more direct approach to the matter.

Sasuke was walking through the family wing of his estate. He hadn't been here since he was a little boy. Many things were still untouched, since no one was allowed to come back here after his brother went insane and killed both of his parents. Sasuke could still remember the night that it had happened as if it were only yesterday.

*Flashback*

Sasuke was returning from school for the weekend. It was his birthday and he was excited about what his parents got him this time. He was especially excited to see his older brother Itachi. This week's curriculum at the prep school was about the Police Force. Sasuke's father and Itachi were both members of the Police Force in the city. Sasuke was eager to tell them everything he had learned and how he was going to be a Police Officer just like the rest of the family. As the limo pulled up to the Uchiha estate, Sasuke noticed that his mother and father were not out front waiting on him like they usually did when he came home for a weekend. Sasuke just shrugged it off, figuring they were in side and busy. The Driver grabbed Sasuke's bag and lead him into the house. Sasuke could not have been prepared for the sight that would greet him as he walked inside.

In the center of the main entrance were the bodies of his mother and father. They were heaped together in a bloody tangled mess.

"Father? Mother!"

Sasuke began to panic as he shook his father's shoulder, trying desperately to wake him. This had to be a bad dream right? A joke for his birthday? The sound of a thud behind him brought him to his senses again. He turned in time to see the now headless body of the driver slumped against the door frame, his bags still firmly clutched in his hand. Sasuke was now completely panic stricken. Reality came crashing down on him as he realized his family was in fact dead, and that the killer was still here, but where was Itachi. Itachi could save him.

Sasuke screamed out for his brother, running up the stairs and down the hallway of the family wing.

"Itachi, bother, where are you? HELP! Someone has killed mother and father. Sasuke heard steps behind him and ran even harder. He turned a corner and dived into a closet, pulling it closed behind him. He sat there as the footsteps got closer. Sasuke held his breath and sat perfectly still, doing anything he could to make absolutely no noise. The footsteps were now just outside the door. Sasuke saw a pair of boots stop outside his door. Tears leaked out of his eyes as he thought that he was about to die too. The knob jiggled as the attacker turned it. Sasuke pressed himself to the back of the closet, trying to get as far away as possible. The door swung open quickly and light poured in around the figure standing in the doorway. Sasuke was already terrified, but what really chilled his blood, were the two glowing eyes that were looking down at him. Blood red eyes with commas glared at him from behind the shadowy face.

"Sasuke."

Sasuke's eyes widened at the voice he recognized so well.

"Itachi? Itachi, it's you!"

Sasuke ran out of the closet and clutched his brother's thigh in a tight embrace.

"Brother, someone has killed mother and father. The killer got the driver too and he was going to get me if you hadn't showed up."

Sasuke felt his brother place a hand on his shoulder.

"Yes little brother, I know he is still here."

With that Itachi grabbed a handful of Sasuke's shirt and slung him down the hallway. Sasuke looked up at Itachi, confusion clearly written on his face.

"Brother, why did you do that? What's wrong with you? That hurt!"

Itachi closed his eyes. When he opened them again they changed. The commas that were once there had come together to form a new pattern in Itachi's eyes.

"I have discovered something Sasuke. Our family is cursed. Cursed to hunger and fight for power; destined to consume ourselves and everyone around us in that quest for power. You see, it was me that killed mother and father."

Sasuke's eyes widened at the admission.

"Why brother? They loved you. They were our PARENTS!"

Itachi smirked at his brother.

"That is precisely why I killed them. To hurt someone that loved you, that is the key to unlocking this power that has been lying dormant in our blood. I killed them to gain this power."

Itachi was quiet, allowing Sasuke to digest that information before he spoke again.

"But there is an even greater power beyond this. You will know it too. That is why I will let you live. Live a pitiful existence. Hate me with every fiber of your being and return to me when you are powerful enough to defeat me. Then I will show you the power that I speak of. Come for me when you are ready Sasuke. Come for me and get your revenge… if you can that is."

Itachi turned and walked out, leaving a broken, confused little boy in his wake.

*End Flashback*

Sasuke already accomplished the first step. Hurting someone that loved and cared for him was his first step to gaining the power he needed to get revenge on his brother. Sakura was just a stepping stone; a tool to be used to further his goals. He didn't care that she was innocent. The only thing that mattered was his ambition and his goal and he was going to achieve it no matter the cost.

"Itachi," he said to no one in particular, "I will find you and I will kill you. Nothing will stop me from my ambition."

He then remembered the blonde man he fought in the garage. He felt a strange connection to this man. Somehow he just knew that this guy was going to be a problem for him in the future.

'How was he so powerful though? I must find out more about him'

If there was someone as powerful as he was, he needed to be prepared. He decided it was time to do some investigating.